From Death to Death to Life

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From Death to Life: Embracing Our Freedom in Christ

Bible Passage: Ro 8:1–25

1. Freedom From Condemnation

Ro 8:1-4
Have you ever messed up? Like whether it be with your spouse, or your children, or your friend or whomever…you make a mistake and you do something wrong and theres a sense of “oh no, oh my goodness, I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry” Sometimes the person is upset…and sometimes they shrug it off but for us, the perpatrator of the grievous action…we are mortified. We cannot say I’m sorry enough. I think I’m sorry I’m sorry is followed up with I’ll make it up to you I promise I’ll make it up to you. Its kind of…funny isn’t it?
What is more entertaining sometimes is the person who has been wronged and sometimes they really don’t understand why you’re apologizing so profusely after all, its clear by this end result and repetitious admission of guilt that they never intended to hurt you or wrong you. Its…clear that there was an accidental but to all you overthinkers out there…sometimes you can’t let it go.
In the Christian life we sometimes live our lives in a similar way. Let me also interupt myself by saying, the biggest mistake you could make this morning is to think that this message either doesn’t apply to you or that you don’t struggle with this at all. We struggle to acknowledge freedom under grace and we say to God I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’ll make it up to you. We have been made free from death because of the cross and have been justified by faith but there can be a lingering sense of…I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’ll make it up to you. That lingering feeling prompts us to live lives that do not honor God’s gift of grace but rather…prompts us to remain under the Law and the idea that we need to make it up to God to be truly free. This is also a form of legalism, two fun words we can take home would be legalism and antinomianism. If you’re paying attention try and drop antinomianism into a sentence casually this week. Cs. Lewis describes Legalism and antinomianism as two sides of the same coin. Both rooted in a lack of understanding about grace. While legalism makes your actions the be all and end all of your faith, antinomianism is the reverse, that nothing you do matters because of grace. We’ll focus on legalism in this passage of scripture more today. Now if you’re trying to “make up for your sins to God” as in try to get to a place where your right actions outweigh the wrong actions…I have some uncomfortable news for you. Good luck getting ahead. However, this final message is a message to give you hope and freedom as we enter into the 2025 year. A message to prompt you to celebrate and acknowledge your transition from death to life.
[Read Romans 8:1-5 ]
Romans 8:1–5 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 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, 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. 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.
When the believer receives Jesus into his heart, confessing his sins and acknowledging that Jesus Christ is lord, he receives something referred to as the indwelling of the Spirit. As a result of the indwelling of the Spirit, the Spirit helps with the believer’s ability to live a life as a new creation. Possession of the Spirit, the indwelling spirit within you is now testament to your association with the new covenant that Jesus has established with you. One of the issues we will face sometimes is understanding whether or not we are saved. Satan will cast doubt on our hearts and minds that because we did such an action in the past, the blessing of the spirit is not ours to own. That we have been released from active duty in the kingdom of God which is what prompts that response to earn your way back in. I always find it amusingly disheartening to hear when believers are being convinced by Satan that they are not saved and instead of walking in the spirit, they find themselves walking in the flesh all the time doing actions in order to earn the spirit. This reflects fear and doubt, it reflects a misunderstanding of these verses. Living under the law, obscures our vision of God in the position of grace that he sits in with regards to our lives. We actually remain in a position where we base our salvation on actions. The indwelling of the Spirit though not only does a work in us where our lives and actions can be used in accordance with Gods will…booyah, Douglas Moo also says it is also evidence of our salvation, Possessing the Spirit is the mark of being a new covenant believer. So having the Spirit does a work at validating the authenticity of our salvation. A foretaste of things to come is how Anthony Palma references it. This gives us a much needed confirmation from the Lord that he is at work in our lives. I’ve also said this before but when God uses you as his instrument to touch the lives of those around you…it is so very very important to convey to the individual that is being used by God…that the blessing they’ve given you, the prophetic word, the love or much needed wisdom…was well received. In doing so, I think we can see firsthand the impact of the spirit. Which will go a long way in transitioning us from doubting the Spirits impact or work in and through us.

2. Focus on the Spirit

Ro 8:5-11
So how do we live a life that focuses on what God wants? Well like it starts with focusing on the spirit that lives within us, putting aside the perspectives that we are under the law and more than that to stop living lives as those who are under the law. Now once we’ve been able to more from that we are able to focus on the spirit.
Read Romans 8:5-11
Romans 8:5–11 (NIV)
5 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. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
So the differences that Paul is speaking about should be evident in our lives. If we had more time this would be a great place to reference the fruits of the spirit and to go into what a life that focuses on the spirit should look like. However, I will simply do a bit of an overview of the contrasting differences between the two. When you are focused on the Spirit there is a desire to live a life that is a testament to God. Vs. 5 says that 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. The Spirit within us desires our lives to be used by God, to be witness and testimony to his work in our hearts and in our minds. For their to be a unity between us and the body of Christ but for there to be at the onset a relationship between us and with God. When we have a relationship between us and God…we are able to fix our hearts on God translating into living lives that are for the glory of God. One of the differences and please pardon me as I know I tend to plagiarize my past sermons repeatedly, but one of the differences is seeing the Word of God as not the book of do’s and don’ts. Its the same mentality of shifting your focus from a God of wrath and judgment to a God of love. Love actually necessitates judgement. There has to be right and wrong, and if wrong is permissible than how can there be genuine love. Now even as a mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God, we can see it translated into our actions. I had a whole long conversation with Pastor Phil about our actions and our words and where the church is repeatedly condemned is when our actions don’t line up with the things we say. It makes it seem like our belief system is flimsy, half-hearted.
What happens when our minds our governed by the spirit? Well the Bible tells us that there is life and peace. Oh Pastor Phil we should’ve done a series on this for weeks, just not enough time. Think about how the mindset in us changes our outlook and perspective. When we can’t see beyond the things of the flesh, we prioritize material possessions to comfort us, we prioritze relationships with people to provide comfort and peace, we prioritize financial comfort to provide life and peace. Its almost accidental, it just comes about…we shift slowly and if we aren’t careful we’re back to where we started, priotizing the law and not living focused on the spirit. Now, I don’t have to tell you this, but have any of you found life and peace in the things of the flesh? How many times have you turned away from God to find another reason for living or something else in your life to provide comfort and find yourself scrambling to replace comfort as time and time again the things of this world fail you. Its a little bit again like the legalistic perspective of Christianity, where you find your comfort and peace and solace in doing good things and living lives that you deem are close to perfect…instead of bringing freedom and peace (what God’s sacrifice intended) we bring in anxiety and fear and doubt into the perfect gift from God. Satan desires to poison and pollute every good and perfect thing from God for us and if we aren’t careful…we let him pollute our salvation. No not our salvation, but our appreciation and understanding of our salvation and of the concept of grace.
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