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 8:2-4 (ESV)

 

In Christ, we walk in the law of the Spirit, which liberates us from the law of sin and death. The indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to truly live from our identity in Christ, allowing us to live in obedience without falling into legalism.

Legalism happens because we are still treating obedience as a condition for salvation rather than a gift of salvation. According to Romans 8, the law of sin and death refers to our feeble human attempts to obey God’s law. We will fail because trying to obey the Law aggravates and awakens our sinful nature. This is why God gives us a new nature in Christ so that we are set free to live and obey according to the Spirit’s leading.

The Law is fulfilled in us, not by us — that is, by Christ’s imputed righteousness living within us. You will not succeed if you try to obey God on your own terms, but you will not fail if you put your trust in Jesus. When you focus on how great God is in your life rather than on how good you are, obedience will naturally and supernaturally flow through you.

If we struggle with obedience, we have not fully appreciated our inheritance as God's sons and daughters. The sign of sonship is true freedom in Christ. Being made new in Christ, we have the freedom to obey God out of love for Him, rather than out of slavish fear of the Law. Then we will discover Spirit-filled holiness is not legalism or moralism but a transformative relationship where we become more and more like Jesus.