If Paul had preached a future deliverance from the law of sin and death, or a partial deliverance now, we would never have heard of him again. Neither message would have met our need—a need to be delivered from sin and death now.
When the slaves in the Bahamas were freed, the decree said: “When the sun rises above the horizon on August 1, 1838, you are free.” A wave of jubilation swept those slaves. Some climbed to the highest mountain to see the sun rise first. If, however, the decree had said “Sometime in the future you will be free,” or “We are granting partial freedom now,” that would not have been good news. In both cases, there would have been a paralysis at the heart of the announcement.
The only good news is freedom from the law of sin and death now. Paul announced it and thrilled the world—and still does, for it works. But how?
The passage connects sin and death—they are Siamese twins. Where you have sin you have death. To change the figure, they are the two sides of the same coin. This is so constant and regular that Paul called it a law. It is not a chance connection; a might happen or a might not happen; it always happens—sin and death are one. The chief illusion of man is, “I can have one, but without the other.” Every man on this planet has tried that and has had the same result—death, death to freedom, to peace, to usefulness, to the inner life. There have been no exceptions, and there can be no exceptions. Yet we keep on trying to prove ourselves the exception. This is the great illusion. A universal law is a universal law. That law is self-executing: death follows sin.
THE PRAYER
O Lord, my Master, I thank Thee for this law. I know what to depend on. But I’m grateful that there is another law—the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Help me to take advantage of that higher law and rise into freedom. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY
I will suffer no illusions: sin and death are inseparable and they will be inseparable in me.
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