The Bible is a book offering the good news of salvation from sin. It is also a book that presents the bad news of condemnation for sin. No single book or collection of writings on earth proclaims so completely and vividly the totally desperate situation of people who are apart from God. This is God’s Word.
The Bible reveals that, since the Fall of Man, every human being has been born into the world with a sin nature. We have talked about that before. What David said of himself can be said of everyone: “Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Earlier in his letter to the Romans, Paul declared, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (there is that term again – ‘ the glory of God’, which we now know to be the presence of God).
Because of that universal and inborn sinfulness, all unbelievers are under God’s condemnation. Man is not simply influenced by sin but is completely overpowered by it, and no one can escape that dominance by his or her own efforts. Sin is a defiling disease that corrupts every person, degrades every individual, disquiets every soul, and steals the peace and joy from the heart.
Sin, that thing we allow to be a part of our life, places us under the power of Satan, the ruler of the present world system. What Paul is telling us in Chapter 8 is that although we are ‘born into the slavery of sin’ we have an alternative in God’s plan for us.
This is our condition. This is how we are ‘delivered from the factory.’ Every person in the world is born sinful – hard to believe that a baby is sinful, but be patient, they will get to sin soon enough!
What is perplexing to me is the wonderful truth about those who, by the grace of God, working through faith, belong to Christ. God proclaims to all people that belief in Jesus Christ is the thrilling promise that fills the heart with comfort, joy and hope. It is that belief that fuels our desire to do better. It is bewildering that any thinking mind or searching soul would not run with eagerness to receive such divine assurance. But perhaps the greatest tragedy of sin is that it blinds the sinner to the life-giving promises of God and predisposes people to trust in the false promises of the world, the promises of Satan.
This is the high water mark of Romans – this 8th chapter; it is really about ‘sanctification’, living a life ‘in Christ’ and not being ‘separated’ from God. This chapter in Romans gives most ministers some trouble because it speaks such profound truths that it makes those who are genuinely interested in the meaning of the words and phrases contained here; it makes you feel like Moses standing in front of the burning bush. These words are so powerful that it sends the most respected theologians back to the library seeking definition. In spite of that I want to push through it because at every level there is a message here that we all must come to understand.
One of the great clerics of the past century said of Romans 8, “We enter this chapter with no condemnation (blame); we close with no separation and in between all things work together for good to those who love God.”
To distil the language from this chapter is to say this: We find that there is to be given to the child of God in this life, peace and joy. He is to live for God in the very presence of sin. Clearly the choice is ours. We either live as God wants us to or we live in spiralling sin. Yes, we will still sin, but the huge difference is; we will fight against it. There are two things that we have to think about.
One: We either let sin dictate our life and our program here as we live out our years, or;
Two: We decide to make consistent attempts to live not separated from God or in other words we live a sanctified life.
There is one fundamental rule of existence that holds us all back. It is this: It has been told to us and I think we all understand that there is nothing in this world that will allow us to be in a perfect state with God. We have inherited a sinful nature and it is there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to move us OFF the path we should be on. The other disturbing thing to consider is that even after we accept Christ into our life and have this ‘new nature’ we do not receive any ‘power’ with this new nature. We are still the broken and sinful people that we naturally are. But here we learn a fundamental truth. And that is: There is no good in our old nature. There is not one speck of good to be found. So, here we are, with a new nature, having no ‘power.’ How will we live like God wants us to live? How will we be able to display this ‘new improved nature’ we have been given through belief in Christ?
Before we get too depressed about this questionable gift we have been given through belief in Jesus Christ, we have to understand our position. We were, in the past, living a life that held no ‘good.’ Now we are saved and we have a new nature, a new life that has no ‘power.’ If misery loves company, then we should feel a little better about this state we are in – even though we do not understand if fully, yet. Paul, the apostle cried out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Wow, that was Paul himself displaying the abject frustration of having believed in Jesus Christ and having given his life to God, only to find out that there is no power in this new nature at all! That was in the tail end of chapter 7. Paul concluded, as I am sure that you have already figured out with your own life, “I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Why would he thank God? He said, “So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law. (he is saying that mentally, academically, I serve God in my life), but in my sinful nature I am a slave to the law of sin.” He says, although I know full well that I want to be a better believing person in this new nature of mine, I will still be pulled down and made to fail because of sin. This new nature is better, for sure; it is the knowledge that living for God is better than living for this world. But where is the fuel that will drive this life to be better? Does this ring any bells for you?
Chapter 8 in Romans gives the believer the truth, the answer. This chapter introduces the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification. The Holy Spirit is spoken of nineteen times in this chapter – before this there was only two casual mentions of the Holy Spirit.
There is a telling few verses way ahead, in Ephesians, spoken by Paul. It goes along way to let the average person know how sanctification is defined. Sanctification is living a life apart from worldly, sinful desires and devoting your days to God’s view of how we should live. It is difficult to shun the sparkly things and tastes of the world. We are, some of us, consumed by what the world has to offer. We seek money, power, status, things. But in Ephesians 5:16-18 Paul makes an excellent point. He says, “Make the most out of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit.” These verses, put in laymen’s terms, make a very wise statement. If we are filling our lives with things that are not holy, then where is the room in our life for the holy things that our new nature should crave? We are finite beings. We only have so much attention and energy. If we fill our consciousness with things that are not ‘of God’ then there will be no time and no room for the things He expects of us? And here is the most important point. There will be no real power driving our new life, us as new creations. We will still believe but we remain in no man’s land between the power of this new life and the offerings of the present world.
So, okay, how do we get the power to drive our new life in the direction that we know God wants us to? For the answer we go all the way to verses 2-6 of Romans 8. “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 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.”
Verse two is a very important statement. This little word ‘for’ occurs seventeen times in this chapter. Because it is the cement that holds the chapter together, it is a word that requires real mental effort. We need to follow the logic of the apostle Paul. He is very logical.
“The Law of the Spirit” means not only the principles of Scripture, but the authority or power of the Holy Spirit to enforce it. The “Spirit of Life” means the Holy Spirit who brings life because He essentially is life. The Holy Spirit, part of the Godhead, created life.
Now stay with me here, because one of the important truths is released in this verse. “In Jesus Christ: means that the Holy Spirit is in complete union with Christ. Because the believer shares the life of Christ, the Holy Spirit liberates us from sin.
“The law of sin and death” is the authority that sin had over our ‘old nature.’ It kept us severed from God. The new nature could not break the ‘shackles’ if you will, at all – because there was no ‘power’ there. Only the coming of a higher authority into our lives can accomplish this, namely the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit operates on the new nature, which is vitally joined to the life of Christ. In our old nature we were joined to the ‘body of the dead.’ In our new nature we are joined to Christ.
Here is the crux of the matter. In verses three and four we are told that ‘the law was powerless’ because man is weakened by our sin nature. It is telling us that those who try to live by the Scripture or the law have only our personal will power which is woefully lacking. Just ask anyone who has made New Year’s resolutions that lasted past January 2nd. Anyone who tries to live for God by a system of laws is doomed to failure, because the Holy Spirit will not function in that capacity. We have to seek the Holy Spirit, be open to His urgings and allow Him to direct us in our life. Listen, learn and go forward with His power.
Let me explain it this way; let’s say you go to the Bay and you are looking for a refrigerator. You have come into some money so the sky is the limit and you want to buy the best one there, with all the options and toys. You find one that has everything but the kitchen sink, automatic everything! So you buy it and set up for delivery and it just so happens they can deliver it later that day. On the way home you catch up on your shopping and by all the food that you figure will fit into this new marvel that cost three grand. You can’t wait for it to come and load everything in. Just as planned the truck shows up and into the kitchen comes this new equipment. Wow, it looks great and everything in your world is just perfect. You load all the food into it and off to bed with dreams of tomorrow being even greater.
In the morning you jump out of bed and tear down stairs and… yes it is still there. You open the doors and boom, the worst thing in the world has happened. Everything is thawed, meat dripping down the front, the milk stinks and you are… let me say annoyed. You call the Bay at 9a.m. sharp. “Hello, I bought a fridge there yesterday and it doesn’t work, and all my new food is ruined.” The polite customer service person asks if you would assist him with a little trouble shooting. “Give a listen to the bottom front panel and listen for the hum of the motor.” You do and …nothing. “Well open the door and check to see if the light comes on,” he asks gently. You open the door and … darkness. “Would you ease the fridge out from the wall and check to see if it is plugged in,” he asks politely. You pull the fridge out and there on the floor is the unspoiled cord still wrapped in its plastic bag. You go back to the phone and try this. “Well for the price I paid for this thing, it should work anyway; it should have plugged itself in.” The service person then explains to you that this new expensive appliance has all the manufactured specifications to do and be all it was designed to do and be, but not without power. Just having the parts, as expensive and precious as they are, won’t allow those parts to do what the parts were designed to do, unless it is connected to power.
We can be all that we dream to be, and what we know God wants us to be if we only accept the power that is available to us now.
Amen
