GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER -3

Rom. 8:1-17

INTRO: Backfilling the Gospel Gap/Hole

1. Heart Clarity

-the root and fruit principle

2. Gospel Identity

-by faith, moment by moment cultivating a sense of who we are in Christ

-this is where Paul Romans 8:1-2 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

3. Minding the Spirit

-the work of the HS in this life-long process

READING ROM. 8:1-17

-Circle every mention of the Spirit

-Box every mention of the flesh/sinful nature

THE WAR THAT WAGES WITHIN

The “flesh” takes us back to Rom. 7 where Paul begins developing

Rom. 7:23 “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.”

United with Christ, we still have a HAUNTED HEART

What is “the flesh”?

-Is God’s enemy

-Settled, Sustained hatred toward God

Rom. 8:7 “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.”

You are never alone…it dwells in you (7:17, 18, 20, 23)

It never rests …always looking to sieze an opportunity

At work even when we are at our best

Rom. 7:21 “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.”

-Paul didn’t stumble into it in a time of great backsliding, or when he was indifferent to the things of god

The flesh hates everything about God

eg. Wolverine (The Enemy Within, p. 73)

I thought we are new creations in our vital union with Christ

ILLUSTRATION: New OS

MINDING THE SPIRIT

We are united with Christ’s risen life by faith and he is united with us by his indwelling Spirit (8:9-11)

We are called to “set our minds on the things of the Spirit (8:5-6)

The Spirit of Conviction & Repentance

The Spirit convicts the heart of the danger of sin

Rom. 8:12-13 “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.”

Violence toward the flesh

but you must know what to put to death

-the desires of the heart are deceptive

Gal. 5:16-17 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

Why does the Spirit lead us to convicition? So we can live in the grace of REPENTANCE

-not merely for the surface manifestation our heart’s idolatry…but for the sin beneath that sin

The Spirit of Adoption (8:14-16)

The Spirit reveals and fills our hearts with the marvels of God’s grace toward us in Christ

Abba (8:14-17)

The Spirit pours the love of God in Christ in our hearts

Rom. 5:4 “and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”

Assures us that nothing will separate us from that love (8:35-39)

How does the Spirit work to marvel our hearts with the beauty of being objects of God’s favor, wrap in cords of kindness, loved with teh very love with which he loves the Son?

The Spirit spotlights the glory of Christ the firstborn son (8:29)

John 16:12-14 ““I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

The Spirit of Hope (8:17-25)

CONCLUSION

The hole in our Gospel

We underestimate the presence and power of indwelling sin

We fail to live into our identity in Christ

We lose sight of life as a daily process of drawing near to Christ in faith & repentance