ROMANS 8:5-11
LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
Our text reveals that there are only two ways to live life. Paul draws several contrasts between existence ruled by the flesh and the new life of the Spirit. To walk in the Spirit is to be "in step" with the Spirit. Life in the Spirit means to follow His lead and remain in His control. It is life governed by the Spirit of God. This life is distinguished by the mind being set or focused on serving Christ. This individual’s desires are not selfishly controlled but are controlled by the will of Christ who lives in Him. If you are a believer, the Spirit is always in you for the purpose of lovingly leading you.
If a person is not in step with the Spirit of God he or she will be controlled by the flesh. These people live an existence which is dominated by sinful human nature whose focus and center of attention is self, whose life is lived to satisfy selfish desires.
These two mind sets are intent on diametrically opposite directions. The mind set dominated by the desires and activities of the sinful nature is on the way to death. The mind set dominated by the desires and activities of the will of God is on the way to life and life eternal. Each person
is responsible for which mind set he pursues. The believer’s responsibility is to set his mind on living in submission to the indwelling Holy Spirit or to focus his mind on Christ. (CIT).
I. THE TWO MIND SETS, 5-8.
II. THE INDWELLING SPIRIT, 9-10.
III. SPIRIT GIVEN LIFE, 11.
First in verses 5-8 Paul answers the question what does it mean to live according to the sinful nature or to live according to the Spirit? Verse 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
People live life with one of two mind sets. One type of person’s mind is set (set on is phronousin, pres. tense, "keep on being mindful of or aspiring for") to seek those things he is most interested in, constantly talking about, engaged in and boasting about. Those who walk according to the flesh yield to the dictates of the flesh. They have their desires set on the things of the world, the things this world has to offer.
Those who live according to the Spirit aspire for or have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. To walk after the Spirit is to align or subject oneself to the Spirit. The man who walks after the Spirit cannot act independent of Him (Gal. 5:16). He acts in subjection to or in accordance with the Holy Spirit. He may have many failures but his basic orientation and uppermost concerns have to do with the things of the Spirit. The things of the Spirit are the things which the Spirit proposes and approves.
One’s mind or the concentration of one’s life either sides with one group or the other, it is impossible to be on both sides at once. You can not serve both God and mammon (or wealth, the world). The basic disposition or direction of our lives is either on God’s side or on the side of sinful human nature. The sinful nature and the indwelling Spirit are in conflict (Gal. 5:17).
We are involved in a real battle for the mind as verse 6 states, For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
As Christians, we are to be self-disciplined not only in our physical appetites but also in our thoughts. To lose the focus of our minds is to fall prey to the devil. Satan wants to control your mind, to have mind-control over you so he can brain-wash you to see life his way. He will use your thinking as his weapon to control you, defeat you (spiritually), and eventually devour you. If you don’t learn to control/master your thoughts, Satan will win the inner war. You must win the battle for your mind!
The mind is so much a part of everything we do and it is difficult to discipline it. The difficulty of controlling the mind is underscored by Lanny Bassham, an Olympic gold medalist in shooting the small-bore rifle. He explained in Sports Illustrated, "Our sport is controlled non-movement. We are shooting from 50 meters -- over half a football field -- at a bull’s eye three-quarters the size of a dime. If the angle of error at the point of the barrel is more that .005 of a millimeter (that is five one-thousandths), you drop into the next circle and lose a point. So we have to learn how to make everything stop. I stop my breathing. I stop my digestion by not eating for 12 hours before the competition. I train by running to keep my pulse around 60, so I have a full second between beats. You do all of this and you have the technical control. But you have to have some years of experience in reading conditions: the wind, the mirage. Then you have the other 80 percent of the problems --- focusing the mind!"
How often we fail in disciplining that vital part of life! Our thoughts begin to drift from the God centered life into worldly and forbidden areas, and we let them go. We become anxious, lustful, hateful. We think proudly. We give in to self-pity. Race car driver Sterling Moss once said of driving at high speeds, "It’s necessary to relax your muscles when you can. Relaxing your brain though is fatal!"
It’s the same in the battle with Satan. When you let the Devil control the way you think, you will live in fear, anger, depression … and some even live with thoughts of suicide. You are what you think. Proverbs 23:7 says – "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Your thought-life affects everything about you … how you act … how you feel … how you live. [If you THINK negative thoughts … you will ACT in a negative way. If you THINK sad things … you will BE sad. If you THINK you’re sick … you will FEEL sick. If you THINK you’re worthless… you’ll TURN OUT to be worthless. If you THINK bad thoughts … you’ll DO bad things. BUT … on the other hand … If you THINK Godly things … you’ll ACT more Godly! Each of us need to surrender our mind to God, or Satan will influence more & more, then control more & more of our thinking [ then more and more of his life. For he who will not command his thoughts will soon lose command over his actions.]
Lord, saturate my thoughts with truth, And let Your Word in me abide;
Then, thinking on the pure and good, May my whole life be edified!
If a person persists in being worldly he is on the side of the world and must expect the world’s dooms (or death). On the other hand, if the things concerning God and His kingdom are his chief concern, he can expect life: sweet communion with God. The light of God in the mind, God’s love poured out in the heart, and joy unspeakable and full of glory. All this and far, far more.
He can expect peace which implies contentment, a sense of security, and an inner calm. Those that set their mind on the Spirit have the inner assurance that past sins are forgiven, that present events, no matter how painful, are being overruled for good, and that nothing that might occur in the future will be able to separate him from the love of God in Christ. Such peace means basic freedom from fear, anxiety and restlessness.
The greatest blessings of Christ are granted to those who walk after the Spirit. The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace and this becomes our experience as we learn to walk in the Spirit. Isaiah 26:3 says, You will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You.
Do you have a need to control things? To find a solution for every problem? To have a back plan in case God doesn’t come through the way you think He should? Have you ever noticed that the more you try to fix things, the more anxiety you experience? Paul calls this, "The mind of the flesh." Fixing is the opposite of trusting; usually you can’t do both. Now that doesn’t mean God wants you to be mindless or helpless; it just means He wants you to live by faith, not head knowledge! When you learn to trust God and operate in "the mind of the Spirit," you experience peace in spite of the circumstances..
[One of the pitfalls of excessive reasoning is that it causes you to become double-minded and stuck. Listen, "A man of two minds is unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything" (Jas 1:8 AMP). Does that describe you?]
Instead of always trying to figure things out -learn to be comfortable not knowing, and start trusting the One who does! Make a decision today and every time you feel anxious, you’ll stop and pray: "Lord I’m bringing it to You and I’m waiting for Your answer." When you stop struggling with the when’s, why’s, and how’s, you’ll begin to experience God’s peace in a way you never have before. You’ll also position yourself for Him to intervene on your behalf. So make a decision today to surrender and trust God.
We all have our "own minds" about things, don’t we? What is right/wrong. What is good/bad. How we should act … talk … think … live. God though is not interested in YOUR OPINIONS about these things. OPINIONS are a dime a dozen … everyone has one. God wants you to have the "mind of Christ" on everything you do, say, think. The "mind" of Jesus is PURE … He only wants what God wants. That’s the "mind" God wants you to have. [The Mind Of Christ - Philippians 2:5 – "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:..." ]
Every person is either under the control of the Spirit or under control of the old nature, either on a road of peace or on a road that leads to death. Walking in the Spirt is living with Him as the director of our lives.
Verse 7 amplifies the critical necessity of walking in the Spirit. "because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,"
Every unredeemed person whether religious or atheistic, whether outwardly moral or outwardly wicked is hostile toward God. If a believer lives in the flesh his actions also will be hostile toward God.
Why? Because it is the nature of the mind set on death to oppose Him who is life. Thus the mind of the flesh is hostile to God, regarding Him as an enemy. Because a mind that is self-centered and self-willed does not submit itself to God, as a matter of fact as long as the mind of the flesh is in control it is not able to submit to God.
The Greek word translated subject ( ) is a military term for subject to orders. Since it is in the present tense it meas continued insubordination. The mind of the flesh will be in continuous subordination to God and His way.
The mind of the flesh also is impotent to change its own nature. Those controlled by the mind of the flesh are helpless. They do not simple don’t submit to the law of God. They can not following the Law of God. [The law of God is the revelation of His nature, therefore opposition to God’s law is opposition to God.]
How did you learn your multiplication tables … States & Capitals … Bible verses? REPETITION! What you put into your minds, REPEATEDLY, will OCCUPY your mind. What OCCUPIES your mind, will ultimately express itself in your character and lifestyle.
Verse 8 reveals another sad truth. and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Did you realize that God can be pleased? Mankind was created for the expressed purpose of pleasing God (Rev. 4:10; 2 Cor. 5:9; 1 Thess. 4:1). The Holy Spirit is the source of all that pleases God in man. A person who is NOT motivated or empowered by God even his best works are produced by his flesh for self-centered reasons and will never be seen by God as a work for God’s glory.
You need to understand that a life lived with its desires set on this world cannot please God. Those people who are living "in the flesh," that is those whose affection, purposes, thoughts, words, and deeds are basically controlled by their sinful nature are unable to please God. Realize that God’s heart is no an iceberg. It can be please and is filled with delight at our obedience (Col. 3:20).
[The unsaved lead lives that are totally void of spiritual life and ability. A believer, then, who gives in to his sin nature is acting like the unsaved ( 1 Cor. 3:3).]
I’ve been filled with the Spirit, but I have learned that I leak! I need to daily surrender to the Spirit’s will and leadership so that I can daily live in the power of the Spirit.
II. THE INDWELLING SPIRIT, 9-10.
After speaking objectively about the two types of mind sets, Paul now addressed his readers directly in verse 9. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
["If indeed" is a first class condition assumed true.] A test of whether or not you have saving faith is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. You can be certain of your eternal salvation if the Spirit of God dwells in you. (Oike is dwells indicates being at one’s home).
If anyone does not have the indwelling Spirit of God it does not matter their profession of the local church they are a member of, they are not a member of Christ’s eternal body. To belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit of God must indwell your life.
It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that gives a believer a totally different life (2 Cor. 5:17). The opposite, however, is also true. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ ( lit. "this one is not of Him"). Since only the Holy Spirit gives spiritual life, a person cannot be related to Christ apart from the Spirit.
The person who gives no evidence of the presence, power and fruit of God’s Spirit in his life has not authentically claimed Christ as Savior and Lord. The person who demonstrates no desire for the things of God and has no inclination to avoid sin or no passion to please God is not indwelt by the Holy Spirit and thus does not belong to Christ. A sobering truth.
[The interchange of the titles "Spirit of God" and "Spirit of Christ" argues for the deity of Jesus Christ. This statement also makes it clear that the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is the identifying mark of a believer in Jesus Christ ( 1 John 3:24; 4:13).]
10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
In verses 9 and 10 Paul’s thought flow moves from "Spirit of God" to "Spirit of Christ" then to "Christ in you." It is plain that to say the "Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ in us or Christ in us is to say the same thing. This scriptural usage finds its explanation in the doctrine of the trinity. While there is only one God, He reveals Himself in three persons.
[Verse 10, like verses 9b and 11, is a conditional statement which in Greek the condition is assumed to be true; if can be understood as "since" or "because."] As a result of Christ’s indwelling presence, your body is dead (or, "subject to death"; 7:24) because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. Though all that have sinned in the flesh will physically die, those who live by the Spirit will live because their spirit is alive. Because of God’s imputed righteousness, a believer is alive spiritually. That person whose spirit has been born again by the Spirit of Christ is alive even though His body be dead. The eternal, spiritual life of God is implanted by the indwelling Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ here and now, even though a believer’s body is mortal like everyone else. The Spirit is the source of life and where ever the Spirit dwells there is life.
III. SPIRIT GIVEN LIFE, 11.
In verse 11 Paul wrote about an even better promise. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
It was the Holy Spirit who was the agent of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Just as the Spirit lifted Jesus out of physical death and gave Him life in His mortal body, so the Spirit who dwells in the believer, gives to that believer new life both now and forever (Jn. 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6). In other words, God promises spiritually empowered resurrection life now (6:4, 8, 11) as we live in our mortal bodies.
The ultimate destination of our bodies is not death but resurrection. Our bodies have not yet been redeemed but they will be. How do I know? Because the indwelling Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of Life but the Spirit of resurrection for He is the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead.
Rest assured since the same Spirit which is in Christ and raised Him from the dead now lives in us ( 1Cor. 15:23), even our bodies (1 Cor. 6:19), we will most certainly be raise to new life also. The possession of the Spirit of God which is the source of all real life is a pledge and security that our bodies will be resurrected also.
This resurrection also includes a transformation. The changing of our bodies into a new and glorious vehicle of our character and personality. This resurrected body will be free of all bondage to sin, disease, pain, decay and frailty. It will be a perfect body fit for a perfected person living in a God’s perfect place.
As you live day by day surrender to walking in the Spirit of the Living God and the hope of eternal life with God will shine brighter and brighter within your soul. It will give a peace and confidence that the world, the flesh and the devil can never take away.
CONCLUSION / INVITATION
If the Spirit of God dwells in a person how careful he or she should be that nothing in his thoughts or feelings offend his or her divine quest! Some questions therefore we need to ask ourselves are:
How am I at mental-discipline? When I catch myself thinking wrong thoughts, do I make myself think about something else?
Where are some of the places I go and what are some of the things I do that feed my mind with the wrong kind of stuff?
Do I need to memorize verses like Philippians 4:5-8 to help discipline and retrain my mind?
According to the Bible every person is either under the control of the Spirit or under control of the old nature, either on a road of peace or on a road that leads to death. Walking in the Spirt is living with Him as the director of our lives.
Today through surrendering to the Holy Spirit in our lives there is a constant abiding of love, power and soundness in our minds. Are you experiencing the abiding love and peace of the Spirit? If not no one can change that but you. Right here right now God is speaking. How will you respond?
