Yielding and Walking in the Spirit

Pastor Keith Hassell

Foundation Scripture:   Romans 6

I.       Power in the blood of Jesus                                                      

          A.      The blood deals with our sin

          B.      The cross deals with the sinner

II.      Deliverance in the Cross

A.      Galatians 6:14-15  “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

B.      It is at the cross that I died

          1.       I am no longer a slave to sin (Romans 6:6-7)

          2.       My death is a historical fact in Christ Jesus

3.       Galatians 2:20  “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

III.     Two Realities

          A.      “In Christ”:  Identification with the cross

          B.      “Christ in us”:  Identification with the resurrection

IV.     In Christ

          A.      Knowing

                   1.       I died with Christ

                   2.       I am no longer a slave to sin

          B.      Reckoning (Reconcile your thoughts to God’s thoughts)

                   1.       Dead to sin

                   2.       Alive to God

V.      Christ in Me

          A.      Yield members to Christ

1.       As a dead man, your members are unemployed

2.       As a dead man in whom Christ is now alive, yield your members as instruments of righteousness to God as being alive from the dead  (Romans 6:13, 16, 19)

3.       The key:  Will

          a.       God cannot live in us when we won’t let Him

          B.      Walking in the Spirit

                   1.       The Holy Spirit indwells the believer

a.       1 Corinthians 6:19  “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price: therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

2.       Walking in the Spirit is yielding ourselves to a PERSON---the Holy Spirit

          a.       The cross secures victory for us (salvation)

          b.       The Spirit enables victory in us (holiness)

3.       Why do some live victorious over sin and some do not?

a.       Some KNOW that the Holy Spirit indwells them while others do not (Spirit consciousness)

b.       Some recognize divine ownership while others do not (Lordship consciousness)

c.       Christianity is not a changed life but an exchanged life

4.       “In Christ” we cease being “owners” and become “stewards”

5.       The issue is not right vs. wrong, but flesh vs. Spirit

          a.       Flesh:  Yielding to the carnal nature

          b.       Spirit:  Yielding to the Holy Spirit

6.       Galatians 5:16-17  “I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  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 you wish.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

7.       Satan’s temptations are an attempt to get us to act out of ourselves rather than according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

8.       Romans 8:1-2  The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.

9.       How do we experience victory in the face of temptation?

a.       KNOW that you have been crucified with Christ; Sin no longer is your slave master

          b.       RECKON yourself as dead to sin but alive to God

c.       YIELD your members as instruments of righteousness to God

d.       WALK in the Spirit:  Look to the Holy Spirit for His strength and response rather than depending upon your own.  We don’t need strength---we need Christ.