therefore now no condemnation for those who are in


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March 30, 2014

This is our fourth week in Romans 8. We started with the great and glorious truth that “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (8:1), because the Spirit has set us free from sin in Christ Jesus (8:2). More specifically, God sets us free from the penalty of sin by justifying us through faith in Jesus (8:3), and God sets us free from the power of sin by sanctifying us through the indwelling of His Spirit (8:4). Our text tonight is closely connected to those truths. The easiest way to see the connection is to notice the contrast that Paul draws at the end of 8:4, “...in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Paul contrasts two types of people: Those who walk according to the flesh, and those who walk according to the Spirit. And he says that the sanctifying work of the Spirit (and therefore also the justifying work of God, the freedom in Christ Jesus, and the removal of all condemnation) only happens for those who walk according to the Spirit. So this is a huge contrast. Everything is impacted by whether we walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. We need to know what it means to walk according to the Spirit, because those are the only people who are right with God. Well, that’s exactly what Paul explains in 8:5-11. Notice how the contrast continues in 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.” In this verse, Paul tells us the difference between “flesh people” and “Spirit people” is what we set our minds on. “Flesh people” are people who “set their minds on the things of the flesh,” while “Spirit people” are people who “set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” When we connect that to verse 4 (and we should connect it, because 8:5 connects it when it starts with the word “for”), we see that “walking” (or “living” in 8:5) is closely connected to what we set our mind on. Walking according to the flesh means setting our mind on the things of the flesh. Walking according to the Spirit means setting our minds on the things of the Spirit. But what does that mean?

8:6 continues to explain the contrast and helps us better understand what “setting our mind” means, “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” We have seen this contrast between death and life before. For example, 7:5-6, “For while we

were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.” Also, 2 Corinthians 3:5, “(God) has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The contrast between old covenant and new covenant (letter and Spirit) is a contrast between external laws that we can never keep in our own strength and the internal dwelling of the Spirit who becomes our strength for us. The first means death, because our flesh (sinful nature) responds to the law by increasing in sin and ultimately killing us. The second means life, because the very Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead comes to live in us and change our hearts and produce new life in us. And what I want us to see tonight is that we could describe the difference between these two by saying the difference is whether we set our mind on self or set our mind on the Spirit. In the case of flesh, we respond to the law in one of two ways: (1) We rebel against it. We claim independence and autonomy. We deny God’s authority over us. In other words, we claim to be self -governing and self-ruled. (2) We keep the law in our own strength. We summon up our will and our discipline and show how good we can be on our own. We deny our dependence on God. In other words, we claim to be self-sufficient and self-righteous. In both cases, the flesh asserts “self” and establishes “self” and exalts “self.” And this is death.

On the other hand, in the case of the Spirit, we are completely focused on Another. We throw ourselves on God’s grace through faith. We confess our utter dependence on God. We trust God to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. We are united to Jesus, and we die to law and sin (and self) in Jesus. We are filled with His Spirit and empowered by Him to love in a way that fulfills the law. This is a complete reorientation of our lives. We are turned out from self and onto God (Father, Son, and Spirit). And this is life. To know the Father is eternal life (John 17:3). The Son is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). And the Spirit is the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2). So when Paul contrasts “walking by the flesh” and “walking by the Spirit,” he’s contrasting the focus of our lives. He’s contrasting the source of our strength. He’s contrasting who we turn to and who we rely on. He’s contrasting the “well” from which we draw. Do we plunge our buckets into the well of self and draw up self-effort and self-reliance and self-government and self-rule and self-assertion and self-righteousness and therefore focus our lives on expressing self and living for self? Or do we plunge our buckets into the well of the Spirit and draw up the Spirit’s power and the Spirit’s love and the Son’s righteousness and the Son’s freedom and the Father’s justification and the Father’s grace and therefore focus our lives on expressing God’s glory and living for God? If we walk by the flesh and draw on self, look at the results in 8:7-8, “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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Make sure you hear this truth as clearly and forcefully as you should: In yourself (your flesh apart from the work of the Spirit), you cannot please God. Do you know that? If you rely on yourself, you cannot please God. On your own, you do not have the spiritual resources you need to please God. Our sin nature is hostile to God—at war with God, rebelling against God—because our flesh wants to assert itself instead of submitting to God’s authority. In fact, our flesh cannot submit to God’s authority. We literally are not able to obey God the way we should on our own. We saw why over and over in chapter 7: When the demands of God’s law press on our flesh from the outside, it arouses the sin in our flesh and causes us to sin more. Our flesh will never respond to the law in the right way. It is incapable of obedience and submission, because our flesh is, by its very nature, a self-centered rebel. Do you know how desperately sinful and hopelessly helpless you are when left to yourself? Have you seen the wickedness of your own heart and been broken and humbled by it?

If so, then you’re ready to revel and rejoice in the glorious truth of 8:9, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Everything we’ve said about flesh—hostility to God, refusal to submit to God, inability to please God, death—none of it is true of you if the Spirit dwells in you! God changes who you are by His Spirit! Look at the massive identity change in 8:10, “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Death and hostility are replaced with life and righteousness. This is total transformation. This is complete life change and heart change. And why can we be sure that it will happen in us? 8:11, “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 very Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead…

who changed death to life… that very Spirit now lives in you! He has already shown that He has the power to bring life out of death, so we know He can do it in us! He can transform the death of our sinful nature into the life of the Spirit. We have every reason to trust God’s Spirit to bring about the very transformation that we need… so trust Him! And when we trust Him, make sure you see who He makes us. Make sure you know and believe the new identity that God gives us. Paul describes it five different ways:

1. The Spirit of God dwells in you (8:9). The word translated “dwell” (oikei) is the verb form of the word “house” in Greek (oikos). You could translate it, “The Spirit of God is making His home in you.” The very One who had the power to raise Jesus from the dead is living inside you. Do you know the spiritual power that God has given you to change your heart and produce love and help you obey and make you holy? Do you believe it? Do you draw on it through faith and prayer and the truth of His Word? Also, think about the intimacy, familiarity, nearness, influence, and permanence communicated in this truth. You and the Spirit of God are living together in one body, like family members in the same house. Don’t lose the wonder of the God of the Universe living in you! Paul describes this same truth two more ways: 2. You have the Spirit of Christ (8:9). 3. Christ is in you (8:10). Make sure you notice the shift from “Spirit of God” to “Spirit of Christ” to “Christ.” All three refer to the same presence dwelling in us. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, showing that Christ is God. Having the Spirit of Christ is the same as Christ being in you, showing that Christ and the Spirit are the same Being. And since Christ is God, the Spirit is also God. This is clear Trinitarian teaching. And this means that when the Spirit of God dwells in you, Jesus Himself dwells in you, and God Himself dwells in you! As a believer, have you grabbed hold of the glorious truth that Jesus is never far from you? The Father is never far from you? They both dwell in you— always with you—in the person of the Spirit. Are you building your life on this great truth? Have you set your mind on it? Do you run to this truth, trusting, believing, finding all the power you need for love and holiness? 4. You belong to Christ (8:9). There are at least three ways that we belong to Jesus. First, Jesus is our Creator. All things were created by Him and through Him and for Him (Colossians 1:16), so we belong to Jesus as creature to Creator. Second, Jesus is our Redeemer. He bought us out of slavery with His own blood (2 Corinthians 6:19), so we belong to Jesus as redeemed to Redeemer. Third, Jesus inhabits us. His Spirit dwells in us, and He is in us (Romans 8:9-10), so we belong to Jesus as home to Homeowner. And certainly this means that Jesus has lordship and ownership over us. He is our rightful King and Master. But also notice that this relationship isn’t limited to a King who rules over us or a Master who owns us (although He certainly is both those things!). But He is also a family member who dwells with us and a Husband who loves His Bride. He is a King who owns a slave and then marries her and brings her into His castle and makes her His Queen. What an astonishing connection to Jesus! What an intimate, personal connection! You are His. You are included in Him. You are counted in Him. And being in Jesus is now where you belong. 5. You are in the Spirit (8:9). This is actually the first description Paul gives in these verses, but I saved it for last, because this description seems slightly different to me. Two are about indwelling (the Spirit in you and Christ in you), and two are about possessing (you have the Spirit of Christ and you belong to Christ). But this one is about power. I say that because “in the flesh” meant that your sinful nature has power over you and makes you hostile to God and a slave to sin so that you cannot submit to God or please God. Therefore, “in the Spirit” must mean that the Spirit is now the strongest power in your life, not the flesh. The Spirit now has power over you. But that’s not the best way to say it. It’s even better than the Spirit having power over us; the Spirit has power in us. He’s not on the outside shouting orders and giving commands that we try to follow in order to be under His power. No, He’s living in us; He is redefining us; this is who we are now! And He is producing in us the love that fulfills His commands. He is changing our heart from the inside, so that we love to do what He commands. And that is how the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us. That is what it means to walk according to the Spirit and live according to the Spirit and set our minds on the Spirit. It means that by faith, we believe that God has given us His very Spirit to live in us through the work of Christ. We believe that He has all the lifechanging, love-producing power in the universe, and He is willing to put it to work in us. We believe that we are desperately needy for this power to overcome our flesh. So we embrace the truths of God’s Word, we run to God in prayer, and we trust Him to be for us… to be in us… everything He calls us to be. I pray that you know this truth. Believe this truth. Live in the power of this truth as the Spirit of God lives in you.