Message was delivered at the Sunday morning worship service, January 3, 2009 by:

Transcription

1 Message: Surrendering to the Spirit Text: Romans 8:11-17 Message was delivered at the Sunday morning worship service, January 3, 2009 by: Jon Cardwell Sovereign Grace Baptist Church 5440 Alabama Highway 202 Anniston, Alabama INTRODUCTION: One of the truths that we understand from the first ten verses of this chapter is that the Christian life means that once we are saved, the general direction of our lives is toward godliness because we desire to draw nearer to God; our general direction in life is toward holiness because God is holy; our general direction in life a desire for righteousness to be worked out in our lives because of the justice-ness God has worked in us through Christ Jesus our Lord: For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17). This general direction of godliness, holiness, righteousness in the Christians life is the reality of the salvation that God has wrought in the sinner by His sovereign grace. This is what it means to Walk after the Spirit and this is why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We also closed last week s message with some instruction on Walking in the Spirit as a specific commandment to combat fulfilling the lust of the flesh. What follows in this portion, and in the sections of this chapter to come, is the groundwork that allows the very practical truths of Romans to take shape in our lives that are being conformed to the image of Christ. The Christian life must be one of abandon first before it becomes one of activity; it must 1

2 be more of denying first before it can become one of doing. Before we can take up our Cross and follow Jesus, we must first, deny self. Before we can earnestly contend for the faith, we must be much more acquainted first with Surrendering to the Spirit. We will look at what this means through this portion of text in three main points: (1) Perfect Logic of Sovereign Grace; (2) Precious Adoption as Children of God; and (3) Powerful Privilege as Joint-Heirs with Christ. I. PERFECT LOGIC OF SOVEREIGN GRACE. (Rom 8:11-13) [Rom 8:11] Remember what we read some weeks back in Rom 6:4, Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life; this verse speaking of our being dead to sin because in salvation, we have been buried in the likeness of Christ s burial. Then Rom 6:5 says, For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; which speaks of that which takes place because of the reality of regeneration (being a new creation in Christ), referring to our resurrection being like unto Christ s. The apostle continues to shed light on the blessedness of that resurrection here. If we are saved by God s grace, then it is certain that we have the 3 rd Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, living in us, as we read last week in [v9], Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. The power that is in you through God s saving grace is the very power of God Himself, the indwelling Holy Spirit. As the resurrection was the sign and seal of the certainty of God s provision for atonement in the death of His only Son upon Calvary s Tree, likewise is our resurrection unto newness of life the sign and seal of the certainty of our salvation by a good and gracious God. SIDE NOTE: This text presents to us a proof text for the doctrine of the Trinity, because this verse tells us that the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead; whereas Jn 2:19-21, Jesus said that He would raise Himself from the dead; and also, Eph 1:17-20 attributes the resurrection to the Father. 2

3 Yet, follow the perfect logic of God here [v12]. Therefore because of what Christ has done in condemning sin in the flesh through His crucifixion (v3), because we have been set free from the law of sin and death (v2), and since we are no longer condemned because we are in Christ (v1), we are not indebted to the flesh to live according to (after) the flesh. Why? Because we have the very Person of God, the Holy Spirit, with all the power of God to raise Jesus from the dead, dwelling in us; equipping us; enabling us; empowering us to do what? to mortify, to kill the deeds of the body through the power of the Holy Spirit [v13]. Now, there are three things that we can say concerning this verse. (1) It draws for us a contrasting comparison between the flesh and the Spirit; a life lived according to the flesh, that is, the unsaved unregenerate life ultimately ends in eternal death, whereas a life lived according to the Spirit, that is, a life saved by God s grace ultimately receives eternal life. The word shall, used twice here in English, expresses the future tense of the original Greek. (2) Yet, it clearly brings instruction for the believer as we see the word For. It is saying to us, For this reason It is speaking to believers who are not debtors to the flesh (v12), who are being quickened, made alive in our mortal bodies by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. In a very real sense, the deeds of carnality bring death to us, especially as it deadens the very power that should be controlling us and enabling us. This week s quote from John Owen says, The indulgence of one sin opens the door to further sins. The indulgence of one sin diverts the soul from the use of those means by which all other sins should be resisted. (3) We do not have the authority to mortify the sinful deeds of the flesh in and of ourselves: we are not our own, and purchased with a price through Christ s precious blood (1 Cor 6:19-20); and though we are empowered by God s Spirit (v11), we are debtors to God (v12), and therefore, even to put to death the deeds that are in my mortal flesh requires the authorization from God: and we have that right here in v13. Now, to carry out that authorization, we must surrender to God s power. 3

4 II. PRECIOUS ADOPTION AS CHILDREN OF GOD. [Rom 8:14-15] Our surrender to God s power is basically the acknowledgement of the revelation truth that we are brought into the family of God. These two verses tell us the very same thing that the prologue to John s gospel says in ch.1:12, But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. [v14]. As I am led, that is more literally, carried by the Spirit, I surrender to Him; and as I surrender more and more to the Spirit of God in humble subjection, He lifts me up in power to carry out that authority as a son of God. When we were in the throes of salvation, before grace kissed our soul, the conviction of the Holy Spirit was illuminating the eternal impact and the temporal implications of sin. It was frightening. Yet, now that we have peace with God through Christ Jesus, not only are we delivered from being enemies of God, we are deemed to be His sons and daughters by the glory of God s grace, adopted into the kingdom of heaven [v15]. As the revelation of this truth arrests us more and more, surrender to that truth becomes more real and more certain. III. POWERFUL PRIVILEGE AS JOINT-HEIRS WITH CHRIST. (Rom 8:16-17) As surrender to the Holy Spirit increases in the Christian life, the reality and certainty of this adoption is strengthened within us [v16]. We hear the Spirit s voice more clearly through the open pages of God s revealed and infallible Word. The more the manifestation of this truth in our day to day lives, the greater the increasing witness of that truth will be within us, empowering us to surrender even further to the Spirit s leading. We begin acting more like sons with whom God is well pleased, than sinners that can hardly approach the throne of grace. 4

5 Another witness our spirits receive from the Holy Spirit is the truth of what we have been learning concerning our own sanctification, what we have been learning here in ch.8. The Holy Spirit testifies of our CONDITION in sanctification, as we have seen that we Walk After the Spirit (vv1-10). The Holy Spirit also testifies of our POSITION by sanctification, as we are seeing now in this portion (vv11-17) in our Surrendering to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will additionally testify to our EXPECTATION through sanctification, which we will examine in the portion to come (vv18-27) in our Hoping in the Spirit. [v17] We have been told that we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. That is a certainty in the Word of God because our inheritance is not based upon what we do but on what Christ has done. But, there is often confusion in the words of this verse, if so be that we suffer with Him It is at times taken by some to mean that there is something we must do or provide in order to receive our inheritance or even, as some say, the fullness of our inheritance. Yet, to me, that doesn t make sense because it would suggest two erroneous perspectives: (1) it would add to grace, confounding it; and (2) it would add to Christ, making Him insufficient. Christ is our inheritance. His glory is our reward. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn 3:2). Dear ones, we are ultimately glorified in body so that we may receive, without hindrance from our mortal flesh a more magnificent, more exalted revelation of our Savior, face to face! Then what does it mean when it says, if so be that we suffer with Him? Jesus came by His glory through the Cross and so must we. What does this do? Does it increase our inheritance? Not in the sense that we can get something more than Christ. But when we suffer with Him, when we deny self, take up our crosses and follow Him, we are surrendering to the Spirit in order that the truth that we ARE joint-heirs with Christ is manifest in us. [Lk 19:13-27] He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to 5

6 receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. Surrendering to the Spirit: applying discipleship principles to my life for a fuller life, a richer life in Christ Jesus, and by this, the eternal benefits of the inheritance to come are manifested in my mortal flesh now. 6