Romans Chapter 8

Freedom, Sonship, Glory & Love

Text: Romans 8

Introduction

Paul is bridging chapter 7 to chapter 8 with “There is therefore.”

Here is a brief summary of what Paul has just unpacked in chapter 8:

My death with Christ freed me from the judgement of the Law.

God’s law was intended for life, but due to our sin, it worked death in us.

God’s law did not cause me to sin, but aroused the sin already in me and clarified how sinful my sin actually was.

God’s law is holy, just, and good.

Nothing in our flesh can create the power needed to live according to God’s goodness.

The real you is the one who delights in the law of God.

The sinful actions come from the working of your flesh; sin within.

Jesus ALONE gives us deliverance from the power of sin.

Verse 1

Only because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ, there is no longer any condemnation for those who are “in Christ.” (7:25)

Q — What does it mean to be “in Christ?”

A — You are one with Him through faith in His vicarious gospel.

The verdict of justice was placed upon Christ and not you!

Every believer is the beneficiary of forgiveness.

Ref: 8:29 “firstborn among many brethren.”

Revelation 1:5 “5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”

Verse 2

Show slide of “Law” (vs) “Spirit.”

Quote: “The new law of the Spirit says that only by living in union with Christ Jesus can believers break the power of sin in their lives. It is the Spirit of God who provides victory, and that Spirit is the possession of every true child of God.” Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 175.

In the same body, the believer experiences the power of sin and the freedom from the Spirit.

You know this very well through your own experiences.

John 15:5 “5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Paul taught us in chapter 7 that all failure is “self-imposed!”

The victory Paul is describing in chapter eight comes only through union with Jesus.

Verses 3-4

The law was powerless to conquer sin.

The law was not weak in and of itself, but was robbed of it’s potency.

The law could stimulate sin, but it’s best efforts were undermined by our sinful nature.

GOD DID!!!

Jesus was sent to take the same form as you and me. WHY?

For humanity to be redeemed, human form had to somehow fulfill the demands of the law.

Jesus did not take on our FULL NATURE; He never sinned!

.His mission was to put an end to sin, to condemn that evil power that has, since the dawn of history, held the human race in bondage. Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 176.

Quote: (R.A. Knox) God, “signed the death warrant of sin.”

Hebrews 2:14–17 “14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.”

Philippians 2:8 “8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

(v4) “walk according to the Spirit”

Illustration — It’s like how a Tram gets it’s ability to move forward; Contact principal.

You and I can’t store up grace. We are told to “abide in Christ.”

Galatians 5:22–23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

Verse 5

“life” = the quality of being.

We notice then there are two quality options for us to display in this world; “flesh” or “Spirit.”

In simple terms: Your daily choices of how you live is determined by your worldview.

It is not how you think that drives your morality, by rather it is your moral influence that determines how you think.

Will it be your “lower nature” or the “Spirit of God?”

Quote: (Robert Mounce) “People do not think themselves into the way they act but act themselves into the way they think.”

Every believer is “bent” in a different way of thinking and therefore in a different way of living because of the influence of God’s Spirit.

Verse 6

Paul continues the contrast by introducing particular consequences per way of thinking:

Death or life!

Carnally minded = the seat of sin and rebellion of God.

This leads you to a literal departure of this life; death.

Self extinction.

Spiritually minded = Being Spirit-controlled

Galatians 6:8 “8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

This verse is not equating eternal life by means of religious works, but describing two different people groups.

The unbeliever will always pursue the flesh.

The believer (while making mistakes along the way) will always pursue the Spirit.

“life and “peace” = God’s favorable blessings.

Verses 7-8

The “carnal mind” refuses to submit to God’s law. Paul goes further and says, “neither indeed can be.”

James 4:4 “4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

This is exactly why the faulty thought, “I’ll just reform my old nature,” never produces transformation (pleasing God”.

Here is a more balanced definition of “total depravity” — Every part of you has been affected by the fall.

Verse 9-11

Paul reminded these believers that they were no longer under the control of their sinful nature, but under the leadership of God’s Spirit who dwells in them.

The indwelling Spirit of God is the greatest indicator of your conversion.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 “19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

1 John 4:13 “13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.”

Ephesians 1:13–14 “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

(v10) Your body may be dying, but your spirit is enjoying eternal life!

Quote: When evangelist D.L. Moody described his conversion experience, he said: “I was in a new world. The next morning the sun shone brighter and the birds sang sweeter … the old elms waved their branches for joy, and all nature was at peace.”

(v11) Notice a wonderful promise every believer is given upon the indwelling of the Spirit

There will be a day when you will have a body that will never know the pains of death!