Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves.
— Romans 6:6
What shall we do if we cannot set legal goals? If we do not serve the Lord practically, we feel we are not doing what we should. What is wrong with our setting a goal to memorize 1,000 verses a year? Nothing. On the one hand, we will touch Christ in the Word, and on the other hand, if we fail to reach our goal, we will be exposed and brought to Christ to confess our need for Him. If we are able to memorize only five verses this month out of the eighty-four scheduled, we should not fall under the law’s condemnation. The natural man seeks justification before God by striving to fulfill the law. The law, however, brings us to Christ through our failure. In this way it is a tutor to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24).
Many continue to be held in bondage under the law even though they have Christ. The only way to come out from under the law is to be crucified with Christ. This is seen in Romans 6–7. The law cannot rule over a dead person. Praise the Lord for this!
Adapted from Ruth: Growth Unto Maturity, page 81.
Tomorrow: “Giving Us an Ideology”