The Law of the Spirit of Life

In his book Unto Full Stature DeVern Fromke gives the following beautiful illustration of how the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free--and continues to set us free--from the law of sin and of death (Rom. 8:2):

". . . There is much more than we have realized in living according to the 'law of life.' A railway engine is made to run on tracks, and if it remains on the tracks it finds freedom, pulls its loads, and gets to its destination. But if, in order to gain its freedom, it jumps the tracks, the result is not freedom, but ruin to itself--for it has missed the laws of its function. To further illustrate: A little boy had listened attentively as his father explained the natural laws which God had built into the universe. He was especially fascinated by the law of gravity. A few minutes later as they were walking in the garden, he questioned his father, 'Why do those leaves on that plant point up when gravity is surely pulling them downward?'

"As they stood looking at several plants the father explained, 'It's because God has built a higher law of life into that plant which lifts its leaves upward to the sun. This law is not exactly defying gravity, but in some strange way is transcending that downward pull. You see, this next little plant has one leaf which failed to draw from the plant's resources and has become limp; therefore the law of gravity has taken over. Only God really understands how the plant's metabolism lives according to the law of life and thus transcends the law of gravity.'

"The same is true in our bodies. God has designed us to live according to a strange and wonderful law of life which is not something imposed upon us from without, but is built into our very being. It merely requires that we be yielded to Him as His tender plant. Even as the plant is alive to the sun, so every petal and leaf of our being should continually be living unto Him. When this is so, our whole physical being is transcendently overriding every downward pull. As the law of Life is constantly operating within we are vibrant by sharing divine resources. As surely as our physical turns from its 'Sun' it will as surely become limp and succumb to the downward drag. Might we suggest that most failure or breakdown is simply proof that we have not heeded the divine law of Life and the resources which become available?"