Hello, everyone. I've been wanting to do this for some time, to start a playlist, a series of videos dedicated just to understanding the Bible and leaving behind all the detritus of JW.org. I'll still have to do videos on them because there are still many people trapped inside the cult. In fact, I think we haven't reached the tipping point yet, and we'll be seeing many more exiting at some point very soon. But that doesn't mean we have to constantly look behind us. It's time to look forward to where do we go from here? Well, we go the way Jesus told us to go, which is to follow his word and assemble together, but not as a religion, but rather as just individuals who gather together as brothers and sisters would normally. And to that end, I wanted to begin with the Book of Romans, which is one of the most interesting books for us as we leave the false doctrine of the other sheep and realize that we are capable of becoming children of God because we've been given the authority to do so if we accept it, as John 1:12-13 clearly states. So, we start with Romans 8, and I'm reading from the NLT.
“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus, and because you belong to him, The power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses wasn't able to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature, so God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us who no longer follow our sinful nature, but instead follow the spirit.” (Romans 8:1-4 NLT)
Now, I do like reading the NLT because it's a very readable version, but you have to be careful. Because it's so phraseological, it does give the translator a lot of latitude and bias creeps in. In this particular case, the Bible doesn't actually say “life-giving spirit” in verse 2, “the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you.”
Now, Jesus is the life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45 says that he was resurrected as a life-giving spirit. So, there's no problem there. But the problem is that this version doesn't translate accurately what the Greek says. And by doing so, it obscures the meaning and hides the answer I was looking for.
I'm going to go to the NIV now and read from the NIV verse 2.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1, 2 NIV)
Now, that's a much more accurate translation closer to the Greek. If you were to look up the interlinear, you'd see it's pretty much word for word at that point. The law of the spirit. That's the key there. The law of the spirit versus the law of sin and death. So, we are no longer under the law of sin, the law that condemns us to death. And that's why it says in verse one, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. So, it came to me that it's like that scripture, which is badly translated in the New World translation, where it says that we are ambassadors for Christ.
In the New World translation, it's ‘ambassadors substituting for Christ’, but of course, an ambassador doesn't substitute for the King. He represents the King. And we don't substitute for Christ. We're not anyone's mediator, but we represent him.
So, what is an ambassador? He's a representative living in another country representing the country of his origin. So, our country, our citizenship is in the heavens, but we live on Earth, and therefore, our ambassadorship is here. Now, an ambassador, let's say the ambassador of Canada would go to the United States. Is he subject to the laws of the United States? No, he's subject to the laws of Canada. And he's given what we call diplomatic immunity. So, if he breaks a law in the States, then they don't try him. They won't even charge him. They will report him to Canada, to the government, and they'll determine whether or not to deal with it. But he is free of the law of the United States. He's subject to the law of Canada, even though he lives in the United States.
So, we live in a sin-filled world, but we are not under the law of that sin-filled world. We're not under the law of sin. Even though we continue to be sinners, just as an ambassador continues to need to obey laws, but they're the laws of his new nation, not the laws of the nation he represents. So, we're not governed by the law of sin anymore. That's past. We're ambassadors for Christ. We're under the law of Christ, and the law of Christ is different. The Mosaic law condemned us all to death. It condemned the Jews, and by extension, all humankind, because no one could keep that law. To keep the law, you had to obey all of it, which meant whenever you sinned, you'd offer a sacrifice. You'd have to bring forth an animal sacrifice. You'd have to do that, and you'd be counted free of sin for a period of time until the next sin. Well, Christ died once for all of us. So, we now have a new law. And when we sin, we immediately get the Grace of Christ upon us, assuming, of course, that we always ask for forgiveness. So, we're no longer under sin, even though we continue to be sinners. And that means that when we die, we will be resurrected free of sin.
Jesus was under the law as well, as a Jew, but he never sinned, and therefore, he never had to offer any animal sacrifice. When he died, he was resurrected by our Father. So, his death was not eternal. He had a legal right to be resurrected, to be restored to life, because he had been murdered unlawfully. And so it is the same with us. Not because we are like Jesus was without sin, but because of his sacrifice, we are now free from sin by the grace of God. So, when we die or when we're murdered, if it should be the case as it was in Jesus' case, we are guaranteed, as he was, to be restored to life. So that now makes sense to me, right? Because we're not under the law of sin anymore, even though we continue to sin. I hope that clears it up a little bit for all of you, as it did for me. Anyways, we'll continue our discussion of Romans 8 in the future and I look forward to more of these. Thank you for watching.