The Greatest Chapter - Romans 8:5-11

This is ERC Sundays, the messages at Emmaus Rd.

Church in DeWitt, Iowa. ERC is a Church of people

striving to grow in Jesus and make him known to others through

our faith, words and actions. Find out more about our church

at emmausrdonline.org. Here's this week's message.

We are in Romans 8. This is week two of our series

in what scholars and theologians mostly call the greatest chapter

in the Bible. Full of the foundations of

Christian theology and doctrine, this chapter on its own is a

picture of faith, of what was poured out by God for us, what

that means for us to then engage in relationship with Him, and

what we have to look forward to at the coming of Christ.

It's all in this chapter. Last week Pastor Chris started

us off by actually going back to Chapter 7 in Romans because

there's an important part in there he reminded us.

Paul writes about this sort of war going on between our bodies

and our minds. Paul finds himself in this place

where his mind, his heart knows the good things he ought to do,

but his flesh, his body is trapped doing the things he

knows he ought not to do. That probably feels familiar to

to any of you who are in this Christian Walker are really just

on the face of this earth. There's there's good things and

there's bad things. There's things we should do and

less good things that we sometimes do do.

He impressed upon us last week that our will and the strength

of that our heart, whatever it may be, is not enough on its own

to do the good that we ought and that our will is bound to where

our heart is. So in this tension between

heavenly and earthly things or or good things and things of the

flesh, this is where we find ourselves in a Christian life.

I'm going to ask you a question this morning.

And a lot of time when I ask a question, I'm looking for a

response this morning. I would encourage you to keep it

to yourself. But I do want you to answer it,

even if you're not shouting it out, I want you to settle on an

answer in your mind. We're going to hold on to that

for later. The question I have for you,

what is the best, most noble, most righteous thing that you

have ever done? What is the best, most noble,

most righteous thing that you have ever done in your life?

This might be hard for some of some of you.

Want to shout this one out, Brag a little bit.

OK, hold on to that answer. I have another question.

What is the worst, most terrible, sinful thing that you

have ever done? Less eager to shout that one

out. I think in this war that Chris

set up for us last week, torn between the flesh and the

spirit. I think probably a lot of your

answers to the first question, the good question, are probably

rooted in the things on this side, in the fruits of the

spirit, Lovejoy, peace, patience.

And they're on the answers to the second question probably

fall more in line with this acts of the flesh list on the left.

And Paul in another one of his writings in Galatians 5, lays

both of these things out. He, he kind of expounds on,

expands on this war between the flesh and the spirit.

So how is it then? Where do we find ourselves, as

Paul did, knowing the things that are good, the things we

ought to do, the do's we should do, and yet so often finding

ourselves wrapped in the don'ts? What do we do with that?

How do we fight that? Do we need to win that fight if

we are to be worthy of the outpouring of Jesus Christ?

I think these are all questions, questions that we either have or

should wrestle with in this Christian life.

Is my best good enough and is my worst not bad enough to keep me

out? We turn to our text this morning

in Romans 8, starting at 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.

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, 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.

I'm going to guess at some point or another, anyone with even a

basic understanding of the biblical narrative, you

understand good and evil. At least you understand the

tension that there is in that. Those of us more familiar with

the Bible and the Christian faith, I think we have this

picture and this assumption. I'm going to put this word out

here. It's it's sanctification.

We have this idea that once we are in Christ, once we put our

faith in Jesus. OK, what does that life look

like? Well, Peter has some ideas.

He he writes in in his letters Jesus command on his disciples

first Peter 116 be holy for I am holy.

You're in you believe in Jesus shooting for the stars supposed

to be holy now he writes in second Peter 318 grow in grace

in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This Christian life is, is supposed to be on our way up and

to the left, right towards, towards these good things,

towards these things that we arrive on.

They're not just little glimpses, moments of joy, peace,

patience, all, all all these fruits, but like we actually

become love. We, we, we think we can get to

this point where it's, it's just a default setting.

Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,

self-control. We've arrived, we've done it.

We, we, we have all the fruits of the Spirit growing each and

every day a little more like Jesus.

That's what the Christian walk is supposed to look like, right?

Wrong. Because the moment that you find

yourself in something in the axe of the flesh side of this, you

are nothing like Jesus. He didn't do it even once.

So the moment we stray from the things of the Spirit to the

things of the flesh, we are nothing like Jesus.

We're fighting a fight that Christ has already won and one

that in our own strength, we are bound to lose.

This is the tension of the Christian life.

We feel like each and every day we're just a little more holy,

little more and but on some days doesn't it feel that we're not

holy at all that we're back to that starting point of 0 of

nothing. That's not even that crazy to

feel that way. We we have David and Abraham and

Samson, countless examples in the Old Testament, these guys

who were counted righteous by God, commissioned by godfather

Abraham, many sons supposed to be father of Israel, more

descendants, more numerous than the stars in the sands of the

sea. But he got sick of waiting and

decide, OK, God, your plan. You know what?

I'm maybe it wasn't through my wife.

Maybe it's through my wife's servant that I was supposed to

have all these descendants. So I'm going to I'm going to do

that. And then later on sojourn

sojourn in in Egypt. He was, he lied about who his

wife was for fear of the Egyptians killing him because

his wife was so beautiful. He was, he was a shame.

He was fearful of who his wife was.

Do you think Abraham's not in heaven?

He ended in kind of a weird place compared to where he

began. King David.

We started reading his Psalm of lament of repentance this

morning. King David, chosen by God,

defeated Goliath, delivered the people of Israel back into the

fold of God, into right standing with God and leading them in

God's ways. That Psalm was written in

response to committing adultery and murder.

He certainly wasn't on the up and to up into the right sort of

path. Samson, in all his strength and

might, fell pray to desires of the flesh.

He failed as well. Do you think that any of those

individuals aren't in the glorious splendour of eternity?

I have a hard time believing that they're not, but we don't

exactly get that state of perfection where they arrived

and lived out this life. Just so we live in this tension

because though if we confess our sins, if we put our belief, our

trust, that's really what it is in, in Jesus and in his his

saving grace, his blood poured out on the cross for us, his

resurrection from the dead. From that moment we have the

Holy Spirit in US brought about by faith.

So we are the living with mindset on the Spirit in a way,

but we have this pesky flesh hanging around too.

We haven't fully realized the greatness of Jesus's perfection.

We mostly just spend time living in the utter depravity of our

sin. And there comes a point, I

think, where if we are two sets in this Christian life, on

fleeing the don'ts and pursuing the do's, that we actually have

our minds set on the flesh. We think if we avoid enough of

these and do enough of these, we will arrive at perfection.

We'll have figured it out and ace this test.

We won't see that. So what are you pursuing?

Yes, we should live a life in response, in worship yet yet we

should hate sin. We should flee sin.

Yes. We should set our minds on the

things above, on these good things, Absolutely, yes.

But that's not ultimately the point.

The point is Jesus. The point is what Jesus did,

what he did for you. There's a couple of big ifs that

Paul points out, and they're good ifs because he says very

conclusively here, if our mind is set on the flesh what we

could do for good or avoid doing for bad, that mind is set on

death, we're set to fail. But a mindset on the Spirit is

life in peace. So then how are we in the Spirit

of God? The mind on the flesh is hostile

to God, but a mind in the Spirit is life in peace.

Verse 9. You, however, are not in the

flesh in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Anyone who is not of the Spirit of Christ does not belong to

him, he says in verse 8. Those who are in the flesh

cannot please God. Even if we avoided all the

don'ts, all the bad things perfectly, and even if we did

all the good things perfectly, that's still a mindset on the

flesh. Our works can't please God.

It's the Spirit of Christ. If Christ is in you, though the

body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of

righteousness. Another if 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. It's through his Spirit.

So we want that. We want to be in the Spirit.

We want his Spirit in US. How do we do that?

Well, first we have to we have to come to a couple we believe

statements. If the Spirit of him who raised

Jesus from the dead dwells in you, OK, you need to believe

that Jesus was raised from the dead and that same spirit that

in power raised him from the dead now lives in you if you

believe in Christ Jesus. We have to start with those

assumptions. How do we get that spirit in US

though, after those ifs, if those ifs are fulfilled?

Acts 238 Luke writes, repent and be baptized, everyone of you in

the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and

you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So at that point, that moment that you put your trust in

Jesus, that you say, God, I, I got a sin problem and I can't do

it on my own. I need you.

I need your blood poured out, Jesus, I need your hope of

eternal life. Jesus, you have the gift of the

Holy Spirit. Baptism then is an outward

expression. And yes, it is an outpouring of

the Holy Spirit, but the act of baptism is an outward expression

of what Christ has already done on the inside, of how he's made

you new on the inside. It's like a wedding ring.

Does this ring mean something? Mean something?

Does it mean everything? If I take it off, am I the less

married? No, but it still signifies that

I am married. I'm not suggesting we can take

off our baptism, but it's an outward sign of where our heart

is. This ring is an outward sign of

where my heart is. And there is an outpouring of

the Holy Spirit in baptism. Jesus himself was baptized.

If Jesus did it, you should probably do it.

Maybe not the cross thing, but baptism if he needed it.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, we certainly need it as

well. Because if the Spirit of him who

raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he will also give

life to your mortal bodies through his spirits who dwells

in you. If we can't of our own action

avoid doing enough of the don'ts and do enough of the do's, it's

the Spirit who then gives us life in this war, in this fight.

Paul says in Galatians 3, two, you did not receive the Spirit

by works of the law, but by hearing it with faith.

The Holy Spirit is given to anyone and everyone who trusts

Christ. The essence of both of those

actions, repentance and baptism, is faith.

What Jesus has done for you. So Church, that's what I want us

to focus on today and each day forward.

I think too often we beat ourselves up in the worst thing

that we've ever done. And we also too often look at

ourselves in the light of the best thing we've ever done.

The only thing that matters is what Jesus has done.

The Christian life is not about pursuing perfection arriving.

It's not about striving for acceptance or gaining something

from God or even paying him back for something for everything

that he has done. I said the word sanctification

earlier. That's really the experience of

the Christian life becoming more like Christ, but living in that

tension of not arriving in the fullness of the perfection of

Christ. We're going to fly through this.

Going to be a few churchy words here.

I have notes for those of you that like notes or want to take

all this down. There's a sheet with my notes

out at the on a table before you go out the doors there.

We're going to roll through a couple of these things quickly

because I think this is where our hope should be.

There's a couple different phases in sanctification, and

I'm going to use a couple other theological words with them

because really what I'm saying, the first phase of

sanctification, wow, sanctification, it's really

justification. As we understand that

justification is the moment of conversion that you've given

your life over to Christ. You are sanctified, you are made

holy, set apart in the work of Jesus Christ.

So even in that conversion moment, God's gift is full and

whole and ready for you right there.

Now. God sees us as holy because

we're united in faith to the perfectly holy Christ, not

earned by efforts received by faith.

OK, sanctification starts with justification, right?

That moment of belief in what Jesus has done on our behalf.

What we more experience as sanctification is this ongoing

war struggle between flesh and spirit.

It's a process being made holy over time, growing in practical

holiness, obedience and Christlikeness.

It involves putting off the old self, putting on the new.

Yes, of course you should be changed in Christ.

Of course your life should look different than it did before,

but it's on his strength. God continues the good work he

began. Philippians 16 said He began a

good work in You will bring it to completion at the day of

Jesus Christ. So we still live in this tension

of the bad things we ought not to do and the good things we

ought to do. How do we live in the Spirit and

pursue the things we ought to the means of a of a healthy

process of sanctification? Well, I hope they sound

familiar. It's the word of God, John 17.

Sanctify them in your truth. That's what God's Word does,

brings us to be more like him. It's in the Holy Spirit's power

what we just read. Obedience, prayer, fellowship,

trials and discipline. The writer of Hebrews out lies

these things that are a normal part of the Christian walk

because we haven't fully yet realized the full goodness of

our God, the fullness of God. What we're living in this

Christian life frees us from sins power, but not its

presence. And that's where our struggle

lies. That's where our struggle lies

between feeling like our best is good enough and our worst is too

terrible to forgive. So what do we have to hold to

Matt? Why even?

Why even try? If my best isn't good enough and

my worst isn't bad enough, what's his life about?

We have two sure and certain anchors.

The death of Christ, the pouring out of Jesus, and that moment

that we believe in him. And we also have the certainty

that he's coming back again. We have these two anchors in

time justification, belief in Jesus on the cross,

glorification, the completion of our sanctification when we're

fully freed from sins, presence and made perfectly holy,

transformed to be like Christ. May the God of peace himself

sanctify you completely at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ

Church. I'll invite the team up.

It's going to sound cliche, but I think a lot of the Christian

life is a lot less about what's in between these two anchor

points, and a lot more figuring out how to cherish and

understand the magnitude of these two anchor points.

That your depravity and your sin is not so much that Jesus's

blood could not overcome it, and that all the good you could earn

still doesn't punch your ticket to heaven.

It's always been about the blood.

Both of those points are what Jesus does, what Jesus did, that

he died, that he rose, and he's coming back again.

Yes, we should live a life of response, a life of worship, a

life in pursuit of the good things.

But on those days where the bad things seem to win, where the

tug of the flesh outweighs the still small voice of the Spirit,

what do you hold to? Don't hold on to the shifting

sands of the things in the middle.

It's always been about the blood.

It's always been about his return.

Those are the sure and certain hopes that we have.

So our great God, in your mercy and in your might, Jesus, I pray

that we would turn from our guilt, that we would turn to

trust in your forgiveness, that we would flee and hate sin, but

that our reliance would be on the completed work of what

you've done. That we could not earn or

deserve or perfect. It's a war you've already won.

Strengthen and preserve us in your truth.

Amen. Thanks for listening to the ERC

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