A Tale of Two Captivities

UV 2294/10000 A Tale of Two Captivities
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members
Romans 7 v 23

There are two laws or two forces working in each of us: the law of satan, sin and death and the law of the spirit of God, eternal life and righteousness. The first pays its wages in terms of captivity to the enemy of our souls, death and the bonus in terms of diseases and curses. The second pays its wages in terms of eternal life, freedom, blessings. The first is at work in all members of our bodies and minds. It is at work in our thoughts, our imagination, our desires, our feelings, our relationships, our workplaces and our homes. The two forces are at war with each other all through life. When we believe the message of Jesus and accept Him as the medium of our salvation, we receive freedom from captivity of the enemy of our souls. We have the freedom of choice for the first time in our lives to submit our members willingly to the Holy Spirit or to the evil one: our minds, our tongues, our emotions, our hands and legs, our sexual organs, our eyes, our ears. The victorious and mature believer, realizing the blessings of such spiritual freedom and the limitations of bondage, makes it a consistent habit of submitting all to the Holy Spirit.

As we submit the various members of our being to Christ, He saves each member. The fruit or end result of sin is death while the fruit of willing submission to Christ is eternal life and its accompanying fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. Even as formerly, we yielded our members to the law of sin fully and wholly, we need to now yield the various parts of our being to be instruments of righteousness, to be instruments of the kingdom of God in us and around us. There is no compromise or half way point. We need to take every thought, feeling, desire, word, action and reaction captive to Christ. To take each thought captive to Christ implies setting it truly free from sin, from the influence of the evil one, from the linkages to the past, to set it free from fear of death, disease, curses, failure, inhibitions and limitations.

We need to examine each overt part of our bodies and the hidden functions of our minds and emotions and check if these are not operating under the law of sin and death but under the law of eternal life and freedom. If any part is ensnared by the enemy, knowingly or unwittingly, it is time to use all the grace and power at our disposal to set it free. There are various lusts of the flesh, the eye and pride or ego that war against the spirit in our minds and bodies. The weapons we use to set our members free from these lusts or illegitimate desires are not carnal or of the flesh but of the spirit- the knowledge and diligent and faithful application of the word, prayer, repentance, confession, praise, worship and thanksgiving. The process through which our members are set free from the law of sin is called discipleship.

Prateep V Philip