Sermon notes March 30th, 2025

Romans 8 part 1

Let’s go back for a minute to chapter 7 so that we stay in the conversation the Apostle Paul is having with us. Keep a few things in mind, in chapter 6 Paul never mentions our Helper the Holy Spirit, in chapter 7 he mentions Him once, now in chapter 8 he mentions the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God 21 times. There’s something there…  Let’s look at the battle:

Romans 7:15-25                                                           New Life Version

15   I do not understand myself. I want to do what is right, but I do not do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate. 

16   When I do the thing I do not want to do, it shows me that the Law is right and good. 

17   So I am not doing it. Sin living in me is doing it. 

18   I know there is nothing good in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do good but I do not. 

19   I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I am always doing the sinful things I do not want to do. 

20   If I am always doing the very thing I do not want to do, it means I am no longer the one who does it. It is sin that lives in me. 

21   This has become my way of life: When I want to do what is right, I always do what is wrong. 

22   My mind and heart agree with the Law of God. 

23   But there is a different law at work deep inside of me that fights with my mind. This law of sin holds me in its power because sin is still in me.

24   There is no happiness in me! Who can set me free from my sinful old self? 

25   God’s Law has power over my mind, but sin still has power over my sinful old self. I thank God I can be free through Jesus Christ our Lord

• Now the apostle describes the struggle that goes on in a believer who does not know the truth of his identification with Christ in death and resurrection. It is the conflict between the two natures in every person. The struggle exists. 
• For most of us, no it’s better to say in all of us, it starts in the same way, in the mind. The mind is the battlefield.

The Bible emphasizes the importance of the mind as the seat of thought, decision-making, and spiritual discernment, urging believers to cultivate a "mind of Christ" and guard against negative or worldly influence. 

Let me give you a few scriptures in relation to the mind:

Romans 12:2                                             New King James Version

2   And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God

Philippians 4:8                                                New King James Version

8   Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

• Now the apostle gives us that closing bit of advice concerning the thought life (in Phil4:8). The Bible everywhere teaches that we can control what we think. It is useless to adopt a defeatist attitude, saying that we simply cannot help it when our minds are filled with unwelcome thoughts. The fact of the matter is that we can help it. The secret lies in the Living Word of God. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-6                                                    New Life Version

4   We do not use those things to fight with that the world uses. We use the things God gives to fight with and they have power. Those things God gives to fight with destroy the strong-places (strongholds) of the devil. 

5   We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ. 6   We are ready to punish those (thoughts) who will not obey as soon as you obey in everything.

Isaiah 26:3                                                     New King James Version

3   You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

The Battlefield of the Mind II

Romans 8:1-3                                                New King James Version

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 

• This means that there is no need for the kind of self-condemnation which Paul described in chapter 7. When we pass through a Romans 7 experience, unable to fulfill the law’s requirements by our own effort, we don’t have to stay there. Verse 2 explains why there is no condemnation

2   For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 

• The Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. These are two opposite laws or principles. The characteristic principle of the Holy Spirit is to empower believers for holy living. The characteristic principle of indwelling sin is to drag a person down to death. It is like the law of gravity. When you throw a ball into the air, it comes back down because it is heavier than the air it displaces. A living bird is also heavier than the air it displaces, but when you toss it up in the air, it flies away. The law of life in the bird overcomes the law of gravity. So, the Holy Spirit supplies the risen life of the Lord Jesus, making the believer free from the law of sin and death.

3   For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 

• The law could never get people to fulfill its sacred requirements, but grace has succeeded where law failed. Let us see how!

The law could not produce holy living because it was weak through the flesh. The trouble was not with the law but with fallen human nature. The law spoke to men who were already sinners and who were without strength to obey. 

• But God intervened by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Take careful notice that the Lord Jesus did not come in sinful flesh itself but in “the likeness of” sinful flesh. He did no sin (1 Pet. 2:22), He knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), and there was no sin in Him   (1 Jn. 3:5). 
• But by coming into the world in human form, He resembled sinful humanity. As a sacrifice for sin, Christ condemned sin in the flesh. He died not only for the sins which we commit (1 Pet. 3:18) but also for our sin nature. 
• In other words, He died for what we are, just as much as for what we have done. In so doing, He condemned sin in the flesh. Our sin nature is never said to be forgiven; it is condemned. It is the sins that we have committed that are forgiven.

Romans 8:4

4   that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

• As we turn over the control of our lives to the Holy Spirit, He empowers us to love God and to love our neighbor, and that,         after all, is what the new law requires. From Jesus Himself:

John 13:34

34   A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another

• In these first four verses the apostle has gathered together the threads of his argument from 5:12 to 7:25. In 5:12–21 he had discussed the headships of Adam and of Christ. Now in 8:1 he shows that the condemnation which we inherited from our identification with Adam is removed by our identification with Christ. 
• In chapters 6 and 7 he discussed the horrendous problem of our sin  nature. 
• Now he announces triumphantly that the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. In chapter 7 the whole subject of the law was brought up. Now we learn that the law’s requirements are met by the Spirit-controlled life.

Romans 8:5

5   For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  (he sets his mind on the things of the Spirit)

• Those who live according to the flesh—that is, those who are unconverted—are concerned with the things of the flesh. They obey the impulses of the flesh. They live to gratify the desires of the corrupt nature. They cater to the body, which in a few short years will return to dust.
• But those who live according to the Spirit—that is, true believers—rise above flesh and blood and live for those things that are eternal. They are occupied with the word of God, prayer, worship, and Christian service.

Romans 8:6-8

6   For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

7   Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 

• The mind-set of the flesh is death because it is enmity against God. The sinner is a rebel against God and in active hostility to Him. If any proof were needed, it is seen most clearly in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The mind of the flesh is not subject to the law of God. It wants its own will, not God’s will. It wants to be its own master, not to bow to His rule. Its nature is such that it cannot be subject to God’s law. It is not only the inclination that is missing but the power as well. The flesh is dead toward God.

8   So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

• It is no surprise, therefore, that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Think of that! There is nothing an unsaved person can do to please God—no good works, no religious observances, no sacrificial services, absolutely nothing. First, he must take the guilty sinner’s place and receive Christ by a definite act of faith. Only then can he/she win God’s smile of approval

Romans 8:9-11

9   But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 

• When a person is born again, he is no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit. He lives in a different sphere. Just as a fish lives in water and a man lives in the air, so a believer lives in the Spirit. He not only lives in the Spirit, but the Spirit lives in him. In fact, if he is not indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

10   And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 

11   But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

• But the reminder that the body is still subject to death no need for cause alarm or despair. The fact that the Holy Spirit indwells our bodies is a guarantee that, just as He raised Christ from the dead, so He will also give life to our mortal bodies. This will be the final act of our redemption—when our bodies are glorified like the Savior’s body of glory.

Romans 8:12-14

12   Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 

13   For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 

14   For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 

 

Romans 8:15-17

15   For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 

• Those living under law are like minor children, bossed around as if they were servants, and shadowed by the fear of punishment. But when a person is born again, he is not born into a position of servitude. He is not brought into God’s household as a slave. Rather, he receives the spirit of adoption; that is, he is placed in God’s family as a mature son. By a true spiritual instinct he looks up to God and calls Him “Abba, Father.” Abba is an Aramaic word which suffers in translation. It is an intimate form of the word father—such as “papa” or “daddy.” While we may hesitate to use such familiar English words in addressing God, the truth remains that He who is infinitely high is also intimately nigh. (near)

16   The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

• There is a spiritual instinct in the newborn believer that he is a son of God. The Holy Spirit tells him that it is so. The Spirit Himself bears witness with the believer’s spirit that he is a member of God’s family. He does it primarily through the word of God. As a Christian reads the Bible, the Spirit confirms the truth that, because he has trusted the Savior, he is now a child of God.

17   and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

• Membership in God’s family brings privileges that boggle the mind. All God’s children are heirs of God. An heir, of course, eventually inherits his father’s estate. That is just what is meant here. All that the Father has is ours. We have not yet come into the possession and enjoyment of all of it, but nothing can prevent our doing so in the future. And we are joint heirs with Christ. When He returns to take the scepter of universal government, we will share with Him the title deeds to all the Father’s wealth.

 

 

Romans 8:18-20

18   For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

19   For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 

• Now in a bold literary figure Paul personifies the whole creation as eagerly looking forward to the time when we will be revealed to a wondering world as the sons of God. This will be when the Lord Jesus returns to reign and we return with Him.

20   For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 

• When Adam sinned, his transgression affected not only mankind, but all creation, both animate and inanimate. The ground is cursed. Many wild animals die violent deaths. Disease afflicts birds and animals as well as fish and serpents. The results of man’s sin have rippled like shockwaves throughout all creation.
• Thus, as Paul explains, the creation was subjected to futility, frustration, and disorder, not by its own choice, but by the decree of God because of the disobedience of man’s first federal head.

21   because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

22   For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 

23   Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 

24   For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 

25   But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

26   Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

27   Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

28   And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

29   For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

30   Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

31   What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

32   He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 

33   Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 

34   Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 

35   Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 

36   As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long, We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37   Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 

38   For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 

39   nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.