Romans 8:1-8 "Walking According to the Spirit"

Good morning, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Today… after service… we will have a brief (only like 10-15 minute) meeting…

To pass our recipes… and discuss details for our upcoming Messiah in the Passover Seder: Wednesday, March 26th 6pm.

If you can help with food or set-up… I very much appreciate your help.

I appreciate everyone who helps with all aspects of church… it’s biblical and a spiritual service to the Lord.

If you plan to attend the Passover Seder… it’s free, but please register on our app or website so we know how much food to plan for.

And, invite your friends… this will be a great event!

Well, let’s now get into the word. Please open your Bibles to Romans 8. Romans 8:1-8 today.

We are in the Sanctification section of Paul’s epistle to the Romans.

Generally speaking… Romans chapters 1-3 focuses on the subject of condemnation upon all who reject salvation in Jesus Christ.

Chapters 4-5 (even starting in Rom 3:21) introduce the first part of Salvation… which is Justification.

Believers are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6-8 focuses on the lifelong journey Christians live… which happens after we are justified… which is we are being Sanctified.

Formerly… upon faith in Jesus Christ we were judicially saved from the penalty of sin. That’s justification.

We were declared righteous… not by our works, but because of faith in Jesus Christ.

Our sin was imputed to Him and His righteousness imputed to us. Imputed means “charged to one’s account.”

Presently… still by faith and not by works… we are still being saved through sanctification…

Not from the penalty of Sin… that issue is done.

But, from the POWER of sin.

In Romans 6… Paul shared WHAT sanctification looks like in our lives…

In being united with Christ we should walk in newness of life… knowing we are freed from sin…

Romans 6 presented key terms describing what sanctification looks like…

Reckon… we reckon ourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God.

Present… present yourself to God as an instrument to be used for righteousness.

Slave… as we have been set free from sin… to remain free we must serve a new master… now as slaves of God and righteousness for holiness…

And in being a slave of God… you are free from sin.

Then, in Romans 7… Paul revealed a struggle that he and many Christians wrestle with.

Knowing what we are supposed to do, but not doing it. Doing the things we don’t want to do.

And, I’m not talking about being a Carnal Christian in the sense of living in rebellion to holiness and living in active sin… transgressing the commandments of God…

That’s NOT what Romans 7 is about… and that was not Paul.

Romans 7 reflects the Christian who genuinely loves the word of God… and desires to keep the word of God…

But they find themselves failing over and again… because they are trying to work for their sanctification.

They are trying to keep some semblance of law to save them from the power of sin… and they find themselves stuck… and failing to find victory.

This frustration led Paul to cry out… “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Deliverance is to be rescued from danger… and we need rescuing because we are all in danger.

In all of us is in-dwelling sin… and it seeks to reclaim lost territory… namely the power it had over your life.

And, Paul realizes deliverance comes not from a WHAT… but from a WHO… He cries out… who will deliver me?

And, we all need to realize… the who is not YOU. You cannot save yourself from the present power of sin.

Paul could not save himself… and wisely, Paul looks to Jesus declaring, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

So, Romans 6 shared the WHAT of Sanctification… and Chapter 7 shared struggle and the WHO… NOW in Romans 8… we get into the HOW of Sanctification.

How to live a victorious Christian life. And, God gave us His Son… He gave us His word… and He gave us the Holy Spirit… all which play a part in our Sanctification.

As we continue in Chapter 8… Paul brings the Holy Spirit front and center… mentioning the Holy Spirit 19x in this chapter.

And, one of the key topics we will zoom in on today is “Walking According to the Spirit” which is our message title today.

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage today.

Romans 8:1-8 “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Praise God for His word! Please be seated.

In Chapter 7… Paul reached a low… a pit of despair… “O wretched man that I am!”

But in looking to Jesus… his deliverer from his body of death…

Jesus who he thanked God for…

Paul then triumphantly declares “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!”

In Christ… a saved believer is NOT divinely condemned…

When Jesus died on the cross He took the penalty for the sin of the world… and now, through faith, our position with God is we have been declared righteous.

And the glorious proclamation Paul makes in V1 addresses one such former topic… condemnation. That if you are in Christ Jesus… you are not under condemnation… or penalty.

Positionally… a believer has been declared righteous… which is received by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9)…

And, this position cannot be taken away. This is really good news… and sometimes believers need this reminder…

Sometimes believers do some really stupid things… the make some pretty low mistakes… say things they regret… behave in ways they shouldn’t…

I don’t think I need to give specific examples…

I mean if you just take an honest mental walk in your mind from the previous month… can you not find some examples that would testify .… “yeah… I could have done that better.” ?

Paul was living there in Chapter 7… SO… first order of business… right at the beginning of Chapter 8…

Paul assures believers our justification is secure…

Some Christians needs this because they think... “Well now I’ve blown it… I’ve sinned and now I lost my salvation.”

That’s not true. I feel sorry for the Christian that is in bondage to that error of thought.

And after the wrestling of Paul’s thought in Chapter 7…

… the assurance of V1 is welcomed and important… for if we cannot trust that we have been justified… how can we trust that we are being sanctified?

And… look… if you fast forward to the end of Chapter 8, Paul will declare… nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus...”

Pointing to how just how our justification is secure in Christ… so too is our sanctification is secure…

I like this insight from Guzik, “Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat.”

Great book ends to this chapter… and a lot of meat in between demonstrating our salvation is safe and secure…

NOT because of you… but in Christ.

Paul’s statement about being in Christ is assumed in this chapter… as Paul’s epistle is contextually addressing believers in the present chapters…

But, if you think about being “in Christ” and what that means for condemnation…

In Christ… you’re not condemned.

And the reverse is true as well… Outside of Christ… condemnation is your just due.

To be “in Christ”… means you “belong to Christ”… or you are in “union with Christ”… thus there is no condemnation.

All penalty for the sin of the world Jesus took on the cross… then He died… and what happened three days later?

He rose again. The resurrection. Which proved that the Father accepted the sacrifice of the Son.

Forty days later Jesus ascended to Heaven and is presently seated at the right hand of the Father.

And, Jesus is NOT condemned.

Now… if you are in union with Christ… He is your head… and you are part of His body…

And, if Jesus is not condemned… neither are you.

If a judge acquitted a person accused of a crime… the judge would not only pardon their head… and sentence other parts of the body.

“Your head may go free, but your hand committed the crime and will serve the penalty of imprisonment.”

It doesn’t work that way.

And, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

There is certainly no divine condemnation…

And, if you are guilty of self-condemnation… there’s no need for that.

If you’re stuck in Romans 7… self-condemning yourself… “why do I do the things I hate… I’m so wretched!?”

You don’t need to stay there… Paul led himself out of that place looking to Jesus… and looking to the Holy Spirit.

Live there.

Now… if you’re reading a Bible other then King James or New King James… you don’t see the added clause in V1 that is included in these other translations…

There are different methods and manuscripts used in forming our Bibles.

Namely, the Textus Receptus vs. Critical Method. A big topic we don’t have time for today…

But, the New King James indeed has added words… and let’s pull up Rom 8:1 to see, if you have a different translation…

After Paul states there is “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” … the added clause is “… who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (which is similar to the wording in V4 and elsewhere in scripture).

This clause was perhaps added by a copyist… and feels a bit clunky in relation to condemnation IF you take walking according to the Spirit… as a work you attempt to achieve.

But, if you interpret those who “walk according to the Spirit” still as those who are positionally “in Christ”… this clause fits quite nicely.

Let’s look at this closer… because the idea of walking according to the Spirit is interpreted many different ways.

And, I encourage you… be a Berean. Don’t take what I say as fact… Search the Scriptures…

In understanding this topic… let me caution you against what Paul struggled with in Romans 7… and what so many Christians struggle with… and this is works based righteousness.

You were not saved by works in the past… and your not saved by works now. More specifically… you were not justified by works… and you are not sanctified by works.

Walking according to the Spirit is NOT by works… we’re under the Gospel of Grace… saved by faith… NOT by keeping the law.… not then… not now… and not in glory.

And, if you understand this… it’s liberating.

In Galatians 5:16–18 Paul exhorted “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

Paul would go on to describe works of the flesh and give a full list of sins… everything from selfish ambitions… to excessive sensuality… to drunkenness… to outbursts of wrath… to murder.

Which are the fruit of NOT walking in the Spirit.

If you’re walking in the flesh… those are the result of NOT walking in the Spirit.

A “walk” in the Bible is often used as a metaphor for practical daily living… it’s our Christian journey in life.

I like how Psalm 119:105 links God’s word to our walk… “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

God’s word guides our walk.

And, our walk is NOT according to your spirit, but the Holy Spirit. The third person of the trinity.

Walking according to the Spirit is walking with Him.

It’s not gaining some divine power… though if that were all God offered me… I would take it…

But, it’s much more intimate. It’s relational.

As Christians… you either walk in the Spirit or you’re walking in the flesh.

And, by walking in the flesh… I’m not referring to carnal Christianity… where you embrace sin and try to live out your Christian life…

This was NOT the context of Romans 7. Paul was not a carnal Christian.

In Rom 7, Paul described his struggle of trying to earn sanctification by keeping some law or rules.

We just read in Gal 5… “if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

If you are led by the Spirit… you’re position is in Christ… therefore you are not under the law because the purpose of the law is then fulfilled.

“… the law was our tutor to to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal 3:24)

But, now you’ve been saved… through faith and not by works.

So, now… walk in the Spirit… don’t digress and go back to trying to keep some some of law… or rules… or even spiritual disciplines.

Not that spiritual disciplines are bad, BUT if you’re spiritual disciplines are what you think will save you… you’ve fallen back into works.

And, now… through good intentions… you’ve mislead yourself into walking in the flesh and not in the Spirit.

And, you find yourself back in ‘Romans 7 Christianity’ crying out like Paul… ‘why do I do the things I don’t want to do… time and again?’

One of the works of the flesh in the list of in Gal 5 was idolatry.

Be very careful to not think so highly of yourself… as though through your perfect keeping of spiritual disciplines that you will save yourself.

That person has made themselves into a golden calf…

“This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

Really? Did you delivery yourself from Egypt… from the bondage of sin?

Don’t sit yourself on a throne above God… you cannot save yourself.

But, when you’re walking according to the Spirit… you don’t look to the law… and you don’t look to yourself to keep any law… you look to Jesus Christ to save you.

That’s what Paul cried out at the end of Rom 7.

In Rom 8:14… next week Paul writes, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

That speaks of position… NOT upholding perfection by your own strength.

You need to walk according to the Spirit, because when you walk in the flesh you fail.

You never kept the law perfectly to justify yourself… and you cannot sanctify yourself.

You and I… we need to cry out to God like Paul did.

We yield to His control… we follow His lead… relying on Him to guide us in thought, word, and deed.

Which is not resisting Him… or grieving Him… the old way is dead to us…

Paul in Galatians 5:24 wrote, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

You give the flesh and it’s sinful desires a criminal’s death. You put it to shame.

Our former appetite for sin changes… it no longer has dominion over us.

We submit to His influence and then… and the result is we bear fruits of the Spirit… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness…

Holiness is observable in our lives.

In Gal 5… there’s a counter list to the works of the flesh… and that’s the fruit of the Spirit…

… which is what you bear when you walk According to the Spirit.… when you are united with Christ.

You bear fruit… walking in love… walking in joy… walking in peace…

Thankfulness and singing is a fruit you bear (Eph 5:19-20)…

The word of God richly dwells in you (Col 3:16)…

You’re walk… your way of life becomes in sync with the gospel message… and the Spirit transforms your mind to be obedient to the will of God. Which is grace.

People look at you… and wonder… “What’s different about them?”

And, you can answer it’s NOT YOU… it’s the WHO Paul spoke about in Chapter 7… Jesus Christ our Lord!

Walking in the Spirit is a very humbling practice for any person who is a self-made man or woman…

If you’re a ‘doer’, a ‘go-getter’, if you roll up your sleeves and ‘get er done’… it’s not easy to submit to the idea that walking in the Spirit is not about your work… it’s about your Lord.

This Christian life is not one where you are supposed to walk alone.

Jesus said abide in Me and you will bear much fruit.

So… walk with Him… and talk with Him… just as the Hymn goes… and He tell us we are His own.

Positionally… we are in Christ… we are His own.

I hope this is helpful, because too often walking according to the Spirit is mis-understood to just be another work WE do to earn.… but it’s not… it’s grace.

Paul continues in V2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

Two laws are introduced… and again… multiple interpretations.

Keep in mind… law in these verses could also mean principle. This is not the Mosaic Law.

The NLT translation describe the “law of the Spirit” as the “power of the life-giving Spirit” and the “law of sin and death” as the “power of sin that leads to death.”

And, don’t forget… the greater context of this chapter is sanctification… because it’s easy to hear versus like this and allow you mind to think the primary context is justification, but it’s not.

So… the Law of the Spirit of life… what does this mean?

Well… from a spiritual perspective… how do we have life… now and eternally? Through faith in Jesus Christ.

V2 states, “… the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus…”

Life is for those IN Christ Jesus.

Through the hearing of the Gospel… and faith in Jesus…

You are justified… you inherit eternal life… you’re freed from the penalty of sin… and as V1 stated… if you are in Christ Jesus… there is no condemnation.

No condemnation for sins of the past… and no condemnation as you walk this Christian life.

So, in the context of sanctification… V2 tells us in Christ Jesus… spiritual life now is yours… and you are being saved from the power of sin… through the Holy Spirit.

And this law of the Spirit… look again at V2 “made me free from the law of sin and death.”

In the previous chapter Paul wrote transparently about his wrestling with in-dwelling sin…

When he read the Mosaic Law’s command “Thou shall not covet”… his sin revived… it sprung to life… and as he wrote in V9 “… and I died.”

Sin so often deceives us lying to us that it’s ok to eat forbidden fruit…

Paul wrote in V11 of Chapter 7 “… sin… deceived me, and by it [the law] killed me.”

Which is not an issue with the Law… Paul wrote the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good (V12).

At the end of Chapter 7 in vv 21-24, Paul wrote, “I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. [Paul desired to do the right thing… which most Christians do] 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

We talked last week about the paradox of how presently both the Holy Spirit and a sin nature dwell in us.

God did not eradicate our sin nature… which certainly keeps up relying on Him for our sanctification…

And, God gave us a power greater then sin… He gave us His Holy Spirit. He is saving us from the power of sin. We have been delivered from the power of sin…

Caveat… IF you walk according to the Spirit.

If you stop living in faith… according to the Spirit… in-dwelling sin rears up… wanting to reclaim it’s slavery and dominion over you.

In my studies I came across this illustration that I found very helpful.

In life… we are aware of the law of Gravity. We observe it’s truth when we throw a rock.

What goes up must come down. A rock thrown into the air is heavier than the air it displaces thus it comes down.

However… we know that a greater law exists, because we observe flight… in birds… insects… planes… balloons.

With planes… generally speaking… Planes fly through the principle of "lift,"… air flows faster over the top of the wing, resulting in a lower pressure above compared to the bottom… which generates upward force that counteracts gravity.

I believe this relates to Newton's Third Law of Motion (for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction)…

So… when the wings push air downwards… it create upward force (lift)… allowing the plane to fly.  

And, look… there’s probably other factors involved… I get it… I don’t profess to be a pilot or an expert… so just accept the illustration for what it is.

One time.. I gave a soil and farming example in a crowd of farmers a couple hours south of us… and one of them dropped his head in his hand.… and wagged his head.

It was all good… we had a good laugh afterward.

Back to the illustration… the law of gravity is a law… but there stands a greater law… the law of motion.

And, spiritually speaking there is a law of sin… but there stands a greater law… the law of the Spirit.

And, just as a plane will overcome gravity so long as the power of lift is present.

A believer will overcome sin when they walk according to the Spirit.

But, if a plane loses the force which creates lift… the law of gravity is still present… and then it will become the greater law and the plane will plummet.

And, so it is true… if a believer stops walking according to the Spirit… if they try to live this Christian life victoriously by their own strength…

Well… just as God said to Cain in Gen 4:7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Sin is always crouching at the door… so do well and walk according to the Spirit… who gives you the power to overcome sin.

Continuing on… now Paul draws another example… this time from the Mosaic law… V3 “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh...”

The law is holy… it’s commandments holy and just and good.

It makes us aware of God’s ideal… and then guides us to faith in Christ because we need a Savior…

But, we cannot keep the law perfectly and be declared righteous by our good works of keeping the law.

Thus the law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.

The problem is us.

So, God… who so loved the world… gave His only begotten Son…

The Father sent His only Son… Jesus Christ who came in a body like us sinners have…

Not that He came in sinful flesh because He was sinless, but “in the likeness of… [in the form or appearance of...] sinful flesh.”

Jesus “committed no sin” (1 Pet. 2:22), He “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21), and “in Him there is no sin” (1 Jn. 3:5).

But, Jesus came on “account of sin”… as “an offering for sin” your Bible may read…

God sent his Son into the world to deal with the world’s biggest issue…

… which was not a world war… or Roman slavery and oppression… it was not a pandemic… it was not politics.

It was sin. It was your sin… my sin… the sin of the world for all time. This is the biggest issue of the world.

When Jesus walked the earth… there was an expectation for Jesus to become a political Messiah… and overthrow Rom.

Jews misunderstood the prophecies concerning the Messiah. They didn’t understand there were two comings of Jesus.

They anticipated the 2nd Coming Messiah who would come riding on a white horse and would usher in His glorious Kingdom age.

Even John the Baptist… while in prison wondered… “did we get it wrong?”

John sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

How many times when we feel imprisoned… when we face trials… do we doubt Jesus and ask a similar question? Lord forgive us!

Oh… we all long for the day that Jesus will return. We look forward to the promise of scripture when pain and tears and death are no more.

But God had a first order of business to deal with… Sin.

And, he’s dealing with it… right now. In each of our lives there are lessons teaching us how to walk in the power of the Spirit…

Lessons molding our character to rejoice because we have been delivered from the penalty of sin…

We read in Rom 5… having been justified by faith… we have access… we rejoice in the hop of the glory of God… in Romans 5:3–4 we read “… we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Lord… help us to trust that you are good and are working out good things in us!

At the end of V3 we also read, “He condemned sin in the flesh.”

The law could not defeat sin… only Jesus could do this. He did that through His work on the cross…

Jesus condemned our sins, which are in us and condemning us…

I like how the NLT version elucidates sanctification with this statement… “in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.”

Through Jesus’ sacrifice… our sins are forgiven… and the sin nature is condemned.

And, why?

V4 “… that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

How is the law fulfilled in us? Not by us… but in us. Big difference.

The law is fulfilled as we walk according to the Spirit.

It’s a faith walk. As we walk in faith in Christ Jesus… we are in Christ Jesus… and thus the law is fulfilled in us.

Not because of our good works… but because of Jesus’ righteousness that is imputed to us.

Not because we do such a stellar job at daily walking sin free lives… but because we walk according to the Holy Spirit…

Crying out like Paul… I need a Savior… who will deliver me?!! Thank you Jesus!

As we move forward… some of the verses we read may feel repetitious…

Paul often seems to me like an investigator… analyzing details… analyzing angles…

He builds on his thoughts presenting various nuances… various shades of color… to the big picture he presents.

And, in vv 2-4 thus far Paul contrasted life in the Spirit and life in the flesh.

As we move forward to vv 5-8… Paul describes how futile it is to attempt to please God in the flesh.

Which we’ll read in V8… “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

That’s the point Paul is building up to next… let’s look again at vv 5-7 to see how Paul build this case.

Lot’s of meat here to chew… bite sized pieces… verse by verse…

V5 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

So… here is a litmus test… how you are walking.. how you are living… who you are walking with… the Spirit or the flesh…

Your walk steers where your mind is set…

Perhaps circle or underline the word “set their minds.”

“Set their minds” is one word in Gk… phrŏnĕō and the word means “to exercise the mind”; “to have understanding”…

Several scholars look at this and say unbelievers set their minds on the flesh and believers set their minds on the Spirit.

I’m not so sure… I know plenty of believers who get off track on where their mind is set.

Can we not just read back in Chapter 7 and see that Paul had his mind often on wrong things?

Paul wrote, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.”

We have to examine where our mind is set? What do we think about? What exercises our minds?

And, Paul only presents two categories… the things of the flesh… OR on the things of the Spirit.

No third category. Which is immensely challenging.

I think of all the useless things that can distract the mind…

In one season… I wasted hours playing games on my phone. There’s NO spiritual value to hours wasted.

If you can sit for a little bit of time here or there to unwind and move on… congratulations.

For me… there’s a reason I don’t have a single game on my phone… because I know my mind will be set on it.

Trying to build a castle… or build a garden…

Some of you are thinking, “I know exactly what games Pastor Marc is talking about… build games.”

That’s right… and they only built up my hunger for obsessing about nothing. Wasting time.

Watch where you set your mind… and tear down high places if need be.

Which are sometimes things that seems so innocent.

But often they are not. They are a spiritual distraction.

The mind is the battleground where the Spirit and flesh battle.

The flesh doesn’t want you to think about spiritual matters… and what is the result of where your mind is set?

V6 “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

I feel like I need to remind us that we are still in a sanctification passage… the issue here still pertains to Christian living… not believers and unbelievers.

And, carnality is again not referring to a Christian living in sinful compromise.

In Rom 7 Paul declared “the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” V14

Carnal Christians at Paul wrote about in 1 Cor 3 were “babes in Christ”… known for envy, strife, and divisions…

That wasn’t Paul in Rom 7.

Paul’s will was to walk in the Spirit, but he found himself doing what he hated.

Paul was attempting to achieve sanctification through his strength and not by the Spirit.

Paul declared “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.” V22… this is NOT the posture of an unbeliever.

It’s a rather wild thought… that Paul or you or I… can be a Bible loving Christian… a person of good reputation…

How many churches had Paul planted here to date?

The carnality in Paul’s life was destroying him. Clearly we read this in Romans 7.

Such a strong word… this carnal thinking is death.

And, the opposite is true… spiritual mindedness is life and peace.

Which you sense Paul arrived at as he cried out for a deliverer declaring at the end of Rom 7, “Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

What ails you Christian? What ails you unbeliever? Whatever it may be… the answer remains the same… He is Jesus Christ.

Cry out to Him. In Him is life and peace.

He saves you from the penalty of sin. And, the Holy Spirit who then dwells in you saves you from the present power of sin.

And we need all the help we can get… because our flesh battles against God… as we see in V7

V7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to [or will not submit to] the law of God, nor indeed can be.”

Our in-dwelling sin nature is always crouching at our door… waiting for the lift in our wings to fail…

Our carnal nature delights to see us fall and to set our minds on the things of the flesh…

When you live spiritually minded, you starve your flesh… thus the flesh delight in any morsel of sin.

The carnal mind is enmity with God.

Enmity means “hostility, discord, feud.”

James 4:4 declares, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

James was writing to Christians… who as James went on to explain caused the ‘Spirit who dwells in us… to yearn jealously.’

How many times in Biblical and modern history have God’s people fallen into the worship of things of the world?

It’s a historical plague.

Friendship with the things of the world is unfaithfulness to God… it’s enmity… feuding with God.

Paul does not write the carnal mind is at enmity with God. Paul the carnal mind is enmity with God.

Spurgeon put it this way, “Paul… does not say that the carnal mind is opposed to God merely, but it is the positive enmity. It is not black, but blackness. It is not at enmity, but enmity itself. It is not corrupt, but corruption. It is not rebellious; it is rebellion. It is not wicked; it is wickedness itself. The heart, though it be deceitful, is positively deceit. It is evil in the concrete, sin in the essence. It is the distillation, the quintessence of all things that are vile; it is not envious against God, it is envy; it is not at enmity, it is actual enmity.”

That carnal mind feuds against God… it will NOT submit to His law. It won’t obey God’s law.

God puts up a sign that says “Keep off the grass” and there’s a muddy trail next to it… and mud is on our boots.

Because that’s the nature of our mind.

It’s our present nature without lift… without the power of the Holy Spirit saving us.

Therefore the conclusion… V8 “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Go it alone… live this life in the flesh… try to achieve holiness… sanctification… set apartness on your own and you will fail.

You cannot please God through this futile attempt.

And, God doesn’t expect you to. That’s why.. through faith in Jesus Christ…

He divinely clears your record of wrong.

And, as you walk according to the Spirit… He divinely empowers you to be victorious over sin.

(Worship team you can come)

All of this Good News… is freeing… it’s empowering… it should cause you to rejoice… and lift the burden for you to feel like you need to live in perfection… which is impossible.

Salvation is not about you… except for your faith in Him…

He saved… He is saving us… and will forever save us eternally.

Live a Spirit filled life… walk according to the Spirit… and you will please God.

Let’s pray!

Walking according to the Spirit… and you will have life, peace, and will be pleasing to God.

If you’re here today and you want to pray for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit to walk according to the Spirit… or for any of your prayer needs.

There will be people on the sides to pray with you before you go.

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

God bless your week ahead!