LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
Text: Rom. 8.1-11
Introduction
1. Illustration: In water-safety courses a cardinal rule is never to swim out to a drowning man and try to help him as long as he’s thrashing around. To do so is basically to commit suicide. As long as a drowning man thinks he can help himself, he’s dangerous to anyone who tries to help him. The reason why is because his tendency is to grab the one trying to help him and the result is, he ends up taking them both under the water in the process. The correct way to rescue someone who’s drowning is to stay far enough away to where he can’t grab you. And then you wait. And when he finally gives up and quits thrashing around, you make your move. At that point the drowning man won’t work against you. Instead he’ll let you help him. The same principle applies in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Until we give up, we aren’t really in a position to be helped. Have you given up ownership of your life to the Holy Spirit who wants to live within you? Because until then you can’t experience His power.
2. Over the past several chapters Paul has talked about how the law cannot save and how sin and death used the law against us.
3. In the last chapter he talked about the struggle we all have with sin, but that we have victory in Jesus!
4. In our text today, he elaborates on that victory and the role that all the members of the Trinity play in it. He talks about…
a. Condemnation Elimination
b. Benefits of Life in the Spirit
c. Resurrection Emancipation
5. Would you stand with me out of respect for the Word of God as we read Rom. 8.1-11.
Proposition: Our victory over sin and death is won as we progressively surrender to the Holy Spirit.
Transition: First, Paul tells us about…
I. Condemnation Elimination (1-4).
A. No Condemnation
1. Paul begins by returning to the condemnation that receive because of sin, by saying, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
a. When he talks about "now" he is referring to the change in eras, from the era of the old covenant to the era of the new covenant in Jesus.
b. This means that the era of the old way in no longer a reality.
c. The term condemnation means…
d. Condemnation: to judge someone as definitely guilty and thus subject to punishment (Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains, 556).
e. So, this means that the condemnation because of sin has been taken away from those who are in Christ Jesus, and have been united with him in his death and resurrection.
f. For those who are in a relationship with Christ his atoning sacrifice has led to God's judicial forgiveness.
g. So, the legal condemnation of the sinner has been removed by God because of the justification (Just as if I never sinned) of the sinner by Christ.
2. The reason for this is the liberation from sin and death that Christ has achieved, and the Spirit has produced. This is what Paul tells us in v. 2, where he says, "For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death."
a. Through his sacrificial death the condemnation of the follower of Christ has been taken away.
b. The contrast between the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death.
c. Here Paul is introducing the hero of this chapter, the Holy Spirit.
d. In the Holy Spirit we not only have a new way but also a new value in the law.
e. Sin and death have used the law to produce evil, but the Spirit uses the law to produce life.
f. Believers are not free from the law but free from the way it is used by sin and death.
g. We need to remember that Jesus did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it.
h. Matthew 5:17(ESV)
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
i. The power of sin and death are broken by the Holy Spirit.
j. The Spirit of life refers to the Spirit who gives life, showing the liberation from condemnation is a liberation to true life now and in the future.
k. Again, this is all made possible by Jesus. We receive this freedom when we are "in Christ."
l. Paul then makes the message more personal when he changes to the second person "you." He wants us to be sure that "you" receive the truth of being set free from sin and death.
3. Next Paul talks about the fact that Jesus did what the law couldn't do. He writes, "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh."
a. This sending language is often used of the mission of a royal delegate (John uses it over thirty times), but here the delegate is something more, he is God's own Son.
b. The use of "his own" emphasizes the deep relationship between Jesus and the Father and shows the always is/always was nature of Jesus.
c. Paul also adds a curious element to this verse, that the Son came in the "likeness of sinful flesh."
d. What makes this curious is that the New Testament makes it clear that Jesus was without sin.
e. However, notice that Paul says it was the "likeness," in other words, he appeared to be in the same situation as us.
f. So, the stress is on Jesus' identity with us under the "flesh."
g. However, Jesus did not sin, but rather bore our sins on the cross.
h. The result was that as the sin offering, Jesus condemned sin in sinful humans.
i. Jesus took the likeness of sinful flesh so that he could become the perfect sin offering and accomplish what the law could not do.
j. In v. 1 the condemnation of sin was removed for believers, and now we see the flipside; condemnation was taken away from us by the same act in which it was placed on sin - the cross.
4. The purpose of God sending his Son to be the sin offering for the world was, "in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
a. The true purpose of the law is fulfilled when Christ's sacrificial death enables the requirements of the law to be fully met is us.
b. Note that it is fulfilled in us, which means that we participate in the results. This idea of fulfilled is just like Jesus fulfilling the law in Matt. 5:17.
c. So, the requirements of the law are completed in both the sin offering of Christ and the life of obedience in us that follows.
d. This, of course, doesn't mean sinless perfection, which ought to be obvious to us from the last chapter that told us that we all struggle with sin.
e. However, the message of this section is that we can make progress in the process through the Holy Spirit.
f. This can only happen when we live according not according to the flesh but according to the Holy Spirit.
g. What Jesus did for us on the cross is worked out in Spirit-empowered living, and both together fulfill the law.
h. There are two choices, to live by the flesh or the world's standards, or live in obedience to the leading of the Spirit.
i. Just like in chapter 6, where there were two powers sin verses grace, and here it is the flesh verses the Spirit.
j. Back there the solution was to die with Christ, and here it is to live by the Spirit. The two are dependent upon one another.
B. No Judgment Against Those Who Believe
1. Illustration: A man said to his pastor: “I am a miserable sinner and there is no help available for me. I have prayed to God, I have tried to be good and I have tried to do the right thing at the right time, but I always seem to fail.” The pastor asked him: “Do you believe in the life, the death, and the resurrection of God’s Son Jesus Christ? The man said, “Yes I do. “If Jesus came and stood right here beside you at this very moment, what would be your words to Him?” asked the pastor. The man said, “I would look up into His face and confess my sins to Him and then I would tell Him that I feel like a lost sinner and that there is no hope for me.” “What do you think Jesus would say to you?” ask the pastor. The man thought for a few moments and them a change came upon his face. The change went from a look of worry to a look of peace and tranquility. And then the man replied: Jesus would say, “I have forgiven you of all your sins, you are under no condemnation, you are ‘set free”.
2. As a result of Jesus coming to earth, and dying for us on the cross, we are no longer condemned.
a. John 3:17-18 (ESV)
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
b. In Rev. 12:10, Satan is called “the accuser of the brethren.” Scripture says he stands and accuses us day and night.
c. But Jesus, who sits at the right hand of the Father, pleads the case for all those who believe in him.
d. His argument is that his blood shed on the cross has already paid the price of our sins.
e. Because of this we are declared “not guilty.”
f. For there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!
g. God isn’t the only one that Satan tries to condemn us to, but he also tries to condemn us to ourselves.
h. He tells us what rotten, sinful people we are.
i. That is when we need to say, “I am no longer condemned, because Jesus has already paid the price for my sins.”
j. We are set free from sin and death, and a great future awaits us both now and in the world to come!
Transition: Next, Paul talks about the…
II. Benefits of Life in the Spirit (5-8).
A. Live According to the Spirit
1. This next paragraph shows us the contrast between the flesh and the Spirit, followed by a tirade against the flesh.
2. Paul starts our in v. 5 by saying, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit."
a. This includes the thinking process and the will, and the fact that wickedness is especially unmistakable in the mindset of those who are living according to the flesh.
b. Note that they deliberately choose not on the basis of what is right but on the basis of their self-centered desires.
c. Everything they do is controlled by the concerns of the world.
d. On the contrary, those who are characterized by the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.
e. They are directed by the Spirit and both think and choose that which is in line with the Spirit.
f. In the conflict between God and the sinful nature the first group always sides with human nature, the second group always sides with God.
3. The second contrast describes the results of the mind of the flesh verses the mind of the Spirit. In v. 6, Paul writes, "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."
a. Mind here refers not just to the thoughts but also to the desires, outlook, and worldview of the person.
b. When the mindset has its foundation in the flesh, death its fullest sense is the result.
c. This is not just the final death in its eternal punishment but a state of death which rules over the unsaved person throughout their lives ending in the second death.
d. Revelation 2:11(ESV)
11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
e. British scholar Leon Morris says that "to be bounded by the flesh is itself death.”
f. It is a cutting off of oneself from the life that is life indeed."
g. Those who center their lives on the Spirit, however, experience life and peace.
h. Life is eternal life and present life in Christ.
i. Peace with God is the result of being right with God.
4. In vv. 7-8, Paul details why the mind set on the flesh is in a state of death. He says, "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
a. The term "hostile" does not just describe a person who has become an enemy of God, but rather it describes a fierce, active hostility toward all that God is and stands for.
b. The entire mindset is directed against the things of God, and this opposition is the chief characteristic of the state of death.
c. It desires that which pleases the self rather than what pleases God, and it opposes all that God demands.
d. This does not mean that the unsaved person is incapable of doing good, but it does mean that they do not seek the things of God.
e. The basis of this hostility is the refusal to submit to the laws of God.
f. The hostile mind of the earthly person is completely incapable of placing itself under the law of God.
g. Paul intensifies this refusal by saying it is grounded in the sinful nature when he adds, nor can it do so.
h. Because of the nature of sin, it is completely incapable of following God's law. This means that they cannot choose good for God's sake.
i. When they do choose good it is due to the situation rather than any desire to please God or follow him.
j. Sin controls every aspect of their lives. Because sinners are incapable of submitting to God's laws, they cannot please God.
k. They are in the flesh; that is they have the flesh as the sphere of their existence. Therefore, it is impossible for them to be pleasing to God.
B. Let the Holy Spirit Guide
1. Illustration: “What is my task? First of all, my task is to be pleasing to Christ. To be empty if self and filled with Himself. To be filled with the Holy Spirit; to be led by the Holy Spirit.” (Aimee Semple McPherson).
2. A true disciple of Jesus is not just Spirit-filled, they must be Spirit led.
a. Galatians 5:16 (ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
b. If we live our lives based on the sinful desires of the flesh we will constantly struggle in our spiritual lives.
c. If we watch things we shouldn’t watch, read things we shouldn’t read, go places we shouldn’t go, then we will be doing things we shouldn’t do.
d. If we desire the things of the sinful nature, we will do the things of the sinful nature.
e. However, if we life our lives by the Holy Spirit, we will do the things that God desires.
f. There’s more to be a good Pentecostal than being Spirit-filled and Spirit-baptized and speaking in tongues.
g. As good Pentecostal’s, we must walk according to the Holy Spirit.
h. We must be led by the Holy Spirit in everything we do, say and think.
i. We must be led by the Holy Spirit not just on Sunday, but every day of the week.
j. And if we are being led by the Holy Spirit our lives will be evidenced by our holy living.
Transition: Thirdly, Paul talks about…
III. Resurrection Emancipation (9-11).
A. Life to Your Mortal Bodies
1. In this section Paul moves from the unsaved to that of the Christian.
2. In v. 9 he says, "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him."
a. Unbelievers cannot please God because they are controlled by the realm of sin and death.
b. Believers, on the other hand, are controlled by the Spirit, so they can have life and peace.
c. The criteria for being a believer is clearly stated by Paul; "if in fact the Spirit of God lives in you."
d. The if in this statement does not mean that Paul doubts their salvation.
e. He considers this a fact; they know Christ and therefore have the Spirit living inside of them.
f. This is an important doctrine called regeneration. Immediately upon receiving Christ we are filled with the Holy Spirit.
g. This is different from being baptized in the Holy Spirit, which an additional empowering work of the Spirit.
h. When we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and we feel his presence, we are truly the children of God.
i. John 14:16-17(ESV)
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
j. To further emphasize his point, Paul says that those who don't have the Holy Spirit in them do not belong to Christ.
3. In v. 10 Paul shifts from the Spirit in the believer to Christ in the believer. He says, "But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness."
a. The sacrificial death of Christ provided the basis for the work of the Spirit, so the focus shifts back to Christ's work.
b. When Christ lives inside of us, two things happen. First, your body is dead because of sin.
c. As believers we still face the death of our physical bodies. The body faces death, but that will lead to the resurrection.
d. While sin had been wiped out on the cross and we have victory over sin in Christ and the Spirit, we still struggle against sin and still face the consequences of sin, physical death.
e. The second thing that happens is while death still controls our mortal bodies, there dwells within us a new power, the Holy Spirit who represents the new life in God that is ours.
f. Life here must be understood as the presence of God's life in us now and the guarantee of eternal life to come.
g. So while our bodies will die, the Spirit is the presence of God's life in us and gives us the promise that death will lead to resurrection.
4. This promise is further detailed in v. 11, where Paul says, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."
a. So, life leads to resurrection, and the Spirit is the means by which this is accomplished. Jesus was the first fruits that guaranteed the resurrection of the believer.
b. Since the Spirit who raised Jesus is living in you it is the natural conclusion that this same Spirit will also give life to our mortal bodies.
c. The indwelling of the Spirit produces resurrection life. Paul's point is that death will be overcome by final resurrection.
d. However, that is not just a future hope, but a present reality made possible by the Holy Spirit in us.
e. We have a mortal body that is subject to death but awaiting us is a glorified body that will be our for eternity.
B. We Shall Be Changed
1. Illustration: Hope is faith in the immutable promise that miracles prevail when the darkness tries to win-out with cries of despair. Hope is a gift from God that helps us yearn and live a life that believes and moves with the pledge of a better tomorrow. And what’s more, hope springs-forth resurrection life, and draws us near to the love of Christ, who is the light of God who walked out from the grave to make the way for everlasting life.
2. The Holy Spirit is our seal, or guarantee, of the promise of the resurrection.
a. Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV)
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
b. In ancient times, a monarch would have what was known as a signet ring. It was a ring that was unique to him. If he were to give an edict or command to the people, it would be folded or rolled up, and then wax would be poured on it and the king would then push his signet ring into the wax. This would be his seal; proof that it originated from him.
c. That’s what the Holy Spirit is to the believer. He is the proof that we belong to Christ.
d. In addition to being the proof that we belong to Christ, He is also the guarantee to our eternal inheritance.
e. He is guarantee that we will be resurrected, and we will receive new and glorified bodies in glory!
f. He is the guarantee that we have a place reserved for us in heaven.
g. And because we have this seal, this guarantee, we can be assured that we will reign with Christ in the Kingdom.
h. He is proof that we are the genuine article!
Conclusion
1. In our text today, Paul elaborated on the victory we have in Christ, and the role that all the members of the Trinity play in it. He talked about…
a. Condemnation Elimination
b. Benefits of Life in the Spirit
c. Resurrection Emancipation
2. THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER…
a. START REMINDING YOURSELF AND THE DEVIL THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER CONDEMNED!
b. START BEING LED BY THE SPIRIT AND NOT THE FLESH.
c. REMEMBER THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT IS YOUR SEAL OR PROOF THAT YOU BELONG TO CHRIST.
