Flesh vs Spirit

Living in Divine Freedom: The Battle Between Flesh and Spirit

Bible Passage: Romans 8:6–11

(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. '

Read this passage several times and walked away with something each time—this is my best attempt to share what I received through the passage.

I hope it makes sense!

1. Choosing Between Death and Life

Romans 8:6 - the mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace.

Notes:

This passage starts off incredibly strong. It is straight to the point and sets the tone for the rest of the passage. Simply put, if our mindset is formed by our fleshly desires - we cannot possibly have a life with Christ, our minds will essentially be dead. However, if we focus our mindset on Christ and focus on living a life by the spirit, then we are promised life and peace.

What does this mean exactly?

If we allow our minds to be molded and shaped by the world, then our actions will be that of the world. If we choose to allow our flesh to have whatever it wants, we cannot thrive in a life with Christ. I like to think of the rotten fruit analogy. My daughter eats quite a bit of strawberries, eventually when that first one starts to go bad, it is only a matter of time before the rest follow. Our minds can be like that strawberry. If we are staying stagnant and now allowing ourselves to develop a relationship with Christ, eventually that mold that is our fleshly desires and wants, will take over our mindset and our appearance will be that of the world.

We can also flip that narrative and say:

A person can be the best version of themselves on the outside, but it they have not given themselves to Christ - they are spiritually dead. We may be able to say all the right things and do all the right things, but if our intentions are not pure and we have not chosen to live a life with Christ - we are spiritually dead.

Colossians 2:13 says “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” What does this mean? The Colossians believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, yet many of them also began believing teachings what were not true. They believed in different laws and worshipping others away from Christ. Paul wanted it to be clear that they did not have to do those things. They had everything they needed and were complete. This was because they belonged to Jesus Christ.

2. Hostility of the Flesh

Romans 8:7-8 the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, not can it do so. Those who are in the real of the flesh cannot please God.

Notes:

The fleshly mindset breeds hostility towards God and results in an inability to please Him.

War vs Peace - If you do not know Christ, then you have hostility towards him. Meaning, your mindset is not in the right place.

Throughout Chapter 8, Paul describes two kinds of laws. One is the law of sin. He describes how sin controls people. When people sin, they are disobeying God. The other kind of law, is the law of the Holy Spirit. He describes this as people who have the right mindset towards Christ and have devoted themselves to Christ, are free from sin. Because of this, Jesus paid the ultimate price when He died on the cross.

Galatians 5:17 says: 'For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. '

This verse explains the ongoing conflict between the flesh and the spirit. It shows that there is a tension between our natural desires and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This can be a true struggle for believers.

As human beings, we are not perfect and we will never be perfect. There will be instances when we make mistakes. By choosing to mind what our flesh does, we can essentially train our bodies to recognize when we may not have the right headspace or we may feel ourselves wanting to give in to those desires that are opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants for us.

3. Identity in the Spirit

Romans 8:9 - 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.

highlight the transformative power of being in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Encourage believers to embrace their identity in Christ, as they are no longer under the dominion of the flesh but live empowered by the Spirit. Emphasize the Spirit's role in defining and directing their lives.

Notes:

This verse is written in a way that a person can really break down and study. When we look at the first part “of the flesh” - this means we are in the sway or control of the flesh. Looking at the rest of the verse....in the realm of the Spirit is in the sway or control of the Spirit. How does this happen?

The Holy Spirit lives in us if we choose to have a life with Christ.

Being in the flesh produces things like: death, being insubordinate, being unable to please God. Horrible realities.

Being in the Spirit: we are spiritually alive, we are able to please God!

IF anyone does not have the spirit of Christ....they do not belong to Christ.

It comes down to 2 things: we either have the spirit of Christ, or we do not.

1 Cor 6:19-20 'Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.'

Jesus’ sacrifice paid the price for sin. This means that Jesus broke sin’s power over human beings. The Holy Spirit helps us to think and live in ways that please God. We will have life even after our bodies die because the Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Because we belong to Christ and because we have the spirit - we are in the sway of God and all of His goodness.

4. Life Through Righteousness

Romans 8:10 - '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. '

John 14: 16-18 'And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ' Another instance of the Spirit dwelling on the inside of us.

The Spirit of life - because of righteousness....the righteousness of Christ. No condemnation in Christ Jesus.

What does it look like to live a life with Christ? I like the example of looking at a sold out baseball stadium. There are people from all walks of life present in that baseball stadium. People wearing their favorite player’s jersey, grown men, women, young children. Looking at them, we could easily label them as baseball fans, right?

Now, looking at the same crowd, how am I able to tell which ones are Christians and which ones are not? It would be impossible to unless we really studied the crowd and simply made observations based on their outward actions, but we can’t base our knowledge off of that.

What does it mean to be “in Christ”?

Being in Christ means where are we placing our hope? Take investors...their hope for success is in stocks, the investments they have made hoping for financial success. Being in Christ is just more than indicating where we have made our emotional and spiritual investments. It is truly believing that Jesus’ death and resurrection turned our world around. The darkness became light.

It is knowing that even though we are surrounded by a world filled with darkness and sin, we are able to walk by the light of Christ. Think about the songs that we call sang growing up “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!”. WE can shine because of Christ! The Holy Spirit is inside of us lighting the way forward.

Being in Christ means we are making a conscious effort to draw closer to God.

Matthew 6:24 “no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money (I can also change the word money for word, the context is speaking about earthly treasures).

5. Power of the Resurrection

Romans 8:11 - '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.

In john 3, Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. Nicodemus is asking questions about how someone can essentially be “born again” if they are already old...He even told Jesus, surely someone cannot enter their mother’s womb a second time to be born!

Jesus tells him, in verse 3 “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” In verse 5, he tells him “I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to the spirit.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, He sent his only won...whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Verse 19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

the promise that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in believers, bringing life to mortal bodies.

3 great things from this passage to remember:

If the spirit of God dwells in you - you are in the sway of the Spirit and free from the bondage of the flesh

2. If the spirit of Christ is in you - you belong to Christ -

3. If he dwells in you - he gives life to your mortal bodies

Notes:

Key takeaways:

Big Idea: To live a life of victory and peace, one must choose to walk in the Spirit rather than succumb to the desires of the flesh.

It is more than opening your Bible or picking a devotional to read daily. While those are great practices to have in our daily lives, we must truly believe what we are reading. We must truly rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us through our days.

We will never be perfect and there will be times when we mess up, but I would rather commit my life to Christ and know that he has my back no matter what then leave my fate up to the world.

The world can make so many promises of happiness and a fulfilled life, but my life will never be truly fulfilled without Christ.

He has provided me with so much in my life….my husband, my daughter, my dream job…I am forever thankful. I can commit my life to him, not because he gives me what I desire, but he knows what is best for me and he can give me a promise of eternal life. The world is not able to give me that.

I pray constantly for my actions to be a reflection of Christ inside me. I pray that whoever I come into contact with will know that I have the Spirit of Christ on the inside of me and I pray that they are hungry enough to know Christ where I can share my story with them.

None of us will leave this world having lived a perfect life….the flesh will win sometimes, but its our mindset that keeps us drawing closer to Christ each and everyday. I can commit to renewing my mind and ensuring I am doing what I can to walk in his light.

Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

As we close out the message and prepare for communion: it is my prayer that each of us will keep Christ at the forefront of our minds. That we will keep our minds focused on Christ and that by doing so, we are able to renew our minds daily and walk in his light the way He intended us to. I pray that the fleshly desires would become less and less the closer we draw to Christ because we are His children and He lives on the inside of us.

Communion:

We will come forward and receive our elements first, then we will celebrate communion together.

**Remember 2 lines —-one for wine and another for grape juice**

As we share this bread and drink this cup, let us remember Jesus’ sacrifice and His promise of eternal life, reminding us of his love and forgiveness.

1 Cor 11: 23-26 “ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you; do this is remembrance of me.

**Please partake of the body of Christ….

In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying “this cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”

**Please partake in the blood of Christ…

Lord, we pray that as we partake of this holy communion, that we be filled with His spirit and renewed in our faith. Amen

******SONG********

CLOSING PRAYER:

Almighty God, we thank you for this time of worship, for the opportunity to gather and lift our hearts to you. We are grateful for your presence, your guidance, and the strength you provide us. As we leave this place today, we ask for your blessings to be with us throughout our week, and we ask that we may carry your love and light to all we meet. May your peace be with us and your grace guide our steps.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

As a reminder…..Please join us in the Chapel annex for our fellowship lunch!