A
Study of the Book of Romans
Lesson
# 18
“Life In The Spirit”
Romans
8:5-17
Romans 8 begins with "no condemnation,"
ends with "no
separation," and in between there is no defeat for the believer. No other chapter
mentions the Holy Spirit as much as Romans 8. It is the heartbeat of what the Bible has to
say about life in the Spirit.
By way of introduction I want us to first
examine three faulty ways of trying to live the Christian life.
1. Living By Rules
The first faulty way is trying to live
2. Living By a Formula
You can live the Christian life by a formula. We've all heard the formulas: Three steps to
answered prayer, four keys to Christian victory, five ways you can walk in the Spirit.
Three ways, four ways, five ways, the bookstores are just filled with formulaic
admonitions for living the Christian life. The problem with formulaic Christian life is
that it can produce mechanical Christianity.
3. Living By an Experience
Some people live the Christian life by seeking for an experience. By that I mean, by
seeking for a deeply moving, life-changing, earth-shattering, emotional experience with
God. There's only one problem with that. Experience doesn't last. If you try to live
according to experience, you're going to either give up the Christian life altogether or
you're going to be on an emotional roller coaster. You feel great as long as you have an
experience, but what happens when it runs out? You're going to be down, discouraged,
depressed, and you may feel as if God is angry with you. So you'll seek for another
experience—and the whole cycle starts again. You're going to be constantly going up
and down. So, rules lead to legalism, formulas lead to mechanical Christianity, and
experience alone leads to an emotional roller coaster.
Of course at this point we must also stop
and acknowledge that, Rules are good. After all, "Do not
steal" is a rule. That's a good rule to live by. "Thou shalt
not bear false witness" is another rule worth living by. "Thou
shalt not commit adultery"— That's a good rule to live by. So rules are
not bad. Second, formulas can be very helpful. Formulas can be helpful. If you
discover five new ways to pray. That's great… Third, experience matters. There
are times and places where God comes to visit his people in tremendous emotional power.
Most of us who have been Christians any length of time have had those moments when you're
alone or at a in a retreat, or in a church service, or in a revival meeting, when God has
met us with great power. We don't want to ever say that experience is not important.
Rules and formulas and experience have
God Has Given Us A New Mind (vv. 5-8)
“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. (7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God;
for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (8) So then, those who are in the
flesh cannot please God.”
The first question we must answer in
relation to this passage is who is being described when Paul speaks of people who are
carnal and people who are spiritual. Some maintain that it is describing two classes of Christians; carnal and spiritual. But this
can not be the case when we take verse nine into consideration. Because verse nine says
that anyone that does not have “the spirit of Christ” does not belong to him,
therefore they cannot be Christians. Therefore the contrast has to be between the unbeliever (carnal) and the Believer (spiritual).
A part of following Jesus Christ is having
your mind continually transformed. Romans
12:2 says, "Do not
be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
The word in Greek is a form of the word metamorphoses — the change of shape that
takes place within a cocoon whereby a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. It is a change from
the inside out. So we are to let a "mental metamorphoses" take place in our
mind.
There is only one way
in which your this transformation of our minds can occur. It must be filled with the Word
of God. Spiritual metamorphoses occur by careful, repeated, deliberate, and through study
of God’s word.
God Has Given Us A New Nature
“But you are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have
the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (10) And if Christ is in you, the body
is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in
you Sonship.”
God Has Given Us A New Identity
“Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors — not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. (13) 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.”
Because God has done
everything we needed to be done, we have an obligation
(debt)
to respond. Because of all that Christ has done and is doing for us, we are obligated to
live in the power and control of the Holy Spirit.
As believers we are granted five privileges
as children of God.
· Guidance
by the Spirit (v. 14)
“For as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, these are sons of God.”
The Greek word
(agontai)
· Freedom from Fear (15a)
For you did not receive the spirit of
bondage again to fear…”
· Intimacy
with the Father (15b)
“…but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry
out, “Abba, Father.”
In Roman culture, the
adopted person lost all rights in his old family and he gained all the rights of a
legitimate child in his new family.
The word Abba is really an untranslated
Aramaic word that means “My Daddy”
· Inward Assurance
(16)
“The Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
In spite of what some
would have us to believe not all of mankind are the children of God. All men are the
creation of God, but not all men are the children of God. By and through Jesus Christ is
the only way to be brought into the family of God.
The presence of the Holy Spirit makes all
the difference in the world in the life of a believer. The Holy Spirit not only provides
adoption as the children of God but it also assures us of the reality of family status.
· Right of Inheritance (17)
and if children, then Heirs —
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him,
that we may also be glorified together.”
Conclusion.
Perhaps you have heard of a coach by the name of Lou Little, although he is now retired he was for many coach for Columbia University and at Georgetown University. He had a player who was a ‘walk on’– undersized – and he and the coach got along great. The coach had such affection for this young man he let him play several plays on defense, although he wasn’t a starter and would never earn a scholarship. The coach would often see this player walking around campus with his arm linked with his father’s arm and he admired the boy because of the good relationship he had with his father. One day, coach Little’s phone rang and he was told this player’s father had just died suddenly of a heart attack. He had the unpleasant job of telling that player his father was dead. So he told the player and said, “Son, take all the time you need. Go home. Don’t worry about coming back this Saturday for the game. You need to be with your family.” But to the coaches surprise the next Saturday there was that player, dressed out, as Georgetown was getting ready to play Fordham University. The player said to Coach Little, he said, “Coach, I know this is a strange request but would you let me start today?” Coach said, “Son, I know you’ve been through a tragedy–your father died, and I know you have a lot of heart, but this is an important game. I can’t play you but a couple of plays. But just because of where you are in your life, yes–I’ll start you today.” So that player went in the game as linebacker. This undersized walk on became a player that covered the whole field and made bone-crunching tackles and was the key to the defense. Coach Little never took him out of the game! He played an unbelievable game, a game like Coach Little had never seen before, and Georgetown won–largely because of the play of that one, undersized walk on football player. After the game, Coach Little went to that player and said, “Son, I can’t believe it! I mean–what was different about you today? I’ve never understood that you could play half that good!” The player said, “Coach, not many people knew but my father was blind, and for all of my football career here he had never seen me play one game, but today for the first time he saw me play and I just wanted to please him.” That made the difference. The truth is, we have a heavenly father and the reason we want to live a holy life is not so people will look at us and say, “Good for you.” The reason we want to live a holy life, full of the Spirit, is to please our Father in Heaven.