We have seen that Christian freedom is to be jealously guarded – not only from every form of self-justification based on law observance (whether Jewish law or a law of our own making) but also protected from the idea that we can now live how we like as though sin no longer mattered. How then does a sincere believer deal with the ongoing battle with wrong desires that often arise in his heart and mind? It is clear that coming to know the freedom of Christ does not automatically deliver us from our sense of powerlessness in the face of temptation and it is also clear that the law cannot restrain sinful desire. The apostle’s answer is that only by ‘living by the Spirit’ and ‘being led by the Spirit’ can the power of the flesh be overcome and the true intent of the law fulfilled. This word is not a call to passively be led by the Spirit to overcome the terrible inner struggle that we often find ourselves in. Instead it is a call to decisively choose the way and power of the Spirit as those who have already said 'Yes' to God's judgement of all our self-serving fallenness in the cross and are now free to increasingly bear the true fruit of the Spirit as beloved Spirit-filled children of God.
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John DUNKLEY BTh, Dip.Min. and Dip. Pastoral Studies. He is an ordained Baptist minister and has pastored a number of Baptist churches. He has also ministered at Westcare Baptist Mission - an inner city ministry and served as a voluntary Police Chaplain.
