The Power and Faithfulness of the Spirit of God

VS 9a You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit

Let’s establish who Paul is talking about here.

- Who is the “You” here?

-vs. 8 “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Get a youth to read

-We have another “therefore” word they tells us to do what? Look back at what the writer was just talking about.

-“However”

This is a great word!! We cannot miss the small words like this because they carry such weight to explain and connect the entire passage.

his is a great word!!

-Vs 8 says a lot but someone read vs 7 If you are set on the flesh you are hostile to God, you cannot obey.

-What does it mean when God’s word say we cannot do something? Does it mean that it would be really hard to do, nearly impossible.

NO!! IF SAYS YOU CAN”T IT MEANS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE

-So does that sound like fun to be hostile to God?

-That can’t end well!

“Are not in the flesh but in the Spirit

So back to my original question Who is Paul talking about.

Christians

VS 9b if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Paul does not make an assumption of your salvation here. Why because he has spent the last 8 and half chapters telling you how to make sure examine yourself.

Remember Paul has been telling us that we were eternally bound for hell dead in ours sins. I love the picture of in the Calvnist movie we watched of the dead man laying on the bottom of the ocean able to do nothing and Christ reached down and pulled him up to life.

Remember in ch 6 I taught on slavery.

Who remembers about slavery?

Are you a slave?

Who is your master?

If we are not Christ’s he has not bought us with a price. It is a silly notion that God has paid the price for everyone and all we have to do is go pay our current master.

Vs 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

So lets say you passed the Christianity test and you are in fact a believer

We need to determine who lives in you? Is it Christ? or the Holy Spirit?

This is a beautiful discription that really shows the unity of the Trinity. While distinct persons Christ and Holy Spirit can not be separated with in the work of salvation and sanctification.

although the body is dead because of sin

Weird to put this in the middle of telling us we are alive right? Who can give me their best explanation what comes to the front of your mind when reading this?

The answer is your physical body is dead. Why? because of sin unless the Lord comes back everyone of you will physically die. Paul is already putting false teachings to rest because some would have said that a sign of being a Christian is that you won’t die. Well of course that is false.

the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Spirit here is dealing with the Holy Spirit that brings life to dead men and women.

Regardless it is because of the imputed righteousness of God which is given or is the very essence of His justification. What does impute mean?

We were those dead men and women we were unable to be holy we were unholy so Christ had to do something and that was His work on the cross. So now He can give us His righteousness, His grace, His life, and His inheritance.

Vs 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.

The Power of the Spirit

If you are a Christian then do you realize the same power that raised Christ from the dead is in you.

Stop praying for more of the Spirit you have all you will get and that is plenty.

Do you realize how freeing it is knowing that nothing depends on your strength

The Faithfulness of the Spirit

The great hope we have that one day we will be reunited with a glorified body that is not subject to death or pain or suffering anymore.

It is the Faithfulness of God that we can hope in this.

I will end with this where is your hope placed? Are you still following your own desires, do you fool yourself, can you pass the test, are you bearing godly fruit? Or are you hostile to God incapable of pleasing God? If that is you and you are tired of living a empty self fulfilled life, as we saw in chapter 6 are you ashamed of the fruit produced by your life? Guys God is great and there is nothing that is to great for Him to be able to forgive. Cry out to Him repent before a Holy God in a desperate realization you cannot save yourself. That you are in need of a Savior. He is faithful and just to forgive those who sincerely call out to Him and at that point the Power and Faithfulness of the Spirit is given to you, but that is not the end we must be obedient and live a life seeking after God. Is that you please reach out to one of us, maybe your already a Christian but there is something you just don’t understand or cannot overcome reach out to us.