But now
we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so
that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. – Romans 7.6
Now that we have it clear that we are delivered form the
power and control of sin we need to see how we are to serve our new master.
Like the woman in the illustration we looked at yesterday
too often people try to serve within the letter of the law, seeing to dot all
their 'i's and cross all their ’t’s just right. They spend their whole life
making marks on the tick list of spiritual behaviours. They seem to think that
if they can just keep the letter of the law they will be spiritual and really
good Christians no matter what is going on in their hearts. Since the start of the
church there have been people who have judged others by their adherence to the
letter. But Paul speaks here of speaking of serving with a freedom of serving
with a newness of the Holy Spirit. It is a spirit of joy and freedom not bound
by the law any more.
I like the theology of that, but I also like how it is
practically played out. Like the fact
that when a person gets saved they serve in ‘newness’ of the Spirit. I can think of
so many people who, after salvation, served with a whole new spirit because of
the indwelling Holy Spirit.
One of the greatest examples though of this ‘newness of the Spirit’
it was my dad. Before my salvation Dad was a decent guy, but very much a dad of
his generation. He didn’t have much time for the kids. He was loving and a
provider, but involvement went little beyond that. He never was mean, but
because of exhaustion from work and other pressures he tended to be
short-tempered, impatient, and grumpy.
But then he came to Christ. ‘If any man be in Christ he is a
new creation’ was perfectly applied to him. His ‘newness of spirit’ was loving,
caring, giving, and compassionate. We became the sweetest guy you could ever
ask to meet. He visited us here a couple of times after he was saved and our
Irish friends all knew him as the kindest, most gentle, caring, and gracious
man they had ever met. The working of the Holy Spirit in him to make him a ‘new
spirit’ was obvious. His spirit changed as he was conformed to the image of
Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Thank God that the newness of the Spirit produces a newness
of our spirit as we strive to serve Him. May we always show forth His Spirit.
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