Life In The Spirit

Transcript

GR 1439
O7/11/10
Life in the Spirit
Romans 8:9-11
Gil Rugh

We're going to Romans 8 in your Bibles. There is no more glorious subject than the subject of God's salvation. The greatest manifestation of His love and grace and mercy and kindness is the provision He made for us as sinful human beings to be the recipients of His cleansing and forgiveness, new life. That's all in the salvation He has provided as the song does say, amazing to think that when we've been there 10,000 years we won't have any less time before us to glorify Him, to enjoy Him, to enjoy one another's presence than when we've first begun.

That's the subject of the book of Romans—the wonder of God's salvation, the message of the gospel, the good news from God regarding the provision He has made for fallen, sinful, condemned human beings. And that includes every one of us, there are no exceptions. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So the gracious provision of God's salvation is something of great importance and significance to every one of us. It is a salvation provided as a free gift, given to all who believe in Christ.

Now as we've talked about, this salvation that God has provided, we talk about it as the general word salvation, but it has various parts. But salvation comes as a packace. All the parts are included and guaranteed. We've noted particularly three aspects of our salvation—the past, the present and the future. The past we talk about in the context of justification. God providing His righteousness to all who believe in Jesus Christ. We are justified, declared righteous by God when we believe in Jesus Christ. That happens at that point in time when we understand and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. A second aspect is the present aspect of salvation, and that is the area we call sanctification. That has to do, as we generally talk about it, with our present ongoing walk. How do we live as a people God has set apart for Himself? The outward manifestation, if you will, of the righteousness He has provided for us in Christ the new life that has been given to us. For we not only died with Christ but were raised with Him, as Romans 6 talks about, to new life. But that's not the complete picture yet. There is a future dimension to our salvation. It's called glorification. That is the time when these physical bodies will undergo a change that will overcome their mortality and they will become immortal so that we can, through the realms of eternity, continue on and on in the presence of the eternal God.

So past, present and future; justification, sanctification, glorification. But they are all part of God's work of salvation. We distinguish between them but we cannot separate them. Everyone who is justified is sanctified, everyone who is justified and sanctified will be glorified. So we want to be careful. Great confusion comes when people not only distinguish between these parts of salvation, but they try to separate them and think you can be justified by a holy God but you may not be sanctified. It may not change greatly the way you live. It's all talking about that in Romans. It makes a great difference when you believe in Jesus Christ and are identified with Him in His death, God declares the penalty for our sin paid, you are declared righteous by Him. But you are also raised to a new life by the power of God. That means your life in all ways is now dramatically impacted. You are living a different life, a new life. You have been born again and God gives His solemn guarantee that He will bring this work of salvation to its final conclusion with the glorification of your physical body.

Romans 8 opened up, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. How those who were declared sinfully guilty, separated from God, under His condemnation, doomed to an eternal hell as we started out in the opening chapters of Romans, has now by the righteousness provided through the death of Christ, through faith in Him, come to a place where there is no condemnation of any kind to those who are in Christ Jesus. It's a totally new realm and sphere of existence to be in Christ, to be in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit same thing, versus being in the flesh. A new realm of existence.

You couldn't do this by your own works, you couldn't do this by keeping a perfect law. When God gave His law to the Jews they couldn't keep it. Verse 3 of chapter 8 told us, what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh, He dealt with it so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, in us who believe in Christ. What was the requirement of the Law? Righteousness. That's God's requirement, righteousness. But not a righteousness we can produce. His righteousness, perfect righteousness, what He required. You shall be holy for I am holy. In Christ His righteousness is provided. So the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Note the last part of verse 4, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. And here you see two aspects of our salvation brought together—the past and the present. Because through faith in Christ we have been justified, the requirement of God's law has been met—righteousness. We have the righteousness of Christ. Who does? Who are the “us” that this righteousness has been fulfilled in? Well the last part of verse 4, us who do not walk. That's the present aspect of our salvation, our sanctification. Those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. You see those who have been justified by God have also received new life in Christ. Now they walk, they live a different life. Their life is no longer controlled by the flesh, sin, but rather it is controlled by the Spirit of God. It produces the character of God in a life.

So you can flow back and forth from the different parts of our salvation, from the present to the past. So you can describe a Christian as one who does not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. That's what he does here. God's requirement of righteousness is fulfilled in the ones who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Important we see the definition that God gives because we sometimes say, what is a Christian? Oh that's someone who believes in Jesus Christ. That is true, but it is not true of everyone who claims to believe in Jesus Christ. We sometimes think, as long as I say I've trusted Christ and I can look back into a time when I made a decision; therefore, I'm a Christian. You understand God's requirement of righteousness is fulfilled in those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Now you are not justified by your walk. If I clean up my life, clean up my acts, do better; therefore, God will declare me righteous. No. But when you are impacted by the power of the gospel for salvation and God's requirement of righteousness is fulfilled in you through the finished work of Christ, your life will be different. You will live differently. That's the point. So you can talk about a Christian, that's a person who walks according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. And so the character of God is being manifested in that life. Well what about a person who says they have trusted Christ but they are walking according to the flesh? I John, they are liars. Very simple. That's the way God says it, they are liars, they are not telling the truth. The way he puts it is we lie and do not do the truth. You can't claim something is true and in conflict with what God says because God is always true. So when you declare something is true about yourself and it's in conflict with what God says about you, we know who is right, who is telling the truth.

But Paul is writing here to encourage us as believers. Parts here seem like, well that's discouraging. But it is encouraging because what he is showing is the guarantee of the security and sufficiency of the work that God has done for us as those who have believed in Christ and are now living our lives in Christ Jesus.

In verses 5-8 he talked about the flesh and the Spirit. Concerning the flesh he said, those, verse 5, who are according to the flesh. Those who are according to the flesh are those at the end of verse 4, who walk according to the flesh. Their life is controlled by sin, this is the realm in which they live. Those who are according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh. This is what they think about, this is what they desire, this is what they want. Their lives are controlled by sin. They set their mind on the things of the flesh, certain things characterize them then. Death. Verse 6, the mind set on the flesh is death. That's the realm, death. All that's included in death: physical death, spiritual death, eternal death, separation from God for eternity in hell. The mind set on the flesh is death. The mind sent on the flesh, verse 7, is hostile toward God. We noted that word hostile, it is a strong word. That person is aggressively hostile toward God, in opposition toward God. We look around the world and say, why do people pick up causes that are so clearly in direct conflict with the revealed will of God? Because you understand the heart of those who are in the flesh is actively, aggressively hostile toward God. That's how God sees them, what He says their condition is.

He further says, verse 7, that mind set on the flesh does not subject itself to God's law, God's requirements. There are those who actively, consistently, as Romans 1:18 told us, suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They don't subject themselves to God's requirements. And furthermore they are not able, the end of verse 7, for it is not even able. That mind set on the flesh has not the power and ability to subject itself to the law of God. That does not excuse them because they are actively hostile. That's why we say we are sinners by birth and by choice. They don't want to and they couldn't if they did want to because they have no power to set themselves free, no ability to set themselves free from slavery to sin, the devil and death. It is not able to subject itself to God's law.

And the last statement regarding the flesh that we looked at here is that it is not able to please God. Verse 8, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. That's a serious indictment and awesome description. That's why attempts at moral reformation are futile; they never change a person in a way that matters to God. As long as a person is in the flesh they cannot please God because God is looking at the condition of the heart. That doesn't mean we'll never do anything to help a person, an unbeliever. We are to do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith. If an unbeliever is starving, you might share food with them, we might buy them a coat if they need it for the cold. But the ministry God has given to the church is not helping sinners. That's a by-product of what we do as God's people in showing kindness, perhaps, but it's not the ministry of the church because it doesn't change a person. Oh if only I could get them off drugs and alcohol, it would make such a difference. It would make their life here better but you understand they still would not be pleasing to God.

The person in the realm of the flesh, this is where they live. We said you can draw two circles, the sphere of your existence. People adjust, they quit drinking, they quit doing drugs, they quit being immoral. But they are only moving around in their sphere of existence which is the flesh. That's the realm, they cannot leave it apart from the power of God's salvation. The other realm is the realm of the Spirit and he'll talk about the Spirit. At the end of verse 6 he said, the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, a mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. So when you live your life walking according to the Spirit, with your mind set on the things of the Spirit you are characterized by life and peace. The mind set on the flesh is characterized by death, the mind set on the Spirit is characterized by life, peace, peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now you'll note just in the comments we have made, he has spent much more time talking about the flesh and the life controlled by sin. He has just mentioned the life in the Spirit. But what he is going to do now, picking up with verse 9, is talk more fully about the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in a life. And we noted that chapter 8 is dominated by talking about the Spirit and the word Spirit is used 21 times in Romans 8, more often than any other chapter in the Bible. And it's a work of the Holy Spirit to give us assurance and confidence about the relationship we have with God in Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to be in the Spirit, and how does that affect our lives? Look how verse 9 begins, however, you are not in the flesh. And there is a contrast drawn here. The word however is a word often translated but, conjunction there. And the emphasis is on the word you, given a place of emphasis in this statement. However you, but you in contrast. He's talking about those in the flesh cannot please God and all the characteristics of them. But you are not in the flesh. Paul is confident as he writes this letter to the church in Rome that basically he is writing to believers.

Now back up to Romans 1. We'll break in because we have a long sentence in these opening verses. But note what he says about them, after he talks about the gospel and believers who have faith. Verse 6, among whom, among those Gentiles who have believed, the Romans are included. Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ, to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints. So he is writing to a church, a church that he has not visited but he has heard much about, knows much about. And gives evidence of being comprised primarily and basically of true believers in Jesus Christ.

So when we come to chapter 8, you know you spend some time talking about the flesh and the characteristics of those in the flesh, he wants them to understand that I am confident that you are not in the flesh. But it is important for us to understand the distinction, what it means to be in the flesh and in the Spirit. There is confusion among many believers. Some believers think there are three categories of people—those who are in the flesh, unbelievers; those who are in the Spirit, godly believers; and those who are carnal, believers who are living in the flesh. But the Bible says there are not three categories, there are only two categories. Those who are in the flesh are not in the Spirit, for the Spirit is not in them. And that's where we are going with Romans 8:9.

However you are not in the flesh, living in the realm of the flesh, the old man controlled by sin, living for sin, with a mind filled with the things of this world, this life, the lust of the flesh. Back in Romans 7:5 Paul had referred to the fact, while we were in the flesh there was a realm in which we once lived, he said. But now as we come to chapter 8 verse 9 Paul says, however you Roman Christians, those in the church at Rome, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. You see the two realms. You are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit. But he has a qualification here. There are four of these conditional statements in verses 9-11. Just note them, they all begin with our English word if. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Then there is a second conditional statement in the middle of verse 9, but if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ. Then you come to verse 10, if Christ is in you. Verse 11, but if the Spirit of Him. So what I'm saying is I'm confident you are not in the flesh, that you are in the Spirit. And these “ifs” are the kind, and in the Greek there are various ways to say it. We do it in English, we'd say to someone, if you are coming with me, come on. Well we assume they are coming with us, we mean let's go. Another time we can use if and it implies doubt whether they are coming. In Greek the way you structure that grammatically you can tell. And here this if denotes a confidence that it is true of them. In other words, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, and I'm confident He does. That conditional statement here, it gives the sense that He has a confidence that it is true, that they do dwell in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. And you'll note here, you are in the Spirit if the Spirit is in you. And if the Spirit is not in you, you are not in the Spirit. So when a person places his faith in Christ, the Spirit of God comes and takes up residence in him. When He does that, at the same time He places him into Christ, into the Spirit. So chapter 8 verse 1, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Now when we get down to verse 9 we talk about you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. Those who are in Christ are in the Spirit. We're going to see an interchanging here in a number of ways with the ministry of the triune God. The persons that make up the one God—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—are distinct but you cannot separate them. There is one God eternally existing in three persons. There is not one person manifesting Himself in three ways. There are not three separate Gods. There is one God eternally existing in three persons. How would I illustrate that? I can't because every illustration breaks down because there is only one divine trinity. So when we try to give a human example we open the door to trouble. That would be when I said three modes of existence. Sometimes people have tried to illustrate the trinity by saying here is a man. So he is a man and he is also a son, maybe he is a boss at work. But wait a minute, that is one person manifesting himself in three different ways. God is three persons but there is only one God.

So we need to be careful. In here when you are in Christ you are in the Spirit. The Spirit is in you, Christ is in you and the Father is in you, all three persons, even though the focal point will be on the work of the Spirit in you. So look at this. You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. The Spirit of God dwells in you. That word to dwell, a word that denotes a settled residence. It doesn't mean He visits you. He lives in you, that's His residence, He dwells in you, that's His home so to speak. So you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if the Spirit of God lives in you.

Then he says the other side, look at it from the negative. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. So you'll note here, we've made a change. The first part of verse 9, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you; the last part of verse 9, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ. He is the Holy Spirit, He is the Spirit of God the Father, He is the Spirit of Christ. And you see you can often speak of these members of the trinity and in some ways their ministry ties together directly and yet they are distinct. The Holy Spirit has His own identity. They also can be called the Spirit of God the Father or the Spirit of Christ because He is associated with them and together with the Father and the Son comprise the one true God. No wonder people are confused about it because it goes beyond the finite mind. I believe in the trinity, I believe there is one God eternally existing in three persons. Not because I understand it, I believe it because God says that's the way He is. I would have to be greater than God to comprehend God, right? So it doesn't trouble me that I can't understand that. I can't. I know it's true, I understand enough to have the grasp that there is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, three persons and one God. I know that to be true. The fullness of my understanding is not full in any way in that area.

So if he does not have the Spirit of Christ he doesn't belong to Him. Now you see the connection here, it's important. Verse 9 started out, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. So you have the two realms, you can either be in the flesh or in the Spirit. You are in the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in you. So both are true. You have to have the Spirit of God dwelling in you for you to be one who is living in the sphere of the Spirit. And if you don't have the Spirit of God dwelling in you or the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you, you don't belong to Christ. So you see the distinction is clear. When I draw the two spheres I like to draw a double line between the two. It's not like you go back and forth, you live in this realm of the flesh with all of its characteristics, death, never able to please God and so on. So when the power of His salvation takes hold of you and you are born again, you are moved to a new realm. The Spirit of God takes up residence within you and you are placed into Christ, into the Spirit, a new realm of existence. That is your life from that point on.

So that's why we say all who are justified are sanctified. They now live in a new sphere, a new realm because everyone who has the Spirit of God dwelling in them now lives in the Spirit. And if you don't have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, you are not a Christian, you are not saved, you don't belong to Christ. So the clarity here of what God has done for us when we believe in Jesus Christ is clear.

So all who have the Spirit dwelling in them are in the Spirit. All in the Spirit walk according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. We saw that up in verse 4, those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. They set their mind on the things of the Spirit, not on the things of the flesh. We saw that in verse 5, those who are according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh; those who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit. I mean, that's why life manifests the reality of who we are. Where is my mind? What occupies my mind? What is the focus of my desires? Those who are according to the flesh, set their mind on the things of the flesh; those who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit. It is the permanent indwelling presence of the Spirit that assures we have a life of sanctification, a life that is lived pleasing to God, a new life.

Jesus told His disciples of the coming of the Spirit. Back in John 7:38 Jesus said, he who believes in Me as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke of the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given for Christ was not yet glorified. A new glorious ministry of the Holy Spirit takes place as a result of the death and resurrection of Christ. He would come and take up residence within the life of the one who believes in Him, and He is like a river of living water, which again has great significance in that desert land and region of Israel, that power and refreshing that the Holy Spirit brings to a life.

Come back to Jude, and Jude writes about false teachers, those who act like believers and pretend to be believers and have confused believers and churches. Verse 4, certain persons have crept in unnoticed in among believers. And they were those long beforehand marked out for condemnation, ungodly persons who turned the grace of our God into licentiousness. You see where it comes? They live in the realm of the flesh, their mind set on the flesh. But they have crept in acting like they are believers. You can tell they are not because of their life. They are not saved by trying to live a good life, but those who are truly saved live a life that is pleasing to God. That emphasis on ungodly, they are called ungodly persons. You come down to verse 15 and Jude tells them that when Christ comes He'll come to execute judgment upon all, to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, of all the harsh things which the ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. We're told in verse 18, in the last times there will be mockers following after their own ungodly lusts. These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly minded, devoid of the Spirit. They don't have the Spirit of God in them. If they don't have the Spirit of God in them they don't live in the sphere of the Spirit, they live in the realm of the flesh. They are worldly minded, they mind the things of the flesh. They are ungodly people.

You know we think there is this huge, gray area here that we just can't tell because they made a profession of faith in Christ but their lives are lived like this. So we create a whole category, we call them carnal, from the Latin word for flesh, fleshly Christians. But you understand the Bible does not create that category, man creates it. And we don't help people. The clarity that God gives, the beauty, the wonder of His salvation is He makes us new. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation. The old things have passed away, behold new things have come. Aren't we glad that God made us new? He didn't just save us from the penalty of sin, He saved us from the power of sin. We now live in a new realm. The Holy Spirit of God along with the Son of God and God the Father now live within us, an enabling Spirit of God controls our lives. That doesn't mean we live perfectly. Sometimes we sin, we rebel against God. We find certain things of the flesh appealing. We would like to try them, enjoy them. And there are pleasures in sin for a time. But a believer can't live there. Sin can make me miserable but it can't give the pleasure and satisfaction it gives to a person who lives in that realm.

That's what we're talking about. Turn to I John 3:24, this is His commandment, that we believe in the names of His Son, Jesus Christ. People say, I try to keep the Commandments. Well you know the first commandment you have to keep? Believe in Jesus Christ. And love one another. You see how we flow from the command to believe in Jesus Christ? We say, that's what is necessary for salvation, but there is one command. Believe in Jesus Christ and love one another. Why? Because salvation is a package and when you truly believe in Jesus Christ and experience the justifying power of God in your life, you are declared righteous by Him, you are also made new. And now we have new family relationships. We love one another just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in him. You see the mutuality again? Christ abides in you, you abide in Him. Just like we saw in Romans 8, you abide in the Spirit, the Spirit abides in you. This mutuality. We know by this that He abides in us. How? By the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. Christ abides in us. How do I know? Because of the Holy Spirit. Well if Christ abides in me why do I need the Holy Spirit to be the evidence? Because the Holy Spirit is the person of the triune God who is active in our lives as believers to control us, to lead us. So even though God the Son is God, just as God the Spirit, just as God the Father, they have distinct responsibilities. God the Father dwells in us just like God the Son does and just like God the Holy Spirit, but God the Holy Spirit......... That doesn't mean they just all blend into one and there is no distinction. There is distinction there and it is the role of the Holy Spirit to give us confidence and assurance that we belong to Him, to control and direct our lives, the new life that we have in Christ.

Look at I John 4:4, you are from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world. The world listens to them. We are from God. He who knows God listens to us, he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and error. How can I now live a life pleasing to God with the world, the flesh and the devil trying to lure me? Because greater is the One who lives in me than the one who is in the world. That's the power, the enablement and the confidence we have as God's people. I will live for Him not because of endless resolutions I make, but because the Spirit of God dwells in me. When He saved me He changed me and He has given me a new heart and a new mind. And I now want to mind the things of the Spirit.

I had a theology professor who reminded us regularly. He said, when God changed you, He changed your wanter, and now you want to do differently. Isn't that true? Of course, salvation didn't just save part of me, it's God's work to take hold of all of me and move me from one realm of existence to a new realm of existence.

Come back to Romans 8. We noted the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ are referring to the same Holy Spirit and it's another indication of the deity of Jesus Christ. Jump back to John 14 quickly, so you have the complete picture. Verse 23, Jesus is speaking, Jesus answered and said unto him, if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. And the obedience is a result of the new love relationship I have with Christ. And if anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. There you see again that salvation is a package. He who loves Me will keep My word and My Father will love him. Now note this, and we. Who is the we? Well Jesus and His Father. We will come to Him and make our abode with Him. The Father will come and make His residence with me, and Christ will come and make His residence with me. And we're told the Holy Spirit comes and takes His residence. So we have the triune God living within us—Father, Son and Holy Spirit, even though the emphasis in the New Testament is often on the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the one person within the Godhead who has the responsibility more fully of directing, controlling and enabling in our lives. But it's a work of the triune God together. They always work in harmony with the distinction that exists between them.

Okay come back to Romans 8:10, if Christ is in you. And we're confident He is. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin. The reality here, the body is dead because of sin. I take it he's talking about this physical body, this physical body of a believer that has Christ in them. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin. He's talking about this physical body. Turn back to Romans 6:12, and he addresses believers. He says therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, a mortal body, a body subject to death. So back in chapter 8 verse 10, though the body is dead because of sin even for one who has Christ is in Him, he's talking about the fact that these physical bodies haven't experienced the change that comes with salvation ultimately. We are dying, we have many precious members of our congregation who were believers in Jesus Christ, led godly lives and were a blessing to our church and to many of us personally, they have died. Some of them died and we would say, it seemed early, they didn't get their threescore years and ten. Some died of diseases, certain afflictions. We say, I would have thought it may have been different for them. But this body is still subject to the same things. I'm a believer, I have eternal life. If I walk out in front of a truck, I get killed just like an unbeliever who walks out in front of that truck. I may get cancer just like an unbeliever can get cancer. And on it goes. This is a mortal body, it is a body dead because of sin. So even though I have experienced the power and wonder of God's salvation there is an aspect of life that seems relatively untouched. I can be subject to the same physical pain and suffering that anyone else in the world is. And if Jesus Christ does not come, I will experience physical death. If Christ doesn't come in fifty years, looking around this congregation, most of us ain't going to be here. Why? Death will overtake us. Right?

That's what he's talking about. Though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit if alive because of righteousness. Now I want to go a little different way here. I usually don't like to disagree with the translation, but it is true our spirit is alive because of the righteousness we have in Christ, but I don't think that's what he is saying here. I think the spirit here should be capital “S” because that word translated alive, that's not a correct translation of it. It is literally life, and you probably have that in your margin with a note, literally life. It literally says the Spirit is life because of righteousness. What do you mean the Spirit is life? Well up in Verse 2 we were told about the law of the Spirit of life, capital “S.” It's the Spirit who gives life. So even though this physical body of a believer is dead because it is in the process of dying, the Spirit is life on account of righteousness, because of righteousness, because of the righteousness provided to the believer in Christ. Even though his physical body is dying, the Spirit of God who dwells in him is a life-giving Spirit.

So we go to verse 11, but 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. So that seems to be the connection. The other is not false, it is true, we are spiritually alive because of the righteousness we have in Christ, but I think he is tying it to what he talks about in the first part of the verse, the body is dead because of sin but we have the Spirit of life. And according to verse 2, the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. So when the Holy Spirit comes to a life, He brings the life of God. And so even though my body is dying, death won't be the last chapter for me as a believer, for you as a believer because if the Spirit, and there is another of those conditional sentences, the fourth one we have in these verses 9-11, if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead. Here you have again the trinity involved. You have the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus. You have the Spirit of Him, God the Father who raised Jesus. You have the Spirit, the Father and the Son, all again tied together, working in perfect harmony in bringing about the full completion of our salvation.

If the Spirit of God, who is the one, God the Father who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. And He does if you are a believer, right? That's what he has been talking about. He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, that's God the Father, will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Remarkable, remarkable provision and assurance. That's why Romans 8 speaks about the Spirit more often than any chapter in the Bible. But it's interesting, the real theme of Romans 8 is about the assurance that we have in our salvation as a result of the work of the Spirit. I mean, this Spirit who dwells in me is the same Spirit that God the Father used to raise Jesus Christ's body from the dead and He will raise my body. He will give life to my mortal body. There will come a time as I Corinthians 15 tells us, when this mortal body will put on immortality and death will be swallowed up in victory.

So as believers, when we lose a precious loved one who is a believer, we have sorrow caused by this separation from them. But it is tempered by the knowledge that separation is temporary. Death doesn't win. I Corinthians 15, the great chapter on the resurrection, closes with the reminder, the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. But it is going, it will be destroyed. I may have to go through physical death, but that's not the last chapter. The last chapter is life from the Holy Spirit, a glorified body. We'll get to this when we get further in to chapter 8.

Come down to verse 30, I can't wait. You'll note in verse 30, those who He predestined, He called; those He called, He justified; those He justified, He glorified. And that word glorified, in the aorist tense like the others, that's the past tense for the Greek. When God promises to glorify my body in the future, He talks about it in the past tense. Why? It's as good as done, it's a settled fact. That's why we say, we talk about our salvation past, present and future. They are all guaranteed by the power of the sovereign God. I have been justified in Christ. But it's just as sure that I'm going to be glorified and that I have been justified. Why? God said it and He provided it all in Christ. And that's the same guarantee for this middle section, sanctification. That's not an optional. In our salvation God guarantees our sanctification. So that in Christ the work is complete.

Come to Ephesians 1, Paul talking about God's work in eternity past in providing salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ. And the work of the Holy Spirit comes into this. Look at verse 13, in Him. And this has been an emphasis, it is in Christ that these things take place as we've been talking about—in the Spirit, in Christ, those who are in this relationship and live in this sphere now as a result of that salvation. In Him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. You have to hear the gospel. Faith comes by hearing. Having also believed. There is the faith. Faith comes by hearing. We give the truth of the gospel out to people. Why? So that they might respond in faith, having also believed you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise. So the Holy Spirit comes as the seal, the guarantee of God, sometimes we call it the down payment of God, the earnest money. The Spirit of God is given as God's seal to guarantee. So the Spirit here is called the Holy Spirit of promise. We were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the Holy Spirit is God's seal, God's guarantee, God's provision. He is called the Holy Spirit of promise, the guarantee that God will bring it to completion. He who has begun a good work in you will continue to bring it to perfection until the day of Christ Jesus, Philippians 1:6 tells us. We say, I have the Holy Spirit in me but I don't know about tomorrow and I'm worried ....... Wait a minute, I have the Holy Spirit of promise in me. Doesn't matter what the medical evaluation is. Doesn't mean we aren't impacted, we are human. But I know the last chapter and I don't want to forget that.

The Holy Spirit is given as a pledge, God' seal of guarantee, God's down payment of our inheritance with the view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of His glory. We have the Holy Spirit not only to enable and empower us in our new life in Christ, our walk, sanctification, but as a guarantee that the process will come to God's appointed conclusion—my glorification in His presence.

So we move on in Chapter 8 he'll tell us we're looking toward our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. That's the future aspect of our salvation. This mortal body will put on immortality. Then all God has promised me will be mine, I will be enjoying it, and it is eternal, past, present and future. What more could we want? That's the salvation we have in Jesus Christ, that's the salvation Christ died to provide, that's why we as God's people live new lives, because the Spirit of God lives in us and we live in Him.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the wonder of our salvation. Only You, Almighty God could provide a salvation so wonderful, so powerful, so complete that we who were in the flesh, living for the flesh, controlled by the flesh, never pleasing You, never obeying You, powerless to do so, yet You have cleansed us, You have paid the penalty for our sin, provided your righteousness, raised us to new life, provided your Spirit to enable us with your power to live lives that are pleasing to You as You prepare us and lead us to that final step, the completion of our salvation, glorified bodies in the glory of your presence. May the wonder of this truth control us in all we do. We pray in Christ's name, amen.