God's Power - Our Security

⁜ Prayer ⁜

Intro

Today we come to what can really be spoken of as the heart of Paul's letter to the Romans. And really, I would even suggest that what we have just read is at the hear of Paul's whole understanding of the Gospel.

We have seen that Paul begins his presentation of the Gospel with bad news. He spends the first three chapters of Romans laying that out for us. And by the time he gets us to the third chapter of this book he lays out this stark reality: "there is none righteous, not even one" (Rom. 3:10).

And it was from that point that we began our series in Romans. We saw that God's answer to this problem is to bring us to the cross, and specifically to our Lord Jesus Christ who shed his blood on the cross, dying for us, to remove us from being under God's wrath, and that he justifies us by the gift of faith.

We also saw last week that the work of Jesus on the cross brings us into freedom. Not a freedom to do whatever we want, but an even better and more precious freedom. That is, God gives us the freedom to live not in slavery to sin, but instead to be able to please and glorify him by living holy lives.

But there is problem, isn't there. We still have the question: "Well how exactly is it possible for us to live like that?" Or to put it differently, “How does God make all of that happen?”

The Holy Spirit Makes Victory Possible

Today, Paul lays out the answer for us.

He begins by repeating what we saw over the past two weeks in Chapters 3 and 6, when he writes: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (8:1).

So we return to the great Gospel truth that we are set free! Paul wants us to hear that message over and over again.

And so he drives it home... He reminds us that we are no longer slaves to sin - that God has made it possible for us to live in freedom:

freedom from sin,

freedom from the worry that God does not want us,

freedom from the worry that we are not good enough to be loved by God,

freedom from our heart's accusations.

All of that is summed up in a simple sentence: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." We have been restored! What joyous news!

But what is even more amazing is what follows after that one sentence.

Yes, Paul follows this by noting that what we read last week is made possible by a new power. As we read last week: "sin is no longer your master... for you now live under the freedom of grace" (Rom. 6:14; NLT).

But that grace is not present in our life in an impersonal way. No!

We see today that God’s grace and his power, enters into our lives in a very personal way. In fact, God's power is encountered not as an it, but as a person, the second person of the Trinity.

Yes! We are invited into a relationship... a relationship with the Holy Spirit. And my friends, the relationship that we are brought into with the Holy Spirit takes us on a life long journey. And what a journey it is!

You see, what Paul tells us in today's reading is that as the Holy Spirit enters into our lives, his presence ensures that transformation takes place.

This is why Paul wrote last week that our new freedom is not a freedom to go on sinning! Our relationship with the Holy Spirit... his presence in our lives means that we are freed from sin's power over us, and so we can now live, as Paul puts it in Rom. 8:9: "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit."

Now, it is important to note that when Paul says "in the flesh" he does not mean that we are to look with distain on our bodies! Let's not mistake what Paul is saying here.

When Paul says: "in the flesh" what he means by flesh is not just our physical bodies. He is speaking theologically, and so uses the word "flesh" in a figurative manner. And so when he says “flesh” what he really means is our human nature as being under the the dominion of sin. So it is probably more helpful to translate it as: "sinful nature."

That is what Paul is trying to get at. He is saying that we are no longer held captive by a “sinful nature.”

Having noted that, what we see in this letter is not a doctrine about how evil our bodies are, but rather the beautiful teaching that while our whole being - including our bodies - were at one point fully dominated by sin, that is not where God has left us!

Instead, when the Holy Spirit comes into a person's heart, their whole life becomes transformed!

This why we see Paul repeat over and over in this 8th Chapter of Romans that everything about us as Christians is defined by our relationship with the Holy Spirit. So Paul writes about:

• "the law of the Spirit of life" (v. 2)

...in opposition to the law of sin and death that had held us captive.

And he defines the Christian life as one being:

• "according to the Spirit" (v. 4)

• "in the Spirit" (v. 9)

• "living... by the Spirit" (v. 13)

• and being "lead by the Spirit" (v. 14)

This is the answer that we have been seeking!

When we asked earlier: "Well how can I live the life that Jesus has taught us... and how can I live in the freedom he won for me on the Cross?" Here is the answer.

Jesus makes it possible for us to live the new way of life ― or as Paul puts it in Rom. 6:4: "that we may walk in newness of life" ― by fulfilling his promise (...which we can find in Jn. 14:16) that he and the Father will give to us the Spirit as a helper who will remain with us forever.

This is how the Christian is made victorious over sin, in all its many masks.

And take note that it is not we who are gaining victory, but rather the Spirit who gains the victory.

That is why Paul writes: "if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the misdeeds of the flesh, you will live" (Rom. 8:13).

He is not saying there that the Christian has an option! NO! We saw just a few verses earlier (in v. 9) that he says "you are no longer in the realm of the flesh, but you live in the Spirit." So what he is saying in v. 13 is a comparison of two ways of living.

There is:

the old sinful way,

and, there is the new Spirit led way.

And as he makes that comparison he wants us to see that in our relationship with the Holy Spirit - who is now dwelling within us - the Holy Spirit is the one who is putting to death "the flesh" - or rather "the sinful nature."

My brothers and sisters, this is amazing and freeing news!

When you and I are facing that sin we just cannot crush... the Bible tells us that we are going about it all wrong. We cannot crush it... at least on our own. We need the Spirit in our lives to gain the victory day by day over sin.

So are you dealing with envy, pride, wrathful anger, lust, gluttony, spiritual or physical laziness, greed, or a spirit of gossip? If you hear that, and your heart convicts you of one, or several of those sins, but you just cannot seem to overcome that sin by any amount of effort, here is the solution!

The Scriptures say, turn to the Spirit whom God has given to you, and he will "put to death the misdeeds of our sinful nature." He will give us the grace we need to not remain under slavery to whatever sin once held us captive.

The Spirit is God's empowering presence - not just hovering nearby - but dwelling right within our hearts! That is why Paul says in v. 9 that we are "IN the Spirit."

Yes, you and I are weak. By ourselves we will always be weak. But we are not alone! Because we have the Spirit intimately present in our lives, we are made strong! Our strength is in the power of God!

Let us always remember that truth, and rejoice in it!

And so this is God's solution to ensuring that we are made free from slavery to sin. And this is how God makes it possible for us to live "in newness of life."

The Holy Spirit Guarantees our Security

But there is another important aspect of the Holy Spirit being present in our lives as well! And that is found in the promise that Paul relates to us in Rom. 8:14-16:

For those who are led by the Spirit of God ARE the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about{past tense!} your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are{present tense!} God’s children.

read 2x, noting the tenses the second time through!

Take note of what is being said here. The Bible does not teach that a Christian can stop being a Christian!

Paul is quite clear about this: "those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God." And the Holy Spirit also "testifies... that we are God's children."

We should also note that the word "testifies" here is important. In the Greek this carries the sense that it is an ongoing reality we are experiencing in the present moment. So Paul is quite literally saying that the "Holy Spirit is testifying... that we are children of God!" in this moment.

Yes, even when we feel the tension - when we feel a pull to sin, the Spirit testifies to us that we are God's children. And he also encourages us, telling us that we do not need to walk down the path of sin.

He says that as God's children - as heirs of God and of his Kingdom which are ours in Christ - we are free to walk a different path. We are free to walk the path of holiness that brings true joy and the greatest fulfillment!

My brothers and sisters, we are secure in Christ, and the Holy Spirit present within us assures us that we are truly the sons and daughters of God. And even when we feel the draw to sin - as Paul writes: "the Spirit also helps us in our weakness."

And if temptations bring us to doubt that we are truly saved... that we are truly God's children, Paul offers us consolation in vv. 31-39:

31 ...If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Conclusion

My brothers and sisters, our God is so good! Isn't he! He gives us his Spirit to empower us to live as we cannot live on our own! And he also speaks to us through his Spirit to ensure that we are secure in Jesus our Lord.

Let us live into these realities every day.

I pray that each of us daily grows in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We desperately need his presence!

I pray that each of our lives is daily transformed into greater holiness, by the Holy Spirit present with us giving us power to live in extraordinary ways. And I also pray that each of us find daily consolation as the Spirit testifies that we are secure - that nothing "can separate us from the love of God."

And may the Spirit also continue to shape us into a people who fearlessly share the news we have heard to day in Romans with everyone we encounter! We should long for everyone to know of the security we have in Jesus. We should desire everyone to have this precious relationship with the Holy Spirit!

So let us pray that this good news make us both bold livers of the Gospel and bold proclaimers of this good news Paul shares with us!

⁜ Let us Pray ⁜