Not What We Used to Be

Intro

*We are formerly dead and insensitive.

Romans chapter eight verse one.

Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

*this is a radical promise that because of the name of Jesus Christ, we are free from blame.

*We are not living under some sort of penal servitude. Or a punishment for the sins that we have committed.

*Our lives are more than a jail sentence.

*The Christian life is not a jail sentence.

*We are beneficiaries of the jubilee- this bounty of grace- brought on by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

*Verse two tells us, “because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2

*Scripture tells us that to be one in Christ is to be part of the church, not just in the records and in a Sunday school class or whatever,

*but, an actual limb or an organ of Christ's body because the law of Spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death.

*As 1 Corinthians 12:1 tells us, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:1

*What a privilege it is to be a part of the redemption plan of God! Not only with a job, but with a distinct purpose and place.

*And so what is introduced here is dichotomy- two things that are against one other.

*It is the law of the Spirit versus the law of sin and death

*The law of the Spirit is the new covenant we are living under. The Holy Spirit living in you. You are Alive spiritually.

*you have passed from death into life.

*The law of sin and death is the Mosaic Law- which means law of Moses.

*this is the law given to Moses full of restrictions and sacrificial instructions.

*it’s the 10 commandments and the countless laws and provisions laid out in Leviticus and deuteronomy.

*the first 5 books of the Bible are the ancient Bible.

*Therefore, The spirit produces life and the law produces death.

*And so instead of our punishment, which the law demands,

*instead of condemnation, we have eternal Life in Jesus Christ

*Chains are Broken

*Free from the law of sin and death forever and ever.

Verse three tells us “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,” Romans 8:3

*This is a fascinating statement that he came in the “likeness of sinful flesh”

*But scripture tells us in second Corinthians 5 21 that he knew no sin. And so he came in the likeness of flesh.

*Strong’s concordance says this word “likeness” means “a form, abstractly, resemblance.”

*So he resembled sinful flesh,

*And I do think Paul was careful in this wording. He said that with a purpose.

*He came in the likeness of sinful flesh.

*So he was full flesh, capable of suffering, feeling, and even temptation

*he was real flesh- he got sick, felt cold and hot, and knew the feeling hungry and tired.

*But he was not sinful flesh- like we are.

*He came to get a foothold on the earth while the power of grace came to save the world,

*according to one commentary, he was neither a man who discovered the truth about God nor a heavenly rebel like Prometheus, but a divine envoy whose authority resided not in himself, but in him, who sent him. Jesus's authority was in God, the Father who sent him.

And so verse four tells us “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:4

*It is impossible for you if you are dead in sin, if you are living by the law to do what God is telling you to do.

*we are powerless on our own.

*and Before you become a Christian, you cannot hear the voice of God.

*All you hear from God is the call to follow Him.

*God does not call non Christian’s to do his will.

*Under the old order, it was impossible to do the will of God.

But also in this scripture, we see the, the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy, that God will put his law in our inward parts.

Jeremiah 31:33 says, “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31:33

*There was no way of knowing when this message was given to Jeremiah that this prophecy would be fulfilled a couple of hundred years later in Jesus!

In the scripture just before that, verse 31 says, “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.” Jeremiah 31:31

*It’s prophetic- God will make a new covenant with His people.

*Who is the Lion of Judah- and who is from the Line of Judah? Jesus!

*This will be the covenant that will be lasting- complete.

Continuing on, Jeremiah 31:32 says, “It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and lead them out of Egypt,because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them.” Jeremiah 31:32

*And what was that original covenant? The Mosaic Law- the law of Moses. As i said earlier, The law that brings death and destruction.

And then in the book of Ezekiel, through prophecy, we see the promise to give Israel a new heart.

Ezekiel 36:25-26 says while the people are still in exile, 25 “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” Ezekiel 36:25-26

*So holiness is not adherence to a law, but it's the work of the holy Spirit.

*Holiness is Freedom. Freedom from Sin. Freedom to live in the light of our salvation.

*and It is the Holy Spirit producing fruit in us.

*But continuing on verse five, “those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” Romans 8:5

Continuing on, Verse 6 says, The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

*If we were to interchange this phrase, live by the flesh, flesh and law,

The law brings death, but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace. So the mind governed by the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that is within us, brings peace and lasting joy.

Verse seven tells us, “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” Romans 8:7

*Have you ever been so frustrated with the world and those around you for the moral decisions- or the stupid decisions they make?

*It is foolish for us to expect lost people to act like Christians.

*But we are to hold one another accountable in order to live lives worthy of this gospel!

And furthermore, verse eight says, “those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:8

*Do you want non christians to abide by your beliefs and convictions? It’s impossible.

*If we were to set up a situation like that, it would be a Churchocracy- and I don’t think that’s a world anybody would want to live in.

*Because the only Theocracy that is going to be successful is the New Heaven and the New Earth where God himself sits on the throne.

*Where there is no sea- no darkness.

*Therefore, someone who does not have the spirit, does not belong to God.

*God loves them, but God does not know them, and they do not know God. They cannot hear God. Their Conscience is not powered by the Spirit within them.

*And unfortunately, They will hear those words in judgment, depart from me. I never knew you.

Verse nine tells us, “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.” Romans 8:9

*This is why Paul appeals to the Corinthian Church to regard their bodies and bodily actions in a spirit of Christian responsibility.

*The Holy Spirit brings life.

*True Life

*With the Holy Spirit, You will produce good fruit in your life.

*You have victory in your life because of the Holy Spirit. Spirit of God brings life,

verse 10. “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8:10

And verse 11 says, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[d] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11

*As Paul said to the Galatians, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

*And I will close with this statement from Galatians 4: 6-7.

6 “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians 4:6-7