Real Freedom; Real Forgiveness
There are two principles that permeate all of scripture. These two principles govern God’s interaction with and His assessment of all humans. Both principles were in place, and in play, from the beginning of creation (at least from the beginning of humans). The two principles are powerful, powerful enough to control the thoughts and actions of humans. What are these two principles?
The first is the principle that states, “If you sin, you will die!” Paul refers to this as “the law of sin and death.” Adam, the first man, was entrapped and held by this principle. He sinned, disobeyed a command of God, and had to suffer the consequence – death. That principle, that “law of sin and death,” has been applicable to every human since. All humans have died, or will die in the future. It is inevitable. We have all sinned and will suffer that consequence; however, there is a more sinister and severe part of this “you sin, you die” principle.
Another aspect of this death is a separation from God. When the “you sin, you die” principle is invoked (by our sin), the physical death is promised and is clearly visible; but not nearly as visible is the immediate death of our ability to access and commune with God. Adam “felt” this death and attempted to hide from God after he sinned for the first time. Why? He was no longer comfortable with the One he had wronged. It is possible to comprehend this principle to some degree by observing the result of a betrayal between close friends; the friendship seldom recovers to its former level. Adam betrayed his relationship with God and knew he could not rectify or mitigate the damage done to himself and all humanity. Adam destroyed his ability to access and commune with God, and we inherited the same condition because of our own propensity to sin. So, this “you sin, you die” principle applied to Adam and also applies to us. We cannot deny the principle as it is proven by the fact that all humans die. Adam died; we die. That is obvious. Adam lost his access to God; we lost our access to God. That is less obvious but true nonetheless. This is what is included in Paul’s reference to “the law of sin and death.” It puts us in a precarious predicament.
There is good news. The second principle is the “law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” This principle is one of a re-established ability to access and commune with God. While we invoke the first principle by our actions, God invoked this second principle by His action. This is the way Paul stated the relationship of these principles in his letter to the Romans:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2
If we accept the principle of life in Christ Jesus, we are no longer entrapped by the principle of “you sin, you die.” It is true that physical death will still occur for all humans, but we no longer have to suffer the more severe and sinister death of alienation from God. We can now have that close association, that friendship with God because He supplanted the first principle with one more powerful and gracious. The principle of “you sin, you die” is based on us, our actions. We invoke the principle and suffer the consequences. The principle of “life in Christ Jesus” is invoked by God and based on God’s action, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to “set right” our actions, our sins (our betrayal). We have life because of the actions of Jesus Christ. We are accepted and have access to God because of this new principle God established. He wants that relationship with us; He wants to “walk” with us as He did originally with Adam.
We are no longer condemned to this spiritual death, to the alienation from God. Again consider the betrayal in a relationship between two close friends. The friend that was betrayed would be justified in not wanting to associate with the betrayer. And the betrayer, even if truly penitent, would be uncomfortable attempting to resume a close relationship with the one betrayed. Now, suppose it possible for someone to expunge all of the results and memory of the betrayal from the mind of the betrayed. If the expunging is known to the betrayer and the betrayer is truly penitent about the betrayal, the betrayer can then again have a close relationship with the betrayed friend.
Well, God’s memory cannot be expunged and the net result of our sins cannot be reversed, but God provided the means to expunge our sins, our betrayal of Him. When Jesus Christ died for our sins and resurrected, He eliminated (expunged) our betrayal. We are no longer alienated from God; we are well able to have that close relationship, that access, that friendship with the Almighty God. What a privilege! What grace! What an awesome God!
Break the Bread 