God Will Help Us Live in Victory over Sin!
The Book of Romans
Romans 7:21-25, Romans 8:1-6
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - July 10, 2016
(Revised December 30, 2020)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to Romans 7:21. Last time in this chapter, God's Word spoke to us about our personal struggles with sin. But thank God, we also got to see that Jesus Christ is the answer for our struggles!
*Tonight, we will review what Paul said about our sinfulness. Then in chapter 8 we will see how our God helps us to live in victory over our sin.
*J. Vernon McGee called Romans 8 the high point of this great book, and he wrote that "'we enter this chapter with no condemnation, we close with no separation, and in between all things work together for good to those that love God.' My friend, how could you have it any better than that?
*We find that joy and peace are to be given to God's children in this life. Sin does not have to dictate how we live, because of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives! Up to now, God's Spirit has only been mentioned twice in Romans. But the Holy Spirit is mentioned 19 times in this chapter! (1)
*That's why F. B. Meyer called Romans 8 the "chapter of the Holy Spirit." Meyer described our "new life in the Spirit" as "reinforcements of divine energy" and the "power" for us to do what we could never do in our own strength. And now there is no need for us to live in perpetual self-condemnation." (2)
*God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will surely help us to live the way He wants us to live. So, think about living in victory as we read Romans 7:21 - 8:6.
MESSAGE:
*Have you ever met a true Christian who wanted to disappoint God? No. -- And you never will. All Christians want to please the Lord. All Christians want to live in victory over sin. But how can we do it? How can we live the way God wants us to live?
1. FIRST: WE NEED THE FACTS ABOUT OUR SIN.
[1] AND THE FACT IS, OUR SIN MAKES US STRUGGLE.
*This is God's message for us in Romans 7:21-23, where Paul said:
21. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
*Paul reminds us here that the most devoted Christians who ever lived have struggled with sin, and so will we.
*The great Christian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn once wrote that it would be different, if there were "evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being." (3)
*Our old sin nature makes us struggle with sin. That's why in 1 Corinthians 10:12 Paul said, "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."
*Galatians 5:16-17 says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do (or cannot do) the things that you wish."
*1 Peter 2:11 also says this to all Christians, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul."
*Church: We need the facts about our sin. And the fact is: our sin makes us struggle.
[2] BUT OUR SIN ALSO MAKES US SUFFER.
*We see Paul suffering in vs. 24, where he cried out and said, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
*Our sin makes us suffer. And we need to know this: If we are truly children of God, we will never be happy through known sin. Our sin will always make us suffer, and that's a fact.
*How can we live the way God wants us to live? We need the facts about our sin.
2. BUT MOST OF ALL, WE NEED FAITH IN OUR SAVIOR.
*We need faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! This is God's great message for us in Romans 7:24-8:3. Faith in Jesus Christ was the only thing that could ease Paul's suffering. And he said:
24. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
*Who will deliver me from this body of death? Verse 25 points us to the truth that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the only person who can deliver us from death. Jesus can give us victory over sin and death. And He will! -- If we will put our trust in the Lord.
[1] HOW DOES THE LORD GIVE US THIS VICTORY? FIRST, HE GIVES US FORGIVENESS.
*Again in vs. 1, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
*How much condemnation? No condemnation! Christians: God wants us to know that we are forgiven! Since we are sinners, we deserve condemnation. But through the cross of Jesus Christ, God offers a full pardon to everyone who trusts in the Lord.
*There is now no condemnation to those who are IN Christ Jesus. That little word "in" leads us to two of the biggest questions for all eternity: Are you in Jesus Christ? And how do you get in Jesus? The answer is: By faith. We get in Christ by believing in our Risen Savior and what He did on the cross for our sins.
*When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, by His Holy Spirit, God the Father and Son literally, spiritually come to live in our lives. We know this because on the night before the cross, Jesus talked about the coming of the Holy Spirit. And in John 14:23 Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."
*When we receive Jesus, God the Father and Son come to live in us by the Holy Spirit. But at the same time, the Holy Spirit puts us into the spiritual Body of Christ. We know this because in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 God's Word says: "For as the body is one (that is, our physical body is one) and has many members (or parts), but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."
*Church: This is not just symbolic language. This is a mysterious, literal, spiritual truth. When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are spiritually moved into God. We become a part of the Body of Christ. We are baptized into the body of our Lord. This means we have been totally submerged into the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. And the water baptism we go through is symbolic of this spiritual baptism that God performs on every believer.
*1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that the Holy Spirit of God does this work of putting us into the spiritual body of Jesus Christ. And from the moment we believe, we are literally in Christ.
*The phrases "in Christ," "in Christ Jesus" or "in the Lord" are used almost 100 times in the New Testament, so this is extremely important. And vs. 1 here says: "There is therefore now no condemnation TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
*But the only way to get in Jesus is by faith. So, talking about Himself in John 3:18 Jesus said, "He who believes in Him (that is, He who believes in Jesus) is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
[2] JESUS CHRIST GIVES US FORGIVENESS. HE ALSO GIVES US FREEDOM.
*And we see the Lord's freedom in vs. 2-3:
2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
*Church: We have real freedom in Jesus Christ!
*Jerry Hammonds says it's because in vs. 3, "God condemned the sin, and not the sinner. By Christ's work on the cross, God judged sin. Jesus paid the penalty for sin, and He released us from the condemnation of sin by His death.
*Jesus did what we could not do through the law, 'for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh' (or sinful nature) God did through the cross of Jesus Christ!" (4)
*Years ago, I walked out into our back yard, and saw something I had never seen before. This poor, little cat had her head stuck in our chain-link fence. I don’t know how long she had been there, but it had been a while. And that cat was hopelessly trapped. There was no way she could pull herself free. She wasn’t too happy about it, but I was able to cut a couple of the wires and she took off like a rocket.
*Trapped: It’s a terrible thing to be trapped. And the worst trap of all is the sin trap. But God made a way for us to escape from the sin trap. God made a way for us to be free. And Jesus is the way! "Through His death, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. He was judged instead of us. And so, because He was judged for our sins, we can now go free." That's why in vs. 1, Paul can boldly say: "There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. . ." (4)
*How can we live the way God wants us to? We need faith in our Savior.
3. AND WE NEED TO FOLLOW GOD'S SPIRIT.
*This is God's message for us in Romans 8:3-6, where Paul said:
3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4. that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5. 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, the things of the Spirit.
6. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
*In vs. 4 God tells us to walk "according to the Spirit" or "after the Spirit" in the KJV. God often describes our Christian life as a walk.
*With only limited research, William Ritter found 382 Bible references to various forms of the word 'walk.' And many Scriptures tell us how we are supposed to walk as Christians:
-Walk in love
-Walk in wisdom
-Walk in the light
-Walk in the path
-Walk in the Spirit
-Walk in the law of the Lord
-Walk in the way of the Lord
-Walk in the fear of the Lord
-Walk in the peace of the Lord
-Walk honestly, forthrightly, and courageously.
-Walk worthily.
-And walk humbly." (5)
*For example, in Micah 6:8 God's Word says: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"
-In Romans 6:4 Paul tells us that "just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
-In 2 Corinthians 5:7, Paul tells Christians that "we walk by faith, not by sight."
-Galatians 5:25 says, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
-And here in vs. 4, God tell us to walk "according to" or "after" the Spirit."
*But how do we do that? What does it mean to walk after God's Spirit? The best way to understand this spiritual walk is to compare it with physical walking. That's what Warren Wiersbe did when he said this about our Christian walk:
-"It means that we have life, for the dead cannot walk.
-It means that we are supposed to grow, for a little baby cannot walk.
-It means that we have liberty, because a bound man cannot walk.
-It means that we have light, for those who walk in darkness stumble.
-And it means that we will make progress, for those who walk are going somewhere." (6)
[1] NOTICE THAT WALKING AFTER THE SPIRIT MEANS HAVING THE RIGHT AWARENESS.
*God wants us to walk according to His Holy Spirit, but we can't do that if we aren't aware of His Spirit. And God wants us to set our minds on the things of His Holy Spirit, but that's hard if we aren't aware of His Spirit.
*When we open our hearts to receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, both God the Father and the Son come to live in us by the Holy Spirit. But we need to be aware of God's presence. That's why we need to find ways to intentionally focus on the reality that Jesus is right here with us.
*One Christian lady I know had an unusual way of reminding herself. Whenever she was alone in her car, she would also fasten the seatbelt next to her, just to remind herself that Jesus was right there with her.
*Frank Laubach and his wife were missionaries who went to the Philippines in 1915. They started churches and worked among the Muslims on the island of Mindanao.
*One of the greatest life-changing moments in Frank's life happened in 1930 when he began to cultivate the habit of intentionally turning his mind to Christ for one second out of every minute.
*After only four weeks Frank reported, "I feel simply carried along each hour, doing my part in a plan which is far beyond myself. This sense of cooperation with God in little things is what so astonishes me, for I never have felt it this way before. I need something, and turn round to find it waiting for me. I must work, to be sure, but there is God working along with me." (7)
*Think about the difference it would make if we were that aware of the presence of Jesus Christ. That's why we need to keep focusing on the truth that Jesus is right here with us.
[2] WALKING AFTER THE SPIRIT MEANS HAVING THE RIGHT AWARENESS. IT ALSO MEANS MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
*When we "walk according to the Spirit" in vs. 4, we will be fulfilling the "the righteous requirement of the law." When we live according to the Spirit in vs. 5, we will be setting our minds on the things of the Spirit, and in vs. 6 we will "be spiritually minded" in our attitudes and affection. We will also have "life and peace."
*The Holy Spirit of God will never lead us in the wrong direction! He will always lead us in the right direction. As we follow the guidance in God's Word, His Spirit will lead us to new places in life, leaving sin behind, leaving selfishness behind, leaving bad attitudes behind, and drawing closer to the Lord.
CONCLUSION:
*Yes we can live the way God wants us to! But remember: There is only one way to walk with God, and that is by faith. We must open our hearts to trust in Jesus Christ and receive Him as our Lord and Savior. Then we must intentionally start walking after God's Spirit, and keep walking by faith, one step at a time.
*But remember that as Christians we start out as spiritual babies. 1 Peter 2:2 reminds us when it tells us that just like newborn babies, we should desire the pure milk of God's word, so that we may grow in our salvation.
*We were born again as spiritual babies, and just like natural babies, we have to learn how to walk. But you know how it is when a little baby learns to walk. They stumble and stagger all over the place.
*And there's Mom or Dad, following right behind to catch them when they fall. That's the way I see our Heavenly Father. We're not always paying attention to Him, but He is always paying attention to us.
*And it takes a while for a child to learn how to walk. The same is true for our spiritual walk. In fact, it takes a lifetime for us to fully learn how to walk after God's Spirit. And just like babies, we will stumble, but our Heavenly Father will never let us fall. God will help us live in victory over sin!
(1) Adapted from THROUGH THE BIBLE WITH J. VERNON MCGEE by J. Vernon McGee - Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville - Copyright 1981 - Romans 8:1-13 - Chapter 8 Theme: "The new man; the new creation; the new body; new purpose" - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2000-2019 - [Previous mentions of the Holy Spirit are in Romans 5:5 and 7:6.]
(2) Adapted from THROUGH THE BIBLE DAY BY DAY - A Devotional Commentary by F. B. Meyer - Published in 1914; public domain - Romans 8:1-9 - "New Life in the Spirit" - Downloaded to e-Sword by Rick Meyers - Copyright 2000-2019
(3) Sources:
-Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1
-Robert J. Morgan, NELSON'S COMPLETE BOOK OF STORIES, ILLUSTRATIONS & QUOTES
(4) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon "Free at Last" by Jerry Hammonds - Romans 8:1-4
(5) Adapted from Sermons.com sermon "Take a Hike" by William A. Ritter - Genesis 5:21-24
(6) Original source unknown for notes by Warren Wiersbe
(7) Adapted from: KERUX ILLUSTRATION COLLECTION - ID Number: 30281 - SOURCE: Book: The Divine Conspiracy - TITLE: Laubach's One Second Out of Every Minute - AUTHOR: Dallas Willard - DATE: 1997
