The Royal Code

As members of the royal family of God, we are called to live by a royal code of conduct, a code that sets a divine standard. We will never be able to attain the standard unless we choose to put grace to work in our lives.

The Law of Life

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin of death.”  (Rom 8:1-2)

As believers, we have been set free from from death, from sin, and from Satan. We have passed from death into life (Joh 5:24). In Christ we have been made incredibly rich—endowed with everything we need to live the abundant life (Joh 10:10; Eph 1). As we learn to walk according to the Spirit and to conduct ourselves as those who are alive to God (Rom 6:11-13; Rom 8:1-4), we will begin to experience that abundance.

The Law of Liberty

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1)

Jesus Christ wants us to enjoy the freedom He died for. He has given us the right and the responsibility to choose how we will live our lives. He loves for us to make decisions, and He loves for us to be different from each other. Anything the Bible does not forbid is spiritually neutral and is, therefore, an area in which we individually must choose what we will and will not do. There are many uncertain things in the Christian life, and we need discernment every step we take. We also need to remember that God intends for each of us to be free, that each of us will answer directly to God for how we use our freedom, and that it is never acceptable to try to force another believer to make the choices we think he should make or to judge and malign him for the choices he has made. The judgmental believer is always a weak believer. Our freedom in Christ can never be taken from us. but it can be forfeited.

The Law of Love

“Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.” (Rom 15:1)

The law of love is higher than the law of liberty. Liberty justifiably says, “I have the right to do anything that is not forbidden in the Word.” But love says, “Though I may do anything, there are certain allowable things I will not do if they will cause others to stumble.” The law of love recognizes that while we have freedom we are bounded in its exercise by the weakness of others; we are our brother’s keeper (1Co 8). So, for the sake of weak believers, we restrain certain activities that are good and proper in themselves, lest we become a stumbling block. Again, we have to remember how precious is our individual freedom in the sight of God: He will not force us to live by the law of love, and He does not look with pleasure on our trying to force anyone else to live by it.

The Law of Self-denial

“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor … just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.”  (1Co 10:2-24; 1Co 10:33)

Under the taw of self-denial we restrict ourselves for the sake of unbelievers. We remember that we are ambassadors of Christ and that how we live may be a more forceful declaration of the Gospel than what we say (2Co 3:2-3). We are willing to deny ourselves for the sake of being an effective witness in the place where God has put us. Every believer’s sphere of influence is different, therefore every believer’s self-imposed restrictions will be different. All of us have to decide for ourselves where we will draw lines in our lives—what we will do and not do for the sake of manifesting Christ to our world.

The Law of Supreme Sacrifice

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”  (2Co 8:9)

This is a law that only heroes live by. The law of supreme sacrifice best illustrates the passion of the love of Jesus Christ. He who is the center of the universe considered others as more important than Himself and humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross (Phi 2:3-8) so that we might have life. He is the personification of self-sacrifice and self-denial. To live under the law of supreme sacrifice means that we are willing to become selfless, to admit that we are not the center of the universe, to consider the plan of God as more important than ourselves, and to consider the weak believer and the unbeliever as more important than ourselves. Those who give up everything to enter into this love of Christ find that all they sacrifice is no sacrifice at all compared to the joy of the fellowship of His sufferings.



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