ROMANS, CHAPTER 8
[Verses 11-17]
(10-26-11)
Review:
Romans 8:8) [NIV] the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
9) [NIV] 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.
10) [NIV] But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
QUESTION: What are 3 two verses telling us?
ANSWER: We have the Holy Spirit living in us; we need to trust Him! Positionally He is in control of our lives. We need to allow what is positionally true to play itself out practically.
QUESTION: What is verse 10 telling us?
ANSWER: Sin dwells in the members of our bodies [Romans 7:17, 23]. We can’t trust ourselves! We must learn to trust the Holy Spirit to produce its fruit in our lives [Galatians 5:22-23]! THERE IS NO VICTORY TO BE HAD THROUGH THE STRENGTH OF THE FLESH!! STICK A FORK IN IT! IT IS DONE; IT IS DEAD! This chapter will go on to teach us that even though we are saved, our bodies are not!
NOTE: Paul’s entire argument is that living for God through human effort has never worked! The Law failed because “it was weakened by the sinful nature,” my sinful nature. Salvation doesn’t empower our flesh/our will so that we can now keep the Law by trying harder. God’s nature is produced in us as we seek a closer relationship with Him. When we do that, then dedication and abstinence become by-products of that relationship.
On To This Week’s Lesson:
Romans 8:11-17) [NIV] 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.
QUESTION: Does the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God Almighty, live in you?
ANSWER: Emphatically, yes!
QUESTION: When will God “give life” to my body that “is dead because of sin” [verse 10]?
ANSWER: Note:
Concerning “will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit,”
“This will be the final act of our redemption—when our bodies are glorified like the Savior’s body of glory” [BBC].
“The sense is, that under the gospel, by the influence of the Spirit, the entire man will be made alive in the service of God. Even the corrupt, carnal, and mortal body, so long under the dominion of sin, shall be made alive and recovered to the service of God” [Barnes].
NOTE: Though most commentators agree with the remarks that the BBC commentary expresses, that being that this quickening is speaking of the eventual resurrection of our bodies; I agree with Barnes. Our bodies will receive a life giving jolt from the Holy Spirit enabling us to walk out the righteousness which we have received in Christ; BUT this will only happen when we quit trusting our flesh/human effort and begin trusting the Spirit.
QUESTION: What does that mean?
ANSWER: We must quit trying harder to keep more rules so that God will love us more, and begin believing what God has said about us; i.e., that we are new creatures/creations in Him, etc.
NOTE: Allow me to stress this point: God has never loved you more than He loves you now; He will never love you more than He loves you now. We must quit trying to win His love and instead, we must learn to accept/receive His love.
I John 4:19) [KJV] We love him, because he first loved us.
QUESTION: How does the above verse fit in with this discussion?
ANSWER: When we question His love for us, it affects our love for Him.
12) [NIV] Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.
QUESTION: What do we learn from this verse?
ANSWER: The flesh failed us before we were saved, and it continues to fail us now. We owe it nothing!
13) [NIV] 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,
QUESTION: What do we learn from this verse?
ANSWER: Whenever we live “according to the sinful nature” {“after the flesh” [KJV]} death results. Sin always kills something. It kills our confidence towards God! It kills relationships! It kills our peace! It always brings death!
NOTE: And obviously, if we live our lives apart from God, always walking in the flesh, we will ultimately face eternal death!
QUESTION: What else do we learn from this verse?
ANSWER: The only thing we can do to defeat sin in our lives is to walk in the Spirit.
NOTE: As we’ve taught previously, Galatians 3:2-3 teaches us what it means to “walk in the Spirit.” It means that we are walking according to the promises God has made to us. Just as we believe the promises that spoke of salvation we now believe the promises that speak of spiritual victory.
14) [NIV] because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
QUESTION: Is this verse telling us that if aren’t following the leading of the Holy Spirit on a constant basis that we’re not saved?
ANSWER: No! Only the Lord Jesus always did the will of His Father.
QUESTION: Then what is it telling us?
ANSWER: The children of God are the individuals that are “born again” [John 3:3], “born of the Spirit” [John 3:8], “born of God” [1 John 3:9, 4:7, 5:1 and 5:4]. Galatians 3:2-3 shows us that we were “born again” when we believed the Gospel message. It then shows us that we mature/grow spiritually the same way we began/were born again, by believing God’s promises to us.
QUESTION: Then who are the children of God?
ANSWER: The children of God are those who were led by the Spirit of God to believe the promises of God regarding salvation, and consequently, put their faith in Jesus.
15) [NIV] 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.”
QUESTION: What is this verse teaching us in relationship to the context of this chapter?
ANSWER: The Holy Spirit, the One Who lives inside of you, has not led you into slavery, but rather, out of it. He has led you into a relationship with a Holy God, your Father in Heaven. You now call God, “Father!”
NOTE: The slavery this verse is speaking about is slavery to the Law. The Holy Spirit does not lead an individual who comes to Christ into servitude to the Law. He has led you to the freedom “of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” [II Corinthians 3:6].
16) [NIV] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
QUESTION: What does the Holy Spirit do to convince us we’re saved?
ANSWER: The very Holy Spirit that leads us “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children,” not slaves to a system that was put in place to condemn us as sinners. We are children, not slaves.
17) [NIV] Now if 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.
QUESTION: What does this verse want us to understand?
ANSWER: If we are children of God then we are rightful heirs to all the promises and provisions of the last will and testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has equipped us through the promises of His Word to walk out the righteousness that we have received through our union with Christ.
QUESTION: What does sharing “in his sufferings” refer to?
ANSWER: In order to save us Jesus stepped out of the splendors of Heaven and into the pain and suffering of this world. After He saves us He leaves us in this same world of pain and suffering. Jesus promised that the suffering would continue until the day of our leaving this world [John 16:33].
QUESTION: Why does He leave us here, on this planet, to faith trouble? Why not take us to Heaven?
ANSWER: He leaves us here for the same reason He came here; he wants us to be a light of the Gospel shining brightly in a often dark world.