A Romans Walking in the Spirit Chapter 8:1-11 esop certainly had a lot to say about life. So did Paul. Aesop s view of life wasn t to far off and he understood, at least to some degree, the fallen state of man. Take the following for example: THE WOLF AND THE CRANE A Wolf who had a bone stuck in his throat hired a Crane, for a large sum, to put her head into his mouth and draw out the bone. When the Crane had extracted the bone and demanded the promised payment, the Wolf, grinning and grinding his teeth, exclaimed: Why, you have surely already had a sufficient recompense, in having been permitted to draw out your head in safety from the mouth and jaws of a wolf. In serving the wicked, expect no reward, and be thankful if you escape injury for your pains. 1 Paul on the other hand, says that one can t serve the wicked and even escape injury. In fact, in serving evil one receives death. Moving on to our study we are told Chapter 8 is the high-water mark in Romans. The fact is generally conceded by all interpreters of this great epistle. Spencer said, If Holy Scripture were a ring and the epistle to the Romans its precious stone, chapter eight would be the sparkling point of the jewel. Godet labeled it, this incomparable chapter. Someone added, :We enter this chapter with no condemnation, we close with no separation and in between all things work together for good to those that love God. 2 I Introduction II The Law of the Spirit Verses 1-4 A Freedom from Sin and Death Verses 1-2 B Law s Failure, God s Success Verses 3-4 III Flesh Versus Spirit Verses 5-11 A The Flesh Verses 5-8 B The Spirit Verses 9-11 IV Conclusion I like Wiersbe s breakdown of this chapter. He see it as a chapter dealing with freedom and fulfillment. He introduces his study this way: 1 Townsend, George Fyler, translator, Aesop s Fables, The Master Christian Library, AGES Software, Albany, OR, Version 8.0 2000 2 McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Vol. 4, Matthew - Romans, Thomas Nelson Inc., Nashville, TN 1982, p. 695.
On January 6, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed Congress on the state of the war in Europe. Much of what he said that day has been forgotten. But at the close of his address, he said that he looked forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. He named them: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. These words are still remembered, even though their ideals have not yet been realized anywhere in the world. Romans 8 is the Christian s Declaration of Freedom, for in it Paul declares the four spiritual freedoms we enjoy because of our union with Jesus Christ. A study of this chapter shows the emphasis on the Holy Spirit, who is mentioned nineteen times. 3 Wiersbe then goes on to identify the four spiritual freedoms: 1. Freedom from Judgment No Condemnation (8: 1-4) 2. Freedom from Defeat No Obligation (8: 5-17) 3. Freedom from Discouragement No Frustration (8:18-30) 4. Freedom from Fear No Separation (8:31-39) 4 We will be looking at this chapter over the next 5 weeks, keeping in mind there will be no class next Sunday because of Easter services. The fact someone is saved doesn t automatically mean they stop trying to live by the rules. Even today we see Messianic Jews who live as if God demands they continue to walk as if they were Orthodox Jews. There are Gentile believers who voluntary put themselves back under the law. The result as we saw last week in Chapter 7 is a life of frustration, where the constant battle between the Law of the Spirit and the Law of Sin are at war within us. As we strive to work at keeping the one, we find ourselves being driven by the other. The end result can be a sense of frustration and failure. To often Satan can defeat the believer by encouraging the feeling of defeat and unworthiness. And the believer is unworthy. But our worthiness isn t the issue. God s mercy and love is. Paul ended Chapter 7 by stating: Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Now in Chapter 8 he explains how we can live in this reality. As Paul states in verse 1 of Chapter 8 Verses 1-2: There is no condemnation for the believer. Even when we fail we have already been found not guilty because our guilt has been expiated. Our salvation and eternal security isn t the issue here. And even more, we have been set free by the Spirit of Law. In other words, our lives are typified by Spirit, not flesh. As we remember this and live by, or through, the Spirit we will not be under the power of sin and death. So from a sense of defeat comes the message of hope and victory. It should be noted that in some translations, verse 1 ends with the words who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Better Greek manuscripts place these words in verse 4. 3 Wiersbe, Warren W., Be Right, Chariot Victory Publishing, Colorado Springs, CO, 1977, p. 86. 4 Ibid., adapted from p. 87-94. ) 122 (
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6). It is too bad that some churches, some shepherds, and some believers don t remember this truth and instead of finding freedom, they find bondage. Again the issue here is how we choose to live the Christian life, either by striving through our own strength, or living in dependency on the Holy Spirit to live it through us. Dr. McGee gives an excellent analysis of verse 2. The Spirit of life means not only a principle of law, but also the authority which is exercised by the Spirit. The Spirit of life means the Holy Spirit who brings life because He essentially is life. He is the Spirit of life. In Christ Jesus means that the Holy Spirit is in complete union with Christ Jesus. Because the believer shares the life of Christ, He liberates the believers. The law of sin and death is the authority that sin had over our old nature, ending in complete severance of fellowship with God. That new nature could not break the shackles at all. Only the coming of a higher authority and power could accomplish this, namely the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit operates upon the new nature, which is vitally joined to the life of Christ. The man in Romans 7, who was joined to the body of the dead, is now joined to the living Christ also. 5 Verses 3-4: The whole point is the law can t make us righteous. In fact, as Paul has been saying, sin uses our weaknesses in conjunction with the law to try to cause us to fail. So sin using law leads us to death. On the other hand what law couldn t do, God could. He intervened by sending His Son who could keep the law and therefore accept the judgment we deserved. He reminds us that Christ came in the likeness of humanity. but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (Philippians 2:7). Christ, being sinless, was able to experience the judgment due to us by taking our sin upon Himself. Here Paul turns to the Old Testament imagery describing Christ as a Sin Offering. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). The LORD said to Moses, Say to Aaron and his sons: These are the regulations for the sin offering: The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the LORD in the place the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy. The priest who offers it shall eat it; it is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in a holy place. The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken; but if it is cooked in a bronze pot, the pot is to be scoured and rinsed with water. Any male in a priest s family may eat it; it is most holy. But any sin offering whose blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place must not be eaten; it must be burned (Leviticus 6:24-30). 5 Ibid., p. 695. ) 123 (
Paul talks about condemning sin in sinful man. Actually this can be translated/understood as God condemning sin through Christ as he carried our sins in His flesh. Harrison speaks to the two ways of understanding this phrase by noting: It should be noted again that, in the Greek, sinful man is simply flesh. It is possible that in the flesh is intended to be correlated with through the flesh at the beginning of the verse, in which case the NIV translation is justified. However, since flesh can be used of Christ apart from any sinful connotation, it is also possible to refer the phrase to the Savior rather than to sinful humanity. The viewpoint is well expressed by John Murray: In that same nature which in all others was dominated and directed by sin, God condemned sin and overthrew its power. Jesus not only blotted out sin s guilt and brought us nigh to God. He also vanquished sin as power and set us free from its enslaving dominion. And this could not have been done except in the flesh. The battle was joined and the triumph secured in that same flesh which in us is the seat and agent of sin. 6 And thus, in the incarnation, Christ s spotless life, and his sacrificial death for our sin, we are in turn made positionally righteous. The law has been satisfied. And we, as believers, live in the spirit and not in the flesh. How we do this? By being dependent on the Spirit living positionally through us. The law can now serve as a moral and ethical guide. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the LORD. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34). Verses 5-8: First we see, from Paul s careful wording, that here he is comparing the unregenerate with the spiritual man. He describes the results of living in the flesh versus living in dependency on the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, as believers we can fall into the trap of trying to live the Christian life carnally rather than in dependency on the Spirit. (Keep in mind we know that believers can be caught up in carnality because this was Paul s concern when writing to the Corinthians.) His primary concern is to again identify the differences between being in the flesh and in the spirit. Here the first thing we should notice is that one s mind set, whether carnal or spiritual, impacts what draws our focus. I have seen plenty of individuals who claim to be believers whose lives are typified by struggle. They wonder why God hasn t made things easier. But if you look at their priorities, you find they don t include God to any great extent. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). 6 Harrison, Everett F., The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Romans, Zondervan Interactive Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1990 ) 124 (
On the other hand, those whose focus is on God are drawn by and involved in the things of God. They can be defined as spiritually minded. The carnally minded end up dead while those who are spiritually minded end up with life, spiritual life. Not surprisingly, those who are carnally minded have no interest in the things of God, and therefore can t please Him. Those who are spiritually minded are concerned for the things of God and live in a way, in dependency on Him, to please Him. Verses 9-11: Now Paul moves from describing the unbeliever to speaking directly to the believer. If we are believers, then we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and it is He who controls us, not our carnality. Paul makes it very clear that if someone is a believer, then he is indwelt by the Spirit. If he is not indwelt by the Spirit, he is not a believer. Unlike the unbeliever, we are indwelt by the Spirit and we have to depend on Him to deal with the old nature we are dragging around in our flesh. By the way, Paul isn t questioning whether or not the individuals he s speaking to are believers. As Harrison notes: The if is not intended to raise doubt, as though to suggest that some of Paul s readers might have to be excluded. The if in this type of construction presupposes the truth of the statement. 7 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). Even as believers our body is still dead due to sin. It is our spirit which is alive in God s Spirit. This is Paul s conclusion. It is the Spirit s resurrection power which is also the source of our resurrection and the ability to have victory over the sin which dwells in our flesh. So while there may be a struggle, if we give up the fight and allow God to work through us, then we will experience victory. Conclusion: Paul has shown us the difference between carnality and spirituality. He has told us that as believers we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and even though we are caught between the sin of the flesh and the spirituality of the mind, we can have victory over sin because we can let the Spirit live through us. And so in the coming verses Paul encourages us once again with the truth of our sonship. But more of that in two weeks. Meanwhile let us be comforted knowing the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4). 7 Ibid. ) 125 (
Breathe on me, Breath of God, Fill me with life anew, That I may love what Thou dost love, And do what Thou wouldst do. Breath on me, Breath of God, Until my heart is pure, Until my will is one with Thine, To do and to endure. Breathe on me, Breath of God, Breathe on me, Breath of God, Till I am wholly Thine, so shall I never die, Until this earthly part of me but live with Thee the perfect life Glows with They fire divine. Of Thine eternity. 8 8 Hatch, Edwin, The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration, Breathe on Me, Breath of God, Word Music, Waco TX, 1986, #259. ) 126 (
Romans Walking in the Spirit Chapter 8:1-11 I Introduction II The Law of the Spirit Verses 1-4 A Freedom from Sin and Death Verses 1-2 B Law s Failure, God s Success Verses 3-4 III Flesh Versus Spirit Verses 5-11 A The Flesh Verses 5-8 B The Spirit Verses 9-11 IV Conclusion I Introduction: II The Law of the Spirit: A. Freedom from Sin and Death: (2 Corinthians 3:6) B. Law s Failure, God s Success: (Philippians 2:7; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Leviticus 6:24-30; Jeremiah 31:33-34)
III Flesh versus Spirit: A. The Flesh: (1 Corinthians 2:14) B. The Spirit: (Ephesians 1:13) IV Conclusion: (1 John 4:4) Personal Application: Let us continue to focus on the Lord and the victory He has given us over sin. Let us enjoy the victory that comes through dependency on His Spirit. Prayer for the Week: Lord as we focus on the time of Your sacrifice on the cross, let the reality of all that comes with salvation be what drives our walk and our joy. Amen.