Free from Sin’s Penalty and Power - Part 1
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” - Galatians 6:7-8
Into the Kingdom of Grace
The bent of a man’s life must be in the Spirit of God or he is not saved. If he sows to his flesh, he shall of his flesh reap corruption. We read in Romans 8:5, “They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;” and in verse 6, “To be carnally [or fleshly] minded is death”-which is spiritual death (the second death in hell) according to Romans 6:23; 8:6. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:8). So if the bent of a man’s life is after the flesh, then he is not of God. He pleases not God, but only himself. On the other hand, if the bent of a man’s life is after the Spirit, then he minds the things of the Spirit, and “to be spiritually minded is life and peace” in Christ (Rom 8:6).
The Word of God plainly declares in so many places that when God saves a sinner in Christ, giving him a new heart and nature, He takes him entirely out of the realm of sin (the rule, reign and kingdom of sin), and brings him into the kingdom of grace. He puts the redeemed and saved sinner under the reign of grace. To prove this, let’s go to the law and the testimony of God’s Word: Colossians 1:13-”Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Here we find the apostle Paul telling these Colossian believers that they, who once belonged to the power and the kingdom of darkness (of the devil and of hell), have been translated (or transferred) from that kingdom and put into the kingdom of Christ under the reign of His grace. So they no longer are under the power or dominion of the kingdom of sin and darkness, but they are now under the power and dominion of the kingdom of light, heaven and grace, which has freely been given to them by the sovereign God in Christ.
Again, writing to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul says about Christians: “Our conversation [or citizenship] is in heaven” (Phil 3:20). He does not say that our citizenship is going to be there, but that it is in heaven now. We are a colony of heaven living in this world, but our citizenship has already taken place by the grace of God in salvation, worked in us by the Holy Spirit. And we find this same truth in Ephesians 2:19-Believers are “no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” In other words, there has been a complete change in our position. We have changed our kingdoms once and for ever, so we are no longer in the territory of sin; and because we are no longer under the governing power of sin, sin no longer controls our destiny.
Before becoming a child of God by the new birth, we were united to Adam. Because we belonged to Adam and his fallen race, all the consequences of his sin and actions have come upon us. But if we are saved, we are no longer in Adam; we are now in Christ. There are only two possibilities for every person alive today-you are either in Adam or in Christ-this is the whole message of Romans 5:18-21. Listen as we go into it: “As by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation [the reign of sin in Adam] even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life [the reign of grace in Christ]. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners [the reign of sin in Adam], so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous[the reign of grace in Christ].” And in verse 17, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one [the reign of sin in Adam]; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ [the reign of grace in Christ].”
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