The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:2

The Spirit of Life is through Jesus Christ, for Jesus is the chief corner stone in which the building is structured to a holy temple in the Lord. The church is structured through the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, and it is fashioned through the character of Christ. Paul told the Ephesians that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them,” [Ephesians 2:10]. We can boast what Christ has done in our personal life, but we cannot take glory for the work of the Lord, for it was a gift of God and we were all bought with a price. There is a law put in place and that law of the Spirit of life is Christ Jesus himself. This is the everlasting life that flows through us by the Holy Spirit and builds us up into the character of Christ.

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:21-22

We become a holy temple and a habitation of God through the Spirit. Wow! This takes some consideration in our minds to get around the full meaning of what this means. To imagine that each of us is fitly framed together to grow into a holy temple can be hard to understand. This is the body that is being built in the church. I have not even thought about this in my early walk as a Christian. I became a Christian in 1974 in Seattle Washington. Several of us from the youth group at the Presbyterian Church and some from the Catholic church went to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Seattle, Washington. We had heard about the charismatic movement and the speaking of tongues. I cannot remember how or who suggested us to go and check it out. But we went one Sunday morning to St. Luke’s in Ballard, for we wanted to learn more about the baptism in the Spirit. We went forward during the invitation to come to the alter and pray. Rev. Dennis Bennett came in back of each of us praying and laying hands on us to receive the Holy Spirit. When his hands touch my head, I felt the power of God go through me and I began to speak in tongues. We were all full of the Holy Spirit and God’s light shown upon our faces.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is the beginning of building the holy temple in the Lord. The Holy Spirit comes in clean vessels that are yielded vessels for the work of God to move in the heart towards the character of Christ. We let go the youthful lust in the flesh which was common among youth and desired to have peace, love, and faith in the Lord Jesus. Our sins were forgiven and now we wanted the fullness of the Spirit to walk in the love of Christ. The apostle Paul stated to depart from all iniquity. If a man would purge himself from all that is unclean, he would become a vessel of honor, sanctified, and fit for the master’s use and this would prepare us for every good work, [see 2 Timothy 2:21]. This is the law of the Spirit of Life through Christ Jesus. Being made free from the law of sin and death. Created in Christ Jesus to the glory of God. We were so full of the Spirit of God that we would gather at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle late at night to sing praises and dance unto the Lord. This may sound astounding, but like King David dancing before the Lord, so did we play cymbals and tambourines and danced. In those days the church door was left open for anyone to come and pray when needed. This was a house of prayer.

“Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.”

Psalms 149:3

I can remember this as if it was yesterday, but this was 48 years ago. So much joy was in our hearts that we had to spend time in the Spirit to exalt the name of the Lord. This was the beginning of walking in the Spirit. We did not want to be carnally minded for to be carnally minded brought death and not peace.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Romans 8:6

The word carnally is the Hebrew word “shakab” which means copulation, seed, or sexual act. We wanted life and peace that is from being spiritually minded through Christ Jesus. The righteousness that is in Christ Jesus has the redemptive power to save and to create a new man. This is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Jesus. Romans chapter 8 mentions the Holy Spirit nineteen times. This is an important note for us to consider and chew upon. Sin and death no longer have control over us, for we belong to Christ, and we now have the righteousness of Christ who is the victor over sin and death. If we put to death the deeds of the body, we shall live [see Romans 8:13]. Our body and mind belong to the Lord, and we must worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth. It is the Spirit that works in the yielded Christian to bring the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus into effect. This is so marvelous that the power of the resurrection of Christ will give life to our mortal bodies by His Spirit [see Romans 8:11]. As the believer becomes a habitation for God, our adoption is assured as children and heirs of God.

The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.”

Romans 8:16

Do you have that witness within your own spirit? Is your position in Christ a reality? The indwelling of the Spirit gives the realization of the present experience which is the earnest down payment of our inheritance that we have through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Sonship is the adoption we receive the moment we believe. Regeneration takes on the meaning of the divine life of Christ nature to flow in the believer by the Holy Spirit. This means we do not work at achieving it ourselves, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit to renew our mind and heart to that of having the mind and heart of Christ. The apostle Paul states it as the following:

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Titus 3:5

The washing or bathing in the regeneration or new birth is in Christ Jesus who gives us the Spirit to help us become more Christ like in our nature and character. It is from glory to glory that He is changing us. When the Holy Spirit convicts us about something, we surrender it, and he works the change within us. We are washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God states Paul in 1st Corinthians 6:11. This is the saving grace of God the Father, and it is done through the Son who gives us the Holy Spirit as our helper. The mystery of the work of the Spirit who points to Christ who points to the Father is something many theologians have debated. The Trinity is the three in one {Father, Son, and Holy Spirit}. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to give life to our mortal bodies so that we can live in peace, love, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is something we can rejoice in and give thanks to the Lord.