Life in the Spirit (pt 2)

INTRODUCTION

REVIEW QUESTIONS

QUESTION: what does it mean that there is no condemnation for Th0se who are in Christ Jesus?

ANSWER: It means the penalty of sin has been taken away.

QUESTION: What does it mean to walk according to the Spirit?

ANSWER: It means a life lived in obedience to God, (one step at a time: day to day obedience)

QUESTION: What defines the people who are according to the Spirit and those who are according to the flesh? (Verse 5)

ANSWER: The people according to the Spirit set their mind on the things of the Spirit and people of the flesh things according to the flesh

Truth #1: It is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that gives us life

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. 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.”

Context: Verse 1-8 were talking about life in the Spirit or being alive spiritually.

(v 9-11) tell us what makes life in the Spirit possible: THE HOLY SPIRIT MUST DWELL IN US IN ORDER FOR US TO BE SPIRITUALLY ALIVE

Notice all the times in these three verses that Paul mentions that the Holy Spirit dwells in us.

QUESTION: Who is the Holy Spirit according to these verses?

So we are to see in these verses the very THE POWER that resides inside of us.

(v 9) Spirit of God

(v 9) Spirit of Christ

(v 10) If Christ is in you

(v 11) The Spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead

And this is not some kind of mystical idea…but the very manifestation of God’s power living inside of us.

What separates mere religion from true Christianity is the divine power given the Christian upon conversion. God Himself dwells in us through His Spirit and makes us alive. He makes us responsive to God. He makes our minds think about God. He makes us walk in conformity with God’s Law.

Its not about human effort, will-power, how much we are willing to sacrifice. No Holy Spirit, no spiritual life now or in eternity.

Ezekiel 36:26–27 ““Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

The Holy Spirit is also the One who will raise us from the dead (v 11)

(v 10) “though the body is dead because of sin”

Now obviously our bodies are alive, but what Paul is saying that we will experience a physical death and we learned that because the wages of sin is death.

But since the Spirit lives in us, he will raise us back to life in the same way He raised Christ from the dead. His Spirit gives us life.

Truth #2: We have an obligation to live according to the Spirit

Romans 8:12–14 “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

“So then we are under obligation, not the flesh, to live according to the flesh…but to live by the Spirit”

QUESTION: “What does he mean by living according to the flesh?”

It is to prioritize the things of this earth

Its to put ourselves over God

It is to obey the lusts of the flesh

This implies that our obedience is not totally reliant upon God

The flesh still tries to demand that we do what it says. But we are not under obligation to the flesh…meaning that we do not have to obey it.

So brethren the choice is ours of what we will do.

But before he can even finish his thought, he interjects…“If you live according to the flesh, you must (are going to) die”

The death here is not physical death like in verse 10, but spiritual and eternal death which is what those receive who have rejected Jesus.

Its a warning, that those who repeatedly give into the desires of the flesh, no matter how common they may be in our society, even in the church, the end result is God’s judgement.

Live according to the desires of the Spirit and live forever, live according to the lusts of the flesh and die eternally

BUT if we put to death the deeds of the flesh, “you will live”

What kind of life?

It is the abundant life of John 10:10

It is also eternal life of John 3:16

The presence of the Holy Spirit is the evidence that one is truly a believer

QUESTION: From these three verses (12-14), How do you know if you have the Holy Spirit or not?

Answer: (v 14) “all who are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”

The leading of the Spirit is speaking about morality. We know this from the previous verse “put to death the deeds of the flesh”.

Truth #3: The Spirit provides assurance that we are children of God

Romans 8:15–17 “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

“for you have not recieved a spirit of slavery leading to fear, but a spirit of adoption”

That is we do not relate to God in fear. We are not afraid of Him as we were before we were converted. Fear of judgement, fear of what will happen

Now we have a spirit of adoption which sees God as our father. One of intimacy, love, care, gentleness, like a Father with His children, not like a criminal before a judge.

What does it mean to be an adopted child of God?

You have a special relationship to God that the world does not have.

The OT helps us understand this. Israel was was called a son of God. God related to Israel like His child.

Israel had many special privileges that the rest of the world did not have. God chose them, delivered them from slavery, provided for them, led them, gave them the promise land, forgave them, and even restored them when they did wrong

That same privilege position has been transferred to Christians today.

Adoption also means that we will be heirs of God just like a natural child would be an heir

What is our inheritance?

Eternal life

A resurrected body

Dwelling in God’s presence always

Living in perfect sinlessness

eternity in glory just like Jesus

BUT there is another one of those conditional words: “if”

Paul says we are children and will be fellows heirs with Christ IF we indeed suffer with Him

QUESTION: How do we suffer with Christ?

ANSWER: The Christian life is a call to suffer. It is harder than the ordinary life.

Matthew 7:13–14 ““Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

(v 13) “broad” : spacious, roomy, comfortable. The broad way is easy. Everyone is on it. Its the road os less suffering

(v 14) “way is narrow”: That word narrow means “to cause someone trouble or affliction.

And this is not self-inflicted trouble. This is not doing something stupid and suffering or blowing all our money and then suffering.

This is suffering that accompanies following Christ. It is difficulties that come along with the journey.

If your walk does not include suffering for righteousness sake, then it is not a Christian walk

QUESTIONS?