FREEDOM FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH

^[p. 170] FREEDOM FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come”. Many in their thoughts limit the morning star to the rapture, whereas if you were travelling by night it would awaken great delight to see the morning star, because then you would be assured that the morning had come. And though the Lord, in His tender care for His own, first gathers all to Himself in the air, yet in the heart that loves Him there is the deep joy that the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ has come! And as we are devoted to Him for this we wait. The first wave of His power is to get His own for ever in company with Himself, and he that hath this hope in Christ purifies himself as Christ is pure. We are called to have an abundant entrance into His kingdom.

I find that the one obstacle to divine progress is that there is not an honest and full practical severance from Adam to Christ. Some have satisfied themselves that they have accepted this severance by faith; others would say that they accepted it in baptism. But the truth is that it is only by the Spirit you are made free from the law of sin and death.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. It is a glorious moment when we are in this liberty. Our acceptance with God cannot be greater, it cannot be improved, and it cannot be lost. This you lay hold of by faith; but to be free from the law of sin and death is by the Spirit, and as we walk in the Spirit we are in liberty and our joy is full.