Cross Creek Community Church, Pastor Dave Martin – August 16, 2015

“Victorious Spirit Filled Life”

Romans 8:1-39 & Selected

  • In a spinning chaotic upside down interconnected world, we so desperately need a foundation of truth
  • God’s Word tells us in Chpt 1 Gentiles lost in sin… Chpt 2 Jews lost in sin… Chpt 3 whole world lost in sin and stands guilty before God… Chpt 4 God steps in, we learn we can be justifies by faith… Chpt 5 describes the benefits of being declare righteous through Jesus Christ… Chpt 6 teaches us we are dead to sin but alive to Christ… Chpt 7 last week we learned about the process God uses to grow believers, and we saw the struggle with sin in a believer’s life… “Things I don’t want to do, I do…”
  • Today in Chpt 8 we find that we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus… Living Spirit Filled Life

1. TRUTH - Believers are “Set Free” in Jesus Christ! Vs1-4

Romans 8:1-3 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 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,

  • If you are in Christ Jesus, having been born again, called a believer, a saint, a Christian… No Judgment
  • What a tremendous truth! No special conditions need to be met, why? Those in Christ Jesus!
  • In Adam we all stand condemned, But in Jesus we have been set FREE – with No Condemnation
  • The Law cannot claim you v2… The Law cannot condemn you v3… The Law cannot control you v4
  • We are forgiven, Justified, declared Righteous… Standing in His Grace no longer under God’s Wrath, possessing Eternal Life… We stand safe and secure because of the “sin offering” of Christ!Set Free!
  • This Chpt we see the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit as the source of divine sanctifying power
  • God’s “invisible” secret weapon lives inside every child of God… Truth: No Condemnation… Set Free!

2. CHOICES-Obey Flesh OR Spirit… Fought in our minds, Vs5-11

Romans 8:5-85 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. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

  • “Mind” in the Greek is our mindset, aspirations… What is your mind set on? Talk about? Engage in? Spending time with? What is captivating your thoughts? One leads to death other leads to life & peace
  • Two ways to live life… Ruled by the flesh or ruled by the Spirit One or the other… Battle in the mind
  • It is an act of man’s free will,a choiceto believe… Once we are saved choices continue as each of us live out our spiritual lives with decisions to obey the new spiritual nature OR the old sinful nature (easy)… Here and many other passages, the battleground is in the mind… Our thought life is critical

SLIDE 4 - The difficulty of controlling the mind is underscored by Lanny Bassham, an Olympic gold medalist in shooting the small-bore rifle. He explained in Sports Illustrated, "Our sport is controlled non-movement. We are shooting from 50 meters -- over half a football field -- at a bull’s eye three-quarters the size of a dime. If the angle of error at the point of the barrel is more that .005 of a millimeter (that is five one-thousandths), you drop into the next circle lose a point. So we have to learn how to make everything stop. I stop my breathing. I stop my digestion by not eating for 12 hours before the competition. I train by running to keep my pulse around 60, so I have a full second between beats. You do all of this and you have the technical control. But you have to have some years of experience in reading conditions: the wind, the mirage. Then you have the other 80 percent of the problems --- focusing the mind!"

LIFE IN THE SPIRITby DennisDavidson

  • How often we fail to be disciplined in the vital area of our mind! Our thoughts begin to drift from the God centered life into worldly and forbidden areas, and we let them go. We become anxious, lustful, hateful, proud, negative, destructive…Proverbs 23:7"…For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
  • Your thought-life affects everything about you … how you feel … how you act … how you live.
  • Serving the flesh or serving the Spirit… Either or, no in-between, compromised neutral position
  • Believing truthor lies … Always a choice - Read Phil 4:4-9… Conflict begins in our minds… Choices

3. VICTORY - Indwelling Presence of God the Holy Spirit, Vs12-39

Romans 8:12-15 12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

  • Because of Christ, we experience a beautiful adoption into God’s family, sharing full inheritance with God’s Son… Indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit… Producing full rights and privilege… We cry out “Abba” to God as our heavenly Father… An informal Aramaic term that speaks of intimacy, tenderness, dependence and love… Modern English word would be Papa or Daddy… Jesus used this same term Mk 14:36, Abba Father when He prayed in the garden just before His arrest & crucifixion
  • God’s Son sacrificially died for our sins, we repent (‘me-tan-oeo’ to change your thinking) and believe… We are justified with no condemnation… God’s Spirit indwell each genuine believer… We have an “obligation” indebted to God for all He has done for us... To live a Spirit filled life in victory!

God is for us…

Romans 8:31 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

  • God is with us as believers… Never leaves us or forsakes us… Indwelling/living in us… He is for us!

He convicts us… He regenerates us… He baptizes us… He gifts us…He blesses us… He leads us…

He seals us… He warns us… He protects us…He helps us… He emboldens us… He teaches us…

He comforts us… He empowers us… Note: I could spend week on each of these… There is so much more:

He assures us of salvation v16

He adopts us as sons vs14-17

He confirms our glorious redemption vs18-25

He intercedes for us in prayer vs26-27

He works all things for good, growing us like Christ vs28-30

He secures us in His love -No matter what!vs31-39

GOD IS FOR US! SO… Who can stand against us? Vs35-36

  • So who condemns us or brings charges against us or can separate us from God or when we face trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword or death itself…

Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:38-39 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Living your Victorious Spirit Filled Life!

Paul said, “I am convinced” … Are you convinced?

What a Savior!

Romans 8:32-34 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Let’s Celebrate the Lord’s Supper!

1 Corinthians 11:24-25 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Let’s Pray