Most gracious and loving heavenly father

we want to thank you and want to praise you of father for giving this wonderful day in our lives
want to thank you for giving us this time to come to your feet oh lord
to listen to your word, understand it and apply it in our lives.
open our hearts and minds to understand the versus...that we are about to hear
let your holy spirit be upon us, to lead and guide us...
thank you oh Lord.
We ask this prayer in the name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ

Life Through the Spirit

Romans 8:1-17

…Much loved and fav chapter in Bible because this is the chapter that helps us understand the
doctrine / principle of eternal security, it is also loved by regular Christians who would not claim to be
Bible Scholars (like me…)

So, after the internal struggle that Paul expressed at the end of Chapter 7 - it is refreshing / inspiring
to see him open Romans 8 with these words: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus…” These words are for those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as
their Saviour….

Having said this – let me ask a question…

Being in Christ Jesus?

Are we being led by the Spirit?
Are we "in the Spirit" and
Does the Spirit "dwell in us"?

It is important/critical for us to say "yes" to these questions, because this is the base of our foundation.
But just saying so does not help… we need to really understand the word of God and walk according
to the spirit.

Topic we are going to discuss today is - Life through Spirit

Versus 1-4: The Holy Spirit, God’s Provision for (1) escape from condemnation, and (2) enablement to
fulfill the Law
Versus 5-11: The necessity of walking in the Spirit, rather than walking in the flesh
Versus 5-8: Why walking in the flesh cannot please God
Versus 9-11: Why walking in the Spirit will please God
Versus 12-17: Paul’s words of application

Romans 8,1-17 is all about living a life through the spirit

No Condemnation and No Separation

There are many wonderful truths in Romans 8. The beginning and ending of the chapter help us to
understand the context and content of the rest of the other verses.

Paul starts by saying there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
This shows God’s mercy - Him not giving us what we deserve.
It ends with the fact that we also cannot be separated from His love.
This is God’s grace - Him giving us what we do not deserve.

No Condemnation

We are free from sin and death. However, Jesus Christ was not and died in our place. We are free
from punishment (v. 2).
In Adam we are sinners who deserve punishment by death (Romans 5).
Jesus accepted our punishment on the cross.
In Christ we are justified in God’s sight by faith in the finished work of Jesus (Romans 8:33, 34).
We enjoy the mercy of God because we are in Christ and God has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice.
There is no condemnation on us today. Praise the Lord!

No Separation from the Love of Christ

Verse 35 asks the question, “who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” The answer, of course, is
no one. Then Paul continues to say that no created thing is able to separate us either.
Neither tribulation,
Distress,
persecution,
famine,
nakedness,
nothing can separate us from God’s love. Why?
Because we are more than conquerors in Christ!

Beyond the natural things that can happen to a man, Paul lists things completely out of our control to
show how secure we are in Christ.

He says that he is convinced that death and life are no match for God’s love.

Angels, principalities and powers have no authority over those who are in Christ.
The list continues with the present and future as well as all creation being named as things which
cannot separate us from the love of Christ.

The final five verses of Romans 8 shows us that we can enjoy the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
This grace is not temporary. Those who are alive in Christ have the eternal security that they will
never be separated from the love of Christ.

Walking According to the Flesh

"So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh...for if you
are living according to the flesh, you must die..." (Romans 8:12, 13a).

Sadly, we see many examples of greatest immorality or corruption or wickedness or evil in our society
today.

Extremes would include abduction, exploitation and even murder of young children; the countless
choices being made by mothers to have their yet unborn children killed (abortion); uncontrolled greed
which results in profitable trade such as drugs, alcohol of which the end result is human misery;
cruelty to the extreme; murder; bombings and other crimes. But those are the extremes.

Walking "according to the flesh" also includes things many would consider trivial, petty or small.
- to be hateful of others
- taking pride in things
- cheating or lying for any reason
- to gossip, dress immodestly
- divorce for unscriptural reasons
- mis-use of internet
- mis-use of technology – I am glad we are using whatsup for a very good cause but there
other groups who are using whatsapp for other reasons which is pathetic, horrible…

all in all what I want to say is that - we simply get so busy with the things of this world that we
have very little time for God – this is "walking according to the flesh".

Walking According to the Spirit

"...but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being
led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14).

"Walking according to the Spirit" means to be led by Him.

It means to live by the moral, doctrinal and ethical standards of His written revelation, ie the Bible.
It is to love others and to deeply enjoy the blessings of life, both spiritual and physical.
Please understand that there is nothing wrong with having and enjoying material things, as long as we
are thankful for them and that they do not become our gods (I Timothy 4:4,5).

There is peace and contentment in such a life,

a life filled with kindness and goodness.
If the Bible is not our standard for the way we live, worship and serve God, then we are not being led
by the Spirit.
The apostles' doctrine taught in the first century and made available to us today in the Scripture is the
product of the Spirit (Acts 2:4; 42; I Corinthians 2:11-13).

Now the difficult part - Whose Responsibility is it to Choose the Spirit?

"For those who are of the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according
to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.... you are putting to death the deeds of the body..." (Romans 8:5;
13b).

It is up to you /us to "set" our/your mind on the things of the Spirit.

Do not pray that God do that for you.
It is up to us/you to "put to death the deeds of the body".
The Lord has died for our /your sins and has arose for our/your hope.
He has revealed how we must live and has invited us to willingly come to Him.
He has given us wonderful promises to motivate us, protects us from impossible temptations, and
makes His gospel easy to understand and obey.

It is up to us to "crucify the old" and "put on the new" and not to let sin control our/your body, but
rather righteousness (Romans 6:12-18).

"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we
live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." (Galatians 5:24,25). You see? It is up to us/you, and it
is an eternal life or death decision.

What do we get if we walk by Spirit…

Galatians talks about Fruit of Spirit –

Love,
Joy,
Peace,
forbearance,
kindness,
Goodness,
Faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control…

Conclusion
It is an encouraging and heart-warming reminder that we have such a loving Heavenly Father. He is
merciful and gracious to everyone. For those that are in Christ Jesus, not only are we free from the
condemnation that we deserve for the sinful creatures (if you allow me to use this words) that we are -
but we can also be sure that because of the grace of God (grace that is not temporary) we can also
be sure that we will never be separated from the Love of Christ