Every Christian should understand the particulars truths involved in a Life with the Spirit.
Why should every Christian understand the particulars in a Life with the Spirit?
Because until you understand the particulars in a life with the Spirit you could live a frustrated life unnecessarily.
You will live the same life that Paul explains at the end of chapter 7:
“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” This leads the man up to the infamous statement and question in Romans “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
Paul gives the answer to the man’s question through Jesus Christ our Lord! And that answer which is explained in chapter eight is why every Christian should understand the Life that is possible through the Spirit—a life that many have come to explain as the Victorious Christian Life. Because it is not a life that is frustrated as this man’s life was. Its not a life that is characterized by discouragement and defeat. But, it is a life that is victorious and it’s a life every Christian has the ability to experience, a life every Christian should experience. But unfortunately, not every Christian does experience.
[I think that many times we put the cart before the horse when we disciple people. We assume that the concept of the Holy Spirit is a doctrine that a new believer is not ready for. So we begin instructing them in the disciplines of prayer, devotions, obedience, evangelism, etc. All the action oriented aspects of the Christian faith.
From my experience, these people who are discipled this way have a high failure rate, or a high discouragement rate. They have a hard time being consistent in prayer and devotions… they are continually failing in their ability to obey (and this becomes a major frustration), and evangelism is tough as well.
Its hard to sell something that is defeating you. When a Christian is a babe they desire to share the good news of Jesus Christ… there is a passion there that is refreshing. But something happens… they lose the passion. Could it be that they are discipled in what “they” should do and find it next to impossible to maintain their duties in their own strivings and thereby become discouraged. I think if we would put the horse back out in front of the cart, if we would learn where our power comes from prior to attempting to go it alone, our joy and the joy and passions of those who come after us would be more attainable.]
When we understand the life that is possible with the Spirit we will be free to experience that joy and victory that the Christian life is supposed to be characterized by according to: John 15:11 which says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” How do you attain that joy that Christ talks about? If you back up to John 15:10 it would seem that you have this joy through obedience, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” But obedience is only part of it. Because I know from experience and from the end of Romans 7 that to do the right thing in my own strivings is impossible… sooner or later it ends in failure. So it is not only obedience, but it is obedience that is enabled because of what John 15:5 explains, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Our dependence must be in the Lord if we are to experience the joy and victory of the Victorious Christian Life.
Let’s begin our understanding of this life that is possible with the Spirit by first looking at the particular truth of God’s word found in our Romans Passage. Until we understand the particulars of a life with the Spirit, as laid out for us here in Romans, we will live a frustrated life. The first TRUTH:
1. There is no condemnation! (Romans 8:1–4)
I don’t care what you feel, I don’t care what you have been told, I don’t care what you have rationalized in your mind due to your own experience… there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That is the truth of God’s word.
A. The first blessing of salvation is that there is now no condemnation.
a. Were you a drunkard, were you a pervert, were you an adulterer, were you a thief, were you a prostitute, were you a liar, were you a murderer, were you an addict? The label that you had prior to Christ has no bearing on the fact that you are now at peace with God if you’ve come to Him through Jesus Christ. God is a God of love that forgives all our transgression through Jesus Christ.
b. When we accept Christ’s offering to erase our sins we are accepting God’s condemnation of sin in our lives. The thing that stood in our way of relating to God was our sin. The sin that every man, woman and child has inherited through the one man Adam is taken away through the one divine-man Christ. As Paul explained in the first couple of chapters, regardless to who we are we stand as objects of God’s wrath because of sin. But as Christ’s sacrifice is accepted, the sin factor is taken care of and now we are not condemned by God, but He instead condemns the sin that was in us.
c. Jump down to verse 33 and see the totality of what God has done for us. “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.” V. 33. No one can condemn us now that we have been justified by God.
i. Think about that… no one can condemn us. If someone does, they stand in the wrong.
ii. Take it a step farther in your thinking. If we condemn ourselves, we stand in the wrong.
“Woe is me, I’m so unclean, I’m so unworthy… if only I would live up to God’s standard… then I would be accepted.”
That is an example of condemnation of self. And if you are involved in that you are in effect devaluing what God has done in your life… He has set you free.
I’ve once lived in that state of self-condemnation for a long period of time. And there has been occasions where I’ve had to remind myself not to revisit that old mindset… I’ve had to claim the truth of God’s word. Because I know that as I am there in that place of self condemnation, I’m wrong. God has justified me!
iii. Does that mean that when we do something wrong that we should not turn from it… that I should not be remorseful… that I shouldn’t confess it? No, not at all. But to think that our ability to do right and wrong could justify us or unjustify us is a falsehood. God is the only one that can rectify us.
d. Look at Verse 34, it tells us that no one can condemn us because of what Christ has done. “Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”
Follow with me in this verse as we unpack what is being said… look closely at the four aspects of this verse:
i. Christ died: He died for the very sins that condemned us. Through this Christ has redeemed us. He has paid the price so that we are no longer condemned.
ii. Christ rose: He rose, or better stated he was raised by the Father which demonstrated God’s acceptance of the sin offering made by His son as satisfactory for our justification.
iii. Christ has been exalted: At the right hand of the Father—He exercises his authority to save and is awaiting his final day of glory.
iv. Christ intercedes: this is a continual work that He does on our behalf. The benefit of the previous three aspects of His death, resurrection, and exaltation is that we have lasting results that effect us today.
v. The result is that through the acceptance of His sacrifice as our sin sacrifice “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
e. I’m not a person that follows the doctrine of name it and claim it that is popularized today. However, I do believe that there are some things we can pray for and claim according to God’s word. And this is one of them. If you struggle with discouragement or defeat in your Christian walk name it and claim it that there is now no condemnation for you as a child of God. Because that is truth according to God’s word.
f. Illustration:
It’s one thing to read God’s word and say you believe it and it’s another thing to read God’s word and live as you believe it.
I remember a point in my walk as a Christian when I was so frustrated with the whole thing, when I say the “whole thing” I mean the Christian life. God’s word said one thing and yet I kept living another. Yeah, I believed that His word was true, but for me it was not working out. I GIVE UP! I can’t handle the constant defeat. I know your word says one thing but it is not proving itself out in my life. I rather live with the condemnation and do what I do because I can do no better, than to live in constant frustration because of my inability to live a life reflective of your truth.
I wanted proof. And I wanted that proof to play out in my life. This point in my life was horrible… I was at the point of tears with a close Christian friend of mine. I was telling Him that it just wasn’t meant to be for me. The Christian life just wasn’t working for me. My friend told me to accept God at His word and to let go. I didn’t understand what he meant when he said “let go.”
And so, I didn’t find the proof of living not condemned, at least at that point in my life (a couple of years). But that proof is here in this text.
The second TRUTH of this Victorious Christian life is the proof that we are given in verses 5–11:
2. Proof is in the pudding! [Proof is in the Christian’s life!] (Romans 8:5–11)
A. Those that live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires… the mind of sinful man is death… the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
a. A person that has not accepted Christ as their Savior… who has not accepted the truth of the Gospel is a person whose mind is set on the sinful nature. There has been no condemnation of sin in that sinful person. They are still the objects of God’s wrath. If life were to end for them right at that moment without their submission to the truth of God’s way to salvation they would experience death (it clearly says “the mind of sinful man is death”).
b. These people who are characterized like this are hostile to God… they don’t have that peace with God that is explained in the first part of Romans chapter 5. They are still God’s enemies.
c. These people don’t submit to God’s law… nor can they do so. Because we know that no matter how hard you try to live under the law you will fail. And this is because they are controlled by the sinful nature that looks to the power of self to access God’s grace. And as we strive in ourselves we will never please God. Remember John 15:5, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” However,
B. Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.
a. If you have accepted Christ—His Spirit, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in your life. Some Christians might not even know this because of lack of training and discipleship.
b. With the Spirit living in you, you have access to a new truth that He reveals to you. A truth that enables you to determine what is right and pleasing to God.
c. As you allow the Spirit’s control to lead you, you experience life and peace. This life and peace is the Victorious Christian life that all believers can experience when they understand the present day relationship that they have with God, Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit.
C. Illustrations:
O.K. where’s the proof? I said that the proof was in the pudding, or in the Christian’s life. Where is the proof that all Christians have the ability to live a Victorious Christian Life?
a. The proof can be seen in my illustration of myself as I sat in tears frustrated in my ability to live a life reflective of God word. The proof was right there for me, showing me that it was possible.
i. Do you think for a moment that I would be so upset had I not desired to be like Christ and to experience what God’s word described? I desired the life because I believed it, I placed my faith in Christ.
b. That is proof that the Spirit of God was living in me. I never was concerned about my sin before that point in time, before I accepted Christ. And that is because I did not have God’s Spirit in me, because I did not believe.
i. “The Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives in you and will be in you.” John 14:17
ii. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” 1st Corinthians 6:19
c. I know this is God’s truth, I accept it as such. I understand that there is proof of Christ’s Spirit living in me that compels me to want to do what is right. But isn’t there something that can be done in order that I would do what was right?
i. So often I feel as the man at the end of Chapter 7. I’ve already known that I’m not condemned, and I’ve already known that the Spirit lives in me… but the struggle to do right and the struggle with being guilty still remained. So what was missing from my experiencing the Victorious Christian Life?
d. I believe there is something we all can do in order that our feelings of frustration would change and in order that our experiences would change from defeat experiences to victorious experiences.
e. We can learn how to experience the fullness of Christ, the Victorious Christian life by understanding the rest of this section in Romans 8. And it is a teaching that explains what my friend told me that night when I did not understand. He said I needed to “let go.”
f. That peace and joy that we all want to experience comes from our letting go of something that the Apostle Paul refers to as our obligation. I call it the…
3. Obligation of response. (Romans 8:12–17)
A. There is an obligation that is being spoken of in verse 12.
a. What is an obligation in this sense of the word here in Romans?
i. The word in the Greek means debtor… one who owes something to another. So we’re obligated because we owe something.
ii. The thing that we owe is our lives—our eternal lives. The fact that we are at peace with God is owed by us. Jesus saved our lives, enabling us to be at peace with God, by giving up His own life.
iii. The obligation that is being spoken of in verse 12 is qualified as being an obligation to life unlike that of the sinful nature.
B. O.K. then, What is the sinful nature?
a. Let’s simplify the sinful nature for the purposes of our discussion. The sinful nature is our doing what is good for “ME.” Christians and non-Christians alike, when they sin, they are doing what feels good to “THEM.” They are not doing what is pleasing or feels good to “GOD.”
i. So, when Paul writes that it is not an obligation that is according to the sinful nature, He is saying that it is not something that is done for “ME.”
ii. He goes on to say that its not according to the sinful nature, which leads to death, but by the Spirit, which leads to life. So, in essence the obligation is not done for “ME,” and the obligation is not even BY “ME.” The obligation is by the Spirit.
C. So, we owe our lives…
a. But the method of payment is not fulfilled by you and I in our abilities or in our sinful nature. We cannot pay back the amount that we owe by doing anything in and of ourselves.
b. As a matter of fact there is no way that WE can pay back God at all for the value of the gift that He has given us.
D. Folks, that is why I’m calling it an obligation of response.
a. I can’t do anything in my own effort to repay what He has done for me. I have come to the point of understanding that… we all need to come to that point. But, I’m no less grateful, even though I am unable to pay Him back.
b. If anything, I am more grateful because He did something He did not have to do, He knew I could not pay Him back… but He did it anyways.
c. And because of that gratitude that we should have in our hearts we don’t attempt to pay Him back with the futility of our strivings. But we respond to Him… allowing Him to work an amazing work in our lives by His Spirit.
d. Look at the end of verse 13 here:“but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live”
e. It does not say, “if by your effort you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
i. If it said that we would be striving according to the sinful nature which is all about “ME.” Rather it says, by the SPIRIT you put to death the misdeeds of the body.
j. God wants us to respond to Him (yes, because we are obligated to do so)… He wants us to respond to Him by the power of His Spirit because we understand that anything less than that is inadequate. Anything less than that is our reliance upon ourselves.
k. So, when my friend told me to let go, he was telling me to stop striving in my own efforts and surrender my will to God. And as I was able to let go I would begin to respond to God in the manner in which He has always desired. In a manner that is completely dependant upon Him.
E. It’s not what you can do, but it is how you can respond for what has been done for you.
a. Child of God… Do you want change that is made apparent through an exchange of feeling of defeated for that of a feeling of victory?
b. Do you want to see your life’s experience change from everything seems to go wrong to everything is going according to God’s plan?
c. Then respond to God in the manner which characterizes a person who has let go of their own will and exchanged it for the power of His Spirit working in you.
F. So, what is the obligation of response? How does it play out practically?
a. You “put to death the misdeeds of the body” according to the end of verse 13.
i. Remember we are not to do things in our own power. Being dependent upon ourselves.
b. Let me give you some clear examples of how it to apply the obligation of response.
i. Do you have sin in your life that you struggle with? 1st John chapter one tells us that Christians do struggle with sin. Put those misdeeds, those sins to death.
ii. This concept of putting to death in the Greek is a word that is used for legal execution, the death penalty. We need to deliberately put to death the sins we struggle with. The question is “How?”
iii. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” 1st John 1:9.
iv. Be deliberate in your dealing with sin. Put them to death by trusting in the Lord, in His Holy Spirit… its not an ability of yours to be cleansed from all unrighteousness. It’s not dependant on your own strength. It’s the strength of the Lord that enables me and its in Him that I will boast.
G. Pastor J do you think I need to go on a deliberate hunt in order to root out all sin in my life?
a. The Bible tells us that we do not have a spirit that makes us a slave again to fear. You are a child of God.
b. Keep in mind this is not a YOU or a ME thing. This is a working of God. Cleansing you from all unrighteousness is a God thing.
c. This passage in Romans chapter 8 says that we are “led by the Spirit” in verse 14.
i. Have you ever heard about conviction? I used to hate that word, because I hated conviction. Because I did not know how to properly respond to it.
ii. The Spirit of God communicates with you through conviction. This passage says through testifying with our spirits that we are sons of God. God will testify to our spirit what is truth, what is right and what is wrong.
iii. John 16:13 says: “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
iv. As the Spirit of God does this let go of your will and take hold of His will.
4. Conclusion:
I would like to conclude my talk this evening by praying for you, this congregation, for me and my congregation, that we would be a people who are entirely dependent upon God. I would like to pray that we would surrender all to Him and experience the Victorious Christian Life that is available to all who relate to God through the Lord Jesus Christ and are equipped with His Holy Spirit. And as we begin to realize the fullness that we have in Christ I will pray that God would use us as we boldly go forth in this community and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
