LIFE AS A COG
Rom. 8:5-18
INTRODUCTION: Last week one of the things I talked about was that we’re not all God’s children; we’re all his creation but in order to become a child of God you need to be born-again. Today I’m going to expound on that and highlight some things that identify us as a COG-Child Of God. It’s not just about making a commitment and being baptized-it’s about what happens after that. So let’s see what identifies us as a COG.
1) We have the mindset of the Spirit (5-8). Paul is highlighting the difference between someone who is a COG and someone who isn’t. And we see what it boils down to-what controls our minds. If my mind is focused on things like prayer, bible study, looking for opportunities to serve God, thinking of reasons to praise God, then my mind is set on what the Spirit desires. But if it’s focused on looking for opportunities to sin, dirty, foul or sinister thoughts then my mind is being controlled by the sinful nature.
However, these verses aren’t saying if you think about sin at all then it means you’re not a Christian. Just read the previous chapter to realize that. If it was about perfection then Paul himself didn’t have the Spirit of Christ in him. In fact, if there’s a battle going on in your mind it’s an indicator that you are a COG.
Rom. 7:21-25. There is a war going on for control of our minds. One of the ways we can tell we are a COG is because we have a war going on inside our heads.
Galatians 5:17, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." The mind of the one who is not a child of God does not have this battle going on within them. They aren’t contemplating doing God’s will; they aren’t thinking about how to please God; they aren’t concerned with what his will is.
Eph. 2:3 says that before we were saved we were gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Before we were saved we were focused on following the desires of our hearts, not following the desire of the Lord’s heart. Now that we are saved we will have to contend with making up our minds to resist temptation and instead set our minds on what the Spirit desires.
And we see in verse eight that in our old nature we cannot please God. No matter what we do that would appear as good, if it’s apart from Christ God is not pleased with it. Since we are not born again we are hostile to God and therefore not pleasing to him. It might not seem that way; when I wasn’t a Christian I didn’t feel a hostility toward God but since my life wasn’t about pleasing God I was therefore, by default living in hostility toward him.
We please God when we accept what Jesus did on the cross as the way to salvation; the way to having the hostility removed; the way to being reconciled to God; the way to having a relationship with God-the way to being able to please God. Once that happens, then I can be in a position to continue to please God. And that brings a COG joy-knowing I can do something that pleases God.
Think of it-when you were a child you wanted to do things that got your parents’ recognition; do things that made them proud; do what pleased them. What joy it brought when you knew they were pleased with you-when you got good grades or when you cleaned your room without being told-stuff like that. Now, with God as our heavenly Father, we can have the joy that comes from knowing we’ve done something that pleases him.
2) We have the Spirit of God in us (9-11). If we’re a COG, there might be a battle going on but our lives will be dominated by and controlled by the Holy Spirit. “If the Spirit of God is in you.” Without the Spirit of God living in us we have no ability to live a life controlled by the Spirit. We might do spiritual things now and then and we might have some godly qualities but that doesn’t mean we have the spirit of God in us.
We receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit when we put our faith in Jesus. After Peter preached the gospel at Pentecost the people asked what they needed to do and he replied in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Being influenced by the Spirit and having the Spirit living in us are two different things.
“Ludwig Nommensen traveled to begin mission work with a tribe in Southeast Asia. The village chief welcomed Ludwig and said, "You have 2 years to learn our customs and convince us you have a message worth hearing." After 2 years, the tribal leader asked the missionary how Christianity differs from the moral rules and traditions of the tribe. "We already know what is right," the chief explained. "We too have laws that say we must not steal, or take our neighbor's wives, or tell lies." The missionary replied, "That's true. But my God supplies the power needed to keep those laws." This startled the chief. "Can you really teach my people to live better?" "No, I can't," responded Ludwig. "But if they receive Jesus Christ, God will give them the strength to do what is right."
We might have moral laws and we might be successful, to a certain extent, in obeying some of those laws but the only way we can be consistently obedient to God’s moral law is if we have the Holy Spirit in us and we are under His control. The only reason the Christian sins is because he is not under the control of the Spirit-plain and simple. The person who is not born again has no possibility to do this.
But it’s not only about not sinning; it’s about doing the things that please God. And pleasing God is not just about following rules; it’s about having the right motive-pleasing God. We can have different motives for doing the right thing-I want to look good, I want to feel good, I want to avoid trouble for myself-all reasons that deal with self.
Doing the right thing with the right motive has to do with glorifying God. Doing the right thing benefit me-but my main motive isn’t to bring attention to myself or benefit myself-it’s to please God. That’s the result of having the Holy Spirit living in me and controlling me. A COG doesn’t just have the influence of the Holy Spirit now and then, they have the Holy Spirit living in them at all times.
3) We have an obligation to live by the Spirit (12-15). If I’m obligated I feel compelled to do something. I’m overwhelmingly drawn toward doing something. Satan wants us to be compelled to sin; he wants us to feel obligated to satisfy the desires of the flesh. But, being led by the Spirit, we now are compelled to fulfill the desires of the Spirit.
Rom. 6:11-14. This isn’t feeling obligated in a bad way; in a disgruntled way. It’s a sense of duty; a desire to honor the one who gave his life for me. I feel obligated to live by the Spirit out of respect for the gift of life I’ve received.
In 2nd Cor. 5:14 Paul talked about Christ’s love compelling them to do what they were doing. As a COG, Christ’s love should compel us to live by the Spirit as well.
Vs. 13 is such a crucial verse that some consider it the single most important verse on spiritual life. It really does sum it up-if your life is habitually about gratifying your sinful desires, eventually it will kill you-if not physically then spiritually. However, if you are determined to kill those desires-then you will live-not just eternally but live a fruitful life in the here and now.
So, to sum it up-if I don’t kill sin then sin will kill me. And we see that if I have the Holy Spirit living in me then I have the ability to kill the sin I’m in. There’s the partnership aspect we’ve talked about before-God gives me the power but I need to use that power to do the killing. If I’m not doing that it doesn’t mean I can’t; it means I’m not.
Gal. 5:18-25. We might have a battle of wills going on inside us but what are we going to do? We have two choices when it comes to sin-we can either cater to it or we can crucify it. If we belong to Christ, we need to crucify those acts of the sinful nature-we need to kill those passions, we need to put those desires to death.
Keeping in step with the Spirit involves stepping on sin and crushing it. It involves stepping away from temptation when it comes. Then, we keep stepping in rhythm with the Holy Spirit.
Vs. 15-We have a new spirit-a Holy Spirit that has freed us from the spirit of bondage and has made us sons and daughters of the king! Therefore, we appeal to our Father for help. We cry out, Abba, help! And we receive that help. And it is by the Spirit of the Father that we can be successful at killing the deeds of the flesh. And it is through the great love the Father has poured out on us in calling us his children that we respond with an obligation to live in Him.
4) We receive confirmation (16-18). Vs. 16-how does this happen? The person who doesn’t have the Spirit of God isn’t concerned about pleasing God. They might struggle with doing the right thing or not, but the reason for doing the right thing isn’t to please God. So one way the Spirit testifies with our spirit is in the realization of our desire to do the right thing because it will please God.
Also, another way is when you are under conviction. Before when we sinned we either gave no thought to it, or we justified it. Or, if we did feel bad it was because we got caught or suffered in some way or hurt someone else-but we weren’t thinking about it displeasing God. Having conviction; having true godly sorrow-being sorry that I displeased God is a testimony that we have the Spirit of God in us.
And what about the times when you receive a thought that you knew didn’t come from you or clarity about a verse or passage of scripture-seeing something you hadn’t realized before-these are confirmations of the Holy Spirit in you. When we think about the differences in the way we think now compared to before we can be assured of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Vs. 17-“heirs”. 2nd Cor. 1:21-22, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Having the Holy Spirit in us is the confirmation that we are his and that there is something beyond this world and that we will be partakers of it.
Rom. 8:1 says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Being told we are no longer under condemnation is part of our confirmation. Because we have received the Holy Spirit, and because we live according to the Spirit, we are free from condemnation and are therefore heirs according to the promise.
“If we share in his sufferings”? We need to understand that as a COG there are blessings but there are also struggles, hardships and persecutions. These are necessary if we are going to be witnesses for Christ. If God allowed his Son to go through such things why do we think we should be exempt?
When Paul and Barnabas were traveling around they came to Lystra and were winning the crowd over until some antagonistic Jews came onto the scene. Acts 14:19-22. Paul wanted to encourage the disciples living in hostile territories that hardships were inevitable and that they must persevere through them in order to enter the kingdom of God. We must finish the race and we can finish the race marked out for us because we are COGs; we have the Spirit of Christ in us, enabling us and equipping us to make it through.
But, in all that we go through as COGs our future glory outweighs our current sufferings (vs. 18). No matter what we have to endure and go through here; it will all be worth it in the end. As a COG we have the hope of a heavenly inheritance.
