Daily Devotional • April 2
A Reading from Romans 8:1-11
1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 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 to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Meditation
Only God could do what St. Paul tells us here: that in Jesus Christ, who was in bodily form in the likeness of our “sinful flesh,” could defeat sin and death. More than that, Jesus Christ is in the flesh. And yet, Jesus lived not as one who is in the flesh, but rather as humanity was always meant to be—a spiritual being, concerned with heavenly things. This is the victory of the whole world in Jesus. The point of this passage is not our “yes” to God but is centered around God’s “yes” to us.
We are not the actors of Romans 8; we are the ones who are being acted upon. It is not us who defeat sin and death by our own moxie and willpower, but rather we are the ones who are sharing in victory. We are not Henry V at Agincourt, not Patton at the Ardennes; we are the beneficiaries of the work of a greater person. This knowledge of our reception and not our participation, if well understood, should color our worldview.
How can our hearts not be softened when our King has been bloodied for us? How can we not be generous when our Lord has conquered death for us? How can we be anything other than humble with our neighbor when our God has humbled himself for us? We are not the main character of the story; God is the main character, and the hero, and we are both the villain and the captive. It is in Christ that we are freed from sin, death, and bondage to the flesh, and it was through his victory in and through and against the flesh that this victory was won. Our right response to that victory is love to our victor King, and humility towards our neighbor.
The Rev. Samuel Cripps is the rector of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist in Wausau, Wisconsin.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Maseno East – The Anglican Church of Kenya
Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist, Wausau, Wisconsin
The Rev. Samuel Cripps is the rector of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist in Wausau, Wisconsin.
