The only reason Christians have the ability to train ourselves to begin thinking like Jesus is because we are indwelt with the Spirit of Jesus. The very same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that is in those who belong to Jesus.
And with the very same Spirit, we have the same manner of power.
Because of that, what Paul says is that we are not debtors to the flesh who are forced to live according to the flesh. What Paul has in mind when he says that is the idea of indentured servitude. Until such a time as your debt has been paid off, your life doesn’t belong to you but is defined by the one who owns the debt. So, by very definition, we had no ability to do anything other than continue turning in on ourselves, living a life of existential pain that leads to ultimate death.
But when Christ died on the Cross, he paid the debt of our sin. And when he rose again, he imbued us with the very same resurrection power to begin the process of being made whole through our connection with him.
This is a concept that we often don’t fully appreciate. We understand that apart from God, we’re utterly sinful and in desperate need of a Savior. And that’s true. But what we often fail to realize is that once we have been saved, it isn’t just a “hurry up and wait” situation until we die. Supernatural transformation begins long before then.
That’s why Peter tells us that “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).
God has given you everything you need as it pertains to living a godly life. In his Spirit, you have everything you need to become exactly the person God always intended you to be and live exactly the life he intended for you to live.
So let me ask you this: who told you that you need to keep sinning? Who told you that you need to keep being broken? And why did you believe them? Because it’s not true. You are not required to continue walking in your sin and brokenness. In fact, God intends for the opposite.
And I’m not arguing for some kind of Christian perfectionism or trying to tell you that the project will ever be complete this side of eternity. But it is to say that, if you belong to Jesus, in any given decision point or temptation, you have a very real power to step toward wholeness.
All of this is made possible because of one powerful truth.
3. We Can Experience The Good Life In Jesus By Operating From Victory Rather Than For Victory.
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)
The language Paul uses here is emphatic. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are not living in the pursuit of victory but rather in the reality of victory.
