Bible outlook

Paul traveled to many cities across the west and wrote to different church communities throughout his life as a missionary. His next mission was to Rome, where he would deliver the good news to the laypeople—and inform them with his letter concerning doctrine, in one of the most compelling books of the Bible—known as Paul’s masterpiece on grace. In the book of Romans, Paul tells how to live according to the spirit and how to overcome the deeds of the flesh by not gratifying its desires.

This epistle reveals to us God’s power that dwells within our heart while battling against sin, the flesh, and everything else that Satan uses to wage war against our mind, body, and spirit. He makes very clear on how we’re to trust God to deliver us from the deadly snare that the devil wants to draw us into.

God’s True Nature

In order to be set free from sin and the flesh, we must understand God’s true nature and let go of what would set us apart from his way of escape. We cannot rely on our own direction to escape from patterns that hold us back; but instead, we must continue on God’s path through the instructions that Paul gave to us.

The book of Romans tells how we are no longer enslaved to [sin] but servants of God who, by the shedding of his blood, has made us dead to sin and counted righteous in Christ our lord (v. 6:22). How then can we still live in sin if we have died to it? For those who are baptized into Christ are also baptized into his death; as we were buried with him who was raised from it, in order that we, too, may walk in the newness of life. Now that we know that Jesus was raised from the dead, you can be sure that neither sin nor death will have dominion over us, since he died once for all who believe, and therefore, He who lives to God and hath done it for us, are alive in Christ.

Our Old Self Has Passed Away

As a result, we can consider ourselves righteous in him who has freed us from the law by being cleansed from all unrighteousness. By our chains being broken, we are no longer obedient to sin in the old life we had but are sanctified under God through the new life we have in Christ.

The life he lived for us is what we are walking in now after receiving his free gift of it eternally. That free gift comes through him who died for us, and the life he lived remains in us on earth until we reach our physical death. How you put to death the deeds of the flesh is by believing that he did so for us in order that we might obtain life spiritually.

Many questions have still been raised on how to kill the sin in your life. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you can do such a thing without falling into a deeper possibility of being judged. It is important to learn more on how to apply the blood of Christ without attempting to abide in the law. Paul explains more on how to perceive the spirit in his letter:

For I know that the law is spiritual, but I am unspiritual until realizing that no good rests in me because of my sinful nature. We do not understand why we do the things that are wrong, although we hesitate on what is desired of God. Since I don’t do what I want to do but am practicing the very things I hate, it is no longer me who does it, but the evil that dwells within us . . . so by doing what we don’t want to do, we therefore agree that the law is good (Romans 7:14-19).

Therefore, as a result of this teaching on the law, we are to uphold what is good and abhor what is evil, but also love one another for our faith to be genuine in the eyes of the lord. By this letter, you can discern what is good and acceptable to him through the renewal of your mind. Now you can understand that the law is covered by grace and that we, who are alive in his spirit, should not be conformed to this world.

Why the Law was Given

But if we do what contradicts Paul’s message, we would then be giving into works of the law by having to keep and become innocent of them all. All our unrighteous mistakes were covered by his one act, but since he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, his word must be kept in order for them to be fulfilled on our behalf. People have been given different gifts according to his grace. This could be through ways of prophecy, in what is pertinent to our faith; if through teaching, in what he teaches; if by service, in the way he is serving; if by ministry, in how he leads them. 

Those are ways that can grow us stronger in the spirit. However, no works will ever justify your cause; it is by his work alone that we are able to receive the free gift of salvation, ultimately, because we’ve been set free through his blood. That is a summary of Paul’s first letter to the church to help people better understand the gospel.