39. Serve in Newness of Spirit
Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
God promises that we will serve in newness of spirit. We will no longer serve in the oldness of the letter. We do not serve legalistic rules and rituals. There is nothing inherently wrong with rules and rituals, but they can become “old.” One thing about serving in the spirit is that it is always new and fresh. The Holy Spirit is continually finding new and interesting ways to serve other people.
And the source and motivation to serve has newness to it. The desire and ability to serve arises out of love for God because we have received His love for us. God’s Love and the Gospel of Christ never get old; it is, like mercy, new every morning. The fear and the threat of the Law cannot sustain a motivation and a joy of serving and loving and giving our lives for the good of others. It is always much more pleasant to do a good work because I want to than because I have to. This pleasant desire is “serving in newness of spirit.”
This promise, like all of God’s promises, makes life much more enjoyable. The best a man can get out of a life without God is serving in the oldness of the letter. It is true that a moral life, if it could be truly lived, is not a bad life, but no one really wants to be a legalist or a Pharisee. We instinctively recognize that such a life is outwardly okay, but it is not really as fulfilling as we would like. Trying to live an outwardly moral life ends up in failure and disappointment.Too many people think that that is what religion is all about, and so they end up rejecting it and ignoring God in the process. A misunderstanding of Christianity should be rejected. A life lived under the Gospel of Grace is far superior to a life lived under the Law. The true understanding of Christianity delivers from the law, that being dead. A dead life is nothing compared to a living life. This is the promise: you will live in newness.