Sermon Brief
Date Written: April 25, 2012
Date Preached: April 29, 2012
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: A Journey thru Romans
Sermon Title: What Our Victory Looks like/means
Sermon Text: Romans 8:12-17 [ESV]
Introduction:
12Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
For the most part you hear sermons from me that divide up the Scripture and pull it all into 2 or 3 points with some sorta clever title, but today that is NOT what you are going to get…
This morning you are going to get MEAT… I am going to take this passage and we are going to discover what God has to say about us… NOW that we are HIS!
So far in this letter to the Roman churches we have learned a great deal about WHO WE ARE!
We have heard how we ALL are sinners and we have NO excuse before God!
We have heard that we are hopeless against our sinful nature and sinful desires!
We have heard that there is NO amount of work we can do to gain forgiveness from God
But then we heard what Christ did for us on the Cross!
We heard that when we accept Christ- He forgives us...
We have heard that when Christ forgives… he wipes our slate clean!
We have learned that ‘in Christ’ we are justified before God! We are blameless of the guilt and penalty of our sin!
2 weeks ago we learned that ‘in Christ’ there is NO condemnation against us as Christ has done all that needs to be done and we stand NOT GUILTY before God!
Today Paul continues in his teaching about what that MEANS for those who have Christ…
What does it mean that we are forgiven?
What does it mean that we are redeemed?
What does it mean that we are justified?
What does it mean to stand blameless before God?
In these verses today we are going to begin to understand just what our freedom in Christ really MEANS for us… so let’s get to it!
12Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
Now here in this verse we find Paul transitioning from a teaching to an explanation… he uses the word THEREFORE to signal that transition…
We have been taught of our freedom and NO CONDEMNATION in Christ and now Paul wants to explain what that means for the believer!
Now the ESV reads like this, 12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh…”
What Paul is saying here is translated very well in the NLT where it reads, “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.”
When Paul says we are debtors… what he is saying is that because of what Christ has done we still owe a debt, but our debt is NOT to the flesh and the sinful nature that once held us in bondage….
Do you remember in chapter 7 where Paul taught us that we know what we SHOULD do, but we do what we KNOW to be wrong… what we KNOW to be against God, and that we have NO control over this because we are slaves to sin…
BUT here Paul paints a MUCH different picture! He has just told us that we are FREE… free from condemnation and the bondage that had once held us captive… and BECAUSE we are free, we no longer have to be held captive by sin!
So he puts it like this… “you have NO obligation to do what your sinful nature URGES you to do!” In other words, we are NO longer slaves to sin, and we can walk away from our sinful desires and begin to live as Christ desires us to live…
Not only has Christ FORGIVEN us, but we have be released from sin’s control and our obligation to submit to the sinful desires of our heart! We are FREE! Free to serve Christ and be obedient to His calling!
13For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
In v.13 we find Paul emphasizing the deadly destination of those who remain in sin… if we live by our sinful nature and seek our own heart’s desires… there is but ONE destination, and that is death!
BUT, Paul reveals here that THROUGH the power of the spirit that NOW resides within us, we are free from that sentence of death and as a result we have eternal life!
What does Paul mean by putting to death the deeds of your sinful nature? Just what is Paul trying to say here?
Well I want you to know that Paul is NOT saying that you will never sin again… Paul is NOT saying that if you have enough faith and TRY hard enough that you can live a perfect life!
NOT AT ALL… what Paul is saying here when he speaks of ‘putting to death the deeds of your sinful nature…” a matter of spiritual physiology…
Let me put it to you like this what happens to a plant when you take away its WATER? What happens to a part of the body when the blood flow is stopped?
What is water to a plant? It is it’s life…
What is blood to a part of our bodies? It is the life…
When we turn away from our sinful passions and desires it is like turning of the life to our sinful nature… and the more we deprive it of life… the deader it becomes in our hearts and lives!
The more dead our sinful nature becomes the closer and more intimate we become with Christ! But let me WARN you about something here… our sinful nature will NEVER die completely while we are here on this earth… this world is broken and until we reach heaven we will never be perfect!
This is why we must strive to live a life of holiness and turn away from our sinful desires… this is why Christ taught us that to be HIS disciples we must DENY ourselves!
The more ‘life’ we refuse to give to our sinful nature, the weaker it becomes and the closer we get to God! Paul says here that we can do this… but it is NOT on our own! Look what Paul says… “…thru the power of the Spirit…”
So what does this mean? Preacher, how does this apply to me today? How can I see this evident in my life?
Well, again let me emphasize… this is NOT about you trying hard enough, but it is all about you surrendering completely to the Holy Spirit that now indwells your heart!
But that does not mean that there is no effort on your part, it simply means overcoming your sinful nature is not accomplished by YOUR power! You have to be willing and submissive to the Spirit’s leading in your life!
What has control of your life today? What sinful desire or sinful behavior is controlling your heart? What is it that you just cannot shake?
Is it anger? Are you angry that you cannot overcome your incessant desire to blow up when something does not go your way OR when things go against you and life is UNFAIR! Is anger controlling your heart today?
What Paul is saying here is STOP FEEDING the anger… stop giving it life by surrendering to it! Through the power of the HS you are able to turn away FROM that anger… walk away from your outbursts…
Will it take a lot of effort! YES! Will it take a lot of prayer! YES! Will it be EASY? Probably NOT… you see, sinful desires and our sin nature do NOT die quickly NOR do they surrender without a fight!
But what we DO know is that the more you turn away from your sinful desire… in this case, the more you turn away from your anger, the less life it has in your heart and the DEADER it becomes!
And because you are turning away FROM sin and TO Christ, you are becoming more and more intimate with Him… leading to a richer and more abundant life here in THIS world, as well as the eternal life you have to look forward to…
What is the sinful desire or sinful nature that is keeping your heart captive today? Turn away from it and allow the power of the HS to deliver you… day by day… Like Christ said, we are called to deny ourselves and die daily to be His followers…
In fact, the verb that is used here by Paul for putting to death the sinful nature is a verb that indicates a continual and ongoing process or action… this is something we are going to have to do until God calls us home!
But PRAISE GOD we don’t have to do it ourselves! We have Jesus to deliver us and the Holy Spirit to empower us!
So, in these 2 verse we see Paul explaining that BECAUSE we have Christ in us, we are able to say no to our sinful desires…but it is not our strength but only THRU the power of the HS dwelling within us!
In Christ, we are able to rob our sinful nature of its life and see it weakened unto the point of death…THUS because of Christ in us we no longer have to face death and destruction but we have LIFE to look forward to!
Paul continues in v.14
14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
So, we are not obligated to serve our sinful nature any longer but we are able to turn away from it and starve it of its very life through the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us…
Paul explains that we can do this because of the HS… and in this verse we find Paul further explaining what that means for those of us who have Christ in our hearts!
Paul lets us know that because we have this spirit within us… the Holy Spirit… the Spirit of God… we are HIS CHILDREN!
Now we have all heard the phrase that ‘we are all God’s children’ but that is a lie straight from Satan himself! I want to set the record straight right here, right now… We are all NOT God’s children!
We ARE all God’s creation… but we are NOT all His children! God created us and loves us unconditionally, because we are His creation…
We are all created to be in fellowship WITH God… but in the garden, sin caused us to be cast out of fellowship with God!
We are God’s creation, but to be part of His family… God’s plan is that we are adopted as His children through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior!
And that is where we see Paul going in the next verse, let’s look at v.15…
15So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16For is Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
In v.15 we have Paul explaining that BECAUSE of God’s adoption of us as children… we no longer have to fear the sinful nature OR the evil one who fed that nature within us…
We NO longer have to live in fear of our sin and the guilt and penalty of our sin… We are now at peace with God because we have become part of the family!
Paul tells us here that, “…He [God] adopted you as His own children…” This confirms what we already know of the salvation process… God takes the initiative, it is all God’s doing and none of our own!
Can you imagine an orphan picking and choosing their parents? It just doesn’t happen… the parents come and choose the orphan, and take them to a better life and rescue them from a life of loneliness and fear and bring them into their family to experience love and acceptance and being a part of something truly special!
But Paul goes a step further here… we are not adopted into God’s family as a formality by God but our adoption is one of love and compassion… and a desire for a sense of belonging and intimacy!
Paul says that because of God’s favor in adopting us into His family that we can now call him, “Abba father!” now the term “abba” is a term of affection that is used for the closest of family members…
Abba father is a term that is close to the term we use for an affectionate father… ‘Daddy’! When I hear the term ‘daddy’ I don’t hear formality, I hear love…
When I hear the word ‘daddy’ spoken by the children of a family I know that love is there and they are close… Father, Dad, the old man… they are terms that describe the same person… but “Daddy” is a term that reveals LOVE!
Here Paul says, “Daddy” to God… We can call God “Daddy”, not out of disrespect, but because HE desires that close intimate relationship and has opened Himself up to our love for Him! This is what GOD desires from us… a ‘daddy’ response to His love!
And Paul goes on to say in v. 16 that it is the HS that joins us to God… God indwells us THRU the presence and the person of the Holy Spirit…
And that indwelling… that intimacy that the HS brings into our hearts… is PROOF that we are God’s children! Is proof that God has taken us from a loving creation to becoming part of HIS family! NEVER to be put out!
When we receive Christ into our hearts and are indwelled with the HS, we are adopted forever into the family of God… our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life NEVER to be removed!
This is what happens to us when we come to Christ! We become God’s children! When we begin to allow the Spirit of God to lead us, and empower us to turn away from our sinful and fleshly nature…
and Paul is explaining here that this is proof of us being part of God’s ROYAL and HOLY family and this is what Paul is telling us here…
There are many of us who have GREAT memories of our family… but there are many of us today sitting here in this room who have TERRIBLE memories of our family and our fathers!
BUT, even if you were abused by your earthly family, God is still calling to you to surrender to Him and become part of his HEAVENLY family… a family where you will never be ignored by Daddy… a family where you will NEVER be unloved by Daddy… a family where Daddy is always there for you…
Do you want that? I know I do… My family was loving to me, but my daddy was NEVER there for me when I was growing up… but today I know that God is NEVER absent from me, even in the tough times He is there to pick me up and help me thru…
17And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact,
together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.
Finally to end this section Paul wants to give one more further explanation of what it means to be part of God’s family…did you know that since you have been adopted by God into HIS family, that you are not just a part of the family, but you are heirs to the riches of his glory!
Together with Jesus, the firstborn of all creation… Jesus is our brother! He is God’s Son, and our brother… and we are heirs with Him to the royal blessing and glory of all heaven!
What does that mean? It means that HEAVEN is FOR YOU! It has been created by God and designed specifically FOR you! It is a place prepared BY God for you! Just as your earthly Father may have bought a house and told you that you were going to have your own room… God has prepared Heaven FOR you and it is your BIRTHRIGHT as a child of God!
We are heirs to HIS glory… Heaven was prepared for us! We are declared NOT GUILTY and held with NO condemnation against us… we stand blameless BEFORE God…all because of Christ IN US!
But l want to leave you with this one piece of information that I want you to chew on this next week… as you revel in the FACT that you are an heir to a heavenly realm and that God has taken the initiative to adopt you into His family and has forgiven you of your sin…
As we bask in the glow of knowing that we have eternal life and deliverance from our sin and sinful nature through the power of the HS… I want us to dwell on this one fact… a fact that Paul does NOT overlook as he ends this one section…
That fact is that YES we share in His glory and we do have eternal life and we ARE delivered and found justified and blameless… BUT we also must share in His sufferings…
Look what Paul says in the ESV: “…provided we suffer with Him in order that we may be glorified with Him…”
I like the NLT translation here that says, “…but if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering…”
Jesus stepped OUT of His glory to come and give Himself for YOU! He emptied Himself of His position, glory and status to be wrapped in flesh so that He could die on the cross!
Jesus allowed Himself to be mocked, ridiculed and beaten and ultimately submitted to death on a cross… ALL FOR YOU! He was willing to suffer that you could have life!
We are basking in the glory of that sacrifice… basking in the blessing of God’s plan! So with that in mind, it is critical that we do NOT take this for granted, but that we be willing to submit ourselves to suffering FOR Him too!
Preacher… what are you saying? Are you saying that I have to be beaten or killed FOR Jesus to prove I love Him? No, I am NOT saying that at all… but it may come to that and if it does… I say you must rejoice in it, because it will glorify God!
By saying that you must also share in His sufferings Paul is saying that we must be willing to submit to calling of God on our lives… regardless of the sacrifice it requires of us…
It may be that God wants you to surrender to service in a foreign land for the majority… if not ALL of your life! It will take different shapes and forms in our lives… but God has a place of service for ALL of us!
We are called to surrender and to submit to His calling… and there are going to be times when that will press down upon our hearts and minds… press down on our very souls… but we have an advocate in Christ Jesus and the empowerment of the HS that is there to power our walk and guide our steps!
This morning you have heard Paul’s explanation of what it means to be justified before God… the question now is, what are you going to do with that information?
Are you going to file it away in your mind and tell yourself that all is well and that YOU can do it… OR are you going to act on this information and surrender to Him today?
I call on you to surrender to Him…
Prayer call for sinners and the lost…
Prayer call for believers who have strayed…
Prayer call for believers who are resisting God’s plan…
Prayer call for believers who are seeking God’s plan…
