Life through the Holy Spirit
Romans 8:1-14
Key verse 8:1
Good morning. So far, we learned we have died to sin that we have a new life for God. We also learned we died to the law. Now we belong to Jesus. We can bear fruit for God and serve God in the new way of the Spirit. In today’s passage, Paul introduced a new life of living according to the Spirt. We have our heavenly father God. We have our good shepherd Jesus. We have the Bible. Yet, do we still need the Spirit? And also, what does it mean to live according to the Spirit? It is kind of confusing. Some people have negative image about the Spirit. On their mind, they think about ghost or speak in tongue or prophecies and some troubles in church. Also our ministry is bible study ministry that we do not mention about the Spirit much. But today in chapter 8, the Bible talks about the Spirit a lot (18 times). Through this passage, I pray we may learn why God gave us his Spirit? Why do we need him? And what does he do for us? How can we live according to the Spirit?
- No condemnation in Jesus Christ
Can we read verse 1? “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” WOW! The Bible says that there is no condemnation if we believe Jesus Christ. When we are in Jesus, God does not condemn us. He forgives our past sins, current sin, and even future sins. Why does Paul mention about condemnation? In general, people suffer from their self-condemnation. Last week, Paul also kind of rebuked himself. When Paul found that in his inner being he delights in the words of God but in the flesh he becomes a prisoner of sin, he cried “what a wretched man I am!”. Not only him but also we sometimes condemn ourselves when we do what we do not want to do. We are also afraid that God might not like us. Especially, our enemy Satan condemns us “are u sure you were saved? If you are a believer, how can you commit such a sin?”. But verse 1 confirms that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. Praise God! If God does not condemn us, we should not condemn us as well. We should not listen to the voice of our enemy either.
Then, why there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus? Let us read verse 2. “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death.” Here the law is not the bible law. But the law, is like the law of gravity, This kind of law means power or authority. In the law of gravity, an apple falls on the ground. It should happen in that way. Similarly, when we sin against God, the law of sin must condemn us and put us to death. However, God so loved us that through Jesus, another superior law came: that is the law of Spirit. The law of the Spirit has more power and more authority over the law of sin. It set us free from the law of sin.
How could this be possible? Because Jesus became a sin offering that he condemned sin in the flesh. Can we read verses 3 and 4? “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”
Until Jesus came to this world, everyone beginning from Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, .. all sinned. They were under the power of sin and death. But God had mercy upon sinners. He sent his own son Jesus. But when he sent Jesus, Jesus did not come in heavenly divine form. Rather he came in the likeness of sinful flesh: meaning he was just like one of us. He was born through Mary’s womb. He had earthly father, mother and siblings. He had flesh, he slept, he drank, he was angry, he wept, and so on. He was tempted too. Just like normal human being. As he had the flesh, he was supposed to respond to sin but no matter how sin tempted him in his body, he did not yield to the temptation. He lived a sin-free life. He became the first man in human history not to sin but to live for God in the flesh. In the end, he offered himself as a sin offering. In this way, Jesus condemned sin in the flesh. In John 8, there is a woman caught in adultery. Under the law, she should be stoned to death. But Jesus said in John 8:11 “Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Jesus did not mean that adultery is not sin. Sin is sin. Nevertheless, Jesus did not condemn her because he condemned her sin through being condemned on the cross for her.
Also in verse 4, Jesus also fulfilled the requirements of the law in the Scripture. Bible scholars says there are 613 laws in the OT. Who can observe 613 laws faithfully? But Jesus did observe all the laws. So when we believe Jesus, as we are united with him, in him, we are now considered to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. In God’s eyes, because of Jesus, we are clean and righteous. There is nothing to be condemned. Last week, there was a missionary/national leaders conference in Korea. One of life testimony speakers, was Sarah Zanyl. At age 3, when she saw her grandpa’s burial ceremony, she began to think about death. Since then, her life was dark. She did not find any meaning of life. Then, in her college, through 1:1 bible study, John 3:16 touched her heart. It says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”, She learned that God did not condemn her but loved her so much even through sacrificing his only son. She was overwhelmed with what Jesus did for her. She got free from self-condemnation. It is true that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. If you suffer from condemnation, verse 1 is for you.
- Live according to the Spirit
From verse 5, Paul introduced a new life of living according to the Spirit. Verse 5 says “those who live in accordance with the Spirit”, verse 6 says “the mind governed by the Spirit”, verse 12 “live according to the Spirit”, verse 14 “led by the Spirit of God”. What does it look like living by the Spirit? What does the Spirit do for us?
First, the Spirit helps us set our mindset on what God desires. Look at verse 5. “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. “ This is true. Even if we became Christians, when we still living according to the flesh, we think on what our flesh desires. We can say it is my freedom to think whatever I like. But what the Bible says about that? Verse 6 says “the mind governed by the flesh is death”. Verse 7 says “the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so”, verse 8 says “they cannot please God”. Our mind based on the flesh leads us to death. In the late 1990, mind control was very famous. People said “if they can control their mind, they could be happy, they could be successful in this world”. Many people bought books of mind control and practiced. But such movement had a fundamental limitation. No matter how they trained their mindset, as long as they lived according to the flesh, nothing good could come out of them. In nature, bad tree bears only bad fruit. But here is the real issue. Even if we want to change our mind, since we have the flesh, controlled by sin, we ourselves cannot set our minds on things above. That is why God sent the Holy Spirit in our heart. Now in our flesh, our mind can be controlled by either the flesh or the spirit. What are things the Spirit desires? The spirit desires us to love the words of God. the spirt desires us to worship god. when you wake up Sunday morning, you might think “oh, today is Sunday. I want to worship god”. where does such a thought come from? The spirit give us such a thought. When we match our mind with what the Spirit desires, then, we will get life and peace. Verse 6 says “the mind governed by Spirit is life and peace”.
Then, practically how can we let the Spirit govern our minds? In the OT, though Israel was saved from their slavery, they had salve mentality. In the desert, how did God train them to change their mindset? Two things: one was to pick up mana early in the morning and the other was to give them the law. When they got up early for the 40 years and meditated on the law day and night, they were able to set their minds on what God desired. I watched one video about “how to manage your mind by pastor Rick Warren”. He said in order to shift our mind, we need three things: feed our mind with the words of God, free our mind from self-destructive thoughts, and focus on Jesus and others. Since the scripture was inspired by the holy spirit, when we meditate the words of God, when we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can set our minds on what God desires.
Second, the Spirit helps us know that he indeed lives in us. let’s read verse 9. “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” WOW! We have died to sin. we died to the law. They are great news. Now there is another great news. the Spirit of God lives in you? If this is true, that is an amazing news! Even though we don’t feel or touch him, but literally the spirit of God lives in us. Really? Yes. From the OT, God promised to send his Spirit to us. Ezkiel 36:27 says “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
In the NT, Jesus also in John 15 promised to send the Advocate, the Spirit. Also Ephesians 1:13 says “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,” What does it mean to us that the Spirit lives in us? verse 9 says “we belong to Christ”, verse 11 says “as the Spirit raised from the dead, he will raise our mortal bodies too”. Also now it is our obligation to live with him. Can we read verse 12 and 13? “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
If the Holy Spirit really lives in me, how can we ignore him? It is our duty to live with him together. Also when we live according to him, he helps us to stop the misdeeds of our body too. Personally, I realized I had a wrong concept about the Spirit. When I thought about the Holy Spirit, the first thing on my mind is Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” I always thought the Holy Spirit as power. Often I pray “fill me with your Spirit. Give me power”. But when the Spirit of God is really living in me, it is my obligation that I need to acknowledge him: and talk with him, ask him, listen to him, and do what he desires. I thank God for opening my spiritual eyes about the Spirit. I pray God may open all our spiritual eyes to live with the Spirit of God.
Third, the Spirit makes us call God “abba, Father”. Can we read verses 14-16? “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” You know, slaves are afraid of their master. They do not want to come in the presence of their master. When they have to come to their master, they come with fears. We used to be like slaves. We were scared of God. Do you remember what Adam did first when he sinned against God in the garden? He was afraid of God that he hid. But through the Spirit, God removed fears of him in our heart. Through the Spirit, God adopted us to his children. We are not his enemies any more but became his precious children. We can call God “abba, Father”. What a privilege is! The Spirt made this possible. Do you know we only Christians call God “abba, Father”? Jewish call God only “my God and my shepherd”. Muslims do not call God “Father”. Whenever my daughter Gloria calls me “appa”, I am so happy. I am willing to give whatever she wants. Then, when we call God “abba, Father”, how much he will be happy? Also when we call Father God, how much we feel safe, secure, comfort each time? Thank you for this great blessing. We got to develop this father-son or father-daughter relationship very well.
Lastly, look at verse 17. Paul said if we are really children of God, as Jesus suffered and received glory, we will share in his sufferings to receive his glory too. About this suffering and glory, we will talk about next week in details.
In conclusion, today’s passage teaches us several things: there is no condemnation for this who in Christ Jesus. It is our obligation to live according to the Spirit. When we live with the Spirit, he helps us to set our minds on what God desires, to have fellowship with him, and to call God “abba, Father”. I pray that God may open our eyes about the Spirit more as we continue to study the book of Romans.