11-07-03
Title: The Deliverer from Sin
Bible Reading: (Romans 8:31-39)
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Introduction
Romans 7, pictures the tragic failure and disappointment of a believer who tries to find peace of mind through his own efforts, by keeping the holy law of God.
But Paul declares that the person, who seeks to overcome sin by willpower and human effort alone, will fail.
There are two powers, which are working to claim the right to rule in the heart of men and women.
Paul described those powers as “flesh” and “Spirit.”
By the term flesh he is referring to our human nature, which is tainted by sin.
It is that portion of ourselves that remains unregenerate and does not experience the new birth.
It is that part of our human nature that provides a bridgehead for sin.
It is the inward tendency that we all have to drift downward rather than to move upward.
Romans 7, describes pain and disappointment.
It describes the failure and despair of the person who tries to live the Christian life without a conscious dependence on the living Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
When we yield to our unregenerate nature, what Paul calls the “flesh,” we are on the road to ruin.
But recognizing and responding to “the Spirit” is the road to life and peace.
Romans 8, begins with “no condemnation” and closes with “no separation.”
The contents of Romans 8 declare that there need be no defeat in the Christian life.
However, it should be understood that a Christian’s victory over sin is not automatic or inevitable.
We must accept responsibility for our spiritual response to the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Romans 8, contains twenty references to the person and work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.
It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit living within us that we are delivered from the tyranny of sin.
From Romans 7 into Romans 8, we move from the miserable ness of defeat to the promise of victory.
We move from spiritual depression to spiritual delight.
We move from a sigh to a song.
The indwelling Holy Spirit makes possible spiritual victory and high ethical conduct that reflects the grace and glory of God.
The Holy Spirit is present and active in the life of all faithful believers.
I want to show you from Romans 8, seven ways in which He (the Holy Spirit) is at work for us and in us.
First, THE INDWELLING SPIRIT SETS US FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.
The first four verses testify regarding this truth, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Even a casual reading of Romans 8 will leave us with the impression that the Spirit of God and the absence of an attitude of defeat go hand in hand.
Life in the Spirit enables us to live free from the law or principle of sin and death.
This does not mean that the believer is free from sin or free from the prospect of death, but that the principle of sin and death does not have power over him.
It is possible for those for whom there is no condemnation to live a life that is not inundated with sin, a life which will not end in death.
And that is only possible, because when sin threatens us, the Holy Spirit comes with a strength that is the power of God and delivers us from the desire to sin.
Secondly, THE INDWELLING SPIRIT DELIVERS US FROM THE WEAKNESS OF THE FLESH.
This is the point that Paul makes in verses 5-13.
He says, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Even after we have come to know Jesus Christ as Savior, we are still plagued by in inward tendency to sin.
This is where the devil seeks to do his work in the hearts and lives of believers.
Here, Paul is saying that through the power of the Holy Spirit we can have victory.
In his letter to the Galatians, he said that instead of living for the flesh, we can reap the harvest of the Spirit, if we will trust in Him, and walk in Him, and obey Him.
My friends, the Spirit of God permanently indwells every believer at the moment that individual believes in Jesus Christ.
The presence or absence of the Holy Spirit within determines whether or not one has experienced salvation.
As children of God, Christians are debtors.
They are obligated not to live according to the sinful, selfish desires of the flesh.
Paul said, “The Spirit mortifies (or puts down) the deeds of the body.”
The “deeds of the body” is another designation for fleshly or carnal desires.
Those who are led by God’s Spirit are indeed God’s children.
Obedience is the true test of a personal relationship with the Lord.
Another work of the INDWELLING SPIRIT IS TO PROVIDE LEADERSHIP FOR GOD’S CHILDREN.
In Romans 8:14 Paul said, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
There is one quality that can be found in all those who are truly born again.
That quality is that in their thoughts, behavior, and life-styles they are constantly and habitually led by the Spirit of God.
Folks, the Holy Spirit wants to lead us in thought, and word, and deed.
We are to receive His leading by faith, and then we are to obey the divine impulses that could have no other source than the heart of a loving God.
The Holy Spirit works to create a quality of life within us that loves the will of God, and accepts His will, and obeys His will.
A forth work of the Holy Spirit IS TO GIVE TESTIMONY TO OUR DIVINE SONSHIP.
That’s what Paul said in verses 15-17.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”
The Holy Spirit communicates with the believer to let him know that he is a child of God and a member of the family of God.
When Satan tries to defeat us by tempting us to commit some sin, we need to firmly grasp our new relationship with God so that we might overcome his evil with good.
So, how can we be sure that we are the children of God?
Because we take God at His Word and we have the ever-present Spirit of God dwelling within us to give assurance that we are indeed the sons and daughters of God.
I want to say next that THE INDWELLING SPIRIT IS GOD’S PLEDGE OF OUR FINAL AND COMPLETE REDEMPTION.
In Romans 7, Paul describes a person who finds it impossible to overcome sin by human effort alone.
But here in these verses he describes the glorious expectation, and the assurance of final victory that God has provided for those who trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
He promises us victory, not only over our evil nature, but He also promises us final, and ultimate, and complete redemption for eternity.
This is what Paul wrote:
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (V. 18-25).
Here Paul compares the sufferings of the present with the glorious hope for the future.
Paul had suffered greatly for the sake of the gospel.
Yet he acknowledged that those sufferings were nothing compared to the future glory he anticipated.
God’s children will participate in the glory of Christ and they will experience complete conformity to Christ.
Paul said that we are not frustrated by the suffering we experience or see in our world, because we have hope.
When Jesus returns, we will enter into glorious liberty!
The Holy Spirit assures us that the best is yet to come.
There is a sixth work of the INDWELLING SPIRIT; HE AIDS IN OUR EFFORT TO PRAY ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD.
I don’t know about you, but I have difficulty praying properly.
Paul tells us in verse 26 that it is a ministry of the Holy Spirit, to aid in our prayer life.
He said, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
We are in the period where we are waiting for Jesus to return.
The great comfort we have during this period of waiting is the presence of the Holy Spirit.
He is the One who helps our infirmities.
We have one great infirmity while waiting for the Lord to return to us, and that is, we don’t know what we should pray for.
The only thing our Lord’s disciples asked Him to teach them was how to pray.
Each believer meets that same difficulty of knowing how to pray and what to pray for.
Therefore, God has given His Holy Spirit to make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Even when we do not know what to say to God, the Holy Spirit interprets our innermost feelings and intercedes in our behalf.
These inarticulate sounds are heard by God when intercession is made for us by the Holy Spirit.
Last of all, THE INDWELLING SPIRIT MAKES INTERSESSION FOR US ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL.
No one can overcome the flesh by human strength alone.
No one can overcome an evil nature by trying to obey the law.
Our help comes from God.
The Holy Spirit not only helps as we pray, but Jesus is interceding in heaven for us according to God’s will.
That’s what Paul is telling us in verses 27 and 28.
“And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (v. 27-28).
We can trust the Spirit’s intercession for us, because He intercedes according to God’s will.
The verse tells us that God works for good in all things.
This doesn’t mean that all things are good or that all things work together for good for all people.
Rather the great promise is that God will overrule and work even through the tragedies caused by sin’s presence in the world.
He will accomplish His purposes in the lives of those who love Him and who have responded to His call.
Conclusion
Who is to deliver us from the power and presence of sin?
Let us thank God that through Jesus Christ and the precious gift of the Holy Spirit we can have deliverance now from the power of sin.
And ultimately, when we go to live with Jesus, we will have complete redemption and salvation from the very presence of sin.
I want to leave you with thus quote from T. J. Bach.
“The Holy Spirit longs to reveal to you the deeper things of God. He longs to love through you. He longs to work through you. Through the blessed Holy Spirit you may have: strength for every duty, wisdom for every problem, comfort in every sorrow, joy in His overflowing service.”
