The Believer's Life Walking In The Spirit Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

CrossWay Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

We are coming to a pivotal transition. In our study of Romans. We are talking about the Holy Spirit's work and the believer's life - The Spirit-Led Life. To understand what Paul is talking about in Chapter 8, you need to read Chapters 1 – 7. If we study Chapter 8 without understanding the last seven chapters, we run into the problem of quickly taking his words out of context.

With that, we have an important portion of scripture in which Paul deals with the work of the Holy Spirit within the life of the believer. In fact, the Holy Spirit is mentioned 20 times in this chapter. So, it's important for us to have a basic understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit, or as theologians call it, “pneumatology.”

First of all, we understand that the Holy Spirit is to our spiritual lives what God the Father is to the physical world as Creator. Without God, the physical world would not exist. Similarly, without the Holy Spirit, we would never have been reborn and be alive in the spiritual sense.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit is not a thing, an influence, or a mere power. The Holy Spirit is a Person of the Trinity. He is equally part of the Godhead with the Father the Son. The Holy Spirit has a mind, a will, he guides, he commands, he comforts, he can be grieved, he can be quenched, and he can be resisted. Like the rest of the Trinity, he is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, holy, and full of glory. The Bible calls Him God, Lord, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Yahweh, the Spirit of the Lord God, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of the Living God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of His Son. He is called the Comforter.

The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit was present and actively participated in the creation. He is the author and inspiration of Scripture. He indwells people and convicts men of sin. He empowers us to serve God and have an understanding of the Scriptures that were written by God as a revelation of the person and the work of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit was present at Jesus's birth, his baptism, his temptation, his anointing, his teaching, his miracles, his death, and his resurrection.

Now, with that understanding, we come to the 8th Chapter of Romans, where the Holy Spirit is a major theme of Paul's work.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

On the surface, this seems like a good point that we should pay attention to, but in light of what we just studied in Chapter 7, this is a magnanimous statement. You remember in Romans chapter one how we are condemned, and the pagan is turned over to a debased mind; that we are caught in the works of the flesh and without God's intervention, our lives aren't an abomination to God. The very wrath of God is wrought against us. And all the way through to chapter seven, we read about our need for justification, our redemption, our sanctification, and the inability of our flesh to please God or even follow his laws.

In fact, towards the end of Chapter 7, Paul gives this conundrum of his life. Romans 7:21-22

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:21–25)

Paul, the Pharisee, is grieved by his wretched state. We read Romans 8:1: ”There is now therefore no condemnation.” What a marvelous revelation he lays out for us! Paul is about to unpack the marvelous ministry of the Spirit of God before us. Romans 8 isn't just an isolated chapter you can pull out and talk about the Holy Spirit. It clarifies our hope while we remain in this world and in this flesh. It's in the flow of the whole book and teaches us that one of the results of Christ in us is no condemnation. It's almost as if Chapters 1 through 3 magnify the condemnation apart from Christ, Chapters 3 to 7 answer that condemnation in Christ, and in Chapter 8 the Holy Spirit confirms no condemnation.