Life in the Spirit
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Romans
Romans
Romans 6 - Our death to sin through Christ and being raised (born again) to newness of life
Romans 7 - Released from the burden and condemnation of the law, to walk and bear fruit in the Spirit.
We looked at the duality of man, the battle between Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Paul was saying that Jesus provides the answer by the Holy Spirit...
Romans 8 - Today, describes the work of the spirit in our lives; what Life in the Spirit looks like.
The basis of life in the Spirit is our identity Jesus.
The basis of life in the Spirit is our identity Jesus.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Before anything else, we must define what it means to be “in Christ Jesus”
John Stott of the C.S Lewis Institute
The most common description in the Scriptures of a follower of Jesus is that he or she is a person “in Christ.” The expressions “in Christ,” “in the Lord,” and “in him” occur 164 times in the letters of Paul alone, and are indispensable to an understanding of the New Testament. To be “in Christ” does not mean to be inside Christ, as tools are in a box or our clothes in a closet, but to be organically united to Christ, as a limb is in the body or a branch is in a tree. It is this personal relationship with Christ that is the distinctive mark of his authentic followers...
What distinguishes the true followers of Jesus is neither their creed, nor their code of ethics, nor their ceremonies, nor their culture, but Christ. What is often mistakenly called “Christianity” is, in essence, neither a religion, nor a system, but a person, Jesus of Nazareth.
Paul uses a similar analogy...
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Regardless of the term (salvation, born again, in Christ), Paul is speaking to those who find their hope in Christ and submit to Him as Lord and Savior.
This is what it means to be “Christian”
Some have said it meant “little Christs”
It’s literal meaning is “of the house of Christ”, Jesus is our head, we find identity in Him, our lives reflect His Headship
After a storm, I may see a branch that has fallen that needs to be cleaned up...
I have to clean up that fallen oak branch
The branch is defined (identified) by what the tree is was anchored too, by what it was rooted in....
This is a conditional clause: If....then
So everything that follows applies only to those who are first and primarily “in Christ”
Life in the Spirit means our legal standing before God is secure.
Life in the Spirit means our legal standing before God is secure.
No Condemnation- no longer under God’s wrath, we are pardoned, we have peace with God
This is not a temporary condition, we do not move in and out of condemnation
Not like the girl holding a daisy, He loves me…He loves me not
It is not temporary...Condemnation no longer exists
This doesn’t mean we will no longer sin, but all of our sin has been forgiven (past, present, future)
It does not mean we will not be convicted of sin, but that our standing before God remains, we are declared righteous… He loves me, He loves me, He loves me.
Martin Lloyd-Jones
The difference between an unbeliever sinning and a Christian sinning is the difference between a man breaking the law of the State, and a husband who has done something he should not do in his relationship with his wife.He is not breaking the law, but rather wounding the heart of his wife.
That is the difference. It is no longer a legal matter, it is a matter of personal relationship and of love.
The man does not cease to be the husband (legally in that instance). Law does not come into the matter at all... In a sense it is now something worse than a legal condemnation. I would rather offend against a law of the land objectively outside of me than hurt someone who I love.
In that case, you have sinned of course, but you have sinned against love. You may and should feel ashamed, but you should not feel condemnation, because to do so is to put yourself back 'under the law'.
So, what keeps us from moving in and out of the grace of God?
Our freedom is governed by the higher law of the Spirit of Life.
Our freedom is governed by the higher law of the Spirit of Life.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
The universe is governed by certain laws (gravity, kinetic energy, electricity, magnetism)
Gravity - Isaac Newton found that apples fall down…it’s a law
When we throw an apple up into the air, we don’t break the law, we temporarily appeal to a higher law (kinetic energy)
Rom 3:23 , says the wages of sin is death, we deserve condemnation - this is the LAW of SIN and DEATH
But the Law of the Spirit is the Gospel - it is a permanent and infinitely higher law that overcomes the Law of Sin and Death…it is superior!
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, 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.
The Law of the Spirit is superior because Jesus became our curse in order to become our righteousness.
The Law of the Spirit is superior because Jesus became our curse in order to become our righteousness.
Jesus lived a life I couldn’t live to die the death that I fully deserved
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
God has condemned sin in the Death of Jesus as our substitute
God has counted Jesus’ perfect life of obedience to our account
phrase - “might be fulfilled” - this is passive, not something I do, but something that has been done for us (completed by Jesus)
This is the benefit of being “in Christ”....we are united with Him
In Marriage…Mr and Mrs Timothy Pruitt
Amanda’s identity is tied to me
If she had been in debt but I was rich…she is now considered rich, her debts are covered.
Jesus has paid our penalty and shares with us the riches of his righteousness (right-ness, or his good/right standing) with God.
Life in the Spirit means living empowered by the Spirit of Christ who dwells in us.
Life in the Spirit means living empowered by the Spirit of Christ who dwells in us.
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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
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. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 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.
The mind set on the flesh seeks what only life in the Spirit can offer, life and peace.
The mind set on the flesh seeks what only life in the Spirit can offer, life and peace.
The Mind set on the Flesh
Cannot submit and is hostile - it sees no value, desires autonomy and self-rule
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
The tragedy of the mind set on the flesh is the continual search for for the temporary.
Temporary happiness, joy, peace....they are fleeting pleasures
Money, House, Job, Spouse, Family, Recognition
results - Tired, Worried, Frustrated, disappointing
The Mind on the Spirit
This is a descriptive text, not a command… Those in Christ will be lead by the Spirit
New identity we will be aware of the things of the Spirit and enabled to submit to God
This identity and leading shepherds us to “life” and ‘peace”
We begin to see God and His will as good
We start to see our “stuff” in proper perspective
We can live at peace, with ourselves and with others
The fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5) The Spirit works in us to produce...
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness
Life in the Spirit enables us to kill sin and pursue God our Father.
Life in the Spirit enables us to kill sin and pursue God our Father.
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
The Spirit bears witness, there is assurance, God is our Father
We see our DAD as good, right, perfect
We will want to be more like DAD
Our desires become more like his....(DUKE)
We will hate our sin, we will seek to kill it
Killing sin might make us uncomfortable, it might cost
Friendships
Comfort
Time
But we have a far greater treasure
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
What motivates us to kill sin, is not duty or obligation, it is seeing God (Father) as our greatest treasure and finding joy in our pursuit of Him
Life in the Spirit means we are continually learning that our satisfaction, is only found in Jesus.
Life in the Spirit means we are continually learning that our satisfaction, is only found in Jesus.
Speaking to a large audience, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” One man shouted, “Suck it out with a pump!” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.” After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by “sucking out a sin here and there,” but by being filled with the Holy Spirit.