23.
Oh wretched man that I am! Rom. 7:24a It seems strange to hear such a groan, such a negative statement coming from the Apostle Paul. Do you suppose he was having an off day? What is more miserable than the realization that there is a high and holy goal which the Lord has established for us and we have not yet been able to reach it. Struggle and try as we will we feel ourselves short of that which is established by the Word as the norm of a Christian life. He is seeking a way of victory and deliverance. He answers his own question and so, gives to us the source and assurance of deliverance. I thank God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Rom. 7:25a We are completely dependent upon the power of the Lord for victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. There is none other who can set us free from the law of sin and death.
Water baptism is a visit to the cross. Not as an emblem or a shrine but in all actuality. We are invited to share His cross. To be crucified with Him is the door to all that He wishes to accomplish in us. We must come to a realization that our old man, the carnal nature has literally been crucified with Christ. There is no other manner given us whereby the fleshly nature may be defeated and the spiritual man take over. We are not to serve sin. There is liberty and freedom for all who will come the way which the Lord has provided. Gal. 2:20 Only when we are dead are we freed from sin. Rom. 6:7 That is why it is necessary that every child of the Lord visit the cross and become crucified with Him. The anticipation of the Lord is that the Christian will have crucified the desires, the lusts of the flesh. Gal. 5:24 This is what the Word teaches as being a normal Christian life.
The opposite to death is life. Real life is found after a visit to the cross and having partaken of the death of Christ, then we find the very best of life. Life does not consist of the things which a person possesses. Real life, the most satisfying life is that which is lived for the Lord. John 10:10b The key to the very best of the Christian life is to walk according to the leading of the Spirit, heeding the call of the Word. It is called the law of the Spirit of life. In that law we find recorded the perfect will of the Lord. Its guidance will lead to a life of joy free from condemnation. It produces liberty, not to continue in sin but to be free from the sin and wickedness of this world. Rom. 8:1-2 Let us be glad and rejoice in the liberty granted us in the liberty of the Lord Jesus.