Life in the Spirit
Life in the Spirit
Rom 8:1-17 NLT
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. 8 That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering
I. To have a spiritual mind is to have a heavenly mind. “But to be carnally minded is death: but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Rom. 8:6
The writer of the Philippian letter said, “Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 2:5). Jesus was heavenly minded. He minded not fleshly things. While on earth he lived more in heaven, in thought, than he did on earth. This is true of all who live heavenly or who possess the mind of Christ.
Rom 8:7-8 NIV
7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
James 1:14-15 NIV
14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
Gal 6:8-9 NIV
8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
II. Your heart is a fertile greenhouse ready to produce good fruit. Your mind is the doorway to your heart, the strategic place where you determine which seeds are sown and which seeds are discarded. The Holy Spirit is ready to help you manage and filter the thoughts that try to enter. He can help you guard your heart.
He stands with you on the threshold. A thought approaches a questionable thought. Do you throw open the door and let it enter? Of course not.
You must “fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5 phillips).
Why? There are, Open Manholes and Sudden Sin
It happens in an instant. One minute you are walking and whistling, the next you are wide-eyed and falling. Satan yanks back the manhole cover, and an innocent afternoon stroll becomes a horror story. Helplessly you tumble, aware of the fall but unable to gain control. You crash at the bottom and stare blankly into the darkness. You inhale the evil stench and sit in Satan’s sewage until he spits you out and you land, dumbfounded and shell-shocked, on the sidewalk.
Such is the pattern of sudden sin.
Can you relate to it? Very few sins are premeditated and planned. Very few of us would qualify for Satan’s strategy team. We spend our time avoiding sin, not planning it. But don’t think for one minute that, just because you don’t want to fall, you won’t. Satan has a special trick for you, and he only pulls it out when you aren’t looking.
(Satan)This yellow-bellied father of lies doesn’t dare meet you face-to-face. No sir. Don’t expect this demon of demons to challenge you to a duel. Not this snake. He hasn’t the integrity to tell you to turn around and put up your dukes. He fights dirty.
He is the master of the trapdoor and the author of weak moments.
He waits until your back is turned. He waits until your defense is down. He waits until the bell has rung and you are walking back to your corner. Then he aims his dart at your weakest point and …Bull’s-eye! You lose your temper. You lust. You fall. You take a drag. You buy a drink. You kiss the woman. You follow the crowd. You rationalize. You say yes. You sign your name. You forget who you are. You walk into her room. You look in the window. You break your promise. You buy the magazine. You lie. You covet. You stomp your feet and demand your way. You deny your Master. It’s David disrobing Bathsheba. It’s Adam accepting the fruit from Eve. It’s Abraham lying about Sarah. It’s Peter denying that he ever knew Jesus. It’s Noah, drunk and naked in his tent. It’s Lot, in bed with his own daughters. It’s your worst nightmare. It’s sudden. It’s sin.
Satan numbs our awareness and short-circuits our self-control.
We know what we are doing and yet can’t believe that we are doing it. In the fog of weakness, we want to stop but haven’t the will to do so. We want to turn around but our feet won’t move. We want to run, and pitifully, we want to stay.
It’s the teenager in the backseat. It’s the alcoholic buying “just one.” It’s the boss touching his secretary’s hand. The husband walking into the porn shop. The mother losing her temper. The father beating his child. The gambler losing his money. The Christian losing control. And it’s Satan gaining a foothold.
This demon of hell can scale the highest monastery wall, penetrate the deepest faith, and desecrate the purest home.
Confusion. Guilt. Rationalization. Despair. It all hits. It hits hard. We numbly pick ourselves up and stagger back into our world. “O God, what have I done?” “Should I tell someone?” “I’ll never do it again.” “My God, can you forgive me?”
III. Want to sharpen your defenses a bit?
Do you need help in reinforcing your weaponry? Have you tumbled down the manhole one too many times? Then consider these ideas:
We must, recognize Satan. Our war is not with flesh and blood but with Satan himself.
Do like Jesus did when Satan met him in the wilderness. Call him by name. Rip off his mask. Denounce his disguise. He appears in the most innocent of clothing: a night out with the boys, a good book, a popular movie, a pretty neighbor. But don’t let him fool you! When the urge to sin rears its ugly head, look him squarely in the eye and call his bluff. “Get behind me, Satan!” “Not this time, you dog of hell! I’ve walked your stinking corridors before. Go back to the pit where you belong!” Whatever you do, don’t flirt with this fallen angel. He’ll thresh you like wheat.
IV. We must WATCH OUT FOR OPEN MANHOLES.
Rom 13:13-14 NIV
14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
V. Life in The Spirit
The Bible recognizes three types of men:
The Natural Man — He is the unsaved man, who is not “tuned in” at all to the things of God. (1 Cor 2:14).
The Carnal Man — He is saved from his outward “sins,” but is not cleansed from the “carnal-fleshly” sin nature. (1 Cor 3:1-4). He possesses both the “old nature” and the “new nature,” which are war against each other. This makes him “double-minded” and “unstable” in his Christian walk.
The Spiritual Man — He is saved from his “sins,” and cleansed from the “sin nature,” and filled with or controlled by the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor 2:15, 3:1).
The personal pronoun “I” is found 30 times in Chapter 7 and the “Holy Spirit only once. But in Chapter 8 the “Holy Spirit” is mentioned directly or indirectly 27 times, while “I” is found only 2 times.
The “Holy Spirit” is the SECRET of our VICTORY in Christ. When we stop our STRUGGLING — come to the end of all human effort — and SURRENDER to Him, then He is free to do His greatest work within us, and bring us into victory!
Some young Christians learn this SECRET quickly, while others never seem to learn it.
VI. Application
One young girl was asked by a group of church officials: “What are you trusting in for salvation?”
“I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He died for my sins and rose again for my justification.”
They stroked their whiskers and said, “You have been saved through the blood of Christ, but does the tempter ever knock at your door?” She answered, “Yes, Satan knocks at my heart’s door; but when he does, I say to Christ, HE LIVES IN ME, YOU KNOW,‘Lord, will You open the door?’ And when He opens the door and Satan sees Him, he always says, ‘Pardon me, but I must have knocked at the wrong door’.”
The point is, WHY should she open the door to the tempter when she had Christ living in her heart? That young girl KNEW THE SECRET of Romans 8, and that it is the “Holy Spirit” Who gives us the victory when we allow Him to CONTROL our lives!
