Going against the tide

I grew up in Hawaii, but one thing I have never been is a beach person. I know. This must be shocking: not all people from Hawaii love the beach. It was just never really a thing with my family. Now I’m not saying we never went to the beach; we did. But I was never like some of my friends who would go surfing every weekend.

Anyway, on one of my family’s rare trips to the beach, I remember being out in the water one day just having a good time. But about 15 minutes later, I looked up and was shocked to see my family about a hundred meters that way. And I was like, “How in the world did I get way out here?”

So I swam back to where I was and started playing again. The next thing I knew, I was way down the beach again. I mean, it wasn’t like I was purposely trying to swim away from my family. It just kind of happened. I learned a new principle that day. Call it the law of tides: If you don’t pay attention, you will be swept away.

Well, as Christians, we find a very similar law at work. We love the Lord, we want to stay close to him and please him. But the next thing we know, we’re finding ourselves swept away by our sins. It’s not like we’re purposely rebelling against God. A lot of times, it just kind of happens. We act selfishly. We lose our tempers. We start looking at things we shouldn’t on the internet.

Sometimes, in the midst of doing these things, we suddenly become aware of what we’re doing. And yet, for some reason, we just can’t seem to stop ourselves. We just get swept along with the tide to even deeper waters.

And we wonder, “What in the world is wrong with me?” Is that you? I know I feel that way at times.

The question is why? Is there something wrong with us? Are we not really Christians? What’s going on?

That’s an issue Paul discusses in Romans 7 and 8. Pastor Fumi has talked about this struggle a bit over the past two weeks, but I want to dive into it more deeply today. Let’s look at Romans 8 and start by reviewing verses 1-4.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

In Romans 7-8 Paul talks about three different laws. One is the law of God found in the Old Testament. This is the law that teaches us what God is like and how we’re meant to live. And Paul tells us in Romans 7:10 that this law was intended to give us life.

But then there is a second law, the law of sin and death. This isn’t a written law like the first law. This is probably better translated the “principal of sin and death.” You actually see this in the older version of the Shinkaiyaku. What is the “principal of sin and death?” The principle is that though the first law shows us the way to life, there’s something in us that, more times than not, pulls us in the opposite direction. It’s like the law of the tides I talked about earlier. But we’re not talking about tides of water here. We’re talking about the tides of all our instincts, all our desires, and all our feelings screaming at us, “Not that way! This way!” And before we know it, we find ourselves pulled far away from God and the path he has for us.

Sometimes people wonder, “What is this ‘flesh’ that Paul keeps talking about in Romans 7-8? It’s a hard question. The problem is, Paul seems to use “flesh” in multiple ways, including in this passage. When he says Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh, he seems to be talking about how Jesus himself was sinless, but he had flesh, that is, a body, which was still subject to the effects of sin, just like we are. Specifically, he had a body that was subject to things like sickness and death. But when Paul talks about our flesh, he seems to mean something else. Probably the clearest definition I’ve read for “flesh” is: “the sinful tendencies of human beings.”

But let me expand that definition to make it clearer: “The flesh is all the instincts, desires, feelings, and everything else in us that pull us away from God.” I don’t know if that’s a perfect definition, but I think it’s pretty close.

And it’s because of our flesh that before we become Christians, our first reaction to God’s law isn’t to say, “Hey, all this is good. God really loves me and wants my best.” Our first reaction is to rebel, even if it’s only to parts of his law.

At best, we might just say, “God doesn’t always know what he’s talking about. Maybe he has good intentions and he thinks he knows what’s right for me. But sometimes he really doesn’t know.” Have you ever felt that way about your parents? Looking back, some of us say, “My parents thought they knew what was best for me, but they really didn’t.”

And maybe they didn’t. The problem is when we apply that way of thinking to God. What’s the result? If we happen to agree with God’s law, we may follow it. But if we don’t, we follow our own hearts and do whatever we want to do.

Other people though, actually think God’s trying to take something good from us, that he’s trying to steal our happiness. And so they become hostile to God. They say, “If that’s the kind of God he is, I want nothing to do with him.”

But either way, our flesh, all the instincts, desires, and feelings inside us cause us to break God’s law and we are condemned to death as a result. The law that God gave to impart life to us, instead leads to our death. That’s the law of sin and death.

But when we become Christians, a new law comes into effect. Paul calls it the law of the Spirit of life. What’s that law? It’s the principle that God the Father gives his Holy Spirit to each Christian as a gift, and the Spirit imparts life to us. That’s why Paul calls him, “The Spirit of life.” The Spirit gives us life.

How does the Spirit give us life? The prophet Ezekiel talks about this in the Old Testament. Look at Ezekiel 36:25-27.

I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

This was a promise God originally made to the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon. But Jesus later took those ideas and said this in John 3:5:

Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

We need two things if we are going to enter God’s kingdom. First, we need our sins to be cleansed. And second, we need the Holy Spirit in our lives who gives us a new heart, and who leads and empowers us in our daily lives to follow after God.

The first part was accomplished when Jesus died on the cross. Paul tells us in Romans 8:4 that God condemned sin in the flesh. When God forgives us for our sin, he’s not making light of it. He’s not saying, “Oh, your sin was no big deal. I forgive you.” On the contrary, he’s saying, “Your sin was a huge deal. I can’t just let it go. Your sin must be condemned. It must be punished.”

But instead of making us pay for our own sins, Jesus paid for them instead. He took all our punishment for us on the cross. And in doing so, he broke our “contract” with sin as Pastor Fumi talked about last week. We are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer under sin’s reign. We are no longer subject to sin’s penalty. Rather, we come into a new contract. One which gives us full benefits as God’s beloved children. One of those benefits, of course, is a restored relationship with God and life with him forever.

But that life starts with another benefit that comes from the new contract: God’s Holy Spirit actually living in us. You see, after saving us, God doesn’t tell us, “Okay, I’ve cleaned you up. Now you’re on your own. Do your best. Don’t mess up or I’ll have to whack you!”

Instead, he gives us his Spirit. And his Spirit gives us a new heart, a heart that loves and trusts God. Ezekiel called that kind of heart, “a heart of flesh.” Obviously, this is a different kind of flesh from what Paul’s been talking about in Romans 7-8. Ezekiel’s talking about a heart that’s soft and responsive to God in contrast to the heart of stone we once had which was suspicious and distrustful of him. Now we love God. We trust him. And we actually have the desire to please him.

But not only do we have the desire to please him, the Holy Spirit actually starts leading us and giving us the power to do so. You see, when Paul says in verse 4 that the requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, he doesn’t just mean that Jesus took the punishment for our sin. He also means that we actually start becoming righteous as Jesus is righteous.

Paul makes this crystal clear as he draws a sharp contrast between two kinds of people: people walking according to the flesh and people walking according to the Spirit. Some people think that Paul’s talking about Christians who walk according the flesh, and Christians who walk according to the Spirit. But as we’ll see, that’s not what Paul is talking about at all. He’s talking about the basic difference between those who belong to Christ and those who don’t. What is the difference? Look at verses 5-8.

For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. Now the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it is unable to do so.

What is the difference those who are Christ’s and those who aren’t. The difference is their mindset. People who live according to the flesh simply follow the tide of their instincts, feelings, and desires. People who live according to the Spirit start walking against that tide in order to follow God. Why? Because they see God differently. And it comes down to them believing three basic truths: God is good. God loves me. God knows and desires my best.

Those who don’t belong to Christ always struggle to believe one or more of these basic truths. And the result is a heart that’s distrustful and sometimes even hostile to God. So whenever God says something that goes contrary to their flesh, contrary to their instincts, their feelings, and their desires, their first reaction is a hostile one.

In the western church, there’s a term that’s becoming more and more common: “deconstruction.” Have you heard that word before? It’s used for people who were raised in the Christian church, but are now questioning everything they were taught. Famous pastors and famous Christian singers as well as ordinary Christians are suddenly coming out with their deconstruction stories on TikTok or other social media platforms. And ultimately their stories come down to one thing: They’ve started doubting that God is good, that he loves us, and that he knows and desires our best.

And when people reject these truths, they end up ultimately either rejecting God altogether or carving him into their own likeness so that they can live however they want. They in essence become their own god, walking according to their own desires instead of God’s.

But Paul says we cannot please God that way. We cannot please God when we are at base hostile to him. And there is no life or peace for us as long as we hold that mindset.

But then Paul tells us, if you’re a Christian, that’s not you. Look at verse 9.

You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

If God’s Spirit is truly living in you, you are no longer at base hostile to God. Oh, we all still have those instincts, feelings, and desires that are constantly pulling at us and trying to get us to go on a path displeasing to God. But if you’re truly a Christian you no longer simply go with the flow of those instincts, feelings, and desires. In Paul’s words, you don’t simply walk according to the flesh. Instead, when you see these things dragging you away from God, you start resisting. Your heart cries out, “No! My Father loves me. My Father is good. He knows and desires my best. So I’m not going to simply follow my instincts, feelings, and desires. I’m going to follow my Father. I’m going to follow the leading of his Spirit who he’s given me.”

If on the other hand, you have a stubbornness that has deep suspicions of God’s love and goodness, if you have a heart that says, “If that’s the kind of God he is, I want nothing to do with him,” that’s not the heart of a true Christian. That’s not the sign of someone who has the Spirit of Christ in them. Because Jesus loved his Father. He trusted his Father’s goodness and followed him wholeheartedly even to the cross.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that if you have doubts at times about God’s love and goodness that you’re not a Christian. Even the strongest of Christians have had those struggles with doubt. If you doubt me, just look at Psalm 73. Or read the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament. (When was the last time someone asked you to read Habakkuk?)

Seriously, though, godly people have struggled with questions of God’s love and goodness. But in the end, they always return to their foundations: God is good. God loves me. God knows and desires my best. If that’s you, then here’s the truth that you need to know. Verse 10.

Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

The translation is a bit difficult here. The word translated “Spirit” could refer to our spirits or it could refer to the Holy Spirit. Context determines the meaning, but here there are two possible meanings and both are true. One is that if Christ is in us, our bodies will die because of the corruption sin has brought into this world and which has infected us, but our spirits will live because we have been made righteous and blameless before God. That’s how some English translations read it as does the old Shinkaiyaku.

But other translations and the New Shinkaiyaku translate it more literally: “The Spirit is life because of righteousness.” The English translation I use paraphrases it to, “the Spirit gives life.” I think that’s what Paul means. I think he’s bringing us back to what we started with in verses 3-4. We were under the law of sin and death. But now we’re under a new law, a new principle: God has given us his Spirit, and that Spirit gives us life. He gives us a new heart, and he leads and empowers us to become more and more like Jesus. More than that, Paul tells us this in verse 11.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.

The truth is, all of us will die unless Jesus comes back first. But the truth is also that the Spirit who gives us a new heart, who leads us and empowers us to become more like Christ each day, will someday resurrect our dead bodies and renew them, making them like Jesus’ perfect body, untouched by sickness, death, and most importantly sin. On that day, all those instincts, feelings, desires, and everything else in us that sweep us away from God will be gone forever. That’s God’s promise. And that’s our hope whenever we grieve over our own frailties. Our struggle is not forever. God’s Holy Spirit is at work changing us now. And the day is coming when we will be complete.

So where do we go from here? What does this all mean for us? Some of you sitting here look at your lives, you look at your relationship with God, and you wonder, “Am I really a Christian? Why do I struggle with sin so much? I must not be a very good Christian.”

But here’s the truth: Christians aren’t marked by a perfect life. They are marked by a changed heart. A heart that is convinced of three things: God is good. God loves me. And he knows and desires my best. If you can say that, that shows the outlook, the mindset of someone the Holy Spirit lives in.

So don’t get discouraged when you get pulled away by the tide of your instincts, feelings, and desires and suddenly find yourself far from the path God desires for you. Instead, start going against the tide. How do we do that?

Do what we talked about in the Armor of God series: Start swinging the sword of the Spirit. When you notice your instincts, feelings, and desires pulling you away from God’s path, start swinging the sword. “I know my instincts are telling me to react this way. I know my feelings and desires are telling me that this is the way to go. But the truth is, God says otherwise. And my Daddy is good. He loves me. He knows and desires my best. And so I will follow him.”

When Satan tells you, “You’re no good. What kind of Christian are you? You might as well give up. You’re a slave to your sins and you’ll never get free,” swing the sword. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I’m under a new contract. Sin has no hold on me. With the Spirit’s help, I can go against the tide.”

And as you go through this Christian life remember the turtle shell that God has given us. The shell of God’s people holding their shield of faith along with yours. People who will pray for you when you struggle with sin. People who will support you in your fight against sin. And people who will remind you of God’s faithfulness to you when you’re struggling.

Let me ask you a question: Who’s your turtle shell? Who’s providing that support for you. If you don’t have anyone, I encourage you to talk to Kazue after service about our plant groups. And as I’ve said before, if you can’t find a plant group, make the effort to find at least one person that you intentionally and consistently meet and talk with, whether it’s once a week, twice a month, or once a month, find someone. And make it a priority in your life.

As you do these things, as you swing the sword, as you walk with other Christians in that turtle shell, here’s what you’ll find: that tide of instincts, feelings, and desires will start to change. That struggle will always be there. But the struggle will become easier.

I’ve seen it in my own life. Sins that I struggled with before, are far more manageable now. I’m not getting carried away as quickly and easily. Sins of lust, particularly things I let get in front of my eyes are much easier to deal with. That said, there are sins I still seem to get swept away by very easily: selfishness, judgmentalism, and pride are high on that list. But as often as I can get swept away by them, I’m finding that I’m not getting swept away quite as far before I notice it, and start pushing against the tide.

And in the meantime, I know that there is no condemnation. If I were God, I might have given up on me a long time ago. Honestly, I feel like I’ve been struggling forever, and at times, it seems I’ve only gotten a few steps nearer to being like Jesus. But the truth is, I am those few steps nearer. And my Daddy will never, ever give up on me until I become just like Jesus. So as long as I live, I’m going to keep pressing against the tide. How about you?