The Spirit & The Flesh

Transcript

Before we dive into our text, there’s a lot here to unpack and all good things, but we should start by asking for the Lord’s help. So would you pray with me? Father, we confess this morning that without your help, we can know nothing. We won’t be changed. We won’t be mastered by your word. We won’t submit ourselves under it. We won’t see all that’s contained in it. Our affections won’t be sufficiently moved by it. And so we pray, O Lord and God, that even now, that the Holy Spirit would help us. You would give us the help that we need to see your word, to hear your word, to be mastered by your word, to be transformed by your word, to be convicted by your word, to be conformed into the image of your Son by your word.

So may the Spirit of life grant us the ears necessary to live under your word. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen. Well, the Book of Romans is foundational to the Christian faith. It is in its entirety a masterful and wonderful use of Scripture. It is a comprehensive exposition of the grace of God and the righteousness of God that comes to the people of God through faith in the Son of God, which is essentially, if you think about it, the gospel. In fact, if you were to read only the Book of Romans, you would be sufficiently able to understand and embrace the gospel. Now, I know a lot of you were thinking last week, and a lot of you were thinking this week. Well, if this is such a foundational book to the Christian faith, then why in the world would you start at chapter eight?

Why not go to the very beginning of the book? And my answer to that is quite simple. First, y’all know how long it took for us to get through Mark? Three and a half years. I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to get through Romans. In all seriousness, the reason why we’re preaching chapter eight is because the pastors feel like this is where we need to be right now as a church. As the pastors have thought about the unique needs in our congregation and the unique challenges of our congregation. And as we’ve looked at chapter eight and we see the unique emphasis on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, we felt for right now, chapter eight is what we need. And so I know that this can be difficult for many of you. For many of you, starting in chapter eight might be a bit jarring and disorienting.

Setting the Context

Maybe you don’t have quite a framework or an understanding of all that preceded chapter eight, and so you feel a bit lost. I recognize that. So what I want to do this morning before we dive too deep into our text is just set some context by giving you a very brief and I mean very brief overview of the previous chapters so that we can move into chapter eight versus one through 11 this morning. Kind of settled or nested in where we are to have a better understanding of Paul’s overarching argument. So this is going to be very brief and it’s going to basically give you a summation of each chapter. And so, yeah, hopefully this helps. Chapter one, Paul’s main drive outside of his introduction is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the very power of God. He just kind of lays it out there.

It gives us this summary statement in chapter one, like any good teacher would do. Paul begins to build his case in chapter one for the power of the gospel by appropriately indicting all of humanity. Paul’s logic states that all of humanity is guilty before God because all of humanity is not only marked by sin, but is under the power of sin. And so Paul essentially in his logic here is driving the fact that the power of the gospel is what’s needed to address the power of sin in our lives. Chapter two is primarily focused on this very particular people, the religious Jews, those who know God, who’ve been entrusted with the law of God, those who attempt to live according to the law of God. But despite their knowledge of the one true God, despite their law and their every effort to keep the law, they can’t do it.

So God indicts the religious Jews for their inability to keep the law perfectly. In chapter three, he continues to build his case that because all people are under the law, all people are guilty. This includes both the religious people and nonreligious people. Those who have heard the law and know the law and those who have never heard the law. He indicts them all. They’re all guilty. So no one is without excuse. But after indicting all of humanity, and this is in chapter three, Paul offers us a marvelous hope by stressing that the very righteousness God requires of humanity does not come from a powerless law, but comes through Jesus Christ and his powerful gospel. Chapter four and five, I’ve sandwiched these together. It is what it is. Paul argues that though we are guilty, we can be justified. That’s a crazy reality. Though we are guilty of sin, we can find justification.

We can be justified before God. And Paul lays out the way that we can be justified is through faith in Jesus Christ. That while we were weak in our attempts to live righteously, Christ came at just the right time and died for the unrighteous so that we might be accepted by God as a result of his righteousness, vicarious righteousness. Chapter six, Paul tells us that though we were dead in our sins, though we are dead, we can be made alive in Christ Jesus. We can be born again. And if we are born again, then the power of sin in our lives can be broken because our sinful nature was crucified with Christ when we were baptized into his death. And now we have this glorious gift from God, which is the gift of eternal life with God. In chapter seven, as we saw a bit last week, Paul stresses through the use of forty five personal pronouns.

Paul throws himself under the bus by saying and showing that he still struggles with sin, even though he is born again. Paul himself, like all followers of Jesus Christ, who delight in the law of God and have a new nature, will still struggle with their sin nature. Though we want to please God and make things right and live holy, our sin nature keeps pulling at us, causing for us to fall into various kinds of sins, the very sins that we hate. Which then brings us to chapter eight, where we are this morning, where we not only receive the declaration that there is no condemnation when we fall and fail in our struggles with our sin nature and where we receive the necessary help to fight our sin nature. That very help being the Holy Spirit. In fact, chapter eight, it almost deals exclusively with the Holy Spirit, which is quite a shift from Paul’s other chapters in Romans.

The Christ

Prior to chapter eight, there’s only been two times where the Holy Spirit is mentioned. But then we get to chapter eight. Game changer. The Holy Spirit is referenced roughly 19 times. And so this morning, as we unpack these first 11 verses in Romans, my aim this morning is to highlight for you both the freedom that comes from being in Christ and the help that comes from having the Holy Spirit in you. OK, now to help us move along this morning, I’ve broken our text up into four sections. So in verses one and two, we’ll look at the Christ versus three and four. We’ll look at the cross. You know this is going to be an alliteration. OK, you know it versus five and eight. The contrast versus nine through 11. The certainty. And I only say that because I saw Carly back there like it’s going to be an alliteration.

OK, so let’s get in verse one. OK, now I know we unpack this at length last week. OK, but this is such an amazing verse. There’s just so much more to unpack. And so let’s begin again by looking at verse one. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now, we didn’t address this last week, but some translations will actually have a comma after this verse. So if you have a comma in your verse, scratch the comma out and put a period because a comma does not belong there. OK, because the comma would insinuate that there’s a condition or some kind of behavior modification that must take place in order for you to have no condemnation. But that’s not the case in the original language. Paul makes it clear there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, period.

Sit. OK. If you’re in Christ Jesus, you’re safe from his righteous judgment for sin, period. OK. Now, to be sure, this doesn’t mean that there’s no consequences for sin. OK. There are consequences for the sins that we commit, but there is no condemnation from God for those sins. OK. I want you to look at the phrase, in Christ Jesus. We looked at this a little bit last week, but again, I want to draw your attention to it because this is really an interesting phrase. And Paul’s use of it is by design. OK. Similar to the word we looked at last week, now. He actually uses now and in Christ Jesus with a lot of emphasis here. OK. He’s emphasizing these two things to show us that we have now what we have been waiting for. Ever since sin entered into humanity, God’s people have been waiting to be safe from God’s wrath.

And now that reality is here in Christ Jesus. And to help you better understand this, you only need to look to the very first book of the Bible. The book of Genesis. It’s the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve, our first parents, first gave themselves over to sin. Sin began to quickly spread because that’s what sin does. It spreads like an infectious disease and no one is spared. And so in the book of Genesis, we read about God’s anger towards sins and the sins of humanity that keeps on spreading. In fact, it only takes Genesis 6, 5 where sin has been so pervasive in humanity that

the Lord says that he saw the wickedness of man was great in all the earth. And that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually

— Genesis 6

(ESV)

. That’s a lot of sin. Goes on to say that because of God’s righteous justice, he must condemn sin.

So God says that he will blot out man whom he created from the face of the land. In other words, God was going to condemn humanity for their various expressions of wickedness. But the Lord found favor with Noah. The Lord saw that Noah was a righteous man. And so the Lord instructs Noah to build an ark because he was going to flood the earth. He was going to send forth his waters of judgment and condemnation on the people for their great sins. And so the Lord gives Noah these very specific instructions when building the ark. He says in Genesis 6, 14,

make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch

— Genesis 6

(ESV)

. Now, why so specific instructions? With pitch. And what is pitch anyway? Well, pitch is a kind of tar that holds things together. But what’s interesting here is the Hebrew word for pitch.

It also has another meaning. There’s more to the word than just tar. It also means ransom, covering. A better word might be atonement. Now hold that thought in your mind. So after the ark is completed, the Lord says to Noah, take your family and go in the ark. And because Noah and his family were in the ark covered by pitch or atonement, they were saved from God’s waves of judgment that poured out on humanity for their sin. Now think about this for a second. The Bible doesn’t tell us that Noah’s family was righteous. It says that Noah was righteous. So Noah’s family was saved on the basis of Noah’s righteousness. As a result of Noah’s righteousness, they escaped condemnation. And so dear brother and sister, do you see how the story of Noah’s ark has very little to do with cute little animals two by two marching into a boat?

Has very little to do with a literal flood, but has everything to do with being safe in Christ in the ark of Christ from God’s condemnation because it’s covered with Christ’s atonement with pitch. So Noah’s ark is a picture that perfectly points us forward to Christ and his atonement through his righteousness. And that if we are in Christ, we are safe and secure from his condemnation. That’s what humanity has been waiting for. That’s what all of scripture from Genesis forward points us to. Safety in the finished work of Jesus Christ. This is why I think the phrase in Christ and the word now is divinely placed in the text to pull us back to the first time where there was safety, where people weathered the flood of God’s coming judgment by resting in the righteousness and the atonement of another. And so now, in light of all that, we finally get to verse two.

OK, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Paul here is making a very strong point here by way of contrast. The spirit which gives life versus the sin that brings about death. Now, what does it mean that the law of the spirit of life has set you free? Well, to be clear, the word law here, Paul uses law in the book of Romans in different ways. But here the word law is not the moral law like the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic law. Paul is using this word here to mean principle or a controlling power. So take, for example, the law of gravity. What goes up must come down. If you throw something in the air, there is a principle or a controlling force that will bring the very thing you threw up in the air down.

And so it is the case with the law or principle of sin. It’s a force or a controlling power that is pulling you into death. And there’s nothing that you can do about it on your own. It’s the force that pulls you into death. But it is also true that the law of the spirit or the principle of the spirit has set you free. If you have the spirit inside you, then the principle of the spirit is stronger than the principle of sin that pulls you to death. It actually pulls you away from death and pulls you into life. Therefore, the controlling power of sin that brings to death is done away with. And the controlling power of the spirit gives you life and sets you free. We were once a people under the power of sin. And now we are under the power of the spirit.

And did you notice Paul’s use again with the phrase in Christ? And this is very important because without this little phrase, believers might suggest that your freedom is caused by the spirit. But that would be incorrect. The cause of your freedom is Christ. The spirit brings life and frees you from sin and death. But that’s the consequence of Christ’s work. Now, just to help illustrate this, I’ve had COVID like three times. Probably more if I’m being honest. I’m just a magnet for COVID. It does not like me. I still can’t taste things. But it always starts the same way. Body fatigue, sore throat, physical exhaustion, then the loss of taste and smell. Now, those things, as bad as they are, are simply the symptoms of COVID. But the symptoms didn’t cause COVID. COVID caused the symptoms. The symptoms, which were a visible and physical expression of COVID, were merely the consequences of COVID.

And in the same way, the spirit didn’t cause freedom from death. It was Christ that caused the freedom. The spirit of life is the consequence or the symptom of Christ’s work. And so the visible and physical expression of the spirit is that now you are enabled to untether from the controlling power of sin in your life.

The Cross

And not only is Christ the cause of your freedom, Christ is also the cause for sending the Holy Spirit. Jesus, before he goes to the cross, tells his disciples in John 16, he says,

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment

— John 16

(ESV)

. So it was necessary for Christ to depart in order that he might send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, which is far better. That’s why Jesus says it’s to your advantage. It’s far better because proximity to Jesus pales in comparison to having the spirit of life inside of you. Okay? John 14, 15 through 17 says, If you love me, you will keep my commandments, and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever.

Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him. For he dwells with you and will be in you. Jesus was speaking to believers here. Notice Jesus says, If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments. Paul just said, We can’t keep the law. We can’t keep the commandments. So then how can we, who love Jesus, keep his commandments? The Helper. The spirit of life. The spirit of truth. He will dwell with you. He will be in you to help you, to convict you, to move your affections, to enable you. That means to empower you to have a righteous and holy life. The Holy Spirit is now the governing power in your lives, liberating you from the former governing power of sin and death. And Jesus Christ is the cause of it all. That’s why it says,

For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus. So there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the governing power of the spirit has set you free in Christ Jesus. Christ is the cause. The spirit. The spirit’s power is the consequence of his work. And what did Christ do specifically to cause the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, enabling power to fight sin in your life? Well, he kept the commandments perfectly. In other words, he fulfilled the law. Which brings us to the cross. Verse three. 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. Here, Paul’s use of the word law changes. OK, so it’s no longer a principle or a governing power, but it’s the moral law, the commandments, the Mosaic law.

What we couldn’t do, keep the commandment perfectly, God did. We couldn’t keep the law because of our sin. We were unable, but God was able. Where we were weak, God was mighty. Where we failed, God succeeded. Where we were impotent, God was powerful. You see, the law, though it is good and beautiful, it can’t save you. It only exposes you. It has no power in itself to save you. In fact, it only points to the fact that you can’t keep the law. This is why, dear brothers and sisters, moralism will never work. Trying to keep the law in your own strength will never be sufficient because you’re too weak to keep it. But where the law has no power to save, God has acted in his power to save. How did he do it? By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

The way Paul phrases this here can be a bit confusing. I just want to be clear. Paul does not mean that Jesus was sinful. This is important for you to understand. This new survey that came out concerning the state of theology in 2022 really is a bad look for evangelical Christians, because it shows that the vast majority, or at least 50% of Christians, believe that Jesus was sinful. Which is not true. Jesus was without sin. He couldn’t be sinful and perfectly fulfill the law. So when it says he came in the likeness of sinful flesh, it simply means that the Son of God came as a mortal man. He came in a human body that was capable of dying. And when it says that he came in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin, that for sin is mostly like Levitical language.

It means to come as a sacrifice for sin or a sin offering. So he came in a human body as a sin offering, a once and for all sinful offering. And when he did that, when he died on the cross, he condemned sin in the flesh. Meaning his blood or the pitch of the ark or the atonement covered our sins. Thereby removing our condemnation that we deserve for our sins. And you see brothers and sisters, verse 3 is quite plainly and succinctly the gospel. What we couldn’t do for ourselves, Christ has done on our behalf. We couldn’t keep the law. The law demanded death. But Jesus paid the ransom for our sin. The condemnation for our sin was imputed to him on the cross and his righteousness was imputed into us. Colossians 2

says, And you who were dead in the trespasses and uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him,

having forgiven all our trespasses by cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. This is the work of Christ. The cross work that saves us from condemnation of our sin and gives us vicarious righteousness. It’s not that we earned our righteousness. It’s that we were saved by the righteousness of another. Just like Noah’s family. We’re righteous vicariously. And not only did the cross save us from condemnation that comes from breaking God’s law, but it also provided the help of the Holy Spirit to enable us now to fulfill the law. And we see that in verse 4. He condemns sin in the flesh 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. Now what does it mean to fulfill the law of God?

Well, it essentially means to live a life that pleases God. To be holy. The Christian who has the Holy Spirit can now please God and live a holy life as a result of the Spirit’s work in them. And to be clear, it’s the Spirit that fulfills the law, not us. And you know that’s the case because notice Paul said that the law might be fulfilled in us, not by us. That’s a huge difference. Because we don’t please God in our own strength. We’re not holy on our own basis. If the righteous requirement of the law was to be fulfilled by us, we would fail. We would fail. Apart from the Holy Spirit, we could never keep the law, which is required to please God. But the Holy Spirit in us enables us to fulfill the law. So the focus here is more on being than behavior.

It’s more about being in Christ and having the Holy Spirit being in you than on your behavior. There’s a new reality in you which plays out in a new obedience. Where instead of our desires for the flesh that lead us to death, now with the Spirit in us, we’re putting those desires of the flesh to death. Listen, not perfectly. Not perfectly, hear me. But significantly. Okay. Though we are not sinless, because of the Spirit in us, we sin less. Because we’re now able to live holy lives that please God by the power of the Spirit. Again, not perfectly, but significantly. And when we fail to fulfill the law, when we fail in our sin, remember verse one. There’s no condemnation. God will not strike you down for failing. Okay. Though we still wrestle with sin by the Spirit’s help, we’re no longer apathetic or indifferent towards our sin.

---

The Contrast

We don’t want to sin. We fight the very sin that we hate. In other words, we are not the people we used to be who were careless and just indulged in our sin. Now that sometimes is a long process. But we’re not who we used to be. And the Spirit in us helps us to no longer walk according to the flesh, but grow in spiritual maturity. So we’re not who we used to be. And to make it clear, Paul goes on to show us what life without the Spirit looks like. What we were drawn to in our former lives. And he does this by way of contrast. And we see that in verses five through eight. 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.

For to set the mind on the flesh is death. But to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Paul demonstrates here with this contrast that there’s only two categories of people. There’s only two types of people. Those who walk in the Spirit and those who walk in the flesh. Those with the Spirit have the mind mostly that corresponds with the Spirit. Again, not perfectly, but mostly. And those without the Spirit, well, their mind is naturally bent to focus on their sinful nature. I love how the Least Expanded Translation renders this. It says, for those who are habitually dominated by the sinful nature put their minds on the things of the sinful nature. But those who are habitually dominated by the Spirit put their minds on the things of the Spirit. To have the mind dominated by the sinful nature is death.

But to have the mind dominated by the Spirit is life and peace. And brothers and sisters, you know the difference between the two experientially. Because all of us in this room who are filled with the Spirit now can remember what life was like before we were filled with the Holy Spirit. All we could do is think about ourselves. The things that made us happy. The things that brought us the most satisfaction or comfort or pleasure. We did whatever we wanted to do without limits with nothing stopping us except for our own personal moral standard. We didn’t care about the things of God. We didn’t even really want God. But then one day God made himself known to us and everything changed. All the things we once pursued we began to hate. Our appetites, our pleasures, our outlook, our disposition and most importantly our affections. We began to love God.

We began to love his word and slowly we matured spiritually and began to prioritize things like God’s people. Spending time with God’s people. Spending time reading the Bible. Serving God’s people. Sacrificing your time, energy, money and resources to God’s people. Going to church. That’s crazy. Who would go to church on a Sunday? On your day off? On the weekend? In Portland missing out on all the amazing brunches that Portland has to offer? Or go hiking in the beauty of God’s creation on your day off? Or just sleep in till noon? Because man you’ve worked so hard throughout the week. Who would want to willingly give up all those things to gather with God’s people on a Sunday? To worship. To give of themselves. To serve in the children’s ministry. There are some people right now outside this building serving you by walking around keeping your cars safe and secure.

Who would want to do that willingly? Willingly. People who have the Spirit inside them. Causing them to want to come on Sunday and worship with God’s people and serve God’s people. Who can’t imagine doing anything else. People who by the Spirit see nothing as more precious and more valuable than being in the presence of God with God’s people. You used to think only about the flesh. Your mind was naturally bent towards the things of this world. But your mind was renewed when you encountered the true and living God. And so you began to have the mind of Christ. That’s what it looks like to be born again. Your mind changes. You have a new heart and a new appetite for the things of God. Your disposition shifts to that which is spiritual. And hear me, I don’t mean some generic spiritual. Okay? I mean spiritual in terms of Christ-likeness.

And to give you a biblical framework for the difference between the two, the flesh and the spirit, Galatians 5, 19-21 says,

Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, which means hatred, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and just in case he left something out, and the things like these

— Galatians 5

(ESV)

.

But then we hear about the spirit, Galatians 5, 22-23.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control. Against such things there is no law

— Galatians 5

(ESV)

. You see, those who are of the spirit will inevitably think about the spirit and produce the fruit of the spirit. But those who are of the flesh, they hate God. They might not know that they hate God, but they hate God. And the last thing they can think about is living a life that pleases God. That’s why it says in verse 7, For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. That means they hate God. That mind does not submit to God’s law. They don’t care about God’s law. Indeed, it cannot, it is unable to. So, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. They hate God, they won’t want to submit to His word, therefore they cannot please God.

And because of that, they’re still under the condemnation for failing to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. Paul is essentially giving us a spectrum by which people live their lives in God’s world. One way is to live where you’re dominated by the flesh, and what that produces is hostility towards God and death. Another way is to live empowered by the Holy Spirit. That produces fruit that leads to life and peace. 1 Corinthians 6, 9-11 says, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And just in case you start to think, Well, I’m good, that’s not me. Paul says, And such were some of you.

This was our list. To varying degrees. Pick your poison. But you were washed. That was done to you. You were washed. It doesn’t say, But you washed yourself. You were washed. It’s something outside of you that happens to you. You were sanctified. Again, that happens to you. You were justified. That happens to you. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the spirit of our God. And if you have indeed trusted in Jesus. And are constantly dominated by the spirit. Then you have certainty, dear Christian, that you belong to God. That you’re safe and secure. Which brings us to the certainty. Verse 9. You, however, are not in the flesh. But in the spirit. If, in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you. Paul has just made all these general statements. Concerning the person who walks in accordance with the spirit. And the person who walks in accordance with the flesh.

And he’s laid out the contrast. And that seems like a grim reality for some people. And then Paul turns. And makes it exceedingly personal. And he says, You, however, dear follower of Jesus. The one who is in Christ Jesus. You are not in the flesh. You don’t live according to the flesh. You live in the spirit. Paul, after contrasting the life of the Christian and the non-Christian. Offers us assurance. A great assurance. Though those who are dominated by the flesh have the mind of the flesh. And their ultimate end is death and hostility towards God. They don’t have the spirit. You are not of the flesh. But in the spirit. He says, If, in fact, the spirit dwells within you. And that if sounds strange. It sounds like a condition. And if. If, if is a condition. Then that doesn’t sound very comforting. Doesn’t sound like assurance.

But Paul’s use of the word if here. Is better translated since. Or assuming that. So you might render it this way. You’re in the spirit. Since the spirit of God dwells in you. You’re in the spirit. Assuming that the spirit dwells within you. Okay. So squeeze all of that together. And it might sound like this. Though there are those who live in the flesh. You, however, who have trusted in Jesus. Are not in the flesh. You’re in the spirit. Because. Since. The spirit of God has made his home. Inside your hearts. Based on the finished work of Christ Jesus. When you began trusting in him. And you see. Now what it means. To have the spirit dwell in you. It means to take up residency. For those who are in Christ. The spirit has made his home inside you. And he’s working on you. He’s growing you.

He’s shaping you. He’s molding you. He’s leading you. He’s convicting you. And he’s moving you. He’s doing all that. Because he dwells within you. He is as a result of his residency. In your life. Becoming the controlling and governing power. In your life. And if he’s in you. Then you won’t be able to sin without feeling it. Oh, we’ll sin. We will sin. But we’ll feel it when we sin. We won’t be able to sin without mourning it. Without repenting of it. Without fighting it. Without hating it. Again in John 14. If you love me. You will keep my commandments. And I will ask the father. And he will give you another helper. To be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth. Whom the world cannot receive. Because it neither sees him. Nor knows him. You know him. Dear Christian. For he dwells with you.

And we’ll be in you. Those who live in the flesh don’t have the spirit. They can’t see the spirit. They can’t feel the spirit. They’re unfamiliar with the spirit. They don’t feel their sin. They don’t mourn their sin. They don’t repent of their sin. And they for sure won’t fight their sin. Because the truth is they love their sin. They love it. They love it. Do you hate your sin?

Do you hate what it does? To your family. When you sin against them. I. Hate. What my sin does. To my family. When my selfishness. I hate it. Do you hate what it does to your church community? Do you hate what your sin does to our city? Because you contribute to the brokenness of this city. With your sin. Do you hate what it does to your world? If you hate your sin. If you’re fighting your sin. If you’re repenting of your sin. Not perfectly. But significantly. Then you can know with certainty.

That you have the spirit. And that you belong to God. Verse 9. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ. Does not belong to him. The sign. That you do not belong to Christ. Is that you don’t have the spirit within you. So the implication here. Is that those who have the spirit within them. Taking up residency in their heart. Know the spirit. And feel the spirit’s power in their lives. Well they have certainty. That they belong to God. That they are indeed a child of God. Though they sin. They can know with certainty. That they’re a child of God. The indwelling spirit within you. Is the evidence. Or the guarantee. Or the seal. That you are his. That you are a Christian. First Corinthians 6. 19-20. Or do you not know. That your body is a temple. Of the Holy Spirit within you.

Whom you have from God. You are not your own. For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. If you belong to God. Then you are not your own. The very presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Means that you were bought. With a price. The Holy Spirit in your lives. Is the certification of that payment.

The Certainty

And that belonging. Because of the payment. Has implications for your life dear Christian. Galatians 5-24. And those who belong to Christ Jesus. Have crucified the flesh. With his passions and desires. All the things that once defined you. All the things that once. Dominated you. You’ve now been liberated from. Because of the spirit. And his residency in your life. And if the spirit dwells within you. He will enable you. To fight your sin. Put your sin to death. That means to crucify the flesh. The spirit’s power in you. Trumps your previous disposition. The spirit’s power in you. Causes you to no longer have apathy. Concerning your sin. To no longer be comfortable with your sin. To no longer desire your sin. But instead. To desire. To glorify God. Now again we don’t do that perfectly. But significantly. Significantly. Verse 10. But if. Again that should be since.

So you might render it this. But since Christ is in you. Although the body is dead because of sin. The spirit is life. Because of righteousness. Since the spirit of him. Who raised Jesus from 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. Paul begins here by stating. That though we are in Christ. The body is dead. Or more appropriately. The body will die. Because of sin. But Paul just argued. That there’s no consequence. For sin. Then why then does Paul say here. That the body will die. Because of sin. If there’s no condemnation for sin. Then why do we die?

I mentioned. I mentioned this in the beginning. That no condemnation doesn’t mean no consequence. There is a universal. Consequence for sin. When sin entered into humanity. Death. Came to us all. It’s the universal effect of sin. The effect is that our mortal bodies. Will eventually expire. The body as we currently understand it. Will eventually go away. Will die. But Paul makes it clear. That those who are in Christ. Who have the spirit in them. Who live according to the spirit. There is life after this mortal body.

Whereas those who are outside of Jesus. There is only condemnation. After this mortal body. Why does Paul reference this here? It seems a bit out of pocket. He was doing such a good job. We’re all hyped up. On all the benefits that we receive. Why does Paul do this? Why does it turn all grim?

Well, I would suggest that Paul is aiming. To give you more encouragement. I think Paul does this. Because Paul wants to remind the Christian. That though this life now. Is really hard. Because of the effects of sin. Both the sins that we commit. And the sins that are committed against us. Though the Christian life will be spent. The rest of our life. The rest of our Christian life will be spent. Fighting and wrestling. And repenting. And putting death. To our sin. Putting our sin to death. All of that sin that still remains. In our lives. And in this world. There will one day. Come. Where we will no longer have to fight our sin. Where we will no longer be under the threat of sin.

Where we will rest finally and fully in Christ Jesus. Think about the day. Where all the sins that you fight on a daily basis. You won’t have to wrestle with anymore. And if that doesn’t bring you a great and glorious hope. Then you’re not fighting your sin well enough. You’re probably not fighting. And if I were you I would beg God. To empower you to fight your sin. You know one of the things that we rarely think about. When it comes to heaven. Is that there will be no sin there. So if you love your sin now. You will hate heaven. Because there will be no sin there for you to enjoy.

Only joy. Only peace. Only the presence of God. And listen that day comes. If Christ comes. Or if death comes. Whichever comes first. Okay. So for the Christian. If death comes first. It will not be punishment for us. It will be progress. And to state it better. It will be perfect. It’ll be perfection. We will have new bodies. In the resurrected state. And with those new bodies. We won’t have to fight sin. Because sin will be completely eradicated. From our bodies.

Our mortal bodies. Will one day become glorified. Immortal bodies. First Corinthians 15 tells us. For this perishable body. Must put on. The imperishable. And this mortal body. Must put on immortality. When the perishable. Puts on the imperishable. And the mortal puts on immortality. Then shall come to pass. The saying that is written. Oh death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death. Where is your victory? Oh death. Where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God. Who gives us victory. When death comes for the Christian. Victory is sung.

You see the same power. That raised Christ Jesus from the dead. Is the same power. That dwells within you. That same power has taken up. Residency in your heart. Helping you. Helping you when you fight sin. Do you feel discouraged. Like you can’t fight it on your own. Ask the Holy Spirit. Who dwells within you to help you. That’s why he’s there. To help you fight sin. Are you making a pattern. Of praying to the spirit. To empower you to help you. To enable you. He will do it. It’s why he dwells in you. To carry you. To keep you. To protect you. To convict you. And to make you more like Jesus. That same power. That resurrection power. That raised Jesus from death to life. Will raise us from death to life. On that final day. Where we will no longer have to fight the sin.

That daily haunts us. The daily hurts us. And causes all kinds of pain. And suffering. And depression. And despair. And anger. What a glorious day. When our bodies will be glorified. Perfected. And our sin and suffering are no more. So dear brothers and sisters. Until that day. God has given you the Holy Spirit. To fight your sin. And to live holy and righteous lives. God has given you his Holy Spirit. To fight those giants in your life. Pray that God would empower you. Get with other brothers and sisters in the church. Tell them what you’re fighting with. So that they can pray with you. The same spirit that dwells in them. Is the same spirit that dwells in you. They are perhaps. One of your greatest resources. For fighting sin. So reach out. And ask for help.

And the Holy Spirit. Who dwells in you. And dwells in your brothers and sisters. Will help you. Fight that sin that I know you hate. To death. Amen. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God. What a glorious truth. That we often times. Neglect. And fail to understand rightly.

That we have something far better than proximity. We have your very presence indwelling us. You have not left us on our own. To fight our battles. But you give us the help. That we so desperately need. To fight and overcome our battles. And you’ve also given us this glorious reality. That when we fail. You do not hold us in contempt.

But you pick us up by our hands. And by your spirit you dust off. The dirt and the mud that we threw ourself into. And you wash us. And you make us clean. And you help us to rehearse the gospel. That there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And so I pray oh Lord and God. For those in our congregation this morning. Who have a weak conscience. Concerning self-condemnation. That you would help them to see. That neither do you condemn them. So they shouldn’t condemn themselves. I pray oh Lord and God. For those in our congregation who are. Struggling so deeply with sin. Where it seems like sin is winning in their lives. I pray this morning that. The power of your spirit. Would be active. In changing. In helping. In molding and pushing. And sanctifying and healing. So that they might put to death. The very thing that is killing them. Give them victory. In Jesus. Through the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. And may they have confidence. That though they sin. That they belong to Jesus. As sinful. As they are. As sinful as we are. We were bought. By the precious blood of Jesus.

Help us to remember that. When we fall into sin. We pray these things. In the mighty and powerful name. Of our risen savior. Who rescued us. And sent us the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. Amen.