Romans 8:5-8 "Life In the Spirit"

Introduction

If we are in Christ Jesus there is now no condemnation for us as the children of God.

This is not just a theoretical perception that we have but a lifestyle that we live due to the reality of the transformation that God has worked in us by the Holy Spirit.

The true Christian is to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh because lifestyle will reflect in a confirming way the very mindset or worldview of a person. Look at what I am calling the confirmation in verse 5:

I. The Confirmation (5).

Notice here that the Apostle Paul explains that the Lifestyle that someone lives is a confirmation in regards to how they think.

If they live according to the flesh that is reflective that their minds are set on the things of the flesh.

If they live according to the Spirit then that is reflective that their minds are set on the things of the Spirit.

This is why it is so critical that we are engaged in the continual process of renewing our minds with the word of God.

The fallen nature in a fallen world is being bombarded with fallen ideas. This worldview seems to true and affirming because it is how fallen people think.

This is because fallen people make up a fallen world and the collective perception is contrary to Spirit. This is why a worldview that is derived out of a fallen world as it’s source can’t be trusted.

Christian, lifestyle is confirmation about what people truly believe. Faith and action were linked in their understanding.

Like pulling a trailer. It followed my vehicle because my vehicle and the trailer were linked together. If i went one way and the trailer went the other then that would have been a disaster.

There was a built in integrity that linked belief with action in Paul’s day. Not so much in our day. Someone can believe something to be true according to the Spirit, but often it is not pragmatic to live it out in our lifestyle.

Christian this type of hypocrisy just reveals the reality of that internal struggle between the flesh and the Spirit that we have going on in our own sanctification.

Our worldview needs to be repeatedly challenged by the word of God. And this is something that every true believer should be ready and willing to embrace.

Not only because our ongoing sanctification is glorifying to God but because it reminds us that human actions have consequences that as believers we should want to definitely avoid. Look back at your text at verse 6:

II. The Consequence (6).

We know that the wages of sin is death from Romans 6:23. And if the human mind is set on the flesh and is not convicted otherwise the result is death.

This is because conversion is a God initiated work by the Holy Spirit. If there is no transformation worked by God then the flesh is the only thing left. It is the default setting of the human condition.

But if the Spirit is at work bringing the transformation then life in peaceful abundance before God, and eventually being eternally with Him will be the consequence.

If your preference is to set your mind on the flesh and to reflect that in your lifestyle there is something wrong with your Spiritual condition before God.

Oh I know all too well that Christians fall into to sin but once they are convicted by the Spirit they should be ready to repent in their brokenness before God.

This whole dynamic is actually cultivating humility and love driven obedience in them before God. This is what life in the gospel of grace does.

For there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Remember Christian your debt has been paid in full by Christ. The gospel is the focal point and source of life in the Spirit.

And God loves it because Christ and His glory revealed in the gospel is the pinnacle of life in the Spirit.

Life in the flesh breeds contention with God. Look at verses 7-8:

III. The Contention (7-8).

The mind that is set on the flesh is in the worst condition imaginable.

First the fleshly mind is hostile to God (7a).

This term hostile here can refer to both feelings and actions. This is because the mind is set on the flesh. And therefore there are fleshly motives that drive it.

But Pastor, only God knows the heart. We can’t necessarily tell.

But that’s the problem God knows the heart and a heart that is defiant to Christ and His gospel is a heart that is not transformed.

Second the fleshly mind cannot submit to God’s law (7b).

It can’t submit to the law of God because it lacks insight and discernment regarding the law of God. The fleshly mind doesn’t have the ability in and of itself to be obedient to God.

It can’t even obey the command to believe the gospel apart from a Supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

This is why it doesn’t help preaching morality to unregenerate people. Moralism doesn’t have any power for transformation.

It would be like trying to teach a monkey how to flawlessly play Beethoven on a violin. It is impossible to do because the monkey is incapable.

If the fleshly mind is hostile to God and if the fleshly mind is incapable of submission to God then verse 8 is the logical conclusion:

The fleshly mind cannot please God (8).

The unregenerate mind cannot please God. Unregenerate Man could work his fingers to the bone. He could adopt a false practice of religion and follow all it’s rituals to completion and he will still not a single time please God.

Because all of it would be nothing more than an expression of human vanity.

Only acts done out of a Holy Spirit regenerated heart by grace through faith in Jesus Christ can please God. Because all good works must have their origins rooted ultimately back into Christ if they are going to please God.

All of this is a characteristic of the New Covenant as seen in Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

If the Spirit is not in you then you are powerless to set your mind on the things of the Spirit and you are living in hostility before God and you are powerless to obey Him and to please Him.

Well then how can anyone be saved? It takes a miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ because only He has the authority and power over the dead.

Conclusion:

It is going to take a miracle of the grace and love of God by the Holy Spirit to once again quicken the dead.

Unbeliever perhaps today is your day when God will open your eyes to the reality of your need for Christ. Believe the gospel!

Believer you only came to the reality of this truth by the miracle of regeneration. You were born again by saving grace.

Confess and receive and rest in His grace to you today. Let’s pray!