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revealed in verse 2: "For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made free from
the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8: 2). What is this "law of the spirit of life"? Many
understand it as referring to the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit on the believer:--
"The dictate of or inclination imparted by the Spirit, Who quickens those that once
were dead in trespasses and sins, and gives them the predominant inclination to live in
Christ" (Moses Stuart).
But surely this interpretation is seriously at fault. In what way can it possibly be
taught that our subsequent growth in grace or "inclination imparted by the Spirit" is the
effectual cause of our freedom from condemnation? We are not freed from
condemnation because we are sanctified. We are freed because of the finished work of
Christ, accomplished on our behalf while we were "yet sinners", and in order that we
might be sanctified. Let us not intrude anything of ourselves, not even the new life given
by God, into this solemn transaction, in which Christ alone must be the one great Worker.
In considering the expressions, "the law of the spirit of life" and "the law of sin and
death", we must remember that the word "law" is often used in the Scriptures in a sense
that is fuller and deeper than implied in the law of Moses. In the epistle to the Romans,
while the earlier references to "law" (chapters 2:-7:) are mainly concerned with the law
of Moses, at verse 21 of chapter 7: we pass on to the discovery of another law, a law
that works within: "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with
me." This is a reference to the "law of sin and death" from which those who are "in
Christ Jesus" are now freed. Under this head may be included several other passages in
Rom. 7::--
"I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom. 7: 23).
"So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of
sin" (Rom. 7: 25).
The working of the law of the spirit of life is also seen in this chapter:--
"Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me" (Rom. 7: 17).
"To will is present with me" (Rom. 7: 18).
"I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Rom. 7: 22).
"With the mind I myself serve the law of God" (Rom. 7: 25).
It is one of the attributes of "law" that it "has dominion", and, as Rom. 7: 1 makes
clear, "dominion as long as man lives". The dominion of the law of sin and death is
implied in Rom. 5: and in Rom. 6:, as the following passages shew:--
"By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin" (Rom. 5: 2).
"Death reigned" (Rom. 5: 14).
"By one offence death reigned by one" (Rom. 5: 17).
"By the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation" (Rom. 5: 18).
"By one man's disobedience many were made sinners" (Rom. 5: 19).
"Sin hath reigned unto death" (Rom. 5: 21).
"Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more
dominion over him" (Rom. 6: 9).