LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
(Romans Bible Study Series Tape Twenty-Two)
Recommended reading - Romans 8: 4-13.
Paul introduces the Holy Spirit, for the first time, in
this letter in Romans 8. Paul is a very systematic theologian, and
is systematic in his complete explanation of God's plan of redemption. We
must follow his sequence to properly understand the truth he is
explaining. Paul is very thorough in this explanation since, this is the
first time the Romans had heard from him. A review, of all the scriptures
to this point, reveals just how systematic Paul is in his explanation of
this wonderful truth. Paul builds up to and clearly explains that Jesus
Christ is man's only hope of standing righteous before God. Once that is
clear, Paul then turns to the work of the Holy Spirit in the plan of
salvation.
I. The work of the Holy Spirit.
· In the New
Testament, God the Father is the One to whom Christ looked for guidance.
Christ stresses that He came to do the will of, "Him who sent
Me".
· The Father is
the director of and the Chairman of the plan of salvation. Christ is the
Savior as revealed in Matthew 1:21. The work of the Holy Spirit
is to communicate to the human race what God has attained in His Son
Jesus Christ.
· God, through
His Son, has made available eternal redemption for all of mankind. The
Apostle Paul explains in Chapter 8, the fact that the Holy Spirit
is the communicator. The work of the Holy Spirit is not to save us, but
to make effective the salvation which has already been realized in the
Holy history of Christ, and to make it real in our experience.
· The work of the
Holy Spirit may be divided into three stages. The first stage is
justification; the second stage is sanctification; the final stage is
glorification.
II. The Holy Spirit will point us to Christ as mans' only hope for
salvation.
· Christ clearly
explains this point in John 16:8. Jesus describes the mission of
the Holy Spirit, and that mission is to convict the world of three
things. The world will be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
As we see in John 16:9, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of
sin because they do not believe in Jesus Christ. We are lost because we
are without Christ.
· Jesus Christ
explains in John 16:10, the manner in which the Holy Spirit will
convict the world of righteousness. God sent Christ to this world to
prepare righteousness for the world. Christ's work of obtaining that
righteousness is a finished work.
· One of the last
prayers that Christ prayed is in John 17:4. Christ states that He
has finished the work that His Father gave Him to do.
· John 16:11,
shows that the world is judged; if you reject the gospel, the gift of
God, then you have judgment. When you accept Christ as your personal
savior, then the work of the Spirit of God continues.
· The Holy Spirit
will reproduce in the believer, peace, assurance, and the righteous
character of Christ. God will accomplish this through the Holy Spirit.
Sanctification does not contribute to our salvation. Our salvation is
only in the history of Christ. Sanctification is the fruit of and the
evidence of our justification by faith.
III. We have three wonderful blessings in Christ.
· We are perfect
in character, perfect in justice, and perfect in nature. In
sanctification no change takes place in your nature; our nature will
always remain sinful. It is only at Christ's second coming, and our
glorification in the resurrection, that corruption will put on in
corruption.
· In Romans
8:22-25, Paul states that the whole creation is groaning and waiting
for the redemption of the Body. In Philippians 3:20-21, Paul
states that he is anxiously awaiting the coming of Christ. Paul cannot
wait for the transformation of his corrupt body. Romans 8:4-13,
deals with the life led by a Christian with God's Holy Spirit. God
intends this life for every Christian. The Christian life is a Spirit
led life.
IV. Paul gives practical applications.
· In Romans
8:12-16, Paul gives us practical applications to the foundation that
has been built. Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, was
victorious and executed the law of sin and death. Christ did that for
two reasons. Romans 8:1 explains, that there may be no more
condemnation for those in Christ. Romans 8:4 states, that the
requirements of the Law will be fulfilled in us. The requirements have
nothing to do with our salvation, it is a fruit of our salvation.
· The word us in Verse
4 refers to the believer who has along with Paul, acknowledged their
wretchedness. We must realize our wretchedness. The word wretched
appears only twice in the whole of the New Testament. The first time is Romans
7:24, the second time is in the Laodicean message in Revelation
3:17. The day that we can say, " O wretched man that I
am," is the day we can say, "I thank God through Jesus
Christ".
· In Romans
8:4, Paul addresses the righteous requirements of the Law. You do
not need the Spirit to mechanically obey the Law; the Pharisees were
experts at mechanically obeying the Law. Christ stated that they did not
keep the Law according to the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love
and love is the fulfillment of the Law.
V. We are to walk according to the Spirit.
· We need to have
a proper understanding of the words flesh and Spirit in Romans 8: 4. The
word flesh means the natural life in which we live - the sinful human
nature. The word Spirit means the life of Christ that was laid down for
us, and which comes into us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
· Christ does not
indwell us as a person; however, the Holy Spirit does indwell, which is
one of the proofs that the Holy Spirit is not a separate person. The
Holy Spirit, which is the power of God, indwells us and leads us into
the way that God would have us go.
· We are in the
Spirit, if the Spirit dwells in us, as stated in Verse 8-9. The
Spirit is what indwells us, not the person of the Father or Son. We do
not belong to Christ, if we have not experienced the Spiritual begettal.
Jesus made that point very clear to Nicodemus in John 3:6.
Nicodemus was trying to produce righteousness by the flesh. Jesus Christ
clearly explained that you must be of the Spirit. Legalism produces
hypocrites, people who outwardly look like saints, but inwardly are not.
· It is only in
Christ, as we walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh, that the life of
Christ is reproduced in us. The Apostle Peter is in perfect harmony with
Paul in covering the issues we see in Chapter 8. We see in II
Peter 1:1-3, Peter talks about the wonderful promises that are ours
through Jesus Christ. In Verse 4, Peter states that we will be
partakers of the Divine nature and can grow in that nature.
VI. The natural life is driven by the wrong things.
· We see in I
John 2:16, that the natural life of man is dominated by three
drives, "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the
boastful pride of life". The flesh lusts for what it sees. We want
everything to be the greatest.
· Paul says the
mind must not be set by and dominated by the flesh. Our nature is
unchangeable until the second coming of Christ. We must never get the
idea that our nature will improve as we grow older as a Christian. Our
nature will remain flesh until our dying day. Our character is what
changes.
· The change that
takes place in a Christian is not in the nature, but in the mind. The
Greek word for repentance means a change of mind. Our minds should be
led by the Holy Spirit and not by the flesh.
· Paul gives us
help on how to direct our minds into the things of the Spirit in Philippians
4:8. Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit; we have a walk and a talk
to do.
· We must set our
mind on the things of the Spirit. What do we think about? Are our minds
on the things of this world or the things of God? That is how we tell,
if we are walking in the flesh or in the Spirit.
VII. Walking on dangerous ground.
· Paul states in Romans
8:6, that the person walking in the flesh is walking on dangerous
ground. The carnal mind leads to death. The flesh is the tool Satan uses
to pull you out of Christ. The only place for the flesh is the cross. Galatians
5:24, states that the flesh should be crucified along with all of
its' desires.
· When you walk
in the Spirit, you have peace and life. God looks at our hearts. Only
the heart that is transformed and has repented can be pleasing to God.
In Romans 8:9, Paul explains that if you do not have the Spirit,
you may be a church member, and yet you are still not one of His.
· We see the
formula of the gospel in Verse 10, not I but Christ. There
are two forces in us, as we see explained in Verse 11. One is the
force of the flesh, the law of sin and death, the other is the law of
Spirit and life.
· Jesus Christ
conquered the grave. He did it by the power of the indwelling Spirit;
that same power is now available to us. Paul explains that we are
debtors in Verse 12. We have an obligation to live according to
the Spirit.
· When the Holy
Spirit lives in us two things will happen. We will put to an end the
sinful deeds of the body; the righteousness of the Law will be fulfilled
in us.
· These wonderful
privileges are the fruits of justification. One cannot help but be
reminded of the words of a famous pagan philosopher. He said to the
Christian church, if you Christians expect me to believe your redeemer,
you Christians will have to look a lot more redeemed. That is true of
the Christian church at large.
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. We
have one major concern before us, and that is for the world to see what
Jesus Christ is like in us. When that happens the world will be turned
upside down. God is not dependent on numbers. He is depending on men and
women, who put self aside and are willing to totally surrender to the
Spirit. We have a Spirit that is willing to walk in us, a power that is
available to us. The power of God's Holy Spirit will reproduce in us the
character of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world desperately needs to see Him
in us. Let us not disappoint our Lord. |
Life in the Spirit 