Life By The Spirit, Romans 8:1-17
The Difference The Spirit makes
Romans 8:1-17 (p. 1756-1757) August 13, 2017
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 . . .
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.
Romans 8:1-4
Not even a little bit
You, however are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit . . . .
And if the Spirit of his 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 8:9-11
- CONTROL is about whether I’m rowing or sailing
- Being controlled is SCARY
The Spirit makes us family
. . . because those who are led by the Spirit are sons of God.
Romans 8:14
- Family means I BELONG
- Family means I HAVE OBLIGATION
Sailing through suffering to glory
Now is we are children, then we are heirs –
heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings
in order that we may also share in his glory.
Romans 8:17
- Children trust THE FATHER
- Children suffer with THEIR SIBLINGS
- Children anticipate OUR INHERITANCE
More study resources for Romans 8
Tim Browning’s “No Condemnation! No, Not Any At All . . .” at
https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/mp3/romans_browningpdf.html
Bob Deffinbaugh’s sermon on Romans 8, “Siding with the Spirit” at https://bible.org/series/romans-righteousness-god
Ligon Duncan’s messages at http://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/greetings-from-an-apostle
John Murray’s Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Eerdmans, 1955).
Kim Riddlebarger’s “Through the Obedience of One” sermon at http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/sermons-on-pauls-epistle-to-th/
Sinclair Ferguson’s “The Great Exchanges of Romans” at
http://www.ligonier.org/blog/great-exchanges-romans/
F.F. Bruce’s paraphrase of Romans at https://biblicalstudies.org.
uk/pdf/eq/1958-2_bruce.pdf or Paternoster Press (1965); Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Eerdmans, 1977); and The Epistle of Paul to the Romans (Eerdmans, 1963). I really like Bruce’s poem on page 162:
To run and work the law commands,
Yet gives me neither feet nor hands;
But better new the gospel brings:
It bids me fly and gives me wings.
Tim Keller’s Romans For You (The Good Book, 2014).
James Boice’s Romans, Volume 2 (Baker Books, 1991).
Earl Palmer’s Romans series notes “The Greatest Book”, Winter 2002, University Presbyterian Church, Seattle, Washington.
Another summary of the gospel
Romans from 30,000 Feet by Michael Horton
from an Overview of the Book of Romans, WHI 2006
The problem that all of humanity faces is the wrath of God, which is entirely justified because the Gentiles know God according to general revelation and the Jews know God according to special revelation. Yet both have failed to truly acknowledge God since they have violated His law. Since everyone is under sin and God’s wrath the only way out is the Gospel, the announcement that in Christ God has provided a righteousness that satisfies his holy requirements. Christ has absorbed God’s wrath in His death and justifies the wicked in his resurrection. All of this is received by faith alone apart from works as the examples of Abraham and David demonstrate Yet God has not only secured our life from the condemnation of the law, but also from the dominion of sin and death. Baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection we are made new creatures and yet we continue to struggle throughout our lives with indwelling sin and the only hope we have is to look outside of ourselves to Christ, with the indwelling Spirit testifying in our hearts to our free adoption and keeping alive within us the hope that not only we but the whole creation will share in the final redemption.
In the light of all this, nothing can separate us from God’s love. But how then can we trust this gospel if God has been unfaithful to his early promises to Israel? Well, God has always maintained his prerogative of Election, even among the physical descendants of Abraham. So salvation isn’t a matter of physical decent or of human decision or effort, but of God’s mercy alone. God has been faithful to His promises, because even now an elect remnant is being saved from among Jews and Gentiles and after God adds alien Gentile branches to the tree of Israel he will finally bring in the fullness of the Jews as well. In view of all these mercies that stagger our imagination, we can now offer, not the dead sacrifices of animals for atonement, but our own bodies as living sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. In that light, stop judging each other about things indifferent and get on with the business of loving and serving each other.