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Romans 8: Living In & Experiencing the Power of the Holy Spirit... (3 of 6)
8:14 – ‘For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.’
Romans 8:12-17
Romans 8:1 (ESV) –
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:9 (ESV) –
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”
Romans 8:12-17 (ESV) –
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 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. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
If you belong to Jesus Christ then God the Holy Spirit lives in you and His presence both obligates and enables us to actively wage war on our sin. The presence of the Holy Spirit assures us of our new and secure identity in Christ – we’re God’s children. This passage moves from comfort, to a serious (or stern) warning and then back to comforting assurance.
1. If you belong to Jesus Christ then God the Holy Spirit lives in you.
Ezekiel 37:14 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
Ezekiel 37:14 (ESV) –
“And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live...”
John 14:16-18 (ESV) –
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Our awareness of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit transforms our perspective – God is with us; we are never ever alone! The Holy Spirit indwells all believers and He will never leave.
Statement of Faith – Article 6: The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
2. The presence of the Holy Spirit obligates and enables us to wage war on our sin.
Romans 8:12-13 (ESV) –
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 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.”
Galatians 5:16-17 (ESV) –
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
The flesh pulls one way and the Spirit the other, they are in conflict and this side of glory we will continue to experience a tug-of-war with our hearts in the middle.
With the Spirit’s enablement we’re obligated strive to put to death our sin. In older writings this was called the mortification of sin. Because of the Holy Spirit’s presence, we’re obligated to no longer live according to the flesh.
The Holy Spirit leads us to greater holiness, transforming us from the inside out so that we experience increasing victory over sin.
Ephesians 4:30 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
Galatians 5:25 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
We’re not to grieve the Holy Spirit – we must not to ignore His conviction, effort is involved in our battle with sin.
Mark 9:43-47 (ESV) –
“...if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell...”
Jesus calls us to take our personal sin seriously. We must not allow ourselves to harden our heart to the point that we can sin and not care.
This side of glory, the Christian life is marked by a battle with our sin, we must be on guard because temptations to sin are always present.
The difference between a hard-heart and a soft-heart is revealed by our response to conviction. Ask – Do I respond with confession and repentance? Or with an attitude that asks – Who cares?
Romans 8:13 (ESV) –
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die...”
Galatians 5:19-21 (ESV, emphasis mine) –
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) –
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
We’re in danger of corrupting the Gospel if we assume that growth is optional. Growth is a necessary result of experiencing God’s grace. We can’t have the Holy Spirit and not change.
3. The Holy Spirit’s presence assures us of our new and secure identity in Christ. We’re God’s children.
Romans 8:14-17 (ESV) –
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs...”
2 Corinthains 5:21 (ESV) –
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Though the work of the Holy Spirit we’re not only forgiven we become sons and daughters of God. The Spirit’s presence assures us that we are God’s children.
1 John 4:13 (ESV) –
“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”
John 1:12 (ESV) –
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God...”
Galatians 3:26 (ESV) –
“...for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”
We’ve been adopted as sons and we address God as our Father. Abba is an Aramaic word meaning something like dad and the freedom to use the word Abba demonstrates an awareness of our new glorious identity as sons (and daughters) of God.
Mark 14:36 (ESV) –
“Abba, Father...”
We have been set free, we’ve been adopted. We’re God’s children through the work of the Holy Spirit and we await our heavenly inheritance.
Romans 8:17 (ESV) –
“...and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
Romans 8:18 (ESV) –
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
• Everyone who belongs to Jesus Christ has God the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.
• Ask yourself – Do I need to take warning and more actively do battle with my own sin?
• The presence of the Holy Spirit assures us of our new and secure identity in Christ, we’re God’s children.
Read Romans 8. Watch for the Holy Spirit and for perspective transforming promises that we ought to claim as believers.