Life In The Spirit

Life in the Spirit

Romans Chapter 8:1-17

Good Morning Church, if you would take out your bibles or phone app and turn to Romans Chapter 8:1-17

We are going to look at living life in the Spirit of God

The world would want to tell you that it is impossible to live life in the Spirit of God-

I want to show you in the word of God that that it should be impossible for a believer to not live in the Spirit of God when the Spirit of God is leading your life.

We will see that if the flesh (yourself) is leading than it is impossible for you to be both lead by the Spirit and your flesh. One will surrender to the other.

Illustration-

Have you ever heard the term “peeled like an onion”? It is a said because an onion is an onion all the way through. Each layer is another layer of an onion. I first heard it as an illustration with a question that said would you like to be an apple or an onion? Most would say an apple because the outside is a red or yellow skin that looks polished and appetizing. But with an apple, what is happening beneath the skin can be at least a bruise and at most could be completely rotten. You are not sure what you got until you bite into it. An onion is layer upon layer of onion- no surprises. You pick up an onion, you know what you got.

Matt. 6:33- “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”

Seek is an action word, it cannot be done passively. It has to be initiated, It has to be intentional. We are going to see that if we are to live a life in the Spirit- meaning that the Lord is in charge of your life- it will be initiated by God and intentional by you.

What people see will be who you are- your kids who are watching your life and taking notes must see that the Lord is in charge and that you are intentional in serving Him.

I have said for a very long time that everyone is going through something.

We need to stop kicking this can down the road.

We need to start working out our hope and confidence in Christ Jesus.

We use that term as a cutch saying that allows us to believe that we have to live under par of what the Lord would have us live.

We need to work out of this mindset and begin to put our trust back into the hands of the Lord that offers us hope and confidence.

Hope only comes from one source and that is Jesus Christ.

Hope is in the bible over 130 times. Do you think that He is trying to tell us something? Yes hope for today (now) and hope for tomorrow (eternity) is found in Jesus Christ.

We decide! We choose where we live and how we act and with what power we will do the things we are called and ask to do.

Hope is not a strategy- it is a life style! The old saying- while Rome is burning, we can still have hope!

Romans 8:(1-4)”Therefore, there is now (eternity) no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death, for what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”

Thanks be to God for what He has done for us through Christ!

Now get this as we get started- remember condemnation is what the devil throws at us to draw us away from God and conviction is what the Lord brings to draw us towards God.

Because of what Christ has done, there is no more condemnation for our sins if we are in Christ.

The once guilty are now acquitted and spared because Jesus paid the price. So when we are given condemnation, we know that is not from the Lord, it is a lie from the pit of hell to draw us away from the Lord.

We see here that we have been given a pardon, acquitted of our sins and thus released of condemnation because of the wonder working power of God.

The acquitted are those who are in Christ Jesus- those united with him. Paul’s language here is relational- only those who are in Christ are not condemned.