March 3, 2010
SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 2-3
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. [John 6:63]
What is the big difference between Jesus’ teaching and the Law of Moses (and in fact, of every other religion)?
Every religion describes what we must do for God in order to satisfy Him; the way of Jesus is what He does for us, and what He gives to us.
He perfectly obeys God “in the flesh”, something that we could not do.
He dies the sinners death – and overcomes it, victorious over the curse, something that we could not do.
And He gives us His Spirit to revive and renew our hearts and lives, to change us from the inside out, something that we could not do.
The new covenant, the new arrangement with God, which surpasses the Law of Moses, is one where God does in/through us by His Spirit what we cannot do ourselves.

Jesus talks about the ‘flesh’ (our natural selves on our own) as counting for nothing; He means it is incapable of succeeding by itself.
Paul talks about the ‘letter’, by which he means the Law that tells our flesh to do this, don’t do that!
But the problem is our flesh cannot change or correct itself, no matter how much the letter tells us too – the OT is evidence of this.
We need a new arrangement, where the Spirit enables our flesh [makes it competent, 2 Corinthians 4-5] to live differently.
Through Jesus, this new arrangement has come; now by the Spirit we can produce the fruit of the Spirit, i.e. the life that God asks of us.

Our greatest need is not to try harder, but to walk closely with the Lord so that His Spirit can work in/through us.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. [2 Corinthians 3:17-18]
Through a close, personal relationship with Jesus, the Spirit changes us more and more to be like Jesus.
This is why this message is glorious good news; its not a ‘try harder’ message but a ‘walk closer’ message.
‘Give yourself to me, and watch what I can do!’

PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for our Spirit, the guarantee of the perfection and victory that lies ahead! I can do all things, through You!