Holy Ghost Stories (6): Life in the Spirit -- November 8, 2009

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

(Romans 8:1-11)

I'm so excited to be with you today to talk about such amazing truth as we find here in Romans 8:1-11. It's in times like these that I really love my job -- that I can't believe I get paid for this. We're talkin' about Life in and/or through the Holy Spirit this morning, and we're going to go over three exhilarating, life-transforming truths of life in the Holy Spirit. Ready? Here they are: #1 There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Following closely on that, #2, because there's no condemnation, it follows that we are to live lives pleasing to God, controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. And then, thirdly and finally we have been given none other than the resurrection power of the Spirit to help us, to fuel us, to live that out. So real simple message: there's no condemnation in Jesus, we're to live lives controlled by the Spirit of God, and that same Spirit will actually help us live that out.

But we need to admit that life itself can throw us some curve balls. Sometimes life can be difficult.

A teacher was once helping her kindergarten student put on his cowboy boots. Even with her pulling and him pushing those little boots just didn't want to go on. By the time the second boot was on, after all that effort, she almost cried when she heard him say, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet." And sure as shootin', they were.

It wasn't any easier pulling them off than putting 'em on. With lots of sweat and effort, they finally got them on the right feet. Then the little boy announced, "These aren't my boots. She bit her tongue rather than get in grill and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" Once again, she struggled to help him off with the boots. No sooner were they off than the boy then said, "They're my brother's boots. My mom made me wear 'em." Now she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But she mustered up enough grace and courage to wrestle those boots onto his feet again. Helping him with his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said, "I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots." (1001 Illustrations that Connect, Larson and ten Elshof, eds., pg.220, 221)

Ever had days like that? But it's days like that that I think make this first truth that much more precious, that much more encouraging. Romans 8:1 says this: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ... ." Isn't that awesome, awesome news? There is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ!!

Now, does that mean there was no condemnation to begin with? That's not what the Bible teaches. In fact, in the chapter just before this one, Paul says, (and this is a bit of a Chris Carter paraphrase), "I got the desire to do good. I got the 'want to', but I can't follow through. What I do is not the good I want to do, but the bad thing I don't want to do -- so I am one messed up puppy. I just keep doin' it over and over and over again. It's like this war going on inside of me, and I'm a POW of myself. I'm a mess. Who'll save me from this rotting death?" And then in 7:25 Paul answers his own question: "Thanks be to God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

See, it isn't that there is no condemnation or judgment period. Sure as shootin', there is. But the work that Jesus Christ did for you and for me sets us free from being POWs of the self. How does Jesus set us free?

Vs.2-3 tells us how: "...because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ... So one of the things Paul says here in vs.2-3 is that the Law, those "do's" and "don'ts" of religious and moral living is, in a sense, powerless. Now, Paul's not saying that the Law is bad, in chapter 7 he just says that it's limited in its effectiveness. All the Law can do is tell us that wrong is wrong -- that it's sin. And this little word "sin" actually originally came from the world of archery -- and it means a "missing of the mark". So, if take your trusty bow and arrow miss your target by a millimeter -- nice try, but that's still a sin. You miss by a meter -- still a sin. You miss by a kilometer -- well, perhaps you should put that thing down before someone loses an eye -- oh, and, that's a sin.

So here's the deal about sin. We all have missed the mark. The "mark" is God's holiness, God's way of doing things. And guess what? We've all missed. Doesn't really matter by how much. It's kinda like missing the bus -- doesn't matter if you've missed it by 30 seconds or half a mile -- you're still walkin'. We've all missed it. And something needs to be done about that. And all the Law can do is inform us that we've missed it.

But here's what God's done about it: Vs.3 tells us that God sent His very own Son, Jesus, "to be a sin offering" for us. Now, a sin offering is something that goes a way back in time, even before Christianity itself, to the Old Testament, where God directed His people to offer sin offerings to Him whenever they did anything wrong. The Old Testament book Leviticus tells us that if somebody ever did wrong, they were to take an animal, usually a bull or goat or even a couple of doves, sacrifice them, and as you did that, the instructions were you'd actually have to place your hands on the animal while it was being sacrificed, then gather up all of the blood, go to the Temple with it and do a number of other rituals for your sin offering.

Now, you'd have to do that for every sin you'd commit. I don't know about you, but I'd probably go through a whole zoo in about a month! So something more had to be done. And that something more was God sending His very own Son to be that sin offering for each and every one of us. When we place our faith in Jesus -- I mean really trusting that His dying on the Cross really does free us from our guilt and sin -- that's very similar, but even better, than an Old Testament person placing their hands on a goat or bull or whatever. Throughout the Bible, from cover to cover, God's Word teaches that somehow the spilling of blood cleanses us and removes us from sin and from the condemnation that sin incurs. And that has been done perfectly, once and for all, through Jesus. That's why Jesus came. That's why Jesus endured the Cross, scorning its shame.

And for those who've placed their trust in Him, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Isn't that great!?! A man named Jack Miller put it well when he once put it this way: "Cheer up, you're a lot worse than you think you are; ... and cheer up, God's grace is a lot bigger than you think it is." (F. Smith, Sr., Breakfast with Fred, pg.34) ...And only because of Jesus, and through a real trust in Him, there is now no condemnation.

Now, following closely on that truth is this: because there's no condemnation, it follows that we are to live lives pleasing to God, controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. The last part of vs.4, and vs.5-9 spell out this truth wonderfully. In short, it says that because we've been set free in Jesus, there's a new regime in power, there's a new sheriff in town. The old way is what the New International Version Bible translates as "the sinful nature". That phrase shows up in vs.3 (actually twice in the Greek), vs.5, 6, 7, 8 and vs.9. We don't see the entire phrase "sinful nature" in every case, but that two word phrase is actually translating one word in the Greek, the word sarx. And sarx, simply translated, means "the flesh". The flesh is the old regime. It refers to those tendencies that work against us in at least two ways: the flesh cannot submit to God's law, not is it even able to do so. And scholars say that there are four rather sobering characteristics of the flesh, and if you'll look, you'll see all four characteristics in vs.5-8: i) hostility towards God, ii) insubordination to His law, His ways, iii) failure to please God, and iv) death. Not a pretty picture.

But here's the Good News: There is, indeed, a new sheriff in town -- a new regime has been instituted -- and it's the loving control of the Holy Spirit. Look at vs.5 through 10 with me and see this great contrast between our old way and the new way for us in Christ: Starting at vs.5, those living according to the sinful nature "have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." Vs.6, the mind of the flesh or sinful nature is death, "but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." Vs.7, the sinful mind is hostile to God, won't submit to God's law, and is incapable of doing so. Vs.8, can't please God either. Vs.9 says, though, that the believer is "controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit" and vs.10 goes on to say that if Christ is in you -- and that can happen by a simple, yet profound act of faith -- if Christ is in you, "your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness".

Reminds me of a little three year-old girl named Katie who had the flu and was taken to the pediatrician for a check up. As the doctor examined her ears, he asked, "Will I find Big Bird in there?" "No," Katie answered. Before looking at her throat, the doctor asked, "Will I find Cookie Monster in here?" "No." Listening to her heart, he asked, "Will I find Barney in here?" "No," Katie said firmly. "Jesus is in my heart. Barney is on my underwear." (1001 Illustrations, pg.213)

You know what? Little Katie has it right. Vs.10 says that if Christ is in you and I by faith, the body is dead because of sin, but our spirit's alive because of righteousness, not our righteousness, but His righteousness, the Spirit's righteousness. How can that be? Well just take a look at all of the promises we have of what the Holy Spirit will do in us as we yield to Him: vs.5-10 spell it out, Our minds will be set on what the Spirit wants; the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; and we become alive inside because of His righteousness living in us.

And not only that, but finally, wonderfully, this: The resurrection power of Jesus lives in us to fuel us to live it all out. Vs.11 contains, I believe, some of the most amazing, most encouraging and most wonderful words ever put to print: "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." Do you know what I think the best thing you and I could ever do in this life? The best thing we could ever do is say, and mean it, "Come, Holy Spirit, come, Lord Jesus and invade and pervade my life! Come, Lord, have Your way in me! You're the Potter, I'm the clay!" That's the best thing we could ever do!! Why? Because we still get to be us -- you still get to be you, and I still get to be me -- but God's Spirit gets to live through us! F.F. Bruce once summed up this entire passage like this: "To run and walk the law commands, Yet gives me neither feet nor hands; But better news the gospel brings: It bids me fly, and gives me wings." And how does the Good News of Jesus, the Gospel, "give us wings"? It's all there in this astounding truth found in Romans 8:11: The same Holy Spirit who actually, bodily, historically and unmistakably rose Jesus from the dead -- the same Spirit who did that -- is actually living in us when we trust Jesus by faith. And that same Holy Spirit will actually give life and power to us, to our mortal bodies, to live for Him!!

The case of Father Kolbe is a well-known, famous one. I'm not the least bit surprised if you've heard this story before. But I didn't realize, or have perhaps forgotten, one last bit of the story that I think is particularly illustrative on this Remembrance Day Sunday.

In the concentration camp, Auschwitz, they say there is one particular cell there, that always has a vase of flowers in it. See, whenever there was an escape at Auschwitz, the guards had a diabolically creative way of discouraging any other escapes. They would hang six other prisoners, totally randomly chosen, to make up for the one who escaped. Despite this, escapes did happen. And on one occasion, the six men picked for death stood on the scaffold with ropes around their necks. But before the trapdoors opened, a Roman Catholic priest named Maximilian Kolbe asked to be heard. He pointed to one particular man, and said, "He's from my village. I know him. He's a good man and he has a wife and several children. On the other hand, I am a priest. I am not married and I have no children at all. I do not have a family who needs me. Let me be hung in his place!"

And amazingly, the commandant granted this startling request! Father Kolbe did, indeed, take this man's place on the gallows. And a few moments later, he was dead. Jesus once said, "Greater love has no man, than he lay down his life for his friends!"

But what I did realize or, at least had forgotten, is that there is a vase of fresh flowers there in Father Kolbe's cell. See, when the war was over, the man who'd been spared actually moved his family to Auschwitz so that they could regularly come to Father Kolbe's cell and place flowers there, to revere the man who sacrifice so much for them. (T. Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story... pg.39, 40)

So here's the question: Jesus has done the very same for you and I. What are the "flowers" we leave for Him? Because of Jesus, there is now no condemnation for those in Him! He has given us His Spirit to please God! He's even given us His resurrection power by that same Spirit to live it out!! Do you know a great place to start is: Simply this: Say, "Come Lord Jesus, come Holy Spirit... and live Your resurrection life in me... not just on Sundays, ... not just when I feel like it, ... but every day, every moment, ... You take over!" I'm telling you, that's the best thing you and I could ever do! And He'll make us flourish for Jesus!!!

For further study and discussion, see: Life Group questions.