Easter, Romans 8........and Another Monday Morning

Walking in the Spirit, Living in Grace

When I was a little girl, one of my favourite things about Easter wasn't the chocolate eggs—although I did my fair share of unwrapping and munching! I loved our yearly tradition of going to the shops to pick out an Easter chick. Not a real one (imagine the chaos), but those tiny, fluffy, bright yellow chicks that only seemed to appear around Easter, like little seasonal mascots.

It became our ritual. My mum would take me to the local toy shop. I would spend an unnecessarily long time auditioning each chick for cuteness like I was running some kind of chick version of The X Factor. I'd carefully choose the one that looked the cutest—which often turned into two or three because, well, choosing just one was too hard! (That habit may or may not still show up when shopping for jumpers. Just saying.)

But, of course, Easter isn't really about the fluffy chicks, the chocolate, or whatever cartoon character kids are associating with it these days. Neither is it just about Jesus rising from the dead - there's also something deep and equally meaningful at its core….. it's also the story of us rising with Him.   

The resurrection isn't a moment we remember once a year; it's a truth we get to live every day. And if there's one chapter in Scripture that captures the depth and beauty of that reality, it's Romans 8.

It starts with "no condemnation" and ends with "no separation" from the love of God. Bursting with hope and promise, this chapter reminds us that we are no longer condemned, no longer bound by fear, and never separated from God's love. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the grave is alive in us, empowering us to walk in obedience and freedom. Easter is our invitation to live resurrected—and Romans 8 shows us how.

Lately, our teaching at church has been centred around a reminder that following Jesus isn't about checking off spiritual boxes—showing up to church, reading Scripture, or doing good things. As important as those are, they're not the goal. The real call is transformation—an inner work of grace that changes who we are at the core. It's about Christ shaping us; influencing our actions at work, home, during conflicts, stress, and rest. It's not just doing things for God but reflecting His character with integrity every moment.

But let's be honest. Sometimes, that feels impossible.

Even if we know what's right, we don't always do it. And even when we try really hard, we can still fall short. That's what the Apostle Paul wrestled with in Romans 7. He said:

"I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing" (Romans 7:19).

Can you relate to that? I think we all can. That's why my favourite chapter in the Bible is Romans 8; this chapter is such a gift. It's one of the most powerful, hope-filled, and transformational chapters in all of Scripture. It moves us from guilt to grace, bondage to freedom, and struggle to Spirit-filled living.

Romans 8 starts like a breath of fresh air

v1 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

No condemnation. None. Not now, not ever – for who? - for those who are in Christ Jesus.   

This is huge because if we are honest, many of us still feel condemned. We walk around with guilt from our past, shame over our failures, and fear that God is disappointed in us. But Paul is crystal clear: if you are in Christ, you are not under condemnation.

To be "in Christ" isn't just a religious phrase - it's the heart of the Christian life - it means you've been united to Jesus by God's grace, you've placed your faith, your trust in who Christ is and what Christ has done, you've acknowledged your sin and embraced His forgiveness. Because of that, God counts Christ's righteousness as yours, and the guilty verdict has been erased. The gavel has come down and declared you: "Not guilty."

This isn't just good news—it's life-changing news. It means we don't live for God in order to be accepted. We live for Him because we've already been accepted.

Paul continues to assure his readers of why there is now no condemnation, and this has much to do with the Holy Spirit.  

v2 "For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."

Paul compares two "laws" in this context—two different forces or dominating powers at work that govern our conduct….much like the laws of gravity and motion in the physical world govern the movement of objects in the universe.

• One is the "law of sin and death," the power which overtook us and made us a prisoner of sin, keeping us enslaved. Sin was our master. Death was the result.

• The other is the "law of the Spirit of life," the new power that now indwells in the believer and has liberated us through the work of Jesus Christ.

  
  

Think of it like this: before Christ, we were stuck in a downward spiral. We couldn't break free no matter how hard we tried to climb out. Sin pulled us down like gravity. This law of the power of sin had a grip on our minds, affections and will, and it had us in a death grip. But the Holy Spirit comes in and changes the equation. It's like the law of lift in aviation. Aeroplanes overcome gravity not by removing it but by applying a higher law.

That's what the Spirit does. He lifts believers above the weight of sin, above what once held us down. Only by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit can you and I oppose the power of sin that is still in the flesh that is in us.

Through the Spirit, we are free. Free from sin's control. Free from fear. Free from guilt. But this freedom isn't a license to do whatever we want—it's an invitation to live the life we were meant to live, one marked by love, holiness, and power. It is a life that is continually and consistently obedient to God's Word and constantly engaging in prayerful dependence. We do not live it perfectly, but we live it differently from before, making progress moment by moment.

But this is only possible because of what God did, what He did for us because God did what we couldn't:

v3a "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do."

The law—God's commands—was never the problem. The problem was us. Our sinful nature made it impossible to live up to God's standards.

The law is like a mirror. It shows us our flaws, but it can't fix them. We needed more than rules—we needed rescue.

v3b "By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,"

God intervened. He sent His Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh." Jesus stepped into humanity—fully human, yet utterly sinless. Not just outwardly, but in every way: His words, His actions, His thoughts, His desires—all perfectly aligned with God's will, all the time. 

As for me? I dont know about you, but I couldn't come close to meeting that standard. Perhaps I can manage my words and actions reasonably well on the outside. But my thoughts? My inner life? The things no one else sees, that's where the struggle lives. And that kind of perfection? It feels light-years beyond reach.

But God sent Jesus to deal with sin, "and for sin", to deal with it on a cross. On the cross, God condemned sin "in the flesh". But here's where we sometimes don't quite appreciate what God has done or how he has done it. God didn't just erase our sin; he didn't just brush it under the carpet. If you are a Christian, your sin didn't evaporate…it wasn't a case of "poof, it's gone" like some Penn and Teller performance. God took your sin, and he put it on Jesus; it did not just disappear into thin air; the blood of the lamb paid for it.

Jesus really did die for our sins; God really did pour out His judgement and wrath on Jesus while hanging on the cross for every sin that we, as Christians, have ever committed. We are justified because He was condemned in our place; we are free and alive because he underwent death, and in the risen Jesus Christ, our sin has been condemned, and punished, and thus the penalty has been paid.

This is the heart of the Gospel. We couldn't save ourselves, so God did it for us.

We would do well to remember, as we share the Gospel, that we can sometimes focus so much on the grace and love of God that we neglect to address the reality of condemnation under the law of sin and death. The Gospel is not just that Jesus will improve our lives but that He will save us from eternal condemnation, from the wrath of God.

But there is far more to this than just our freedom from condemnation, far more to Easter than Christ paying the penalty for our sin, and verse 4 gives us a clue –

 v4 "in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

Easter wasn't just about declaring us holy—it was about actually making us holy. It's kind of wild how some people talk about salvation, as if it's only about justification. Like, "Jesus died, I'm covered, I've got my ticket, righteousness has been credited to me, and now I just sit tight until heaven." No—where'd that idea even come from? That's not the full picture the Bible gives us.

God's goal in saving us was transformation—real, ongoing holiness. Yes, we won't reach perfection in this life. We'll always be aware of our flaws and our sinful nature. But here's the irony: the closer you get to Jesus, the more aware you become of just how much needs to change. It's like stepping into bright sunlight. You thought your clothes were clean when you looked in a dim room, but then you walk outside and realise—oh no, there's a coffee stain here, a gravy stain there. You just didn't see them before.

That's what it's like spiritually. The more we know God, the more we see our need for Him. Growth in holiness isn't about feeling more righteous—it's often about realising how far we still have to go. It's about our sanctification; the events of Easter are about the holiness of God's people. The purpose for Christ dying and rising for you is that you would say no to sin and yes to God so that you would be holy and sanctified. This is precisely what Paul is saying in verse 4….the events of Easter were not just to declare us holy but to make us holy. Christ died and rose again not just to forgive us but to empower us to say no to sin and yes to God. So that when temptation hits – as it surely will - and Satan's voice will seem louder than truth, remember this: Jesus didn't just die and rise so that you could be forgiven. He did it so that you could be free. Free to say no to sin and yes to God. That is what Paul is getting at in verse 4.

Now, here is something significant to realise about that verse: it's not a command. It's not Paul telling us, "Go walk in the Spirit." It's not prescriptive—it's descriptive. He's saying this is who Christians are. We are the ones who walk according to the Spirit, not the flesh. That's our identity now. That's what Jesus accomplished for us. But here's the thing—we still have to fight to live out that identity every single day.

That's why in Galatians 5:16, Paul does give a command. He says,

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."

In Romans, it's who you are. In Galatians, it's what you must do. So, both are true. By nature, we are people of the Spirit—but practically, we have to choose to walk that out daily.

And that's a life of dependence. It's waking every day and saying, "Holy Spirit, help me. I can't do this without You." He is our only strength. And when you truly grasp that—when you realise that any holiness, any obedience, any progress you make is His doing—it humbles you. It keeps you grounded. You stop trying to take the credit…and then, when situations arise, in His strength you can ask yourself, "What is the wise thing to do in this moment? What is the loving thing to do? What will glorify Christ the most?"

Easter humbles us in that way. It reminds us that the life we now live isn't ours. It's Christ in us, the hope of glory. It's the Holy Spirit in us, constantly working and sustaining us until we fully inherit everything God promised.

And when you live like that—in dependence, in humility—you also start to live in grace. Because here's the truth: sometimes we get proud when we see growth. We think, "I worked hard. I disciplined myself. I did it." But that's not the Christian life. The Christian says, "If anything good came from me, it was because of the Spirit of God in me." And that kind of mindset keeps you gracious when others struggle. You don't look down on them—you start to realise the only reason I've made it this far is because of grace.

So again, when temptation comes—and it will—remember this: you are not powerless. You're not who you used to be. Easter didn't just give you hope for someday. It gave you power for today. You were saved not just to be forgiven but to be made holy. You're not just waiting for heaven—you're walking with the Spirit now. Amen.