Spirit And Flesh

Spirit and Flesh: Spirit or Flesh?

Text: Romans 8:1-11

Message given at New Hope Christian Fellowship

April 27, 2008

Sterling C. Franklin

Purposes:

• To bless and encourage the congregation.

• To point them in the direction of holiness and purity.

• To convict the sinner.

• To point them in the way of life everlasting.

Prayer

Introduction: Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson

- Potion – transforms Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde, and another potion transforms him back

- Two personalities in one body: a mild man who seeks to do right, and a crazy monster with no conscience against evil.

- We are in a similar situation, though ours does not require any potion.

- Paul elaborates on this paradox found in each one of us – that of Spirit and Flesh.

TEXT

Romans 8:1-11 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,

4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Prayer

Context: Therefore ... what's that coming from?

Romans 7:21-25 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Paul discusses sin very heavily in Romans.

It's now core to life here on earth --

All have sinned -- it's global.

The penalty of sin is death -- it's deadly.

It wars among our members -- it's cause for battle.

It's utter disobedience to God.

Illustration: It's missing the mark -- just as in archery...

If we miss the target completely or miss by just a millimeter, we’ve still missed the bullseye. With sin, we miss the mark of obedience to God.

Paul sees two conflicting parts to his own self: Flesh and Spirit.

Challenge: God calls us to be obedient and faithful – How well are we doing?

If we have been redeemed by the Blood of Christ, we are not slaves to sin any longer.

As Paul said at the end of Romans 7, "Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

(1-2) With this all in mind, let’s reread the first four verses of Romans 8:

Romans 8:1-4

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,