A Trinitarian Heart - Romans 8:9-11

Introduction

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Fight between flesh and God.

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Romans 8:9–11 “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

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The Holy Spirit dwells in you (9a)

However contrast from previous statement in 5-8 and giving a sobering stern statement your are not in the flesh. Paul often uses sarx to represent the aspect of a person (or worldly existence) that is dominated by sin and at odds with the things of God. Fleshly refers to our natural born carnal state ( Rom 7:14, 1 Cor 3:1, Col 2:18). Worldly/Worldliness is a easy sin to get into because at the core of our heart we are worldly.

but is in the Spirit - The flesh is the world’s domain, the Spirit is God’s domain. Stott - “the privilege of the children of God is to have the indwelling Spirit to fight and subdue indwelling sin. As Jesus had promised, ‘he lives with you and will be in you”

Focus on the Spirit - The Nicene Creed says of the Holy Spirit “And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets.” Key verse - John 14:16–17 ““And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him. You know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 16:7–14 ““But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I still have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

Some misconceptions about the Holy Spirit...

Not God/Not equal part God.

A force/it, not a person.

No role in salvation.

Just a NT concept.

Often overlooked but that’s His role, He calls, regenerates, seals, convicts, comforts, judges, intercedes, help, searches, fights, and so on. Pneumatology - Study of the Holy Spirit. If we see 1 member of the Trinity as more important then the others then we have a bad grasp of the Trinity.

Paul doesn’t comfort false believers with the phrase - if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in/among you- True believers have the Holy in them, He is vital for the Christian walk/life & salvation. He dwells/lives in you. Nothing will live in you because not just the Spirit lives in you but all 3 members!

2. The Son is in you (9b-10).

These passages counter modern preaching (You v Christ-centered). Chapell - “Moralistic preaching is preaching the morals of Scripture and nothing else. That is not just a sub-Christian message; it’s actually an anti-Christian message.” While morals will keep you out of jail, they won’t keep you out of hell - Only Christ alone can!

As Paul has been hitting on this - But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ - that’s the command. The privilege is we have Christ, He lives in us! to be one of His called, elect, sheep, slave, etc. This is a conditional convent. Broad vs Special love. The consequence is - He doesn’t belong to Him - Matt 7:23.

Like Rom 6:23 the conjunction - But - is so awesome...why? If Christ is in you - such an amazing declaration sentence! why?

We understand we are dead men walking. Adam’s sin imputed to us (Rom 5), Made us dead (Rom 6), and we are to fleshly to understand that! (Rom 7). Matt 26:41. Dog solider.

Our Spirits are alive! Because He lives we live (Rom 6:8, 1 Cor 15:22). It’s because of Christ we are no longer condemned and face condemnation but are justified! (Rom 5:6-11, 8:1).

Because of His “impeccable imputed” righteous (Ventura) we are alive, justified, reconciled, and free. Not self-righteousness and definitely not our unrighteousness but His perfect redeeming righteous. The gospel in 1 verse - 2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Yes our bodies will still age, hurt, sick, depressed, have anxious thoughts, and even die…but our spirits will live either in the glory of HIs righteousness/in the unadulterated wrath of Him.

3. The Father dwells in your (11).

Tozer - “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” So it’s important to have a proper understanding of God - Theology Proper. Is the study of God & His attributes, namely focuses on the Father.

Paul again uses the very important conjunction -But- implies Good news over the bad news -though our body is dead because of sin - The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus up from the dead - Trinity at workd! God the Father raised Jesus from the dead working through His Holy Spirit.

He dwells/live in/among you and because of Him the living God -while the body is dead we will be like Christ and given a new resurrected body. 1 Corinthians 15:42–44 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a corruptible body, it is raised an incorruptible body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” John 5:29 “and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,”

It’s through His Spirit who dwells in you - such an amazing promise, a promise that is then, now, & always!

4. The Trinity is an essential doctrine for theology and life.

Yes, the word Trinity isn’t in the Bible, but it is...

OT = Gen 1:1-2, 1:26, 11:7. Then progressively revealed...

NT = Matt 3:13-17, 28:19-20, Rom 8:26-34, 2 Cor 13:14, Eph 1:3-14. Scripture evidence.

Historical - Bavinck “The confession of the Trinity is the heartbeat of the Christian religion” Martyr was the 1st to explicitly describe a triadic pattern of worship. Tertullian “The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God...they are distinct but not divided.” Church fathers, Reformers, Puritans, and so on all believed and defended the Trinity using orthodoxy with confessional precision and made the trinity the heartbeat of devotion.

Creeds, Confessions, & Catechisms.

Catechisms - Keach Question 8: Are there more gods then 1? A: There is but 1 only, the Living & True God. Question 9: How many persons are there in the Godhead? A: There are 3 persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.

Confessions - 1689 LCF 2:3 - “In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on Him.”

Creeds - That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,     neither blending their persons     nor dividing their essence.         For the person of the Father is a distinct person,         the person of the Son is another,         and that of the Holy Spirit still another.         But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,         their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

All 3 (Apostles & Nicene) talk about the trinity but the Athanasian purposely says Trinity.

Heresy’s -Adoptionism = Jesus only became divine

Modalism = 1 person in 3 roles

Arianism = Son is created

Semi-Arianism = Son is similar, not same

Macedonianism = Spirit is a creature

Tritheism = 3 separate gods

Socinianism/Unitarianism = Only the Father is God

As a distinctive Christian doctrine, the Trinity is considered as a divine mystery beyond human comprehension to be reflected upon only through scriptural revelation. The Trinity is a biblical concept that expresses the dynamic character of God, not a Greek idea pressed into Scripture from philosophical or religious speculation.

To study the Trinity you’ll lose your mind, deny it you’ll lose your soul.

Romans 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

Ending

Good, Proper, Sound, Strong theology should live and rule in both mind and heart, which will lead to good, proper, sound strong doxology.

What rules your heart?

Pray.