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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.”
— Romans 7:6 (NIV)
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 shall we say, then? Is the law sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, *‘You shall not covet.’*”
> — Romans 7:6–7 (ESV)
The central theme of this song is exactly the central theme of Romans 7: the transition from the old way of serving God under the written law to the new way of serving God in and by the Holy Spirit.
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 is pure Romans 7:6. It confronts a central issue in the Christian life:
How do we serve God?
By human effort trying to keep rules?
Or by the inner working of the Holy Spirit producing in us what the law demanded but could not supply?
Many believers today are caught exactly where Paul was in Romans 7: knowing what is right, even agreeing with it, but without the power to live it. The message of this passage—and of the song—is liberation: the old way has ended through death, that we might walk in the new way of the Spirit.
---
Romans is Paul’s great systematic exposition of the gospel. By the time he reaches chapter 7, he has already laid vital foundations:
In Romans 7, Paul addresses a pressing question for Jewish believers, and for all who tend toward legalism:
If we are justified by faith and not by the law, what is the place of the law? Is the law itself bad? Has God’s law been set aside as something evil?
So he states:
> “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid.”
> — Romans 7:7 (KJV)
Paul is speaking as a Jewish believer who once trusted in the law, who loved the law, and yet had to come to the revelation that even the best law could not change the worst sinner. The law could expose sin, but it could not remove it.
### The inner conflict
From Romans 7:7 onwards, Paul describes the bitter conflict of a man who:
This is summarized in his cry:
> “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”
> — Romans 7:19 (ESV)
That is the old way: sincere effort, moral knowledge, but no inward power.
Romans 7:6 marks the transition:
> “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 Spirit does not abolish the law’s righteousness. He fulfills it in us (Romans 8:4). The shift is not from morality to immorality, but from external rules without power to internal life with power.
The song simply puts it:
> *The Spirit leads,
> The old is gone,
> In the new way,
> Our hearts are drawn.*
---
### 1. “New way” – καινότης (kainotēs)
In Romans 7:6 the phrase “new way” translates the Greek word kainotēs:
> “…so that we serve in newness (*kainotēs*) of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”
> — Romans 7:6 (literal)
Kainotēs does not mean something merely recent in time. It means something of a different kind, a new quality of life. You find the same word in Romans 6:4:
> “…so that we too might walk in newness (*kainotēs*) of life.”
This is not the old life improved. It is not the old nature disciplined. It is resurrection life—the life of the risen Christ imparted by the Holy Spirit.
Applied to the lyrics:
> *In the new way,
> Our hearts are drawn.*
The “new way” is not a modified law system. It is a different dimension of existence: life in the Spirit. Everything in Christianity that is truly Christian belongs to that realm of *kainotēs*.
### 2. “Spirit” – πνεῦμα (pneuma)
The word “Spirit” here is pneuma. The same term can refer to:
In Romans 7:6–7, the emphasis is on the Holy Spirit as the One who enables us to serve God in a new way, from within, not by external compulsion but by inward transformation.
The Spirit is:
So when the lyrics declare:
> *The Spirit leads,
> The old is gone,
> In the new way,
> Our hearts are drawn.*
It is not speaking about some vague inner feeling. It is the Holy Spirit leading the regenerated human spirit, conforming us to Christ from the inside.
This is why the Christian life is impossible apart from the Spirit. A law on stone can command, but only the Spirit in the heart can empower.
---
### Verse 1
> *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.*
#### “Now we can serve God…”
Service is central. God has not called us merely to believe but to serve. The Greek word in Romans 7:6, “serve” (*douleuō*), is from the same root as “slave” (*doulos*). It denotes bond-service.
The question is not: “Will you serve?” The question is: “Whom will you serve?”
Before Christ:
> “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.”
> — Romans 6:20 (ESV)
In Christ:
> “But now you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God…”
> — Romans 6:22 (ESV)
So the lyric states accurately: “Now we can serve God.” Under the law, man should serve God, but cannot. In the Spirit, man can serve God because he is first united with Christ in death and resurrection.
#### “Not in the old way of the written law…”
The “written law” is what Paul calls “the letter” (*gramma*) in Romans 7:6 and 2 Corinthians 3:6:
> “…for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
> — 2 Corinthians 3:6 (ESV)
The law in itself is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12). The problem is not the law; the problem is the flesh. When a perfect law meets a corrupt nature, the result is condemnation.
The “old way” is:
Paul says:
> “The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.”
> — Romans 7:10 (ESV)
#### “But in the new way of the Spirit…”
This is the transition into Romans 8.
What the law 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.”
> — Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)
Notice: The Spirit does not abolish the law’s righteousness; he fulfills it in us. The Spirit writes the law within, not as an external code but as an inward disposition.
#### “For we have died to the power.”
What power? Romans 7:6:
> “…having died to that which held us captive…”
That which held us captive was the law as a system of condemnation when combined with our sinful nature. Paul explains:
> “The power of sin is the law.”
> — 1 Corinthians 15:56 (ESV)
Not because the law is evil, but because the law provokes the rebellion within us. The sinful nature is stirred when it is commanded.
So how is that power broken? By death.
> “Do you not know, brothers… that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?”
> — Romans 7:1 (ESV)
In Christ’s death, we died to that relationship with the law:
> “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…”
> — Romans 7:4 (ESV)
A dead man is beyond the reach of the law’s condemnation. By union with Christ, we pass out of Adam, out from under the law, and into Christ where there is “no condemnation” (Romans 8:1).
So the lyric is correct: *For we have died to the power.* Not by effort, but by identification with the crucified Christ.
---
### Chorus
> *The Spirit leads,
> The old is gone,
> In the new way,
> Our hearts are drawn.*
#### “The Spirit leads…”
This echoes Romans 8:
> “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
> — Romans 8:14 (ESV)
The mark of mature sonship is not mere law-keeping but Spirit-leading.
The Spirit:
To be led by the Spirit is not to be lawless. It is to have the very Author of the law dwelling within, guiding step by step.
#### “The old is gone…”
This is 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.”
The “old” includes:
But notice: The old is “gone” positionally when we are united with Christ. It must be worked out experientially by faith and obedience. Many believers are legally free but experientially bound because they do not reckon as God reckons (Romans 6:11).
#### “In the new way, our hearts are drawn.”
The law could command, but it could not draw the heart. The new covenant is different:
> “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.”
> — Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV)
> “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
> — Philippians 2:13 (ESV)
The Spirit does not merely change our behavior; He changes our desires. Our hearts are drawn, not driven. Love becomes the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8–10).
---
### Verse 2
> *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.*
#### “What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not!”
This is Paul’s exact logic:
> “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means!”
> — Romans 7:7 (ESV)
“By no means” translates the strongest Greek negative: mē genoito—“God forbid,” “Absolutely not.”
The law is not sinful. The law is:
The fault lies in sin and the flesh, not in the law.
#### “Yet it was the law that showed me my sin…”
This is the primary function of the law under the old covenant: to reveal sin, not to remove it.
> “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.”
> — Romans 7:7 (ESV)
Paul gives a specific 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 (ESV)
Before the law spoke, sin was present but not clearly identified. The law puts a name to sin and exposes it.
Galatians 3:24 adds:
> “So then, the law was our guardian [or tutor] until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.”
> — Galatians 3:24 (ESV)
A tutor can point out error but cannot change the pupil’s nature. The law condemns, the Spirit transforms.
#### “For I would never have known…”
The law gives knowledge of sin:
> “…through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
> — Romans 3:20 (ESV)
But knowledge of sin, without the Spirit, only produces condemnation and death.
So the law’s ministry is essential but preliminary:
The song reflects that: the law reveals, the Spirit renews.
---
### Outro
> *In Spirit we live,
> In truth we find,
> The new way of life,
> In Christ's own mind.*
#### “In Spirit we live…”
This echoes Romans 8:9–10:
> “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”
> — Romans 8:9 (ESV)
To live “in the Spirit” is not a feeling; it is a realm. It is:
#### “In truth we find…”
The Spirit and truth always go together:
> “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
> — John 4:24 (ESV)
> “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…”
> — John 16:13 (ESV)
The law shows sin. The Spirit leads into truth about Christ, about ourselves, and about the way of righteousness by faith.
#### “The new way of life, in Christ’s own mind.”
This is deeply scriptural. We are called to share the mind of Christ:
> “But we have the mind of Christ.”
> — 1 Corinthians 2:16 (ESV)
> “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…”
> — Philippians 2:5 (ESV)
The “new way of life” is not merely external imitation. It is the renewal of the mind by the Spirit and the Word (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23). The Spirit takes the thoughts, attitudes, and values of Christ and imparts them to us.
So the song rightly ends: the new way of the Spirit is Christ’s own mind lived out in us.
---
This truth must not remain theory. It is intended to deliver us from frustration and bondage into fruitful service.
### 1. First, we must accept our death with Christ
The foundation of freedom from the law’s condemning power is our death with Christ.
> “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
> — Romans 6:11 (ESV)
> “You also have died to the law through the body of Christ…”
> — Romans 7:4 (ESV)
This is not a feeling; it is a fact revealed in Scripture. We must reckon, consider, count it true.
Proclamation you can use:
“I have died with Christ. I have died to sin. I have died to the law’s condemnation. I belong to Another, to the risen Christ.”
### 2. Second, we must renounce confidence in the flesh
The “old way” depends on the flesh—human effort, natural wisdom, religious discipline apart from the Spirit.
Paul says:
> “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.”
> — Philippians 3:3 (ESV)
We must deliberately renounce:
The law could diagnose, but not heal. Only the Spirit can heal.
### 3. Third, we must yield ourselves to the Spirit
Romans 6:13:
> “…present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
> — Romans 6:13 (ESV)
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.”
Practically this means:
You cannot walk in the new way while clinging to the old habits of the flesh.
### 4. Fourth, we must fill our minds with the Word
The Spirit leads, but He leads by the Word. The Spirit is the Author of Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). He will never lead contrary to what He has written.
Romans 8:5:
> “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”
> — Romans 8:5 (ESV)
The “things of the Spirit” are above all the truths of Scripture. To have the mind of Christ, you must have the Word of Christ dwelling richly in you (Colossians 3:16).
So:
---
### Proclamation
Say this aloud, thoughtfully and deliberately:
> In the name of Jesus, I declare:
>
> I have died with Christ.
> Through the body of Christ, I have died to the law that once held me captive.
> I am released from the old way of the written code.
> I now belong to the risen Christ, that I may bear fruit to God.
>
> I do not serve God in the old way of the letter, but in the new way of the Spirit.
> The Spirit of God dwells in me.
> The Spirit leads me; I am a child of God.
> The old has gone; the new has come.
>
> The law has shown me my sin, but it cannot condemn me,
> for there is now no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus.
> The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in me,
> because I do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
>
> In Spirit I live.
> In truth I walk.
> I have the mind of Christ.
> This is my portion, this is my calling, and this I receive by faith.
> In Jesus’ name. Amen.
### Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
I thank You that by Your death I died to the law and to the power of sin. I confess that in myself, in my flesh, there is no good thing. I renounce all confidence in my own effort, my own righteousness, my own religious performance.
Heavenly Father, I present myself to You as one brought from death to life. Holy Spirit, I welcome You. Take full control of my life. Lead me in this new way of the Spirit. Write God’s law on my heart. Change my desires. Empower my will. Produce in me the fruit that the law required but could never supply.
Open my eyes to the truth of Your Word. Deliver me from condemnation and legalism. Draw my heart after Christ, that I may truly live in Spirit and in truth, and serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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