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Not by the Will of Man
"The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life'' means that trying to be saved by keeping the Old Testament laws will end in death. Only by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ can a person receive eternal life through the Holy Spirit. No one but Jesus has ever fulfilled God's Law perfectly, and thus the whole world is condemned to death. The law makes people realize their sin, but it cannot give life. Under the new covenant of grace, eternal life comes from the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives new life to all who believe in Christ. The Ten Commandments still points out sin and shows us how to obey God, but forgiveness comes only through the grace and mercy of Christ. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17) A life developed "of the letter" is one built on rules and regulations. We cannot become a child of God by rules; neither can we develop in godliness by regulations. No list of demands (including God's law) could ever bring to us, or develop in us, a life with God. All rules and regulations (including God's law) come without resource. They are a list of requirements, not a supply of adequacy. They call for an observable response, but they provide no power to produce the required effect. Consider circumcision, which was required by the law of God for the Israelites. "And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised" (Leviticus 12:3). This was to be a reminder to God's people that they were His. Implementing that regulation did not inherently change the life of any Jew. Physical, external circumcision (that is, circumcision "by the letter") did not make a change in the heart of the one circumcised. It takes a supernatural inner working of God to produce a true child of God. "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter." (Romans 2:28-29) God births His children and raises them in godliness through His work in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13) Entrance into God's family, as well as development as God's children, does not hinge on following various regulations. All who welcome Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives are reborn supernaturally, receiving new life from God. Through faith in Christ, this new birth changes us from the inside out - rearranging our attitudes, desires, and motives. Natural birth makes us physically alive and places us in our parents' family. But being born again of God makes us spiritually alive and puts us in God's family. As many as receive Christ Jesus, to them gave He authority and power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (See John 1:12-13). Have you asked Christ to make you a new person? This fresh start in life is available to all who believe in Christ. |
