Saved For What? | Romans 8:1-30
Notes
Transcript
Find the “BIG IDEA” >> a. What is the author talking about? b. What is he saying about what he is talking about?
a.
b.
Find the FCF >>
1. What does the text say?
2. What spiritual concern(s) did the text address (in its context)?
3. What spiritual concerns do listeners share in common with those to (or about) whom the text was written?
[Kids Time!]
Piece of wood, “saved from the fire”…
Reshaped into a beautiful thing (flute?… sculpture?...Candle stick?...)
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[Introduction]
A few weeks ago, we covered John 3:16…
Christians talk about being saved… we talk about how Jesus, the Son of God has taken upon Himself our sins, put them to death with Him on the cross, and after three days, He has resurrected from death to life, guaranteeing life to all who believe in Him.
>> John 3:16 is clear:
Saved from what? >> Eternal Punishment
Saved to what? >> Eternal Life
>> I couldn’t help but think of that third question… Today, we are going to take a pause from continuing our time in John to flesh this out more:
Saved for what?
“There’s a light at the end of the tunnel”…
>> What do we do with this “in between time” between now and the promise of eternal life with God?
I’d been thinking about this… when we studied in a group called Deep Discipleship two things:
Union and Communion with God
and
How we are saved >> The Holy Spirit
Now part of this conviction I have comes from what I said previously in the Economy of Salvation:
God the Father pays His only Son for rebellious and worthless people
God the Spirit applies the benefits accomplished by the Son to the people purchased for God the Father
Jer. 17:9
John 15:26
Titus 3:4-7 >> regeneration
2 cor. 5:17
sanctification:
1 thess. 4:3
1 peter 1:15-16
Romans 7:24-25 and 8:1
john 17:17
1 Cor. 6:9-11
illumination
John14:26
1 cor 2:13-14
Eph. 1:17-18
Preservation
eph. 1:13-14
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The Key to understanding what we are saved for TODAY… is to understand God the Spirit’s role
[Illustration]
I love the book Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves. “Cool! A book on the Trinity…” But one of the most intriguing parts of the book is its subtitle:
An Introduction to the Christian Faith
What does the Trinity have to do with this being save for Today?
Consider this:
The Father Assigns the Son for salvation
The Son Accomplishes our salvation
The Spirit Applies our salvation
Before we get into the Spirit’s work in applying our salvation, lets uncover some common misconceptions around the Holy Spirit
>> These come from the book, You are a Theologian… One of the books we cover in the Deep Discipleship Program…
5 Misconceptions about the Holy Spirit
(1) The Holy Spirit is a Force
(2) The Holy Spirit Comes and Goes
(3) The Holy Spirit is an Emotion or Feeling
(4) The Holy Spirit is Dramatic
(5) The Holy Spirit is Nice, but Not Necessary
5 Misconceptions about the Holy Spirit
(1) The Holy Spirit is a Force
>> “Impersonal… unworthy of worship...”
>> Don’t mistake the power or action of the Spirit for the Spirit Himself
(2) The Holy Spirit Comes and Goes
>> Is God near to you? Is He far? What worship songs do we need to do to “invite Him here”?
>> What can be said of God the Son and God the Father can be said of God The Holy Spirit: He is omnipresent and
according to scripture, indwells all believers, independent of their perception or lack of of his presence.
>> Which brings us to #3...
(3) The Holy Spirit is an Emotion or Feeling
>> “I don’t feel the Spirit...” or “when BLANK happens, I just FEEL the Spirit moving!”…
>> The Spirit works and moves independent of our feelings, which includes our making the right decisions.
“...sometimes we need to do the right thing whether our liver quivers or not...”
(4) The Holy Spirit is Dramatic
>> Signs, wonders, big events or experiences, deliverances… It’s not wrong to associate some of these with the work of the Holy Spirit…
>> The Spirit is active in our quiet, daily Bible reading… Showing kindness to someone unlike you in a coffee shop… Being patient with a crying toddler
>> Where love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are present in your Christian walk, there the Spirit is active in applying the benefits of Christ to you…
(5) The Holy Spirit is Nice, but Not Necessary
>> “Father, Son, and… Holy Bible”… “Diet God”… “Watered down God”…
>> This is where I find myself most often. If it’s a matter of worshipping God, it’s a contest between the Father and Son… The Spirit doesn’t often make the cut.
[Illustration]
Recently, I realized the Holy Spirit’s work of illumination, of His pointing the believer to Christ, it really clicked for me when I thought of it this way:
When I see my son playing in the bathroom, when I really see him and delight in his being given to me by God, and the preciousness of him, and the affections of my heart swell with pride and joy at the sight of my son… You know what I DON’T do?
Praise my eyes.
Yet, without having eyes to see my son I can’t delight in him or see him and know him the way I can…
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And THAT is what the Spirit does, quietly, consistently and graciously, for us who are in Christ. We know Jesus, the Son of God, the one who the Father sent and who fully accomplished all that the Scriptures said He would… And we know Him only as the Spirit has given sight to our blind hearts and bound us with Christ that we would enjoy every blessing bestowed on the Son, every piece of His inheritance now ours by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, sent for us.
wow. He is NOT “Diet God”.
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The text that will be leading our time is Romans 8
>> Romans 8 is considered by many to be the greatest chapter in all of the Bible…
It’s a mountain of a text.
>> We wont have time to mine every nugget of richness found in this chapter...
>> We will attempt to walk its summits, looking for a particular flower that has grown and matured on it’s peaks and valleys.
Saved For What?...
Our flower is this:
We are saved for an enriched and sanctified life through the Spirit, TODAY, until Christ returns
And it’s the Spirit’s work of applying our salvation that those who are in Christ experience TODAY.
[Prayer]
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Let’s start with Romans, but as I read… Pay special attention to the way the Spirit plays a part in applying the benefits that The Son has accomplished:
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not 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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 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.
Saved for TODAY:
(1) The Spirit applies the freedom, life, peace, and righteousness accomplished by Christ
>> Of Romans 8:1, the Reformer Martin Luther says:
“This is the comfort of all Christians: that against sin, death, and Satan they have an invincible righteousness.” — Martin Luther
When the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ, that includes His freedom from sin and death. verse 2:
Romans 8:2 “2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
>> And freedom for what?
Sanctification is the gracious work of God’s Spirit by which He renews the whole person in the image of God and enables the believer more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.
Salvation:
Justification >> PAST >> Saved from the Penalty of Sin
Sanctification >> PRESENT >> Saved from the Power of Sin
Glorification >> PROMISED >> Saved from the Presence of Sin
For some… the Freedom, Life, Peace, and Righteousness accomplished by Christ appear distant… Unreachable…
>> But for the power and work of the Spirit, they would be!
Our Sanctification remains a current reality… A progress…
[Illustration]
in Costi Hinn’s book, Knowing the Spirit, he describes conversing with an 82 yo gentleman during a 0600 men’s Bible Study. Reads:
page 38
As we walk in live this new and enriched life, the power of Sin conquered by Christ and applied to us today by the Spirit… We still find ourselves walking in the flesh. Thinking of fleshly things.
>> Romans 8:5–8 “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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
However, we who are in Christ are given this encouragement:
Romans 8:9–11 “9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 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.”
[Conclusion] Invite Worship Team Up
Saved for TODAY:
(1) The Spirit applies the freedom, life, peace, and righteousness accomplished by Christ
Concerning the Corinthian Church, Paul writes:
3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
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12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Saved for TODAY:
(1) The Spirit applies the freedom, life, peace, and righteousness accomplished by the Son
(2) The Spirit applies the power over our sinful flesh accomplished by the Son
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Saved for TODAY:
(1) The Spirit applies the freedom, life, peace, and righteousness accomplished by the Son
(2) The Spirit applies the power over our sinful flesh accomplished by the Son
(3) The Spirit applies the adoption and inheritance accomplished by the Son
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18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Saved for TODAY:
(1) The Spirit applies the freedom, life, peace, and righteousness accomplished by the Son
(2) The Spirit applies the power over our sinful flesh accomplished by the Son
(3) The Spirit applies the adoption and inheritance accomplished by the Son
(4) The Spirit applies the fruit of the Spirit in a fallen world, accomplished by the Son
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
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Saved for TODAY:
(1) The Spirit applies the freedom, life, peace, and righteousness accomplished by the Son
(2) The Spirit applies the power over our sinful flesh accomplished by the Son
(3) The Spirit applies the adoption and inheritance accomplished by the Son
(4) The Spirit applies the fruit of the Spirit in a fallen world, accomplished by the Son
(5) The Spirit applies the intercession necessary and accomplished by the Son
5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
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Saved for TODAY:
(1) The Spirit applies the freedom, life, peace, and righteousness accomplished by the Son
(2) The Spirit applies the power over our sinful flesh accomplished by the Son
(3) The Spirit applies the adoption and inheritance accomplished by the Son
(4) The Spirit applies the fruit of the Spirit in a fallen world, accomplished by the Son
(5) The Spirit applies the intercession necessary and accomplished by the Son
(6) The Spirit applies the confidence and security accomplished by the Son
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
[Conclusion]
[Communion]
1 Corinthians 11:23–26
“23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
