The Spirit Of Christ

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

And it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

We continue this morning in our series in the book of Romans.

You'll remember that Romans is a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s AD.

And it is called Romans because it is written to the churches in the city of Rome.

Romans is about the gospel. It's about the good news of Jesus' life and death and resurrection.

Just like I did last week, I want to remind you where we are at in the larger flow of the letter going back to chapter 5.

You'll remember in chapter 5, Paul tells us we are saved by Jesus' life and death and resurrection, not by what we do.

Okay, so it's God's grace, not our works.

Chapter 6, Paul then goes on to say, what?

However, even though you're not saved by works, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, live however you want.

You still live lives of holiness.

Then in chapter 7, we begin to ask this question, well, how do those lives of holiness happen?

Chapter 7 tells us, well, it doesn't happen by the law.

More rules will not save you.

Which brings us to chapter 8, which finally provides the answer, holiness comes by the Spirit of God.

Holiness comes by walking in the Spirit.

And so that's where we left off last week.

Remember last week we asked this question, how is it that we walk by the Spirit?

How do we walk in that holiness?

And we saw that the answer was by setting our minds on the things of the Spirit.

The things of the Spirit are the things of Christ and his work and the benefits that flow to us because of those things.

That we're living all of life in light of the resurrection.

So that's where we left off last week.

Verse 5, 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.

We might say that last week we asked the question of what it is that we do.

This week we turn to the other question, what does God do?

What does the Spirit work in us?

What does the Spirit do in us?

As we walk by the Spirit, it cannot simply be us setting our minds, but also God at work.

This week I'm going to use the same strategy I've been relying on.

I'm going to just preach in a straight line and we're going to go verse to verse from top to bottom.

With that I invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 8 starting at verse 9.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

You can find that on page 8 of your worship guide.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word.

Jeremiah chapter 23 tells us that God's Word is a rock that breaks a hammer into pieces,

Jeremiah 23 · chapter mention

which is a way of saying that there is nothing so powerful that God's Word is not more powerful still.

So that's why we read now Romans chapter 8 starting at verse 9.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

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, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Verse 11.

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 moral bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you again this morning for your Word.

And we thank you also for your Spirit that comes and gives us life.

We ask that you would pour out the Spirit now in a special way among us.

And that you would, by your Spirit, make your Word clear to us.

That it would cut us to the heart.

That it would burn within us.

That we would have continued zeal and excitement and enthusiasm about you and your gospel and your grace

that would cause us to follow after you in faith.

And we ask that you do this not because we've earned it or deserved it.

And we know that we haven't and we don't.

We simply ask for it in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Years ago, a member of our church here at Cheyenne Mountain went off to college.

And that member connected with a college ministry.

And that college ministry said to him,

Well, you know what?

It's great that you are a Christian, but you need something else.

It's great that you're a Christian, but you also need a second baptism.

You need the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

You can be a Christian, in other words, at least according to these folks, and not have the Spirit of God.

Now, what are we to make of that?

What are we to think of that?

Is it true that some Christians have the Holy Spirit and others don't?

Is it true that we need another baptism or a second baptism?

Paul answers that for us here in this passage.

In verse 9, we pick up where we left off in verse 8 from last week.

Verse 8 from last week says this,

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

And I'm going to remind you again, and probably will in future weeks,

what we mean when we speak of the flesh.

You'll see the same definition from last week on page 7 of your worship guide.

The flesh is human nature as corrupted, directed, and controlled by sin.

So those who are in the flesh, those who are directed and controlled by sin, cannot please God.

In fact, they're fighting against Him.

They're rebelling against Him.

They cannot do what the Christian can do, which is to do the right thing for the right reason.

You'll remember this is what theologians call total inability.

That outside of God's power in our lives, it is impossible for us to please Him.

It's impossible for us to do things for God's honor and His glory,

to do the right things for the right reason.

That's a quick review, which takes us right back to this week, verse 9.

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 you.

Okay, so yes, verse 8, those who are in the flesh cannot serve God, please God.

But, and, verse 9, that's not true of you.

And that's not true of you, because all Christians, every single Christian, has the Holy Spirit.

There is no such thing as a Christian who does not have the Holy Spirit living within him or her.

And that answers our question.

You don't need a second baptism.

If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit.

And if you have a question about that, it's right here in verse 9.

Now, Ephesians chapter 4 tells us you can grieve the Spirit.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

1 Thessalonians chapter 5 says you can quench the Spirit.

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

But what must be true if you grieve or quench the Spirit?

You cannot grieve or quench a Spirit you don't have.

By the way, you might be wondering,

Okay, if it's so clear in Romans chapter 8 that all Christians have the Spirit,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

why would there be some Christians going around and teaching that not all Christians do,

that some don't, that they need this second baptism?

The answer is that it's basically a certain interpretation of the book of Acts that is incorrect.

Okay, I'll just leave it at that.

The point, though, is this.

Remember I said we're preaching from top to bottom.

The point of verse 9 is that there are not two classes of Christians.

The point of verse 9 is there are not two classes of Christians.

You do not have normal and average Christians who lack the Holy Spirit

and then super extra special Christians that you do.

If you are a Christian, you have God's Spirit living within you.

It's great news.

If you're a Christian, if you belong to Jesus Christ,

if you follow Him in faith,

God, by His Holy Spirit,

has taken up residence in you and your life.

If you're a Christian,

God, by His Holy Spirit,

lives in you.

Now, I've been telling you that Romans is the fifth gospel,

which is to say that what Paul teaches,

Jesus taught first.

Jesus speaks about this a lot in the gospel of John.

John chapter 14, He says,

John 14 · chapter mention

I'm going to ask God the Father,

and He will give you another helper to be with you forever.

Even the Spirit of truth,

whom the world cannot receive.

Remember, those who are in the flesh can't please God.

Because it, that is the world,

neither sees Him nor knows Him.

You know Him,

for He dwells with you

and will be in you.

Jesus then, in John chapter 16,

John 16 · chapter mention

says something even more shocking.

There, He says,

it's actually good that I leave the earth.

It's actually a good deal.

It's a good trade.

It is good that I leave the earth

because in exchange,

you're going to receive the Holy Spirit

and receiving the Holy Spirit

is actually better than having me.

Now that's counterintuitive.

It's a little mind-blowing.

Jesus is saying,

look, it's actually better

that you're here in 2026 with the Holy Spirit

than in the early years A.D.

when Jesus is walking the earth.

When Jesus is walking the earth,

He interacted with some people

in certain places at certain times.

Now, He sent His Holy Spirit

to live in you in every place

at every time.

The gift of the Spirit

is so important

that it is better that Jesus is in heaven

than that He is here.

Jesus then in John 14 says this,

In that day,

you will know

that I am in my Father

and you in me

and I in you.

You in me

and I in you.

Jesus says that He lives in you

by His Holy Spirit.

Notice in verse 9,

first of all, we have the Spirit.

Then it's called the Spirit of God

and then suddenly,

we call it the Spirit of Christ.

Which is to say,

while we don't divide

the three persons of the,

where we don't,

not divide,

we don't join or fuse

the three persons of the Trinity,

they have their separate

persons and actions, right?

They are so closely identified,

they work so closely together

that the Holy Spirit

can be called

the Spirit of Christ.

This is what theologians call

the indwelling

of the Holy Spirit.

Now you might be wondering,

well, how exactly

does this indwelling work?

It's a great question.

It's a mystery.

What I can tell you is this,

Jesus ascends

to the right hand

of God the Father Almighty

and sends the Holy Spirit

to His church.

That's what we see

in the book of Acts,

the outpouring

of God's Spirit

in answer

to His promise.

Okay, that's verse nine.

Raises a question, though,

for us.

If it's so good

to have the Spirit,

if it's better

than having Jesus,

why is it?

Paul goes on to tell us

in verses 10 and 11.

It is better

to have the Spirit

because the Spirit

means life now

and the Spirit

means life

in the future.

The Spirit

means life now

and the Spirit

means life

in the future.

But Paul says it

in a way

that could potentially

be confusing.

So this is verse 10.

He says,

the body is dead

because of sin.

What body?

And how exactly

is that body dead?

When Paul says

your body,

he is referring

to your whole person,

your embodied existence,

and the fact

that it still

has the presence

of sin.

You'll remember before

we've talked about

the fact that sin

has three elements

to it.

It has a power,

a penalty,

and a presence.

Jesus in his life

and death

and resurrection

have dealt

with the power

and penalty

of sin

in the life

of the Christian.

The presence

of sin

remains.

Part of the presence

of sin

is the way

it affects

your entire

person.

It's present

in the sins

that you commit,

in the temptations

you face,

and it is present

in the way

that sickness

and decay

and death

and disease

are still

at work.

So the body

is death.

Death

is still

at work.

We could put it

another way.

Despite

the presence

of the Holy Spirit,

you still

struggle

with sin.

Despite

the presence

of the Holy Spirit,

your physical

body

will one

day die

and is

dying

now.

That's what it

means to have

the body

of death.

If you have

a body,

by the way,

which I think

you all do,

you know this.

I don't have to

convince you

that death

is at work,

at least if you've

made it past

a certain age.

that takes

us to the next

piece of verse

10.

Paul says

this,

if Christ

is in you,

although the

body is dead

because of sin,

the Spirit

is life

because of

righteousness.

Now,

we've already

talked about

how Christ

is in you.

He is in you

by the

indwelling

of the Holy

Spirit because

of Jesus

and God

the Father

sending the

Spirit to

the church.

We've already

talked about

verse 9,

how we moved

from Spirit

of God

to Spirit

of Christ.

Verse 10

tells us

the Spirit

is life.

Yes,

your body

has death

here

and

now,

but because

of the Holy

Spirit,

life

is what

is ultimately

true,

which raises

another question.

What does

that mean?

What does it

mean that you

have life

of the

Spirit?

Part of the

answer to

that question,

Paul's going

to unpack

in the rest

of Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8,

so I'm not

going to spoil

all of it

for you.

By the way,

some people

believe that

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

is the best

chapter in

the entire

Bible.

So we're not

going to tackle

all of it

this morning.

I'm going to

give you a few

examples,

though,

of what it

means to

have life

because of

the Spirit

of Christ.

have you

ever been

convicted

of your

sin?

If you're

a Christian,

you have to

say yes to

that.

It's part of

what it means

to follow

after Jesus.

If you've

ever been

convicted of

your sin,

that was

the Holy

Spirit at

work giving

you life.

have you

ever read

the Bible

and had

incredible

clarity

about Jesus

and his

work on

your behalf?

That was

the Holy

Spirit

illuminating

the Scriptures

for you.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

says we

can't actually

understand

spiritual

things,

the things

of God,

unless his

Holy Spirit

is at

work.

If you've

ever listened

to a sermon

and there's

just been so

much clarity

and truth

and life

that has

come to

you,

that is

ultimately

and finally

the work

of God's

Spirit,

not the

work of

the preacher.

It's the

work of

God's Spirit

giving the

preacher

clarity,

the work

of God's

Spirit

giving you

clarity.

That's the

Spirit

giving life.

Sometimes

people will

say,

you know,

before I

became a

Christian,

I would

listen to

the word,

I would

read it,

I would

go to

church,

and it

just

bounced

off of

me.

And it

bounced

off of

them

because the

Holy Spirit

was not

there giving

life.

It went

in one ear

and it

went out

the other

until one

day it

cut them

to the

heart.

And why

did it

cut them

to the

heart?

Because the

preacher was

amazing?

No,

because God's

Spirit was

at work

giving them

life.

Have you

ever had a

powerful sense

of God's

presence with

you in

suffering?

love?

That was

the Holy

Spirit.

We've

already

talked about

that.

Romans

Romans 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

remember

verse 5,

God's

love has

been poured

into our

hearts

through the

Holy Spirit

who has been

given to

us.

Paul's

speaking about

that.

If you

remember back

to chapter

5, he's

talking about

suffering.

He's

saying you

experience and

feel God's

love and

joy in the

midst of

trials and

hardships because

of the work of

His Holy

Spirit giving

life to

you.

But if

Christ is in

you, although

the body is

dead because

of sin, the

Spirit is

life because

of righteousness.

And there's

more.

More that we'll

talk about as we

work our way

through Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

I'll just give

you one more

example.

If you look

back on your

life and you

think back to

10 years ago,

and you

say to

yourself,

today I

have more

love, joy,

peace, patience,

kindness, gentleness,

and self-control

than I did

before, why is

that true?

It's not

true because

you made a

habit tracker and

worked on your

virtue.

It is true

because the

Holy Spirit,

the Spirit of

Christ, was at

work in you and

your heart and

your mind,

and your

life bringing

life to you.

The Spirit is

life because

of righteousness.

The point of

verse 10 is

this.

As a

Christian, you

do not simply

or merely

believe or do

different things.

Now you do, as

a Christian, there

are different

beliefs and

behaviors, right?

But it is not

merely or simply

that.

You also

have a new

power and

a new heart

at work

within you.

if you're a

Christian.

If you're a

Christian, you

do not merely

or simply

believe or do

different things.

No, you have

a new heart

and a new

power.

And as

the Spirit

works in you,

because the

Spirit works in

you, you know

more and more

that your

salvation

is real.

and as

the Spirit

works, you

have greater

and greater

assurance

of God's

love.

Verse 10

also tells us

the basis

of this life.

The Spirit

is life

because of

righteousness.

In other

words,

the Spirit

is at work

in you

because of

Jesus'

life

and death

and

resurrection.

Now remember

I told you

the Spirit

is good

because the

Spirit

gives you

life now

and gives

you life

in the

future.

It's the

future that

we see

in verse

11 which

tells us

we will

not have

to struggle

with the

body of

death

forever.

This is

verse 11.

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.

Paul

is saying

this.

God

the

Father

by the

power

of the

Holy

Spirit

raised

Jesus

Christ

from

the

dead.

And

if you

are a

Christian

if you

belong

to him

he will

do the

exact

same

thing

for you.

God

raised

Jesus

from the

dead

God

will

raise

you

from the

dead.

What's

true

of Jesus

will

become

true

of you.

What

is

Christ's

present

is

your

future.

That

future

is a

new

body

that

will

live

forever.

That

future

is a

new

body

that

is

completely

free

of

sin

and

temptation

and

disease

and

misery

and

decay.

It

will

not

be

a

body

of

death.

That's

what

Paul

means

by

mortal

bodies

in

verse

11.

It

will

be

a

body

of

life.

Remember

last

week

we

talked

about

the

body.

The

body

isn't

bad.

The

body

is

just

tainted

by

sin.

We're

going

to

have

bodies

in

heaven.

They

will

just

be

bodies

that

are

perfect.

1

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Corinthians

chapter

15

talks

about

Jesus

and

his

resurrection

as

the

first

fruits.

Now

first

fruits

is

an

agricultural

term.

When

you

look

at

the

first

fruits,

the

first

part

of

!

the

harvest,

it

shows

you

harvest

will

look

like.

In

other

words,

if you

want to

know

your

future,

look at

Jesus

Christ's

present.

Resurrected

from the

dead,

just

as you

will be.

And how

do you

know that

that will

be true?

There's

many ways

you can

know that

that's

true.

One

of them

in this

chapter

is the

presence

of the

Holy

Spirit

now.

Paul

is

saying,

do you

see the

Holy

Spirit

at work

in your

life

right now?

Well,

guess what?

Philippians

Philippians 1:6

chapter 1

verse 6

is true.

He

who

began

a good

work

in you

will

bring it

to

completion

at the

day of

Jesus

Christ.

And

what

is the

work

of the

Spirit?

We

see it

already

in

Jesus.

The

work

is to

give

you

life

in

your

body

and

your

soul

and

your

mind.

Romans

is the

fifth

gospel.

And

what

Paul

teaches,

Jesus

taught

first.

Again,

the

gospel

of

John

John 11 · chapter mention

chapter

11,

Jesus

says,

I

am

the

resurrection

and

the

life.

Whoever

believes

in me,

though

he

die,

yet

shall

he

live.

And

everyone

who

lives

and

believes

in

me

shall

never

die.

Do

you

believe

this?

Do

you

believe

it?

Do

you

believe

in

Jesus'

life

and

his

death

and

his

resurrection?

Do

you

repent

of your

sins

and

trust

him

to

cover

them?

And

do

you

accept

his

perfect

life

on

your

behalf?

Do

you

follow

him

in

faith?

If

so,

he

is

giving

you

a

resurrected

body

in

the

future

as

he

raises

you

from

the

dead

by

the

power

of

the

Holy

Spirit

just

as

he

did

in

Jesus

Christ.

And

he

is

giving

you

life

by

his

spirit

now.

the

power

that

raised

him

from

the

grave

now

works

in

us

to

powerfully

save.

He

frees

our

hearts

to

live

his

grace.

Now

go

tell

of

his

goodness.

Let's

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we do

thank you

and praise

you for

your

overwhelming

grace

and mercy

to us.

That you

do not

simply

give us

your

righteousness

and take

the

punishment

for our

sins,

but you

bring us

life

by your

spirit.

Life

that we

experience

now and

life we

look forward

to in

the future.

We ask

that you

would grow

by your

spirit

our

confidence

in this

hope,

that it

would

shape

our

hearts

and our

minds

and our

lives,

that we

would

live

by the

spirit,

by

minding

the

things

of the

spirit.

We ask

these

things in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.