Life By the Spirit

This is a sermon I preached about a month ago at Wyatt.

Romans 8:12-17 "Life In the Spirit"

Introduction:
A few months ago I preached on Indwelling Sin in believers as we looked at Romans chapter 7. In that passage we learned that as believers we all deal with the sinful nature that we have always had. We do what we don’t want to do, we don’t do the things that we know we ought to do. Before chapter 7 in Romans 1-6 we see that in our natural state we are in rebellion to God Romans 1:1-3:20. In Chapter 3 vs. 21-4:25 Paul shares God’s plan to rescue us from the sinfulness that we all find ourselves in. In chapter 5 we see another turn and that is the hope that we have as a result of God’s effort to save us. Chapter 8 describes the Christian life by the Spirit.
Jordan preached chapter 8 verses 1-11. Now I’m going to preach chapter 8:12-17. Next week I will zero in on verse 13.
I’m picking up tonight where Adam left off this morning, and talking about Life by the Spirit. Once we come to know Christ and therefore God the Father by the Spirit certain things will begin to change about us.

I am going to talk about three characteristics of Christians (those who live by the Spirit):
1. Christians are at war with sin.
2. Christians are heirs of God and therefore identify themselves with God as their Father.
3. Christians suffer with and for Christ.

I. Christians put sin to death. Vs 12-13 We are no longer debtors to the flesh. “So then” this goes back to what has previously been said.
a.12 a- Since we are no longer under condemnation and are in the Spirit, we are no longer debtors to the flesh to live by the flesh.
i.You owe the flesh nothing. So many of us are walking around as though we have debts to the flesh that you are trying to pay.
ii. The problem is that “paying the flesh” results in death. It’s like paying for the bullets that someone puts in their gun to shoot you with.
b. 12 b-We are dependent on the Spirit. We work to rest and depend on the Spirit. A big part of the Christian life is understanding what it means to rely on the Spirit. It is not a “Let go and let God” mentality, as though we are not engaged, but it is also not a “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” kind of life either.
c. 13 a- Living by the flesh kills. John Owen put it best “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” This is a matter of fact, if you live according to the flesh you will die. This is a real warning, and we should take heed lest we find ourselves in this category as one who “lives according to the flesh.”
d. 13 b-Living by the Spirit means putting to death the deeds of the body. This necessarily implies that there will be “deeds of the body” to kill. Therefore it is not the absence of sin, but the fight against indwelling sin that we learned about in chapter 7. The big idea that we should learn is that true Christians have sin to kill.

Next week we will zero in on this verse and answer a few questions about it.
1. What does it mean to live according to the flesh?
2. What are the deeds of the body? How does this apply to believers?
3. What does it mean to put to death the deeds of the body?
4. How do you do this by the Spirit?


II. Christians are identified and identify themselves as children of God. Vs 14-16
a. This is the second in this sections’ description of true believers. It seems like anytime Paul writes to churches He assumes that unbelievers, and merely professing believers are present. It’s as though Paul is saying. “Test yourselves here brothers, those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God, and those who are led by the flesh are not the sons of God. Which are you?”
b. How do we know we have received this Spirit? You say ok, the question about whether or not we are led by the Spirit is a little too subjective for me. I get that believers are those who fight against sin, but how do I know I am a son of God?
c. Paul goes further and says that this Spirit that we are led by, causes us to apprehend our adoption as sons and causes us to cry out to God “Abba, Father.” As opposed to a slave/master relationship, this is a Father/son relationship. The way you view your relationship with God determines how you will act toward Him. If He is merely your slave master, you may be tempted to fall back into fear. In slavery, your master could snap and kill you. How many of you fear that your father might kill you? There is a fundamental difference in God being your slave master and being your Father.
d. Believing that God is your Father is the work of the Spirit. The Spirit testifies with our Spirit that we are children of God- This is not a sentimental “feeling” but an earnest biblical assurance that comes from deep biblical meditation and understanding of what the Bible says about true believers. There are three main ways that we know we are God’s children:
i. The declaration of Scripture- Believe and you will be saved.
ii. The fruit of obedience- If you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
iii. The third way is verse 16. The Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are sons of God. Dan Wallace puts it this way. “I know I’m a child of God not just because the Bible tells me so, but because the Spirit convinces me so”
e. We cannot pull this one verse out of its immediate context and try to turn this into some kind of very subjective warm and fuzzy feeling inside. If you are not trusting in Christ, and have no fruit of the Spirit who supposedly lives in you, you cannot have any assurance if you just have some warm and fuzzy feelings that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.

III. Christians Suffer With Christ Vs 17
a. The third description of a Christian in this passage is that Christians suffer with Christ.
b. How do we know we are heirs? We suffer with Christ. What does this look like in America?
i. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we suffer in persecution for bearing Christ’s name, though that will come in some way if we truly believe (sooner or later our faith in Christ is going to tick someone off).
ii. We can also suffer “with Christ” if when we have the cancer, or when we lose a loved one, or the degenerative disease leaves us crippled, we react in such a way that shows Christ to be sufficient.
iii. It is sometimes hard for us to think about suffering for Christ in any other way than persecution. How do you separate the pain of persecution for your faith that may be accompanied with getting beat up? Pain is pain, in one sense, and all pain in believers should be experienced “with Christ.” That is, the way you act under pain should make Christ look good, and should point to the fact that Christ is sufficient for you. Your joy in Christ should be more than the horror of whatever is causing your pain- whether it is a mob with sticks, a family member with a sharp tongue, or cancer. Christians suffer with Christ.

Children of God are not:
Debtors to the flesh
Passive about our sinfulness
Living by the flesh
Slaves to sin
Suffering with no reference to Christ

Children of God are:
Dependent on the Spirit
Active in the fight against sin
Living by the Spirit
Sons and heirs of God
Suffering With Christ

The call of the text this evening is to cast yourself on Christ. Seek out the kind of relationship in which you put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. Seek out the kind of relationship with God where you see Him as “Daddy.” Don’t waste your suffering, whatever kind it might be, and use it as an occasion to honor Christ by showing that He is more valuable than whatever you lost.