I See Another Law in My Members

Have you seen another law in your members? Or are you among those who believe that they are, already here on earth, like the angels? Paul served the law of God with his mind, but he saw another law in his members. Rom. 7:23. We are born with this other law in our members, which wars against the law of our mind. It is part of our human nature, and we can never be rid of it as long as we are here in the body. There is no condemnation for the one who has this law in their members as long as they do not give in to it. But if they live according to the flesh, there will be condemnation.

Our old man was crucified with Him so that the body of sin could be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Rom. 6:6. The body of sin is to be done away with. By obedience to Christ, the law in our members is destroyed little by little. But as long as the flesh still exists, it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. What we can do is to put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit (Rom. 8:13), and then we will live. We are unable to prevent these deeds of the body from coming to the surface, since the law in our members takes the law of our mind captive. So what can we do then? We can put them to death. The flesh cannot be subject to the law of God, and it is evident that even after having received God’s Spirit, people are full of many things that the Spirit doesn’t sanction.

Some people would call this bondage. However, if I do not put to death the deeds of the body, I will soon become a slave of sin. But if I do put them to death, I will be free and will live. You can live in the initial exhilaration that comes from receiving grace and can imagine that the other law in your members is gone. Grace feels so amazing and overwhelming that people find nothing in themselves to judge. This is not because they have become so perfect; it is only the grace of God. The day God withdraws His grace from them, they experience dryness, and very often they fall away. This shows that this grace was not their personal possession. God pours out grace because of the sacrifice Christ made, but He withdraws it whenever He wills, especially when He understands that a person is merely reveling in grace and using it only for their own pleasure. Paul also had grace, but God’s grace toward him was not in vain. But in our day, the grace of God appears to be totally in vain for many people. In times of revival, entire assemblies rejoice in grace, but as soon as God requires obedience from them in return, they fail Him. As long as God is giving, all is well; but when He requires something of them, they stop rejoicing. Usually that is when the other law in their members begins to stir—that law they thought was gone forever when they were experiencing the exceeding joy of grace. The doctrine that taught them that they were finished with the law in their members is given a final blow, but because of the hypocrisy of false teachers, people continue in their folly long after they have begun to serve both the law of sin and the law of death.

Since we have another law in our members, let us face it head-on and take up a constant battle against it. For too long people have deceived themselves into thinking that they were finished with it. But as long as they continue to fall in one sin after another, we dare to affirm, together with Paul, that it is the law in their members that is at work.

What can we do about this? We must put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit.

But then the question is, what are the deeds of the body? Since they must be put to death by the Spirit, they cannot be good works. They have their root in the flesh, but they are by no means the same as “works of the flesh.” What is written about works of the flesh? They are evident; such as fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, etc. Gal. 5:19. Does anyone believe that these works can be put to death by the Spirit? No, people who practice such deeds have not received the Spirit of God, so obviously they cannot put them to death by the Spirit. Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (verse 21), but those who put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit have already inherited the kingdom of God, because they have the Spirit, and they will live.

When a person does not obey these sinful desires and puts to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, the body of sin is gradually destroyed. Sin in the flesh receives its judgment. The law was not able to put sin in the flesh to death, but now God has condemned sin in Christ’s flesh. Rom. 8:3. Now, because of the blood of Christ, He is in the process of condemning sin in our flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness: God manifested in the flesh. He has made a way through the flesh by uprooting the law of sin in our members. In its place, He planted the whole fullness of God in the body. This fullness is now in the process of filling us, and from it we have all received grace upon grace.