Since this is the beginning of a new year, it seems fitting to go back to Genesis: “In the Beginning, God….” We know that everything that God created was totally “good” – because He is totally good – including both Trees located in the center of the Garden, according to Genesis 2:9. The only command/Law that God gave to Adam (before Eve was created) – and which came with a warning – is recorded in Genesis 2:16 -17:

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.”

 Question: Though both trees – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life – were both “good,” why did God warn Adam not eat from the former tree? Well, because He did not want Adam to experience “death” – spiritual death, i.e., become dead to God spiritually … be eternally separated from God, who is our only source of true, everlasting, divine life. The contrast is made clear in Romans 6:23:

 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When Adam rejected this wise command from God, by putting faith in his own thinking and will instead of in God’s, he and every human after him became “separated from God-kind-of-everlasting-life”- zoe life. God had made this divine life available to him (and later to us) in the Tree of Life – the “Jesus Tree,” which was also standing in the middle of the Garden. When expelled from the Garden, all he had left now was “bios life” – natural life – which was also soon destined to die. Gone was the offer to Adam and Eve of being “partakers of divine nature” that God desired all mankind to enjoy.  Fortunately for us, by His Grace and Mercy, God restored this offer to mankind 4000 years later. How? By in Adam sinners being reborn of God – by grace through faith in what Jesus has made possible for mankind on Calvary.

How About Today

Is there any Law in the Bible today that does not arouse sin and cause death – like eating of the “Tree of Law” did for Adam and being under the Mosaic Law still does today? If so, it would have to be based on something besides our imperfect, sinful behavior. One definition of sin is “missing the mark,” which has to do with the area we commonly call “morality” – the focus on doing “good instead of evil. This focus brings us back to the forbidden Tree that tempted Adam!

Question: why is it not a sin to “miss the mark” if you do not get a hit every time you are at bat in a baseball game or miss a ball while playing tennis. Because there is no universal law that says ”You have to hit the ball perfectly every time or you are forever automatically disqualified from playing this sport.” If there was such a “law,” no one could play any sport because no one can play any sport perfectly. The same goes for with archery because everyone “misses the mark” at least sometimes.

So “missing the mark” biblically only applies to breaking some “moral law,” having to do with behaving “right vs. wrong” on “moral issues.” So, let’s go back to man’s beginnings. When and where did “morality” start with humans – when someone did something that was “morality-based” – i.e. “broke a law” or command. Again, the Bible reveals that the very first time that happened was when God warned Adam not to eat the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Until that moment, there were no “restrictions” or “boundaries” or “demands”- or punishment. Everything was totally “good.” Nothing was “evil” in the Garden itself or in their life as a couple.

The introduction of commands – do’s and don’ts – was the first time the possibility of “missing the mark” confronted Adam. Again, the Tree of Morality was good in itself but not good for Adam because eating of it would cause “death” – an “evil” condition which he knew nothing about.

It is not that the Tree’s fruit was rotten but that it was “forbidden” and carried bad consequences with it when God’s first law and wise warning was “disobeyed” – not heeded. Adam decided to follow his own will, “disregarding” God’s direction, and rebel – i.e. Adam intentionally chose to reject God’s wonderful and wise will for him. Remember, it was God’s Garden and He brought Adam and Eve into existence. So He had every right to direct Adam and Eve’s behavior – for their own “good.” He gave Adam – this perfect man – only one single command/law. Yet this “good law” aroused sinful rebellion and spiritual death and prevented them from eating of the Tree of Life – the “Jesus Tree” of everlasting Life.

So, that said, let’s go back to this intriguing question:  Is there any Law in the Bible today that does not arouse sin and cause death, like, for example, the Mosaic Law does – since no one can keep it perfectly? Fortunately yes! It is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (the Jesus Tree) of Romans 8:1-2, which sets reborn saints free from condemnation, caused by the demands of perfect behavior (hitting all the marks 100% of the time) of the Law Tree – or the “Moses Tree.” When we become “reborn of God,” we automatically are “partakers of Jesus divine nature” – partakers of the “Jesus Tree” which Adam rejected. We are now “New Creations” spiritually that enjoy permanent right-standing with God by being “in Christ.” Jesus kept all the righteous demands of the “Law Tree” perfectly for us by living a sinless life on earth. From God’s perspective, what is true for Jesus the Man, seated in the heavenlies, is now true for every reborn saint – whether they understand this revelation or not.

Adam disobeyed using “sensate faith” – believing that his seeing and thinking – and Eve’s suggestion – was better than God’s wise direction. Now, because of Jesus, God’s gift of grace provides the gift of faith to see and appreciate and partake of what the “Jesus Tree” offered to Adam (and is NOW offered to us). It is nothing less than an everlasting, spiritual union with Jesus Himself and all that He and Father-God intends for us to enjoy as partakers of Life in the Trinitarian Family.  

So, to recap, how does this new law of the New Covenant in Jesus’ Blood differ from the demands of the Mosaic Law, now obsolete for Jews and never given to any Gentiles by God? (You heard that right.)

First, there is now no condemnation In Christ because the demands of Mr. Law have been totally met by Jesus on our behalf, according to Romans 8:1. Jesus fulfilled all the demands of the Mosaic Law – the Law Tree.

Secondly, He has given each reborn, new-creation-spirit believer the gift of His permanent right-standing with Father God – Justification. All this, despite the less-than-perfect thinking and behavior (sin) of our imperfect, outer-man – our body and soul. Why? Because Jesus has already paid for and removed all of our past, present and future sins on Calvary.  Additionally, Father-God has chosen to not be mindful of our soul and body constantly “missing the mark” – forever, according to Hebrews 8:12.

We did not begin “In Adam” because of our “bad behavior” but because of his rebellion as the first Representative of the whole human race. In God’s eyes, Jesus is the second and last Representative of the human race and salvation is not based on our behavior either but on faith in Jesus’ perfect behavior and sacrifice, completed perfectly on our behalf. What is true for the Man Jesus is now true for all reborn saints – regardless of his or her behavior. That glorious revelation comes from 2 Corinthians 5:19 and 21: 

… namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them, and He has committed to us (believers) the word of reconciliation. … He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

So the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2) is about believing in God’s magnanimous yet underserved love for you and me and experiencing the liberty that flows from walking in and with the Holy Spirit like Jesus did rather than according to the “flesh” – depending on “sensate faith” like Adam did. We can walk this new way because the Holy Spirit lives in every reborn person to 1) help us know God relationally and 2) to manifest, through each of us, His nine “fruits of the Holy Spirit” – God’s divine life of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, patience and self-control. Jesus is the “vine,” we are connected to Him like a branch and the Holy Spirit, living in us, produces His fruit as we learn to rest in and yield to Him. Jesus sent Him to be our Counselor, Guide, Sanctifier and Friend – not a policeman to “convict us of sin” (as some teach). Rather, He lives in us 24/7 to convince us of our permanent right-standing with Father-God, thanks to Jesus, and enable us to reflect God’s life through us like Jesus did.

In this next Eight Part Series of Posts, we will focus on some insights into what abiding in and yielding to the Holy Spirit means on a day-to-day basis. This will be about walking in our new freedom of “get to’s” not under the Law Tree of “have to’s.” This is linked to the revelation from Jesus through Paul regarding the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” that Jesus enjoyed and is offering to all reborn saints. Jesus revealed this and other “spiritual gifts” and “mysteries” through Paul’s writings. Peter called them “the scriptures” but, he says “they are hard to understand.” Well, of course they are because they are from God’s unseen realm that can only be received by His gift of faith.

Unfortunately, this “second baptism” is controversial and even resisted by some denominations in the Body of Christ. But as you can tell from many of my previous posts, I don’t shy away from documenting and explaining “controversial revelations” from the New Covenant of Grace and Mercy in Jesus’ Blood that I personally experience. If you want to increasingly benefit from Jesus’ promise of Abundant Life, here and in heaven, let’s enjoy 2022 together through more revelations from and about the work of the Holy Spirit living in every reborn believer – including You.