death and hell defeated

When Scripture says Satan is defeated and Christ now holds the keys to death and hell, what does this mean? 

This is simply saying that death no longer holds the same meaning and effect it once did. Satan and death no longer have the final word regarding our eternal destination i.e. our eternal separation from God and loss of all the gifts of life we now enjoy. When we are in Christ, death now means we are ushered into his presence when we die and exit this veil of tears. This is why Paul said,

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:“Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Co 15:54-57

This does not mean pain and suffering (or Satan) are eliminated in this life, or that death no longer exists (people die every day). It simply means if we are in Christ, death no longer signifies judgment and our ultimate separation from our Creator, nor do the accusations of Satan that we are worthless, guilty, and justly condemned. Why? Because our acceptance by God is based solely on Christ's efforts, not ours. 

Pain, suffering, and death have been conquered, neutered, defused, altered, and are even redeemed and used to bring life in this present world (i.e. to draw us closer to God, who is life). Ultimately, they will no longer be useful or necessary and will eventually be done away with altogether. 

If we are in Christ, they are no longer tools or instruments of destruction and eternal separation from God but are now used as a means of deliverance from our focus and preoccupation with self.

Death no longer means final and eternal death because the sting of death has been removed. Before Christ, the sting was that it ultimately led to condemnation and eternal separation from the Source of life, love, and all the blessings of creation. It no longer does for those who are in Christ. Now death is used as a means to life and ushers us into His presence in this life, with fullness of life awaiting us. 

" 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' " The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  1Co 15:55-57

Christ fulfilled the demands of the law and our just condemnation for all the harm we caused others by ignoring it!

2Co 12:7  So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited (who do you think gave the thorn...it wasn't Satan himself. And note it is described as a gift, not a curse or punishment).

When the Bible says that Christ now holds the keys to death and hell, it does not mean he's eliminated these, but by his resurrection, he overcame them, and now he's redeeming and using the challenges for our ultimate good and his glory. All this is offered to us if we receive His gift of eternal life in, by, and through Christ! Only through Christ is this true. 

being righteous, living righteously

Is there a difference between being righteous (our legal status before God) and living righteously i.e. our daily conduct? 

Even though God grants us total righteousness (perfect legal standing) before Him in Christ, he still desires us to ¹live righteously. 

It is only through ¹righteous living we are most aligned and in tune with God ⁵practically. We love others as we are designed to, and best put Him on display - i.e. honor and glorify Him - through loving actions toward others. But these actions do not save us. 

He designed us to be aligned with his will in our everyday conduct, so we might 

1. experience more of Him and His love and 

2. best honor and glorify Him before others. 

3. Advance His ⁵kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

These are the desired outcomes of the good standing He has fully secured for us and assigned to us in Christ. 

God grants us right legal standing, so we might live right. We don't live right to enhance our legal standing with Him (this has already been perfectly settled in and by Christ), but so we might partake of Him more fully in our everyday lives. 

He wants us to live righteously so that we might more fully partake of and participate in His love, life, and joy, and pass it on to others more effectively. This brings more attention (honor) to Him, so others might be drawn to Him through us and thereby also find in Him fullness of life by means of our righteous conduct. This advances and establishes His righteous ⁵reign on earth.

The idea of being made right so we would live right is expressed in several places in scripture, but most often and clearly in Paul's letter to the Romans.

‭‭Romans 6:4 ESV‬‬

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

‭‭Romans 7:4 ESV‬‬

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (i.e. we are perfectly right with God in Christ). For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us..." - Rom ‭8:1‭-‬5‬

Each of the above 3 passages shows that the desired outcome of God making us right with Him (i.e., righteous before Him legally) is that we might live righteously. 

In fact, in several of Paul's letters (Ephesians, Colossians, ³Hebrews and Romans) the first part of these letters lays out what God has done for us regarding our unrighteous status - i.e. He has made us righteous in and through Christ.  The remaining part of each letter addresses how we are to conduct our lives in light of this and in response to it.

This is clearest in the entire book of Romans, where the first 11 chapters elaborate on our alienation from God and what He has done to restore us in Christ - i.e., the explanation of the good news (gospel). Then, from chapter 12 on, it shifts to how we conduct ourselves in light of this good news. 

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, (i.e. in light of what I have said up to this point regarding our dilemma and God's solution) to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Rom 12:1

The ending phrase "spiritual worship" indicates this is a heartfelt response, not a rigid duty or legal requirement. A response to what? To God providing the righteousness, we must have to be in good standing with the Father, by assigning Christ's perfect standing with the Father to us.

Did only Paul address this? No, Peter, James, and John did as well.

"When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness i.e. in our everyday conduct..." - 1 Pet 2:23-24

This connection by multiple writers isn't a coincidence. Righteous living must always flow out of our righteous standing with God (because we could never meet the requirements of living a perfectly righteous life unaided) i.e., righteous living will and must always flow out of a righteous standing before God. If it does not - if there is no fruit of righteous living - the scriptures call us to make sure we are truly His child. This is clearly implied and stated explicitly in the above and other passages. So much so that scripture tells us if how we live has not changed since we came to Christ, we need to be sure we truly know Him. 

For a further discussion on being right vs living right click here 

What is the good news? click here

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Footnotes: 

¹What exactly is righteous living or living righteously? When our conduct is perfectly aligned with God's ⁴design and will.

And what is God's design (will) for us and all creation? That in everything we do and say we honor and glorify him. And in doing so, we also experience our greatest significance - glory. 

And how do we best honor and glorify him? By loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. Love (i.e. relationship) is the driving force of righteous conduct. Carrying out these commandments or living righteously - i.e. treating others as we wish to be treated - is the result. 

God's love for us is first, and our responding back to him in love is the result. We will not value or love God above all others until we grasp and experience his value of or love for us. 

God is the initiator and source of love. If we are not plugged into Him and thereby drawing strength from Him, we can never be loving as we were designed to be. When we see and experience his love, we "light up," come to life, bear fruit, and become the true bearers of His image as we were created to be.  

God is the power supply, we are the conduits. He is the treasure, we are jars of clay. He is the vine, we are the branches.

Which comes first, our valuing and loving Him or Him valuing and loving us? We love him because he first loved us.

³There is good reason to believe Paul dictated the book of Hebrews to Luke, who wrote it. The way the letter flows and unfolds - the thorough knowledge of the OT - is characteristic of other letters by Paul (a well-studied Jewish Pharisee), not someone who is a Greek Gentile such as Luke. 

But the style and elegance of the Greek used in the book is indicative of Luke also seen in Acts and Lukes gospel. So some suggest Hebrews was a collaboration between Paul and Luke. 

There are other reasons some believe Paul dictated it. Primarily because, as far as we know, all but one of Paul's letters (including Hebrews) was dictated. Possibly because of poor eyesight from his being blinded by beholding Christ on the road to Damascus.

Also Luke was a highly educated Greek national and medical doctor, fluent in "high" Greek. 

Hebrews was written with grammatical precision, using several words unique to the book of Hebrews. This was uncharacteristic of Paul's other letters but similar to the gospel of Luke. For these reasons, some think Paul didn't write it but dictated it to Luke. Explaining why it has characteristics of both Paul and Luke. The fact that he considered himself the apostle to the Gentile adds even more credibility to this view. 

It is also believed Paul deliberately did not identify as the author since he was considered the apostle to the Gentiles and not looked upon favorably by the Judaizers from Jewish circles within the church. 

Some suggest Paul deliberately left his name off to avoid any resistance to the letters' reception and wide circulation within the Jewish community at large. After all, why would the apostle to the Gentiles be writing a letter to Hebrews?  

But Paul's love for his own people was clearly expressed in Romans chapter 9. Knowing this, it would make perfect sense that he still had an intense desire to reach his people even though God had called him to be an apostle to the Gentiles. 

⁴this is given either as a direct order in writing, verbally, and by Christ's example - all of which are recorded in scripture.

⁵and advance His kingdom most. Our actions matter, either advancing or hindering God's kingdom. 

Knowing God but not fully yet!

Understanding the "already... not yet" aspect of the gospel (good news) is vital. This addresses how we are "seated in the heavenly's" but have yet to be in heaven. Without a clear understanding of the difference, we will not enter into the benefits of what God has already secured for us in this life. 

This involves a clear understanding and faith in who we are in Christ right now vs who we are not yet but will be one day. This concerns how we are viewed by God now vs how we will experience God in eternity.

To gain a solid understanding of this key component of the gospel (good news), we need to differentiate between our ¹legal status (standing) before God and our actual experience of God.

What do we mean by the expression "already but not yet?"

Christ already fully loves us (just as much as He will in eternity), but we have not yet experienced that love to the full extent we will in eternity.

God is already fully committed to us, totally engaged in our good, and fully present with us now (just as much as He will be in eternity) but we do not yet see him face-to-face i.e. we are not yet without any obstructions, or distractions and fully in his presence (though His love and care are perfectly and fully set upon us now and every moment in Christ...in Him, we live and move and have our being).

We are totally delivered from the ultimate legal consequences of our past, present, and future rebellious distrust of God. But we are not yet presently or fully delivered from all the practical consequences of that rebellion or from being in a broken, rebellious world and wrestling with the day-to-day struggle of our own distrust. We ²still wrestle with trusting God perfectly even as His children - in the same way Christ did (though Christ did without sin i.e. he always obeyed. We often do not).

For now, what connects and brings something of - ³but not all - the glorious future blessings God has in store for us into the present, is faith. 

Faith in what? Faith that God is fully committed to us and engaged in our lives as much now as He will be in eternity. And He is working in all things for our good for those who love Him, even if it doesn't seem or feel like it presently. And He is using all things good, bad, and ugly to draw us into greater union with Him, who is life, love, and the source of all things.

In this present existence, the just - those who are legally and perfectly right before God because of Christ - live by faith. Faith is the evidence of what we hope for (confidently expect) and the certainty of things not yet seen (Heb 11:1) i.e. faith in what is already perfectly ours - though not yet fully ours in our day- to-day experience. By this faith, we bring something of our glorious future of overflowing joy and delight into the present. The more we agree with and trust in what we now have (God's perfect acceptance, commitment, and love) the more we experience something of it but do not yet fully have, i.e. the full experience and participation in what is already ours legally. 

You could say God has all of us now as much as He will ever have (regarding His complete acceptance, love, and devotion to us) but we do not have all of God yet. God is always working through all our experiences in this life to move us more in that direction practically/ experientially, to align us more fully with what has already been earned for us legally. Christ already fully took care of the legal part i.e. "It is finished."

No matter how much faith we have it will not result in the ³full experience we are yet to have in eternity i.e. we are not glorified yet with all its benefits. Glorification is real and something different from our present experience. Something will happen to us that is not yet happening. 

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Only in eternity will all tears, pain, and death be eliminated. Only then will the rest of creation be fully delivered from the corruption, pollution, and decay of its present bondage.

Yet, at the same time, we are already glorified in the eyes of God.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (a present reality). Rom 8:30. 

Our present existence consists of pain and suffering. For now, we primarily experience God by faith. But there are times He will give us glimpses of His infinite love providentially, i.e. we will experience something of His involvement in our day-to-day lives circumstantially. And if we are about advancing His purposes, this involvement may be very significant - just nowhere near the same level we will see in eternity.

In eternity, we will experience God fully and directly without interruption, in all the fullness of His glory, face-to-face. Now we relate to God through faith, hope, and love. In eternity, love will be central if not the only way we relate to Him. Who hopes for what they already fully have or must trust what is fully seen?  

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Cor 13:12‭-‬13

"...then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known..."

This wording is deliberate and specific. It says our experience of God (knowing Him perfectly) is not yet full even though God's disposition of love and commitment to us (and knowledge about us - including our sin) is i.e. we are fully known (and loved) by God even though we do not yet fully know (and love) Him. 

This suggests the reason we will one day fully know him is because He already fully knows and embraces us now in our brokenness i.e. he knows everything about us, good, bad, and ugly, and fully receives and embraces us in Christ.

For a further discussion on how we know God now vs in eternity click here.

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¹Because of Christ the disposition God has towards us now is exactly the same as it will be in eternity i.e. perfect and total love and acceptance. We will be no more loved by God in eternity than we are right now. The difference will be our experience of that love. It will be different because we will be different (glorified) and face-to-face with him vs seeing him now through a glass darkly (in a mirror dimly) i.e. we now live by faith, not by direct sight, as we will one day be in His direct and unobstructed presence.

The only reason we are equally loved and accepted by God now as we will be in eternity is Christ. He took the full consequences of our rebellious unbelief onto himself and assigned his perfect obedience and the right standing he earned with the Father fully to us. In the eyes of God, we are legally, perfectly, and fully received and embraced in the same way, and as much as the eternal Son of God is...the Son of His eternal and infinite affection. We are now seated (legally established) in the heavens, but not fully (physically) present there yet.

²God seeks to eliminate that wrestling as much as possible by increasing our faith and removing our doubt as we faithfully pursue Him.

³Though a great deal of the energy and effort expended by many believers is to secure all the benefits of heaven here and now. This is sometimes referred to as the "health and wealth" gospel or the "prosperity" gospel. To assume this, does not recognize the benefit of struggle and the importance and necessity of strengthening our faith through it.

For an excellent, more technical article on the "already, but not yet" teaching in scripture click here.

3 levels of trust

When we trust others, that trust is on 3 different levels.

1. Do we trust their heart i.e. Do we believe and know someone is acting with good and loving intent toward us and others.

2. Do we trust their judgment i.e. Do we believe and know they have the best understanding and wisdom when it comes to how they handle decisions, challenges, and circumstances i.e. will they make the right decision.

3. Do we trust their ability i.e. Do we believe someone can fulfill the promises they make or responsibilities they are given or have regarding us or others.

For us to have complete trust in someone we must trust them in all 3 areas. 

This is not just true of our attitude towards other fellow creatures but also and especially towards God our Creator.  

How do these apply to God? How is He trustworthy? 

1. Heart. Is God good and loving? 

The greatest evidence of love is when someone sacrifices something they value most for another's benefit. 

The Father gave us the Son of His eternal affection and delight and the Son set aside his ¹glory and perfect union with the Father of His delight so He might restore us to good standing with His Father.

They did so that our selfishness and failures would not be held against us so we might be fully restored to the Father's infinite love and share in it along with the Son in the same way as the Son. 

The Father and Son gave up what they valued most (unobstructed blissful union with each other) so we might participate in that union of perfect glory and joy. 

2. Judgement/wisdom. By definition, God must be everywhere present, all-knowing and all-wise...and He is. Therefore only He knows the best possible outcome to any and all given situations. 

Because He is also love, he always chooses the best possible outcome in every situation. Infinite love coupled with infinite knowledge and wisdom assures this.

 

3. Ability...  Is He able to bring about His love and wisdom to full fruition? 

As the Creator and Sustainer of all things, nothing exists (is) without God. He even uses evil - caused by our distrust of Him - for good. Evil did not and does not have the last word, God does. Nothing can thwart God from carrying out his perfect, all-wise, and loving will, not even our sin. 

*For a futher discussion on God using evil for good click here. 

*For a fuller understanding of the significance of Christ setting aside his glory for our benefit click here.

 

The law, grace, and God's will

We cannot see or receive the full demands of the law until we grasp the fullness of God's ¹grace. Without a clear grasp of grace, the ²law crushes us when we fully grasp what it asks of us.

On the other hand, in order to have a clear understanding of God's direction and will, we must have a clear understanding of the law i.e. God's moral standards and direction-will. The law spells out, in no uncertain terms, the conduct God desires (wills) and designs for us. That conduct and design are God's expressed, revealed, or written will - vs his secret, vocational or providential will. 

Nevertheless we cannot properly benefit from the law or receive its direction the right way until we have a clear grasp of grace. 

Both the law and grace are vital in our relationship with God and must both be held in their proper place and order. 

Grace is the oil (lubricant) and ³fuel of our relationship with God and the law is the track (directions) we run on (not as a requirement to be accepted by God but as the means by which we reach our maximum speed - potential - and how we honor Him most). 

Loving God with everything we have and our neighbor as our self - i.e. the 1st and 2nd greatest commands - are the ultimate standard and our highest design.

We tend to focus on one side or the other i.e. legalism (law/obedience) or antinomianism (grace/faith). We are inclined to do so due to our lack of trust in God. 

But when properly understood, law and grace (as God intends it) are not in conflict. They go hand in hand. True trust (faith) filled, love-driven obedience is neither of these.

Walking with God by grace is truly freeing. Once we fully grasp God's infinite grace, we will never be the same. There is no longer any condemnation or rejection for our distrust, failure, or disobedience. Only God's complete embrace and perfect acceptance are ours in and through Christ. 

But that doesn't mean walking with God is mushy or wishy-washy. It is solid and has teeth. Because God's law clearly lays out the best way to operate - i.e. according to His design - to not live according to His clear direction (love God and neighbor) is to our harm, loss, or eventual destruction and the harm of others. It has real consequences, like trying to run a jet on water instead of jet fuel has consequences. It's not a question of judgment but of operating as God designed us to.

Living contrary to His design-will-law matters, similar to using equipment according to the owner's manual matters. If the equipment doesn't operate as it was designed, it does not run properly and eventually breaks down -  not to mention never reaching its maximum efficiency and potential. Not operating according to the manual (the "law" on how the equipment works best) always results in negative consequences i.e. equipment failure.

If we are to know and walk with God well, we must know and walk with him exactly as he prescribes. The law isn't a list of  requirements we must complete to be acceptable and accepted by God but neither is it mere recommendations. To operate optimally, we must operate according to His direction, which is also the way He designed us to operate. Walking with God is grounded in truth/reality. There are no ambiguities within God or his direction. Any ambiguities lie only within us and our lack of understanding of God; his directions, design, and purpose.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1‭-‬4 ESV  

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 ESV

For a discussion on legalism click here

For a discussion on walking in the spirit and not under the law click here

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¹Grace consists of God fully receiving us in all our brokenness and having his eyes set upon us in perfect love and care even when we stray...no, actually, especially when stray.

This is only because Christ fully satisfied the demands of God's law on our behalf and credited us with His perfect obedience as if it was our own. He now sees us in the same way He views Christ, with perfect affection and delight. In Christ, God now sees and receives us as perfect, without flaw. He could not set his love upon us otherwise.

²By law, I mean God's moral standard - not ceremonial rituals that were done away with by Christ fulfilling them. 

God's moral standard is summed up in the greatest commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the 2nd which is like it... loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is what we are called to live out, not in order to be received by God but in response to His relentless love, we desire to honor God for who he is - loving, merciful, patient, gracious, and kind etc. - and our fellow image bearers for who they are i.e. like God, worthy of our love.

³To be precise love is the fuel that drives our obedience but this is love granted to us only in and through grace. 

Our legal vs practical relationship with God

The Bible speaks of two kinds of righteousness:

1. Legal - declared righteousness by grace through faith 
2. ¹Practical - day to day righteousness through faithful obedience. 

These two are distinct and appear to be in opposition when they are in fact connected.

Due to our rebellious distrust and a desire to be our own god, we are naturally inclined to confuse these and mix them together i.e. we see obedience as a means of earning God's acceptance, not as an expression of our already fully having it in Christ.

The following list compares and contrasts these two.

1.     The legal (our legal status and standing before God) can only be and is completely taken care of ^1aby God, not us.

2.     The relational can only be and is addressed ¹by us

1.  The legal has been taken care of ^2aby Christ's work. 

2.  The relational is addressed ^2aby our "work" of believing in that work.

1.     The legal is grounded in ^3aa past historical event 

2.     The relational is an ^3aon going present pursuit.

1.     The legal addresses God as our ^4arighteous judge 

2.     The relational addresses God as our ^4akind and loving Father

1.     The legal is about ^4aGods judgment and condemnation of us 

2.     The relational is about ^4aour love for him and fidelity to him

1.     The legal addresses ^4aGods posture-attitude-disposition towards us 

2.     The relational addresses ^4aour posture-disposition towards God

1.     The legal is ^5asettled, finished, completed, never to be re-litigated.

2.     The relational ^5ais ongoing, unfolding and never done.

The legal (1) is the foundation on which the practical/relational (2) is built.

Those who haven't received and experienced legal righteousness (1) attempt to use relational-practical day-to-day obedience-righteousness (2) to replace it i.e. they attempt to live righteously to gain God's acceptance, not because they already have it in Christ. 

The legal requirement of perfect righteousness can never be achieved (satisfied) by us i.e. our keeping God's commands perfectly because we are not able to. 

The legal is the foundation on which the relational is built. The relational/practical (2) flows from and is the fruit of assigned or declared righteous (1).

We cannot ²properly engage in the relational/practical (2) without clearly grasping the legal (1). 

Many of Paul's letters illustrate this. For example, Paul's spends the majority of his time laying the foundation of justification by faith in chapters 1-11 in Romans and chapters 1-4 in both Galatians and Ephesians, before discussing how to live out that faith in chapters 12 to the end of Romans and chapter 5 to the end of Galatians and Ephesians. You also see this laid out in just chapter 3 of Colossians alone.

The following passages also show these two realities juxtaposed to each other, while also showing how they are completely connected.

Rom 6:4  

(1)We were buried (past tense and legal status) therefore with him by baptism into death,

(2) in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk (present tense and daily conduct) in newness of life.

Rom 7:4  

(1)Likewise, my brothers, you also have died (past tense, legal status) to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead,

 (2) in order that we may bear fruit (present tense, daily conduct) for God.

Rom 8:3-4 

(1) For God has done (past tense, legal status) what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

(2) in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk (present tense, daily conduct) not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Note this contrast and connection is addressed in verse 4 of each of chapters 6, 7 and 8 of Romans (this makes it easy to remember the reference). This also shows the significance of this truth by repeating it three times in sequence using different examples in slightly different ways. The further significance of this is many consider Romans the fullest explanation of the gospel in all its facets and the pinnacle of Paul's letters as well as the New Testament itself, with chapters 6-8 being the pinnacle of Romans, particularly chapter 8.  

Do you wish to live righteously? You can not until you first grasp the full extent of your legal righteousness in Christ. The greater your grasp of this righteousness earned by another and given to you the greater will be it's fruit i.e. day to day righteousness. 

For additional posts discussing our legal vs practical status click here. 

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^1aThis addresses who

^2aThis addresses who and how

^3aThis addresses when

^4aThis addresses who and what

^5aThis addresses what and when

¹I am using "practical" and "relational" interchangeably because our obedience-practical righteousness is based on trust in God - i.e. it is relational. Trust is vital to our relationship with God and how we enter into that love already fully secured for us legally in Christ. 

²Neither can we completely appreciate or benefit from the legal (1) without fully engaging in the relational-practical (2). Our failure to obey perfectly requires us to go back to the work of Christ and remember God's acceptance is not based on our perfect obedience but on the obedience of Christ, an obedience that is already fully completed and can not be added to. This increases our appreciation for His work i.e. due to our failed obedience -- and know with certainty, you will fail and often -- increasingly helps us see the full extent of his work in freeing us from condemnation. 

The following passage best summarizes and captures these truths:

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." - Rom 8:1-4