What the Law Could Not Do, Jesus Has Done
When I draw near, He opens the way.
Devotional Credit: Immeasurably More, Ray Stedman
Photo Credit: Unsplash
The heart of today’s reading is Romans 8:3-4. God did what the Law could never do. The Law can measure, diagnose, and demand, but it cannot impart life. Ray Stedman points us to this good news with a pastor’s clarity. The Father sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. In His body, sin was condemned. Now the righteous requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit.
If you have ever tried to fix yourself by more rules, you already know the treadmill. Promises made on Sunday fade by Tuesday. Lists get longer. Pressure rises. Stedman reminds us that the Law only stirs up resistance in the flesh. It can point out the stain, but it cannot remove it. That is not failure of the Law. It is a reminder that life does not flow from demand. Life flows from Jesus.
Here is the good news. The Son came near. Jesus carried our sin to the cross and brought it to an end in His death. In Him, God dealt with sin in the body so that you and I might live free in the Spirit. This is not a call to try harder. This is an invitation to abide. In Jesus, the verdict is in. No condemnation. In Jesus, the power is present. His Spirit indwells you.
Think of salvation as God gathering a people into His Son. In Jesus the righteous requirement is already satisfied. By faith you share in what He accomplished. You belong to a people who walk by the Spirit, not by the old power of the flesh. Today, we set our minds on the Spirit and discover that grace is not a thin permission slip. Grace is Jesus living in us and through us. Thank you, Ray Stedman, for pointing us again to the Living One who does in us what the Law could never do.
Journal Entry, Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I am with you. I dwell in you. The Law could not give you life, so the Father sent the Son, and I apply His finished work to you. In His body sin was condemned. There is now no condemnation for you in Christ Jesus. I set you free from the law of sin and death, and I lead you in the new way of the Spirit.
You were crucified with Jesus, and you live to God. Jesus lives in you. Count yourself dead to sin and alive to God, because that is who you are in Him. I write My ways on your heart. I move you to walk in them. I work in you to will and to act according to the Father’s good pleasure. Abide in Jesus. Remain in His love. As you stay, fruit grows. As you trust, I express His life through you.
You are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come. The record that stood against you has been canceled at the cross. By one offering you have been perfected for all time, and I am forming the holy life of Jesus in your daily steps. When accusation rises, remember, the strength of sin is the Law, but you are not under Law. You stand in grace, and I am greater within you than anything you face.
Set your mind on the things of the Spirit. I will steady your thoughts. I will guide your words. I will shape your desires to match the heart of Jesus. Walk with Me. I am in you for this very moment.
Real-Life Analogy
Think about the automatic doors at the grocery store. You do not pry them open. You simply draw near and they part. The sensor recognizes your presence, and the mechanism does the work. Life in the Spirit is like that. You come to Jesus with trust, and His indwelling Spirit supplies what effort never could. The opening is not your achievement. It is His action as you approach.
Try this today in a specific moment. Suppose a tense conversation is coming. Instead of rehearsing arguments or tightening up inside, pause and turn toward the Lord who lives in you. Say, Lord, I trust You to speak through me with Your patience and truth right now. Then move forward expecting His life to flow. You will discover that reliance opens what resolve cannot.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus You condemned sin in the flesh. Thank You that the righteous requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us who walk by the Spirit. Today I rest in Your verdict of no condemnation. I agree with You that I am alive to You in Christ. Thank You for Your Spirit in me, directing my steps and expressing the life of Jesus through my words, my attitudes, and my choices. I stand in grace. I walk by the Spirit. I delight in what You have finished and in what You are working out in me. Amen.
Scripture References for the Journal Entry, Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Romans 8:1-4, Romans 8:2, Galatians 2:20, Romans 6:6-11, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Philippians 2:13, John 15:4-5, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Colossians 2:13-14, Hebrews 10:14, 1 Corinthians 15:56, Romans 5:1-2, Galatians 5:16-18, 1 John 4:4