Romans 8:5-13

Well, good morning. Let me invite you to take your Bibles out and join me in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

! It's good to be here with you this morning.

I am excited once again to have the opportunity to open this book and this particular chapter for our study today.

Our text is Romans chapter 8, verses 5 through 13.

Romans 8:5–13

And while you're getting there and settling in, say, over the past two weeks, we have largely focused our attention

on the reality that for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is therefore no longer any condemnation.

Hope your soul has been helped by that as much as mine.

The penalty due our sin, if we are in Christ, has been expunged.

It's been removed completely from us.

People who have placed saving faith in Jesus Christ have been justified.

And Paul has taught us repeatedly in this letter that we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Justification is a judicial declaration that our sinful record has been wiped clean.

It's as if our sin never existed.

But also that the righteousness of Christ has been granted to us.

Christ's perfect life has been given to us.

If you are in Christ Jesus this morning, you are no longer condemned.

And when God sees you, he sees the perfect law-keeping of Jesus.

The work of justification is entirely a work of our loving kind God.

He does it on our behalf.

We contribute nothing to the equation of our justification except our need of that justification.

And this is good news.

If you are in Christ Jesus, God has saved you and God will keep you to the end.

Last week we saw in brief that if we have been justified, then we will be sanctified.

Sanctification is the continual growth in holiness that will be experienced by all who have been justified.

We are not saved by our working, but our faith that we're saved through, it works.

We find ourselves growing in holiness as a result of our justification.

Justification.

Justification necessarily leads to sanctification.

Justification guarantees our sanctification.

Let me remind you that Jesus says in Matthew chapter 7 and verse 18,

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

The point there being that the type produces the fruit.

And in Luke chapter 6 and verse 45, he says,

Luke 6 · chapter mention

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good.

And the evil person out of the evil treasure produces evil.

So today we will see Paul make this argument.

Justification guarantees sanctification.

Before I read today's text, I will also read the first four verses of chapter 8 and remind you, beloved,

that this is God's word to us, written for his glory and our good.

And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

All beginning in verse 1 of chapter 8.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

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,

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.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.

For 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.

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.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,

if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ

does not belong to Him.

But if Christ is in you,

although the body is dead because of sin,

then the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

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.

So then, brothers,

we are debtors not to the flesh

to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh,

you will die.

But if by the Spirit you put to death

the deeds of the body,

you will live.

Now there is much to consider here.

There's lots of nuance in Paul's language.

So to help us in the time that we do have together

for this text,

and I've mentally at least committed myself

not to make this into a part one and a part two,

so we'll see,

I've broken it into a simple two-point outline.

Number one,

the Spirit of life

gives us life.

And number two,

the Spirit of Christ

exalts Christ

by empowering us

to live like Christ.

And I'll repeat those soon.

So firstly,

the Spirit of life

gives us life.

We see this in verses 5-11.

Now I am reaching back to verse 2

and referring to the Holy Spirit

as the Spirit of life,

and forward to verse 6

as we see there,

Paul says,

the Spirit is life.

Paul makes little explicit mention

of the Spirit

until chapter 8,

and we may be tempted to think

that he is mitigating the importance

of this third person

of our triune God.

But this is not at all the case.

I think that our careful

verse-by-verse study

of books of the Bible

is a very important part

of what the church does together.

I think it's vital

to its very existence.

It's good for us

to get down into

the nitty-gritty

of these texts together,

to break it up

and to consider it

over long expanses

of time.

However,

sometimes breaking a book down

over time like this

can cause us to miss

some of the overarching points

the author is trying to make.

Were we to take up this letter

in one sitting,

we might be more readily

able to remember

what he said

back at the beginning

of the book.

So turn with me,

if you will,

to the beginning,

Romans chapter 1

Romans 1 · chapter mention

and verse 4.

There he says of Jesus Christ

that he was declared

to be the Son of God

in power

according to the Spirit

of holiness

by his resurrection

from the dead.

Jesus Christ,

our Lord.

So very early

he's mentioned

the Spirit.

We see in this verse

that God declared

Jesus is God

by the power of the Spirit

bringing about

Jesus Christ's resurrection.

So Paul's communicating there.

Paul,

by the inspiration

of the Spirit,

is laying groundwork

for today's text

in calling the Spirit

the Spirit

of holiness.

I'm tempted to call it clever,

but I don't think Paul

was trying to be clever.

I think he was inspired

to write the book

in this way.

Later on in Romans chapter 6,

Romans 6 · chapter mention

if you flip a few pages there,

and verse 5.

There he writes,

verse 4,

if we have been united

with Christ

in a death like His,

we shall certainly

be united with Him

in a resurrection

like His.

So if we sat down

and read it all

in one sitting,

we may remember,

I hope that we would,

back to chapter 1

and verse 4.

Well,

what kind of resurrection

did Christ have?

Well,

He had a resurrection

that was empowered

by the Spirit

of holiness.

If we are in Christ,

we have been united

with Him in His death

and also

in His resurrection.

So,

who empowers

our resurrection?

The Spirit.

The Spirit of holiness.

The Spirit of life.

The Spirit

of Christ.

I think this is

very cool.

You can kind of see that.

Him leading us up to

chapter 8.

So He's not been minimizing

the Spirit in this at all,

but He's been leading us

here.

The Spirit,

the Spirit of holiness,

the Spirit of life,

the Spirit of Christ,

right?

It is the Spirit

that makes God's

saving work,

accomplished by Jesus Christ,

effectual in the lives

of His people.

It's the way it's applied

to us

by the power

of the Spirit.

We begin by the Spirit

and we are

kept

by the Spirit.

Now,

let's back up

to the 4

at the very beginning

of verse 5

of Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Again,

Paul is using

this conjunction

and means by it

because.

Because what?

Well,

in verse 4,

he said,

those who are

in Christ

are those who walk

not according

to the flesh,

but according

to the Spirit.

4,

beginning of verse 5,

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 verse 4,

Paul uses

the verb

walk,

which refers

to the habitual

pattern

of our life.

In verse 5,

he tells us

that those who

are in Christ Jesus

walk according

to the Spirit

because they

set their minds

on the things

of the Spirit.

You may note

that in the ESV

we see

the verb

live,

right?

Those who live

according to the flesh

set their minds

on the things

of the flesh.

Those who live

according to the Spirit

set their minds

on the things

of the Spirit.

Now,

I don't disagree

with the translation.

I find this to be

a very good translation

of the Bible

and I'm not really

qualified to disagree

with translations

to be clear.

But it could be

more simply rendered

and has been

in other

faithful translations

simply

those who

are

according

to the flesh.

Those who are

or those who

are according

to the Spirit.

I prefer this

because Paul

is speaking

categorically

here.

He is stating

that if you

do not belong

to Christ

then you do

not have a Spirit

and your derivation

is from

sinful flesh.

It's your very being.

It's where it

comes from

which I believe

is why some

translators

use that term

live

according.

If you do

belong to Christ

then you

do have a Spirit

and your derivation

your very being

is from

the

Spirit.

And this is

the very point

being made.

The Spirit

of life

gives

us

life.

If you have

believed in Jesus

been justified

you have done so

by the power

of the Spirit

and now you are

new in Him

and He will

continue

to empower

your sanctification.

Paul is stating

that we have been

fundamentally changed

and our

overarching

bent

as new

creations

will now be

towards holiness

and away

from wickedness.

If you are

justified

by the power

of the Spirit

He is now

moving you

away from

the things

of this world

and toward

the things

of God.

So when thinking

of the most

important thing

about you this morning

the vitally

important question

is

to which

category

do you belong?

We divide up

along a lot

of different lines.

This is the

most important

one.

Categorically

are you one of

those who

live according

to the flesh?

You are not

in Christ.

You are not

a Christian

or one of

those who

live according

to the Spirit

are in Christ

are a

Christian.

look at

why this

is so

vitally

important.

Paul says

in verse 6

for to set

the mind

on the flesh

is death

but to set

the mind

on the Spirit

is life

and peace.

Now there is

a single

Greek word

here translated

to set

the mind

it's a verb

and it refers

to the

thought patterns

of the mind.

Not so much

the mental

faculty of it

but the way

in which

you normatively

think.

If you're

bent as

toward the

flesh

sinful

appetites

the lust

of this

world

idolatrous

comfort

false

philosophies

and religions

etc.

etc.

Then this

is

death.

He doesn't

say that it

leads to

death

he says

that it

is

death.

Paul is

speaking of

spiritual

death.

The person

not in

Christ

is

spiritually

dead

now

and

will

be

forever

more

unless

they

repent

and

believe

in

Jesus.

Adversely

if

you're

bent

is

toward

the

spirit

then

you

have

spiritual

life

and

you

have

peace

with

God.

Categorically

two

things

going

on

here.

Verse 7

he elaborates

on this

for the

mind

that is

set

on

the

flesh

is

hostile

toward

God

does

not

have

peace

with

God

as

an

enemy

to

God

for

it

does

not

submit

to

God's

law

indeed

it

cannot

we

need

to

be

made

new

by

the

power

of

the

spirit

we

need

to

be

made

alive

that

we

might

be

able

to

see

God's

law

and

given

the

capacity

to

obey

it

those

who

are

in

the

flesh

cannot

please

God

and this

morning

if you

are not

in

Christ

if you

have

never

placed

believing

faith

in

him

you

must

must

hear

this

there

is

no

measure

of

your

good

doing

that

is

going

to

please

God

outside

of

Christ

everything

that

you

do

categorically

the

things

that

we

call

good

are

an

offense

to

God

they're

not

empowered

by

his

spirit

they're

not

for

his

glory

and

he

is

not

pleased

with

those

works

you

must

be

found

in

Christ

you

must

have

your

sin

wiped

away

you

must

have

the

righteousness

of

Christ

imputed

to

you

you

must

be

empowered

by

the

spirit

to

live

in

obedience

to

the

law

hear

that

cry

this

morning

on

the

day

of

judgment

you

cannot

and

will

not

be

able

to

appeal

to

any

working

of

your

own

our

cry

on

that

day

will

be

the

righteousness

of

Christ

it's

in

him

that

I

find

myself

before

you

justified

but

Paul

says

speaking

to

Christians

you

however

are

not

in

the

flesh

but

in

the

spirit

if

in

fact

the

spirit

of

God

dwells

in

you

raises

some

question

there

does

he

not

right

the

assumption

is

Christian

church

in

Rome

Christ

family

church

today

you

are

in

the

spirit

if

the

spirit

of

God

dwells

in

you

because

anyone

who does

not

have

the

spirit

of

Christ

does

not

belong

to

him

so

how

can

we

know

that

we

have

the

spirit

of

Christ

we

don't

pin

this

to

an

event

the

bible

never

gives

us

this

kind

of

language

walk

the

aisle

sign

a

card

raise

a

hand

some

of

us

came

to

faith

through

those

kinds

of

things

but

it

was

God

who

saved

us

in

the

midst

of

them

it

wasn't

the

event

that

saved

us

we

are

told

in

the

bible

that

we

are

to

examine

our

lives

and

see

if

we

have

the

spirit

by

the

fruit

that

we

are

producing

again

the

works

do

not

save

us

but

the

evidence

that

we

have

been

saved

verse

10

says

but

if

Christ

is

in

you

although

the

body

is

dead

because

of

sin

the

spirit

is

life

because

of

righteousness

righteousness

that

it

produces

!

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

and

here

Paul

ties

the

bow

on

that

overarching

point

that

began

in

chapter

1

and

verse

4

carried

through

chapter

6

verse

5

and

find

its

further

explanation

here

in

chapter

8

begun

by

the

spirit

kept

by

the

!

empowered

for

righteous

living

the

spirit

of

life

gives

us

life

the

alternative

is

death

secondly

the

spirit

of

Christ

exalts

!

Christ

by

empowering

us

to

live

like

Christ

and

once

again

I'm

reaching

back

to

pick

up

a

title

given

to

the

spirit

this

time

to

verse

9

the

spirit

of

Christ

and

Paul

does

this

often

refers

to

the

spirit

as

the

spirit

of

Christ

and

as

a

brief

aside

I

just

want

to

say

to

you

again

I

said

this

last

week

whatever

gifts

of

the

spirit

you

may

think

have

ceased

or

continue

on

we

should

be

sure

that

anything

that

the

spirit

empowers

has

the

exaltation

of

Christ

as

its

aim

this

is

what

the

spirit

of

Christ

works

to

bring

about

!

this

is

a

person

supposedly

in

the

name

of

Christ

I

think

it

is

so

helpful

I

want

to

read

to

you

again

a

quotation

from

a

contemporary

pastor

by the

name

of

Dan

Phillips

and

then

we'll

get

to

verses

12

and

13

he

said

this

show

me

a

person

obsessed

with

the

Holy

Spirit

and

his

gifts

real

or

imagined

and

I

will

show

you

a

person

not

filled

with

the

Holy

Spirit

!

Show

me

a

person

focused

on

the

personal

work

of

Jesus

Christ

never

tiring

of

learning

about

him

thinking

about

him

boasting

of

him

speaking

about

and

for

and

to

him

thrilled

and

entranced

with

his

perfections

and

beauty

finding

ways

to

serve

and

exalt

him

tirelessly

exploring

ways

to

spend

and

be

spent

for

him

growing

in

character

to be

more

and

more

like

him

and

I

will

show

you

a

person

who

is

filled

with

the

Holy

Spirit

this

is

the

work

of

the

spirit

of

Christ

and

the

life

of

believers

that's

never

lose

sight

of

the

fact

that

the

spirit

giving

us

life

making

dead

people

alive

and

working

in

us

to

bring

about

obedience

is

the

greatest

of

his

miracles

all

of

the

other

miracles

that

you

can

observe

in

the

scripture

are

simply

pointing

!

us

to

that

greater

miracle

regeneration

justification

sanctification

this is

the most

wonderful

thing

that the

spirit

does

in our

midst

so

Paul

says

so

we're

debtors

not

to the

flesh

to live

according

to the

flesh

having

been

delivered

from

the

bondage

to

sin

having

been

made

new

we're

no

longer

to

live

for

the

flesh

but

rather

!

For

if

you

live

according

to

the

flesh

you

will

die

but

if

by

the

spirit

you

put

to

death

the

deeds

of

the

body

you

will

live

so

remember

that

we

already

have

life

it's

already

been

given

to

us

so

Paul's

using

this

idea

of

sanctification

both

in

the

what

is

and

what

is

coming

to

be

the

already

and

the

not

yet

Paul

has

said

that

justification

necessarily

leads

to

sanctification

while

our

justification

is

entirely

a work

of

God

it

is

monergistic

God

is

the

one

who

justifies

our

sanctification

is

synergistic

we play

a part

in this

notice

verse 13

it says

if by the

spirit

you put

to death

the deeds

of the

flesh

there's a

both

and

at work

here

it is

empowered

by the

spirit

but having

had our

natures

changed

we also

play a

role

in the

process

on the

back of

your

bulletin

today

there's

a

quotation

from

J.C.

Ryle

that I

have

appreciated

from his

book

holiness

he said

in

justification

the word

to be

addressed

to man

is

believe

only

believe

in

sanctification

the word

must be

watch

pray

and

fight

so you

see the

monergistic

justification

and the

synergistic

sanctification

there in

J.C.

Ryle's

quotation

on this

side of

glory

we will

maintain

the corrupted

nature

of our

flesh

we have

been set

free

from the

power

of sin

but yet

sin

still

walks

closely

with us

if we

have

believed

in

Christ

if we

have been

granted

his

spirit

then

our

natures

have

fundamentally

changed

but we

have yet

to experience

our

full

and final

liberation

I hope

that you

with me

this morning

long

for that

day

when we'll

be glorified

and this

body of

death

will be

no more

I can tell

you

younger

people in

the room

as you

get older

you're going

to get

more tired

and you're

going to

long for

that day

to come

oh

the day

oh

the day

when no

longer

I carry

about

this

corrupted

nature

of my

flesh

recall

Paul's

words

at the

end of

chapter 7

beginning

in verse

21

he said

I find

it to be

a law

that when

I want

to do

right

evil

lies

close

at hand

for I

delight

in the

law

of God

in my

inner

being

see there

his

changed

nature

he delights

in God's

law

in his

inner

being

he says

but I

see in

my

members

another

law

waging war

against the

law of

my mind

and making

me captive

to the law

of sin

that dwells

in my

members

right

I want to do

what's right

but it just

seems so

hard

sometimes

what does

he say

in verse

24

wretched

man

that I

am

who

will

deliver

me

from

this

body

of

death

and I'm

glad he

knows

the answer

to that

which he'll

tell us

in

verse

25

but before

we read

verse

25

I want

to read

a quotation

to you

from

John

MacArthur's

commentary

on

verse

24

he

writes

it is

reported

that near

Tarsus

where Paul

was born

a certain

ancient

tribe

sentenced

convicted

murderers

to an

especially

gruesome

execution

the corpse

of the

slain

person

was lashed

tightly

to the

body

of the

murderer

and remained

there

until the

murderer

himself

died

you can

imagine

you were

convicted

of murder

the dead

person's

body

was tied

onto you

so that

it couldn't

be taken

off

in a few

days

which

doubtless

seemed

an eternity

to the

convicted

man

the decay

of the

person

he had

slain

infected

and killed

him

so

perhaps

we can't

say with

massive

certainty

perhaps

this is what

Paul has

in mind

and perhaps

this was a

known

thing

that happened

when he

says who

will deliver

me from

this body

of death

maybe he's

thinking about

this type

of sentence

right

I can feel

it on me

and it still

is infecting

me

who will

deliver me

and in

verse 25

he says

thanks be to

God

through

Jesus

Christ

our

Lord

right

and then

chapter 8

and verse 1

there is

therefore now

no condemnation

for those

who are in

Christ Jesus

this

this side of

glory

we will not

live

perfectly

like Christ

nevertheless

we are to be

growing in

holiness

across the

span

of our

lives

it's not

going to

look great

moment to

moment

and day

to day

but

through

careful

attention

through the

application

of the

ordinary