The Newness of Life in the Spirit

Transcript

GR 2229
02/09/2020
The Newness of Life in the Spirit
Romans 8:1-4
Gil Rugh

We’re in the book of Romans and we’re ready to move into a new chapter. Chapter 8 of the book of Romans. We’ve talked and emphasized the book of Romans is about the gospel God provided in and through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.


I have a little chart that lays this out. When we think of the doctrine of salvation, there’s different ways we look at it. But as a package it includes our justification, our sanctification, and our glorification. You’ll see more of that as we move through chapter 8.

But I thought I would put up a little chart. It begins with salvation in the past. We usually look at this as the tenses. The past tense of our salvation, the present tense, and the future tense. The past tense has to do with our justification. It deals with the penalty of sin. We’re presupposing the issue of sin as we just talk about the salvation here. Justification, that’s the past aspect. We have been justified by faith in Christ. The judicial issue has been settled. God has declared us righteous, absolved from all guilt. The penalty of sin was dealt with then. There’s no doubt about our eternal destiny in that sense.

The second area, the tense of our salvation as we talk about it. The present tense is sanctification which we are talking about in Romans 6, 7, and 8. Justification was in the previous section and that deals primarily with the power of sin and our enablement to live a new life. Now remember, we died with Christ, we are buried with Christ, we are raised with Christ to new life. So, the present aspect of our salvation would be the sanctification aspect deals with the power of sin. God’s enablement that we live a life that manifests His character that produces the fruit of His character. The fruit of righteousness.

The future dimension is yet before us. That’s glorification. That will deal with the presence of sin. The penalty of sin has been settled. Its power over us has been dealt with in the provision in Christ. But we still live in a sinful world. We still have sin present. We still have the old man who has not been yet finally removed though his power has been broken. Glorification will deal with the presence of sin and we’ve seen that at the end of the book of Revelation when we will ultimately live in the presence of the glory of God in a sinless world. In a sinless creation. Angels and humans alike will be consigned into the lake of fire. Only those who have been declared righteous, provided with the righteousness of God in Christ, and had been living that life as saints, holy ones, sanctified, set apart by God, manifesting His character will remain. Ultimately, we arrive at the appointed goal. That’s what we’re looking for. The coming resurrection of the body which all of us in the church will experience. Either resurrection following physical death, or transformation at the rapture when we will get glorified bodies. We will be free from the presence of sin in these bodies and the presence of sin ultimately in God’s creation. Just as God intended from the beginning. So, just an overview. Sometimes talk about salvation in the past, present, and future aspects, and that’s just a little reminder of what we’re talking about.

Alright, we’re ready to go into chapter 8. This is a very organized letter that Paul has written. It’s a theological treatise really. Starting in an orderly way as he showed the desperate condition of all humanity, Jew and Gentile alike in chapter 1, verse 18 through chapter 3, verse 20. Then he talked about our justification, the provision of God’s righteousness through the death of Christ. That took us from chapter 3, verse 21 through chapter 5. Then with chapter 6, we looked into the doctrine of sanctification, God’s provision to us, for us to now live lives freed from the domination of sin.

There’re key words in each of these chapters on sanctification. The first key word is sin and that was the key word in chapter 6. It was used seventeen times so you can see that was a repeated emphasis through chapter 6. Seventeen times the word sin was used.

When we get to chapter 7, the key word was law. The word law used eighteen times. Death became key because in chapter 6 we were free from death and slavery to sin because we died with Christ. In chapter 7 the issue of the law was dealt with, and this would be particularly directed to the Jews but there are things the Gentiles would learn as well. There was no way of earning righteousness and Paul used himself as an example. He started out by saying we died to the Law. So that issue is taken care of. The key word there was Law, eighteen times. What’s been missing in these opening chapters is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. In fact, the word spirit, just the word spirit, has only been used five times through the first seven chapters and not all of those refer to the Holy Spirit. Some talking about our human spirit.

But now we get to chapter 8 and the key word is Spirit, capital ‘S,’ used twenty-one times in chapter 8. You can see something of Paul’s focus just by the words that are so dominate in each chapter. And the predominate use of the Spirit will be in the first fifteen verses, the opening verses in the half of this chapter. But in this chapter, twenty-one times he’s going to talk about the Holy Spirit. We think well, why haven’t we heard about the Holy Spirit? Well God is directing Paul to orderly unfold these matters. So, we’re going to talk about the Holy Spirit now. He’s been referenced. He hasn’t been ignored. For example, in chapter 7, verse 6, he said, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” But that’s been preparing us for what he’ll have to say about developing the ministry of the Holy Spirit when we come to chapter 8.

We mentioned this as we’ve moved along through the first six verses of chapter 7. We just read verse 6. Then Paul made a digression. We don’t want to have it misunderstood. This is very important. We’re not minimizing its importance, but it doesn’t move the flow along. In verse 6 he has said, “…we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound...” He mentioned we weren’t bound any longer. He’s writing particularly as a Jew in connection with the Jews, and the concerns there are about them in this epistle, that they died to the Law when they died with Christ. That relationship and responsibility has been broken. But he elaborates in verse 7, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin?” And we worked through verses 7-25, where the issue was, is there a problem with the Law being sinful? There’s something wrong with the Law. That’s where the first part of verse 6, why we had to be released from the Law, why we had to die to the Law. But the problem wasn’t with the Law. The problem was with us, and because of sin, the responsibility. When I say ‘us’ as Paul writes as a Jew, all the Law did was stir up sin. And even though certain sins were abhorred by the Jews; pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, came to dominate them. The very things that the Law was to demonstrate and bring humility, and recognition of sin and guilt and so on. He made clear in verse 12 of chapter 7, “…the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.” The problem is with the individual. The Jews couldn’t keep it. Paul talked about that in the last part of the chapter, as we have understood it, the struggle that he and other Jews had with trying to keep the Law. And it was just repeated failure.

He came down to the end of the chapter in verse 25 that we looked at in our previous study. But in verse 24 he asks the question, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” Then, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” He wraps up then what he has said about chapter 7 with the statement, “So then on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” We noted this is not talking about the believer because the believer isn’t serving the law of sin. That’s been dealt with. The law, that principle of sin controlling me, not talking about the Mosaic Law now, because the Mosaic Law wasn’t a law of sin. But it’s the controlling sin in my life, as a Jew Paul says. As we talked about as we worked through this, he had a desire to keep the Law, to be a good Jew. And we looked at examples of his testimony. But in spite of those desires, all they were, were good desires. They never came to fruition because he couldn’t keep the Law. He ended up being controlled by sin. But the “Thanks be to God…” is his declaration there before he wrapped up the chapter. Now he’s going to move into chapter 8.

Chapter 8 really picks up with the last part of verse 6 of chapter 7, as we have known. The first part of verse 6 of chapter 7, “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound…” Why did we have to be released from the Law, as Jews born under the Law, obligated to the Law? “…so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” We noted the purpose wasn’t, so we keep striving to keep the Law. That’s over! We died to the Law Paul says as Jews, but we serve in newness of the Spirit. So, you could go from the end of verse 6, to chapter 8, verse 1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” That’s why he said at the end of chapter 7, verse 25, “…I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” But he says as you start chapter 8, I don’t serve the law of sin. I’ve been set free. So that’s why I don’t think he’s talking about a regenerate man at the end of chapter 7. Because a regenerate person doesn’t serve the law of sin. He’s been set free from the law of sin. That’s the point in chapter 8, verse 2. I won’t say he got ahead of himself, but he had to answer the question of verse 24 of chapter 7, “Thanks be to God…” before I elaborate on that. Let me summarize what I said about the struggle I had as a Jew, that we as Jews have in trying to keep the Law.

Chapter 8 is going to talk about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and it was mentioned in verse 5 back in chapter 5 of Romans. Verse 5, “…and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” So again, there was another reference to the Holy Spirit, but there’s not a development of His ministry that we will now have in chapter 8. I mentioned that He is mentioned a few times, the Holy Spirit, but it’s like the statement in verse 25 of chapter 7, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” But now I’m going to explain this. Now we’re going to unfold the ministry of the Holy Spirit in this chapter.

He begins in chapter 8, verse 1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation. And the emphasis is on that word “no.” Some of you know other languages, but in Greek you could adjust your word order because the form of words and the endings of words and so on, enable you to mix them up. Sort of like in English we put words in a word order. There you could mix the words up because you know by the form of the word how and where he goes. So, if you wanted to make something, give it the emphasis, put it right up front. The first word, if you looked at your Greek text, is the Greek word for “no” here, ouden. No condemnation. He wants to emphasize that. None! Not of any kind! There is no condemnation.

Come back again to chapter 5, verse 16. This word condemnation has been used two times previously. In chapter 5, verse 16, “The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation...” That’s what he is talking about. What Adam brought. And his sin was condemnation and that includes everything that is a consequence and result of sin. Spiritual death, physical death, eternal death, the condemnation that came as a result of the entrance of sin. But then the contrast with what Christ brought. Down in verse 18 of chapter 5 still. “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men…” in contrast to what the one act of righteousness brought, “…justification of life to all men”, in Christ’s one act. So that word “condemnation” as we pick it up in chapter 8, verse 1, stressing there is no condemnation of any kind. No! None! That’s why the stress is there and the emphasis. That word, the first word you would read in this sentence. No condemnation, none of any kind. “…for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This becomes the key. “…those who are in Christ Jesus.” That’s the realm and that’s the contrast.

Verse 2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” Back in chapter 7, verse 5, “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions…” and so on “…were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.” Which contrasts with the end of verse 6, where because of our new life in Christ we are bearing fruit for righteousness and holiness. Come back to chapter 8. Look down in verse 8 to get ahead of ourselves. “…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit...” These two realms, spheres of our existence. Just like we said there are two masters, two realms of slavery. Everybody is in one or the other. In the realm of sin and slavery to sin having sin as the master, or in the realm of righteousness having righteousness as the master, God and so on. Here there are two realms. You are either in the flesh, or in Christ or in the Spirit. You see again the Godhead. I made reference to this in our study in Titus earlier today. All three members of the Godhead. And sometimes terminology is used interchangeably. We saw in Titus in those opening verses God our Savior and Christ Jesus our Savior, because salvation is a work of God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit all having their role and part in that.

So here in Romans 8, “…there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The only way to escape condemnation, because we were all under condemnation, God’s judgment for sin. That was a result of being a descendent of Adam, and by our carrying out our own rebellious actions toward God. But condemnation came. You have to be removed from that realm. The only way you can be removed from that realm is dying to it. So that’s what he explained in chapter 6. Now he’s developing this in the life we will now live under the power of the Spirit. “…for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This is why it’s so important when we talk about the gospel to people, that we are clear on what the issue is. The problem is not caused by his environment. It’s not caused by social conditions. Things are aggravated. Sin makes everything miserable and messy, but the real problem is not those things. We have that going on because of the heart. James said the wars that go on come from within, so we want to be clear.

“…there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The only way to get into Christ Jesus and that sphere of life is to die to the old life. Because you are enslaved in this realm and all that goes with it including the condemnation of God. Believe in Christ and His finished work as payment for your sin. So, you die to that realm. But then you’re not just moved out in here in some mystical no-man’s land. You are moved immediately to new life in Christ. You die with Him. You are buried with Him. You are raised with Him. “…there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

If we went back to the end of Romans 3 beginning with verse 21, we were showed how God removed that condemnation. Turn back there quickly. Verse 22, we have “…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ…” Here you see again the connection. God’s righteousness provided to us through faith in Jesus Christ, and what He did in dying for us on the cross. We are justified, verse 24, “…as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation…” Remember that word propitiation, hilasterion, turned the wrath of God away from us by taking our place, dying for us so that when we believe in Him, we are identified with him and we are seen through the provision Christ made for us. And there’s no condemnation, its all been paid for. We are now new in Christ.

Come back to chapter 8, verse 2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus...” He’s picking this up from the context of the slavery, the servitude, the obligation that we had with sin in chapter 6. For the Jews to the Law in chapter 7, that all ended with death. But now there’s a new law. Of course, we had it in chapter 6, a new master, a new realm of slavery in which we now live. But that is a realm of freedom, because we are truly free when you can function in the relationship and as you were created to function. We were created to function in a relationship with the God who created us. That was broken by sin. We were created to serve Him and so on.

Now we have a new law. Not the flesh, not the law of sin as you had at the end of verse 25. That can’t be a regenerate person who is serving the law of sin, serving as a slave if we want to give the import of that word serving. That’s the very thing he said was not true of a believer. Now we’re coming down to explaining the new life. We are serving in the newness of the Spirit, Jew and Gentile alike, as we said at the end of verse 6. “…the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus…” So, the lifegiving Spirit in Christ Jesus. You see again the members of the trinity, the triune God, working together in our salvation. He’s the Spirit of life. It’s the newness the Spirit brings. God the Father providing His righteousness through the death of His Son, so that when the Spirit identifies us through faith with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection we are raised to newness of life. We are now to live under the control of the Spirit living out the new life that He provided.

You know this is basic salvation truth. But all you need to do is read or look around at what happens to the church. Somehow this gets twisted. Well if we do social things, if we help bring people up out of poverty, if we… I’ve read you examples. Missions in the world, by their own testimony of evangelicals has been transformed. And now they talk about this is the wrong way to do missions. We think well yeah, this is basic truth. But when you lose your hold on that basic truth you’re just out here flailing around, coming up with men’s ideas, and labeling them as serving God. Could Paul be any clearer? “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Here is what the Spirit has done in identifying you with Christ and His death that set you free from sin, set you free from the law. It set you free. Sin no longer rules over you. And death, because death holds people in its control no matter what goes, what happens. The end result that we saw in the book of Ecclesiastes is death. But even that’s been overcome for us as believers. That’s why I took time to look at the chart for the future dimension and we’ll see as we move along through Romans 8 in future studies. Even physical death will be overcome. Immediately spiritual death was dealt with in my justification when I was brought into a right relationship with God. Now I’m living out the life I have as a child of God, but I still face physical death. But that’s tempered by the fact that even physical death will be temporary, because someday we will be raised from the dead. Might even be that we won’t have to pass through death if Christ would come tonight. We’ll just be transformed. That’s the best way! I’m still holding out for that. I hope you are too.

He’s set us free from the law of sin and death. It no longer rules over us. Look up in verse 22 of chapter 7 where Paul talks about, “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin...” That’s why at the end of verse 25 he said, with my flesh I serve the law of sin. He’s writing, when we talked about that historical present of what it was like as a Jew no matter what my desires were, I ended up failing to keep the Law. We’ve been set free from the control, the domination of sin. He’s set you free from the law of sin and death. It doesn’t mean we never sin but sin no longer is my master. Sometimes I become irrational, spiritually speaking, and choose to sin. What a miserable, stupid decision, but that’s not the realm I live in anymore. We are those who walk in the light, as John uses the analogy. Remember? You never walk any other place but in the light. You are one who abides in Christ. Sin is an aberration, if you will. That’s not the realm I live in and I don’t want to bring sin into the realm I now am in. I have a new master, a new realm in which I live. We’ve been set free. The only way to get set free is by the work of the Spirit, by placing you in Christ, identifying you with Him. That first part of Romans 6, I identified with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. I keep repeating myself.

It is frustrating to see the evangelical world just drifting down here. What we really need to do is learn to help people. Bring them out of their poverty and out of their negative environments and when we are helping them this way then…then what? I’ve shared with you quotes from men who at one time held a different view, but say the gospel is the message of believing in Christ and social action. And you know what happens over time? Social things eat it up. Because Paul said you are cursed to hell for mixing anything with the gospel. And yet they have had the audacity to say the true gospel is this faith in Christ, plus also the social action. And soon what takes priority is the social action, because it’s no good to present the gospel of faith if you haven’t done something first to help them. You just undo Romans. If you think you’ve heard it from me before, you will hear it again. How do you get set free? By believing in Jesus Christ. We’ll get to that in chapter 10 when Paul says how are they going to be saved if they don’t hear the gospel? Faith comes by hearing, hearing the message of Christ. And somebody has to tell them, has to bring them the truth.


You’ve been set free from the law of sin and death. This is crucial because now how are we going to live? The end of chapter 7 wasn’t how you live the Christian life. Chapter 8 is how you live the Christian life. You live a new life in the newness of the Spirit. Verse 3, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh...” Now remember, the problem wasn’t with the Law. Verse 12 of chapter 7, “…the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” What’s the problem? I’m not, Paul said. I am a sinner and sin is my master. And all the good intentions in the world couldn’t enable me to keep the Law. In fact, the Law stirred up things in me cause the righteous, holy things it told me to do, stirred up the opposite that do not do this. Do this, kind of thing as we have seen. “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh…” The problem wasn’t with the Law. The problem is with me, Paul said. But God intervened and did what I couldn’t do for myself. “…God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh…” The Law couldn’t do it because of the weakness of the flesh. Those who are under the slavery of sin and its control, they’re doing what they want. They want to sin. Sin has a mastery over me. I mean look around what people do to their lives. Why? It makes no sense. Even for the unbeliever you say, what are they doing that for? But they don’t see it and we who never do those dirty things, pride, and arrogance. Jesus condemned the Jewish leaders of His day in the worst possible way. They had the prostitutes, and all of those you look down on are going to go into the kingdom before you, because you’re self-righteous. Pride and arrogance is the worst of all. You’re unreachable. I didn’t come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners. And until you see yourself as a sinner there’s no response possible.

God did what we couldn’t do because of our weakness. Nothing wrong with the Law, but you couldn’t keep it. God sent His own Son. That emphasis here on the personalness of this. His own Son. His unique Son. The only begotten One. For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that unique Son. The One who was His in a way that no one else ever will be. We are sons of God by faith in Christ, but He has a uniqueness, as you’re aware, as God’s Son. “God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…” I think there’s careful theology here. He’s been talking about the flesh. Sometimes talking about the flesh as the old man and sin and talking about the physical body which is the manifestation and the element that sin manifests its control. He sent “…in the likeness of sinful flesh…” He wasn’t anything less than truly human. But sin is not a necessary part of humanity. Adam and Eve were not created sinful. They were fully human. Created as God intended them to be. Sin came in through the one act of Adam, remember in chapter 5. And there’ll be a time when in the creation there will be no sin again. We get to the closing chapters of the Revelation. He’s in the likeness of sinful flesh. He sent His Son and you see the harmony again that Christ came, and no one takes His life. He chose to lay it down. He had the authority to lay it down and take it up. And the Father consented with that authority. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit always work in perfect harmony. It doesn’t mean that we have any kind of full understanding of the trinity, but we know as much as Scripture reveals. That there are three persons that comprise the one triune God. And they are separate persons, but each has the full attributes of God and they work in harmony. Together they comprise the one God. I don’t know of any illustrations that do not fail in one way or another. It’s just the truth we believe, and it doesn’t surprise me that there are things about God that I don’t understand. Because if we could understand Him, He would have to become finite and He is infinite. We have all eternity to learn and then we won’t exhaust Him, because we can never exhaust the knowledge of the infinite God.

He sent “…in the likeness of sinful flesh…” because he wasn’t sinful. But He was fully humanity. He took upon Himself humanity, Philippians 2. But He wasn’t sinful. He was the Lamb of God without spot. Now some with reformed influence go off on a trail here, because He perfectly kept the Law and He acquired righteousness. But that’s not what he is talking about here. Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, but He never was sinful. But He was truly human. Again, we keep in mind, sin is not a necessary part of humanity. Adam and Eve were not sinful until Adam sinned. That was the whole point of Romans 5, that section we moved in the last part of the chapter. That one act of Adam. Before that he was without sin. He could walk in perfect fellowship and harmony with God in the cool of the evening, as could Eve. Sin shattered that. Christ came.

He had to become a man, He didn’t become an angel, as Hebrews 2 explains. There is no redemption for angels who sinned. When angels exercised their right to rebel, they became sinful beings. God never intervened. Angels who sin are forever locked into their eternal destiny. They recognize that. Remember when Jesus came? The demon said to Him, have you come to torment us before the time? There are not alternatives for them. Their decision settled their destiny for eternity. Hell has been prepared for the devil and his angels and all unredeemed people will join them in hell. But Christ had to become a man because it was God’s intention in grace, love, and mercy. No one deserves to be saved. You don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it anymore than the angels who sin deserve a second chance. An opportunity for forgiveness. That’s why salvation is always by grace. It’s always a gift. It’s always a demonstration of God’s mercy. No one deserves to be saved, but we all deserve to go to hell. Fallen angels are an evidence of that. God didn’t have to provide salvation for the angels, and He chose not to. You can’t deserve mercy. You don’t earn grace. He will give them what they deserve. For those who do not come to believe in Christ, well, they get what they deserve. You and I, by God’s grace, we don’t get what we deserve. Why do we get this blessing? We’re back to the sovereignty of God. I don’t have a final answer for that. God makes those decisions in the council of His will. I take it that’s the council within the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that planned and ordained salvation before the foundation of the world.

He would take on Himself flesh, but not sinful flesh and be an offering for sin. And that expression you have here, “…as an offering” because I think 54 times that expression is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Something like 44 of those times are used in the context of making an offering for sin, so it is agreed that the emphasis here would be the same. He came for sin. What do you mean for sin? To provide His body as a sacrifice for sin. That was back in chapter 3, verses 21 and following. He became the propitiation so that God could be just and the Justifier. Remember those two things? He could be righteous and at the same time declare righteous those who were sinners deserving of hell. He did it by providing His Son to pay the penalty, so the wrath of God could be turned away. He condemned. He judged sin in the flesh. That was the plan. He brought judgment on sin by taking our place. So why do you get home scot-free? I don’t get home scot-free. I get home because someone else paid the penalty for me. Well that’s a good deal. How can I have that? Glad you asked! Jesus Christ came. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, in order that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish...”

He goes on in verse 36 of John 3 to say what? “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Condemnation. Everyone who has not believed in Christ is living every day in a very, very dangerous situation. Their breath could stop and there would be no other alternative. There would be no other option. As long as there is a breath there is an opportunity for a person to believe, if they hear the truth and be saved. But there’s no other way. God is sovereign in all of this. If you like to read theologies, you can read all the discussions and the debates that go on. But when it comes down to it, God is sovereign, and we are not. He will get all the credit and we are fully responsible, and the blame is on us. Everyone who goes to hell goes there because they deserve it. Everyone going to heaven goes there and they don’t deserve it. It’s mercy! It’s grace! That’s why when we get to Titus 3 and Paul says, remind those believers that they were just like the lost people. God didn’t save them because they were better. And Paul says, I’m an example of being one of the worst and God saved me. So, there’s hope for all the rest of you. It’s until a person sets aside their own self-righteousness and recognizes what God says about me is true, I accept His evaluation, that salvation comes to that heart.

Come back to Romans chapter 8, verse 4, “…so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” The requirement of the Law was righteousness. They couldn’t meet it. What they really had to have was a new heart. Remember the passages on the circumcision of the heart in the prophets. I need the new heart promised in the New Covenant. The requirement of the Law, the righteousness of God, the standard is too high. I have already failed. Well, from this day on I’m never going to sin again. That’s like a mass murderer saying from this day on I’ll never commit another crime. Too late! I remember my dad saying there’s people that go to the electric chair crying. The crime has been done. I know, I’m not perfect, but…but you’re going to hell. Usually people that say that, I’m not perfect, but… Wait a minute! That’s the whole issue. You’re not perfect. You shall be holy as I am holy. How are you going to do that in your effort? You haven’t even kept that standard even as a believer. It’s the provision of Christ. The requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us. The Jews need to understand this. The Gentiles, they were always dirty Gentiles. These Jews need to realize that the Law was never that way either. And some of the Gentiles were trying to absorb this. This is why Paul gets frustrated. Condemns to hell, anathema, in Galatians for those who come in and say, try to get the Gentiles to keep the Law. Why would we put on the people, what we could not keep ourselves? Peter preached that as well. Acknowledged the Jews couldn’t keep the Law. Now why are we trying to say the Gentiles have to keep the Law? That’s the whole argument. Well, we’re going to keep part of the Law. No, you don’t! You break one point, you break it all. It’s done. Well yeah, but we decided since Christ came, we’ll just keep part of it. You don’t make those decisions. God made it. If you’re going to be saved, you’re going to have to die to the Law, if you’re a Jew. If you’re a Gentile trying to keep the Law, you’ve got to die to your own selfish, self-righteous efforts because God never did say you could be saved by keeping the Law. It never was a way of salvation.

“…so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us…” All the Law required, God’s righteousness. Well what about when I sin? Well, miraculously the death of Christ is the provision. If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. It’s because of what He has done that the cleansing keeps providing. Hebrews 7, verse 25, says He lives at the right hand of the Father as our High Priest “…to make intercession for them (us)”. Yeah, Gil stumbled again, but I died for that sin. It’s covered. That doesn’t make us want to sin if you’re truly a believer, because God changes our desires. And you know what it’s like as a Christian when you sin. You’re disappointed, you’re disgusted with yourself. But the reality of it is, there is cleansing. Now there may be discipline from God. But that’s what he is talking about, “…the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us.”

Now note here, “…who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” We’re going to have to leave it here. What God has done for us, and this is the area of sanctification, the present aspect of what God is doing, is our walk. If you’re not walking according to the Spirit, you’re walking according to the flesh. Then you haven’t had God’s salvation. There is a changed life. Now you don’t change your life to be saved, but when God changes you on the inside, “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; (a new creation) the old things passed away; new things have come…” 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. We walk in the light, that’s the new realm we live in. We live serving a new master. That doesn’t mean a Christian never sins, but that’s not the pattern of his life. That’s not the pattern of the life of a believer. We are now walking according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. We’re talking now about our walk. Wait a minute, that could get confusing. People think you need to change your lifestyle to be saved. Well it’s not confusing if you read what Paul wrote about the gospel. He’s talked about people who had to die so they could be raised with a new life, so they could walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. And you can’t do it. There’s nothing that’s acceptable to God that enables you to do it, but faith in what Christ has done. It changes the walk, the character, the conduct of your life. That’s why it is a valid evidence. People claim to be believers, but they’re living a lifestyle that they’ll admit, I know I shouldn’t be doing this. I should be like that. I should get back in church. I should and blah, blah, blah, blah. Well knowing, that’s like the Jews who knew the Law. Paul had told them what in Romans chapter 2? Having the Law, knowing the Law, doesn’t help you. The requirement was, you kept it. Knowing all these things about the Bible isn’t what God says saves you. It’s coming to bow before God and accept and receive what He has provided in Christ.

Well we’ll break there and pick up next time. Let’s have a word of prayer and then we’ll have some question and answer time. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your word. Lord, what a tremendous treasure we have. What a blessing it is to have in our possession Your word, the revelation You gave. And Lord, in Your grace we live in a time when all these revelations given over an extended period of time to a variety of men have been gathered together in one book, bound together. That we can get free copies of. We can purchase at a very reasonable price. We can carry it with us. We can open it up at our liberty. Lord, may we not take these privileges for granted. May we be people who are growing in the new life we have in Christ. We pray in His name, amen.

If you have a question just raise your hand while I’m talking and one of the men will look for you and they can carry the microphone over. I had a question about witches, sorcerer witches. Are there witches in the world today? Can they cast spells on believers? Can they cast spells on unbelievers? Well, you know there are people who claim to be witches, sorcerers, male or female. The bible does speak about it. I just went through a concordance and looked. We won’t go through all the passages because it would take time, but you’re familiar with the Old Testament. It’s consistently condemned. Any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, any kind of involvement in that. The first verse I think is chapter 22 of Exodus, verse 18, “You shall not allow a sorceress to live.” In Israel it was a capital offense to practice any kind of sorcery or witchcraft. It’s consistently condemned through the Old Testament, Deuteronomy, 2 Chronicles, 2 Kings, Micah, Nahum. Anytime Israel got into that it brought the judgment of God because that involves demonic activity. Now that doesn’t mean that all these people running around speaking on tv or have their own witchcraft places have some supernatural power. But behind all false religious activity of any kind are demons and we as believers do not want to have anything to do with it. I never feel it’s my responsibility to try and sort out do you think that’s genuine or do you think it’s a spirit manifesting itself? I don’t have the ability to know, but I know what I need to know. I should have nothing to do with it! It is contrary to God.

I’ll look at a couple verses, two verses maybe. Galatians 5:20, and this will parallel what we started to talk about in Romans chapter 8. We’ll have the fruit of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. You see what the deeds, the works of the flesh are. When you’re living in the realm, controlled by the flesh, controlled by sin. “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife…” and so on. So there, that kind of activity. Sometimes they use drugs in part of their spells and so on. People still use that. That’s where we get the English word pharmacology sometimes translated as sorceries in our bibles. It comes up in the book of Revelation as those who are not going to have part in the kingdom, they’re excluded. In passages like Revelation 21:8 and 22:15; they’re excluded. They are outside. So that’s a whole realm of demonic activity.

Now I’m not saying everyone claiming to be able to read minds or foretell the future. Some of them are just hucksters, hoaxes, and that would have been true in biblical times as well. Like the ones who tried to cast out demons and the demons attacked them and said, “we don’t even know who you are.” They didn’t have any power with demons. In a way the demons are even irritated. They tried to act like they have power because the demons have more power than that. But I don’t know anything that said that demons couldn’t. I don’t think a demon can have any power over me. One other passage, 1 Corinthians 10:21. Just a warning here about false religion generally, and this is true of anything. This would be true of sorcery, witchcraft, any kind of idolatry. False religion is an issue. This the Corinthians had to realize. Could they go to the idol temple? Could I partake of food sacrificed to idols? Well, it’s not that an idol is anything or food sacrificed to idols. But you have to understand that anytime you’re involved with false religion, any kind of connection with it, you’re involved in demonic activity. Behind all anti-biblical religion, all the false religion are demons. It’s demonic. Ultimately, it’s devil worship. If you’re not worshiping God through Jesus Christ, you’re involved in some kind of worship, you are a demon worshiper. Remember what Satan said to Christ? Fall down and worship me and I’ll let you rule all the kingdoms of the world, of course, under me. That’s what he’s looking for. Remember the fall of Satan in Isaiah and Ezekiel. I will be like the Most High. In 1 Corinthians 10, the warning of Paul to the Corinthians in verse 19, “What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?” Food sacrificed to idols is just food. An idol is just a piece of wood or metal. “No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons.” Fellowshipping with demons. This is a serious issue! This is where I put witchcraft and that. I have no fear of witches. If somebody wants to cast a spell on me, go ahead. You can’t, because “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” They live out there in the realm of the devil. God said to the religious leaders, “…you always do the will of your father the devil.” So that’s the realm in which they live whether it’s a witch thing or a social. It’s a terrible place to be. That’s why we believers are secure in Christ.


You have a question about the conception of Jesus in Mary with the biology of it a little bit. Do we know how He was conceived? Was she just a host for Him or was the egg fertilized? Do we know anything how biologically Jesus was conceived in Mary? The conception of Jesus. It’s just a miracle I take it. It’s the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit acted on Mary’s body so that that egg is fertilized, and she bears a son that enabled Him to be fully human and did not lose His divinity. But His divinity wasn’t in any way created there. So that would have just been an act to enable her to conceive physically, a true human boy baby. There’s no other way to experience it but the miracle of the virgin birth and there’s nothing else to compare it to. So again, it’s like some of these things with the trinity. God just says that’s what He did. That which is in your womb is conceived of the Holy Spirit. Well just like how could God make a person out of dust, a human being? Because He’s God, He did it. And Adam was truly human and then He took the side part out and built a woman. And she was truly human. Well we couldn’t do that today. No, because we’re not God. I take it with the conception there’s no other explanation and I don’t think beyond that. The Holy Spirit moved so she was now pregnant, and the birth was a natural birth of a normal human boy. In the sense of his full humanity and again it’s called the theanthropic union. The two words, God and man put together. That’s another realm we study theology, but I don’t know that we can understand it fully. He’s functioning fully as a man, but He never ceases to be God. He voluntarily sets aside the independent use of those attributes, but He is never any less than fully God. In Him, in bodily form, all the fullness of deity dwell, Colossians 1 and 2 tell us. When you get into these areas, we believe it by faith.


Question – Is celibacy a spiritual gift? 1 Corinthians chapter 7, since we’re running out of time. Paul is talking about getting married or not getting married. And in verse 7 he says, I wish everybody would be like me. Paul was unmarried. He saw advantages to that. You’re not burdened down with family responsibilities. But he says everyone has their own gift. And the word there is charisma, which can be used of spiritual gifts. So, in a sense, yes. Celibacy is a spiritual gift in the sense that for a believer God provides that for a person in connection with how He choses to use them. Now I realize some people are celibate that are never saved, just like some people are able to do certain things. It’s not a special spiritual gift because they’re not saved. But for a believer, we looked at it, what he sets out is somewhat your desire. The sexual desire and your desire for this relationship. If you don’t have the sexual desire, you can consider do I want to be married? If you have the sexual desire Paul says you should get married, otherwise you might be led into immorality. But that doesn’t mean a person just gets married for sex, despite what I have said on occasion for impact. But I would like to have companionship because there was that, there is something there. And it’s like God works. A couple gets married and children would be the normal pattern. But for some couples, it’s God’s plan that they don’t have children. And things go on. Sometimes God takes one of the spouses, and Paul says then you have the decision again, to face whether you remain a widow or widower and you consider that. That’s a personal decision, to decide what you believe God has for you. But all of that to say, yeah, it is a spiritual gift. But I think as a spiritual gift it would be in connection with another gift. Like Paul’s gift of celibacy, which he claims to have, enabled him to exercise his focal gift of apostle with greater liberty and greater freedom. So, he said, I have the right to have a wife go along with me in my ministry like the other apostles do, but I choose not to. And that gave him a freedom the others didn’t have. Peter had to be at home sometime with his wife. You wonder about the family life of the apostles. They are roaming around with this itinerant bible teacher, Jesus, and they show up at Peter’s home and his wife is sick. Who’s taking care of the kids? Did he have kids? Well, you think some of the apostles would have, but none of them come up. But they’re married because Paul said the other apostles are married. I have the right to be married too. I choose not to, and he believed God had given him that gift. If you have that gift you can consider whether to or not. So yeah, it is a gift. That’s where that comes from, each one has own gift and it’s a translation of the word used for spiritual gifts. But it wouldn’t be a prime gift because well now, I’m celibate. I don’t have to spend my money on anybody but me, and I can do all the things I want to do. No. I’m just free to do what God wants me to do without certain other things that are my responsibility.


Ok. Let’s have a word of prayer again. Thank You, Lord, for a good day. It’s a special day. We count it special when we can come together as Your people. It’s a blessing that we don’t take for granted. Thank You, for the day, for Christian friends, Christian fellowship. Lord, for the privilege of being involved in one another’s lives, not only today. It’s special to come together to worship You, to be in the Word together. Now we go out to serve You in a variety of ways as the ministry continues through the week. We just pray that You will bless us. Use us as we serve together. We serve separately wherever we are, whatever we’re doing. Lord, may our light shine brightly. May the Spirit work in and through us in powerful ways. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.