ROMANS 8:9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
How do you define the word "Christian"? What is it that makes you look at someone you don’t know or you’ve never even met that make you say "I bet that guy is a Christian"? Haven’t you ever done that? I do quite often; even people on TV. Is it something they say that influences you or is it jus that maybe your Spirit is bearing witness with theirs? A lot of people "say" they are Christian, but thru certain circumstances or problems they get themselves into, it doesn’t show them to be Christ-followers.
The Super Bowl winning coach of the Colts Tony Dungee comes to mind. He displays a lot of class and always gives thanks to God before anyone else. Tom Landry is one who comes to mind. We still remember his life as being a good example.
On the other hand there are the guys that talk the talk, but things happen that prove they weren’t exactly where they should have been with God. How many tel-evangelists have fallen? I won’t put pictures here or even mention names. You know who they are, and God knows who they are. But my point is this.....they all "talked the talked" and called themselves Christian. What happened?
We use all the correct terms, don’t we? "I am a friend of God. God is my Father. I am a child of the King, an heir to the throne. We are His children." We ALL want to be those things! But how does God describe a child of God? That’s what the criteria will be....it’s not what you and I think is the definition of a Christian, but it is God’s definition that will be the only one that matters.
So let’s take time to see what God calls a Christian, not what we call ourselves.
ROM 8:9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Basically, our text is Paul talking about sin and the control (or lack of) that it has over our lives. Some folks think that we just "have" to sin, don’t they? They make excuses for sin in their lives even BEFORE they sin. "Preach’a.....I’m only human..... Preach’a...there was only one perfect man that walked on this earth." OK, that one’s true...but both of these statements, while true, can also be used as an excuse to sin.
Look at vs 10.....sin is dead, but your spirit is ALIVE! And you all know how I love vs 11....that same spirit...that resurrection spirit that raised Christ from the dead....lives in us! How great is that? But look back at vs 9... if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ So I see here that to be called a Christian, I must have the Spirit of Christ. Do you have the Spirit of Christ living in you? Can people see it? Does it show? Does your spirit bear witness to Gods?
By the way, what does that mean, anyway? Well...do people know that you’re a christian even before you tell them? Do you even tell them? Or, are you ashamed to tell folks that you are a christian? Jesus said if you are ashamed of Him......
Listen, have you ever seen babies at a restaurant? They seek each other out, don’t they? It really is amazing. A baby can’t look at you whenever you are trying to get it’s attention, but put two babies on the opposite ends of a crowded room, and they WILL find each other. That’s ther spirit bearing witness......they are like-minded. Lot of christian babies like that, too. immaturity seeks out other immaturity and they seem to get together. Wouldn’t it be nice if an immature christian sought after a mature christain to immulate? By the way, those babies at the restaurant.....they can see each other and laugh and have fun with each other....but it’s the adult in that relationship that provides and protects the baby and teaches it how to grow....think about that if you are a new or immature christian....
Let’s go on...12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation watch this, now...not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live
So it becomes apparent that it is in our upmost interest to NOT live by our sinful nature...God doesn’t call you christian if you live like that....but we must "put to death those misdeeds"..... how? By the SPIRIT. Here we go again!
Now, why should we do all this? The answer is in vs 14.....those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. You’ve all heard this scripture before. This is God’s definition of a christian, or a son of God. Those who led by His Spirit. Listen, I’m not just talking about coming to church and "getting in the Spirit"....I’m talking about being LED by the Spirit. Do you know what it means to be led and not "pushed"? We can’t be led by the Spirit if we keep jumping out in front of it, can we?
Have you ever been in your car and didn’t know where you were going, but someone else said "come on, you can follow me". Did you ever start following them wnd then decide to get in front of them? I have. Seriously, I did that! As soon as I got in front of the car I was supposed to be following I felt pretty good at first. Then I thought...OK...this is pretty stupid. I am supposed to be following. I do not know where I am going. I have no idea which way to go. The one who does know where He is going.. well.. .maybe I should get behind him and follow Him. Listen....instead of trying to be in the lead, it’s time for us chritians to be led!
When I talk about letting God led, I’m talking about in everything! Did you know that God’s Spirit will help you make even the smallest of decisions? Try it sometime. And, as you grow in spiritual maturity...well, look at vs 16. When we get to that point where His Spirit testifies with ours, then we are on a different level, a new plane with God. His Spirit will guide yours without you even being conscience of what is happening. It is a new level of understanding! I’m excited about this, aren’t you? Look what Jesu said in JOHN 16....12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
The Spirit of the living God will tell you what is to come...He will help you make those difficult choices and decisions. I’m talking about day to day living here! He had made His wisdom availible to us thru His Spirit. All heads bowed and eyes closed.....
So how what’s your definition of christian? Vs 14...those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God
How are you doing with that today? Are you dancing with God but still attempting to lead? That can be pretty clumbsey! Are you following Him, yet you keep trying to pass Him? That can be dangerous when you don’t know where you are going. If you’d like for the Spirit.....the Holy Ghost.... to lead more predominately in your life today, to actually turn the lead over to Him...would you come forward and ask God for more of His Spirit?
