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“Now we can serve God, not in the old way of the written code but in the new way of the Spirit.”
That is the central declaration of this teaching.
Let us look at what the Word of God says:
> “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
> What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin…”
> (Romans 7:6–7, ESV)
The song you have placed before us is built directly on these verses. It contrasts:
The theme is not a small one. It is the dividing line between true New Covenant Christianity and every form of frustrated, legalistic religion. Many believers live spiritually in Romans 7, while God is calling them to live in Romans 8. This passage is the bridge.
The lyrics say:
> “Now we can serve God,
> Not in the old way of the written law,
> But in the new way of the Spirit,
> For we have died to the power.”
That “power” is the power of the law as a condemning authority over the old nature. The message is not that the law is evil, but that the law cannot produce life. Only the Spirit can.
Romans is Paul’s most systematic presentation of the gospel. By the time we reach chapter 7, Paul has already established:
In Romans 6 he answers the question: “Shall we continue in sin?” No. Why? Because:
> “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:2)
In Romans 7 he answers another question: “What, then, is the place of the law?” The Jews to whom he spoke had a very high regard for the law of Moses. They could easily misunderstand Paul’s teaching and think he was attacking the law itself.
So Paul explains three things:
1. We were once under the law, bound to it as a wife is bound to a husband (Romans 7:1–3).
2. Through union with Christ in His death, we died to the law (Romans 7:4).
3. The problem is not the law, but sin in us, using the law (Romans 7:7–13).
Romans 7:6–7 stands right at the turning point:
When Paul writes these words, he is not an immature believer struggling with basic issues. He is an apostle, taught personally by the Lord, yet he describes the deep inward conflict of a man who tries to do the will of God through the law, without the liberating power of the Spirit (Romans 7:14–25).
If you read Romans 7 without Romans 8, you end in despair. If you read Romans 8 without Romans 7, you do not understand what you have been delivered from. The song you have given us stands exactly on the threshold: “the new way of the Spirit” contrasted with the “old way of the written law.”
Let us now look at two key expressions from Romans 7:6.
### 1. “New way” – kainotēti
The phrase “new way” comes from the Greek word kainotēs (καινότης), which means:
It is related to kainos (καινός), used in “new covenant” (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25) and “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
So when Paul says:
> “We serve in the new way of the Spirit…”
He is not saying:
He is saying:
This fits perfectly with the lyrics:
> “In the new way,
> Our hearts are drawn.”
The new way is heart–motivation, not outward compulsion.
### 2. “Spirit” – pneuma
The word translated “Spirit” is pneuma (πνεῦμα). In Romans 7:6, Paul contrasts:
“Gramma” gives us our English word “grammar” – letters, writing, text. “Pneuma” means breath, spirit, wind; it is the same word used of the Holy Spirit.
So we have:
The old way is:
The new way is:
Paul explains this more fully in 2 Corinthians 3:6:
> “…who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
The “letter kills” not because the law is evil, but because the law confronts a nature that cannot obey. The Spirit gives life because He imparts a new nature, capable of obeying from the heart.
This is exactly what the lyrics express:
> “In Spirit we live,
> In truth we find,
> The new way of life,
> In Christ's own mind.”
The new way of the Spirit is nothing less than sharing in the very mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5).
We will now examine the lyrics theme by theme, and relate them to the total message of Scripture.
### A. “Now we can serve God” – The True Nature of Service
> “Now we can serve God,
> Not in the old way of the written law,
> But in the new way of the Spirit,
> For we have died to the power.”
Romans 7:6:
> “But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
The key word here is serve. Many Christians think: “I am saved so that I can go to heaven.” That is incomplete. Paul says we are released from the law so that we may serve.
Two types of service are contrasted:
1. Old way of the written law
2. New way of the Spirit
This fulfills the New Covenant promise:
> “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts…” (Hebrews 8:10)
Under the old way, the law stands over man, accusing. Under the new way, the law is written in man, directing from within.
Notice the phrase: “For we have died to the power.” What power? The dominion of the law over the old nature. Romans 7:1 says:
> “…the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives.”
The only way of escape from the condemning authority of the law is by death. But God, in His wisdom, found a way for us to die without ceasing to exist: through union with Christ.
Romans 7:4:
> “You also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.”
So the order is:
1. We die with Christ to sin and to the law.
2. We rise with Christ to newness of life.
3. We now belong to Christ and bear fruit by the Spirit.
The old way says: “Do, and you will live.”
The new way says: “Live, and you will do.”
### B. “The Spirit leads, the old is gone” – From Flesh to Spirit
> “The Spirit leads,
> The old is gone,
> In the new way,
> Our hearts are drawn.”
These lines echo several key scriptures.
Romans 8:14:
> “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
2 Corinthians 5:17:
> “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Galatians 5:18:
> “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
What marks out the true child of God? Not merely that he believes in Jesus, but that he is led by the Spirit. The Spirit is not an optional extra. He is the operating principle of the Christian life.
“The old is gone” is not a feeling; it is a spiritual fact. The old mode of life, where:
That order has been brought to an end in the death of Christ. When we identify with His death, we step out from under that regime.
Romans 6:6–7:
> “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.”
But the lyrics go beyond mere detachment from the old: “In the new way, our hearts are drawn.” This is vital. The law can command, but it cannot draw. The Spirit draws.
Philippians 2:13:
> “…for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Under the old way, I may know what is right, but I do not want to do it. Under the new way, God works in me not only the doing, but also the willing. My heart is drawn.
### C. “What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful?” – The Law and Sin
> “What shall we say, then?
> Is the law sinful? Certainly not!
> Yet it was the law that showed me my sin,
> For I would never have known.”
This stanza is almost a direct quotation of Romans 7:7:
> “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin…”
Paul is very careful. He does not want the believer to despise the law. He writes:
> “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12)
The law is like a mirror. A mirror does not make your face dirty. It reveals the dirt that is already there. The law does not create sin; it exposes sin.
Romans 3:20:
> “…through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
Paul gives his own example:
> “For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’” (Romans 7:7)
The law reaches beyond external acts into inner motives. You may refrain from adultery outwardly, but the law of God says that lust in the heart is adultery in God’s sight (Matthew 5:27–28).
When the law confronts the sinful nature, something tragic happens:
> “But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness.” (Romans 7:8)
The problem is not the law; the problem is the sin principle within man. Sin uses the law like a handle. The more you try in your own strength to obey a holy law, the more you stir up the rebellion of the flesh.
This is why legalistic religion always ends in either pride or despair:
The Spirit, by contrast, does what the law could never do.
Romans 8:3–4:
> “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 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.”
The requirement of the law is not cancelled; it is fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit. That is the “new way.”
### D. “In Spirit we live, in truth we find” – New Covenant Worship
> “In Spirit we live,
> In truth we find,
> The new way of life,
> In Christ's own mind.”
These lines echo the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman:
> “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23–24)
To “live in Spirit” is more than experiencing occasional spiritual moments. It is to have the Spirit as the atmosphere, the environment, the ruling power of your life.
Galatians 5:25:
> “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
To “find in truth” is to anchor that spiritual life in the revealed Word of God. The Spirit and the Word never contradict one another. The Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). He leads us into all truth, especially the truth concerning Christ.
“The new way of life, in Christ’s own mind” reflects 1 Corinthians 2:16:
> “But we have the mind of Christ.”
And Philippians 2:5:
> “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…”
Under the old way:
Under the new way:
This is spiritual warfare at the level of the mind.
2 Corinthians 10:4–5:
> “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…”
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to tear down wrong patterns of thinking and to build up “Christ’s own mind” in us. That is true deliverance.
We will now turn to practical steps. How do we actually move from the old way of the letter into the new way of the Spirit?
### 1. First, we must accept our death with Christ
The starting point is not effort, but identification.
Romans 6:11:
> “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 7:4:
> “You also have died to the law through the body of Christ…”
You must accept God’s verdict: your old self, with its attempts to keep the law in its own strength, was nailed to the cross with Christ. You do not improve the old man; you accept his execution.
This is a decisive act of faith. You say:
### 2. Second, we must renounce legalism as a way of righteousness
Legalism is the attempt to achieve righteousness with God by rules, systems, or religious performance. It can be expressed through:
Galatians 3:3:
> “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
We must say before God:
This does not mean we become lawless. It means we change covenants. We no longer seek righteousness through the law of Moses, but through the finished work of Christ, and the inner law of the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2).
### 3. Third, we must yield daily to the Holy Spirit
Romans 8:13–14:
> “…if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
The Spirit does not lead us as a dictator. He leads as a guide. We must cooperate. Practically, this includes:
We must learn to ask:
Where the law says, “You must,” the Spirit says, “You may, and I will help you.”
### 4. Fourth, we must feed on the Word as Spirit and life
Jesus said:
> “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63)
The Spirit uses the Word as His primary instrument. Many people claim to be led by the Spirit but neglect the Scriptures. That is deception.
Colossians 3:16:
> “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…”
As we meditate on the Word, confess it, and obey it, the Holy Spirit writes it deeper into our hearts. The “new way of the Spirit” is not mystical vagueness. It is the Spirit applying the Word to the heart, transforming desire and conduct.
Let us now make a proclamation of faith, based on Romans 7:6–7 and the truths we have seen.
### Proclamation
I proclaim that I have died with Christ.
Through His body on the cross, I have died to the law that once held me captive.
I am released from the old way of the written code.
I do not serve God in the old way of external rules, fear, and condemnation.
I serve in the new way of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit leads me; the old life is gone.
In the new way, my heart is drawn to obey God.
The law is holy, righteous, and good, but it cannot make me righteous.
It has shown me my sin and driven me to Christ.
Now the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in me
as I walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
I live in the Spirit, I worship in Spirit and truth,
and I receive the mind of Christ.
This is my portion in the New Covenant,
in Jesus’ name. Amen.
### Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
I thank You that on the cross You bore my sin, my guilt, and my old nature.
I thank You that in Your death I died to sin and to the law,
and in Your resurrection I was raised to a new life.
Father, I ask You to forgive me for every form of legalism,
for every attempt to earn Your favor by my own efforts.
I renounce trusting in myself, and I embrace Christ as my righteousness.
Holy Spirit, I yield myself to You.
Write God’s laws on my heart and mind.
Lead me in the new way of the Spirit.
Work in me both to will and to do Your good pleasure.
Let the mind of Christ govern my thoughts,
and let the life of Christ be manifested in my body.
I choose to walk in Spirit and in truth,
to feed on Your Word, and to obey Your promptings.
Bring me out of every Romans 7 struggle
into the liberty and power of Romans 8 living.
I ask this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
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