Series: Romans
Title: Walking After the Spirit
Text: Romans 8: 1-27
Date: December 30,2018
Place: SGBC, NJ
As you know the chapter divisions were added
by the translators. They are helpful
when turning to scriptures. But
sometimes the division is simply not in a good place. Romans 7 and 8 is an example. There is no division here in context.
Romans 8: 1: There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The verse begins with “Therefore.” We
need to go back and see what it is there for.
Romans 6, 7 & 8 are one subject with no division. Romans 6 declares that by the death and
resurrection of Christ every regenerated child of God is dead to sin and alive unto
God—free from sin’s condemnation before the law of God and free from sins’
dominion within. Romans 7 declares that by
the death and resurrection of Christ every regenerated child of God is also
dead to the law and married to Christ. But immediately, before Romans 8, Paul
described the conflict between the two natures that all true believers
experience.
Romans 7: 21:
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22: For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man: 23: But I
see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24: O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death? 25: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then
with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
8:1: There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Subject: Walking After the
Spirit
The most comforting thing to a believer is that as we experience this
inner conflict, the Spirit of God quickens us in the inner man, renewing and reminding
us “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” That is how our sinful-nature is
mortified. God the Holy Spirit turns our
affection from minding the flesh and sets our affection on things above to Christ
our Righteousness.
As our sin-nature takes us captive, in our
inner man we mourn over our sin. God the
Holy Spirit strengthens us in the inner man, comforting us with the gospel that
there is no condemnation. We find that
the word of our Lord Jesus Christ is true, “Blessed are they that mourn: for
they shall be comforted” (Mt 5: 4).
In the inner man, we hunger and thirst after
righteousness, delighting in the law of God in our inward man. But we see this other
law in our sin-nature taking us captive.
But then the Holy Spirit fills our inner man with this good news that we
are righteous in Christ. Once again, we find it to be as our Master
promised, “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
for they shall be filled” (Mt 5:6).
All who are born-again of the Spirit of God—“are in Christ Jesus.” All
in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells, “walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Therefore, by the Holy Spirit within our
inner man, true faith does not go on defending self or making excuses or blaming
others or running back to the law. True
faith is made contrite and broken to confess our sin before God, to cry out for
mercy, “O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?” As the Spirit makes us confess our sin
and beg for mercy, the Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that we have no
condemnation in and by Christ Jesus. The
Spirit purges our conscience so that we know that we have complete
justification and absolution through the precious blood of Christ; no
condemnation before the judgment seat of God and no condemnation in the court
of our conscience by the precious blood of Christ Jesus. We find it to be just as the Holy Spirit
declared through the apostle John,
1 John 1: 7: But if we walk in the light, as he
is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin….9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
How did we come to be freed from our sin-nature so that we hear the good
news and confess our sins and believe on Christ in the first hour? How do we continue to do so?
Romans 8: 2: For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
and death.
The law of sin and death is two things.
One, the law sin and death is the curse and condemnation of the
commandments of God. God’s law declares
us guilty and ministers death to us. Two, the law of sin and death is the law of
sin in our spiritually dead sin-nature.
God’s elect must be delivered from both the law of sin and death in the commandments
and from the law of sin and death in our sin-nature in order to be saved. How is this accomplished?
Proposition: Through the hearing
of the law—the gospel of Christ—the Holy Spirit gives us life and faith in
Christ by whose blood and righteousness we are made free from the law of sin
and death. And this is how we are
continually delivered. Christ has, is
and shall deliver his people by his Spirit by this means of the gospel.
FREED FROM THE LAW OF
SIN AND DEATH IN THE COMMANDMENTS
First, the law of sin and death is the curse and condemnation of the law
of commandments. It is the curse that
all Adam’s race came under when we all broke the law in Adam in the
garden. God gave the law of commandments
at Sinai to expose our sin and minister death to us. (Rom 3:19-20; 5:20; 2 Cor 3: 6-7) How are God’s elect delivered from the curse
and condemnation of the law of commandments which we have broken?
Romans 8: 3: For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of
the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.
The law was “weak through the flesh.” There
was nothing wrong with the law. It is my
sinful flesh that made me incapable of fulfilling the law. No sinner can keep the law of God in perfect
righteousness by his own obedience before or after conversion. Before conversion, sin is all we are; we are
guilty by Adam’s transgression and we are conceived in sin by Adam’s corrupt
seed. After conversion, we still have
our sin-nature so that sin is mixed with all we do. Therefore, no sinner can fulfill the righteousness
of the law by our own works.
Since this is true of all God’s elect, “God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh.” It would have been a great step down had the Son of God been made
in the likeness of his holy, elect angels.
But the Son of God was made in the likeness of his sinful brethren,
though he knew no sin (Heb 2: 9-18).
Hebrews 2: 16: For verily he took not on him
the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17:
Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18:
For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them
that are tempted.
God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to make a sacrifice “for sin.” As the Head of his elect, the spotless Christ
Jesus made his soul an offering for sin.
The spotless Lamb of God was fit to be our sin-bearer. By bearing our sin, God was just to make our
Substitute a curse for us as God poured out justice on him in our room and
stead.
Isaiah 53: 4: Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5: But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed. 6: All
we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and
the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53: 9: And he
made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had
done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10: Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he
hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for
sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 11: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be
satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities. 12:
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto
death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
2 Corinthians 5: 21: For
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him.
1 Peter 2: 24: Who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to
sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
1 Peter 3: 18: For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
By Christ’s accomplished redemption—"he condemned sin in the flesh.” Our successful Redeemer condemned the
condemnation for all God’s elect. It
means, before the law, our body of sin was destroyed when our old man was
crucified with Christ. It does not mean
our sin-nature was destroyed within us; it means before the law, our old man
died under the justice of God. He that
is dead is justified, freed from sin. When
Christ died, all his people became justified from our sin and dead to the law.
Romans 6:6: Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7: For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Romans 7: 4: Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye
should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Galatians 3: 13: Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it
is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Christ did this work “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
The righteousness of the law is not fulfilled BY us but IN US. We are not regenerated and given the ability
to fulfill the righteousness of the law by our obedience. Some think that is what this verse
means. But the law that God writes on
our hearts in the new birth which we obey is not the ten commandments. It is the new covenant, the gospel of Christ,
“the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” Then what does this verse mean when it says that
the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us? When regenerated by the Holy Spirit, through
faith, God imputes Christ’s righteousness to us because Christ made his people
righteous by his obedience. It means
every true believer fulfills the righteousness of the law through faith in
Christ who established the righteousness of the law for us. We establish the law in every jot and tittle
the same way Abraham did 430 years before the law at Mt Sinai was given, that
is, through faith in Christ.
Romans 3: 31: Do we
then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
[through faith] 4:1: What shall
we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2:
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but
not before 3: For what saith the
scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.)
Free from the law, O
happy condition
Jesus hath bled and
there is remission
Cursed
by the law and [ruined] by the fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.
Brethren, rejoice! We are
delivered from the curse and condemnation of the law of commandments because
the Holy Spirit gave us life through the hearing of the preaching of the gospel
of Christ in spirit and in truth. He
brought us irresistibly to believe on Christ.
And through faith, God imputed the righteousness of Christ to us. “There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
FREED FROM THE LAW OF
SIN AND DEATH IN OUR SIN-NATURE
The law of sin and death also refers to the law of sin which is in our
sin-nature. As Paul said in Romans 7:
23, “But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law of
sin which is in my members.”
We are delivered from the law of sin and death in our members (in our
sin-nature) by the Holy Spirit in the new birth through the preaching of the
gospel. It is through the preaching of
the gospel by which we are born-again of the incorruptible seed. That is what Paul refers to as “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus.” The apostle Peter called the
word, which by the gospel is preached unto us, the incorruptible seed.
1 Peter 1: 21: Who by [Christ] do believe in God,
that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope
might be in God. 22: Seeing ye have purified your souls in OBEYING THE TRUTH
THROUGH THE SPIRIT unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love
one another with a pure heart fervently: 23: Being BORN AGAIN, not of corruptible seed, BUT OF
INCORRUPTIBLE, BY THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH LIVETH AND ABIDETH FOR EVER. 24:
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: 25: But the word of the Lord endureth
for ever. AND THIS IS THE WORD WHICH BY THE GOSPEL IS PREACHED UNTO YOU.
Peter says through the preaching of the gospel, I am born-again of the incorruptible
seed of the word of God by the Holy Spirit, so that I am brought to believe on
Christ. Paul says the same thing when he
says “the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
It is necessary that we be freed from the law of sin and death in our
sin-nature because before we were born again were in the flesh and could only mind
the things of sinful flesh.
Romans 8: 5: For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh;
This is what 99.9% of religion teaches poor sinners to do. They teach sinners to keep their mind on their
religious charade, making sure they play all their parts just right. Minding the things of the flesh includes
obvious lewd sin and the cares of this world. But more than anything else, the apostle Paul
applies it to vain, self-righteous, will-worshipping religion.
Will-works religion (will-worship) teaches poor sinners to memorize a
system of doctrine. It may be the
doctrine of grace or it may be free-will doctrine. But they do not preach Christ. They teach sinners that salvation is in their
knowledge of a system of doctrine.
They teach sinners to reform their lives in order to prove themselves
fit by their works to make a profession of faith in baptism. Most teach there is some saving efficacy in baptism. Those after the flesh mind the time when they
were baptized and got their name on a physical church membership roll, putting
much confidence in those things.
They mind the flesh by hearing of works in the messages they preach and
hear. They are taught to constantly
mind their flesh by minding the commandments of the law, by minding their sin, by
mortifying their flesh using the law.
They mind their flesh by keeping their eye on their morality and their
so-called good deeds and their religious acts.
Those who mind the flesh think that they make themselves holier and
holier by their works until at last they make themselves ripe for heaven. These are they spoken of the one place in
scripture where God speaks of a sinner
being holy in a relative sense—as in a sinner thinking himself holier than another.
This is the one place a sinner is said
to be holier than another sinner and listen to how God regards those who think
they are holier than others.
Isaiah 65: 5: Which
say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are
a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
Is their life and peace in minding the things of the flesh? Are those in this kind of religion
happy? Do they have peace? What does God say?
Romans 8: 6: For to be carnally
minded is death…7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
The carnal minded man is a natural man who has not been born-again of
the incorruptible seed of the word of God through the hearing of faith, that
is, the hearing of Christ and him crucified.
Such a man can become religious.
He can speak of grace and jesus and salvation through faith alone but it
is all fleshly. The grace that a fleshly
minded man speaks of is not grace but works.
Carnally minded men speak of another jesus and of another gospel which
is not another. (Gal 1: 6-9)
The carnally minded man hates God.
He does not hate his idol who he calls god and who he calls jesus. He does not hate the god that has done all he
can do but needs the sinner to let him save.
He does not hate the god who has no hands but his hands. But he hates the true and living God of the
Bible.
The carnally minded man is not subject to the law of God. He is not subject to the gospel of Christ nor
to the law of commandments. Not only is
he not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can he be.
1 Corinthians 2: 14: For
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
Romans 8: 8: So then they that
are in the flesh cannot please God.
The only way to please God is to either keep
the law of God from a perfectly holy heart in perfect righteousness with no sin
or to worship God in spirit and in truth believing on Christ apart from our
works. The carnal mind is not subject to
either one. He does not keep the law of
commandments nor is he subject to the gospel of Christ. Nor can he be. “So
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Brethren, this is what every elect child of God is as we come into this
world. All those God saves are, by our
Adam-nature, God-hating, flesh-minding rebels.
We come into this world hating God, incapable of submitting to the law
of God. This is the law of sin and death
which is our sin-nature which all God’s elect must be delivered from before we
can worship God through faith in Christ Jesus.
And this is the sin-nature still in you and I who are born of God from
which we must continually be delivered by the Spirit of Christ.
But what happens when God gives us a new nature in the new birth?
Romans 8: 5…but they
that are after the Spirit [mind] the things
of the Spirit.
It is God’s good pleasure to send each of his elect the gospel of Christ
Jesus his Son. Through the preaching of
the gospel—the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus—you who truly believe have been born-again of the
incorruptible seed of the word by the Holy Spirit. He created in us a new spirit. God set our new mind on the things of the
Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2: 12: Now we have received, not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. 13: Which things also we speak, not in
the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual….15: [and you that are] spiritual
judgeth [discerneth] all things, yet [you yourself are discerned] of no [unregenerate]
man. [the unregenerate man does not have the mind of the Spirit that he might
be instructed by the Spirit] but ye have the mind of Christ.
The only way a spiritually dead sinner is turned from our flesh and our
works to Christ alone is by the Holy Spirit speaking effectually into the new
spirit he has given and commanding us, “Set your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When
Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Col 3: 2-4). Thereby, is our flesh mortified!
Romans 8: 6…to be
spiritually minded is life and peace.
When “the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” then
my spiritual mind is set on Christ my Life, Christ my Peace. Therefore, to be spiritually minded is life
and peace. The reason there is now no condemnation and
the reason those born of God can never fall away in unbelief is because…
Romans 8: 9: But ye are not in the flesh, but in
the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Brethren, what good news! If the
Spirit of God dwells in you then you dwell in the Spirit. “Ye are
not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you.” What does this mean? The apostle John tells us, “As he is”—as Christ is at God’s right hand—"so
are we in this world” (1 Jn
4: 17). How is Christ at God’s right
hand? He is not in the flesh but in the
Spirit.
1 Peter 4:1: Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for
us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: FOR HE THAT HATH SUFFERED
IN THE FLESH HATH CEASE FROM SIN; 2: THAT HE LONGER SHOULD LIVE THE REST OF HIS
TIME IN THE FLESH TO THE LUSTS OF MEN, BUT TO THE WILL OF GOD.
That speaks of Christ and it speaks of you and I in whom
the Spirit of Christ dwells. Our risen
Redeemer no longer lives in the flesh, he only lives unto God. Likewise, by our being risen in him and by
the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, we, too, have ceased from living the rest
of our time in the flesh, we are now in the Spirit. We have ceased living under the power and dominion
of the lusts of our flesh and we now live under the power and dominion of God’s
grace. We have ceased living unto men and now we live
unto God.
This is all by the Holy Spirit of Christ dwelling in us,
making us to no longer be in the flesh but in the Spirit. You and I may still see ourselves as living
in the flesh but this is how God sees it and this is how it really is by the
power of the Spirit of Christ abiding in us.
We do not live in the flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit
of Christ lives in us.
Romans 6: 10: For in that he died, he died unto
sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11:
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Galatians
2:19: For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Philippians 3:3: For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the
spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
John 4: 23: But the hour cometh, and now is,
when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for
the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24: God is a Spirit: and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
We “walk not after the flesh but
after the Spirit” because we “are not
in the flesh but in the Spirit.” We “walk in newness of life” because we “are not in the flesh but in the Spirit.”
Romans 7: 5: For when
we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in
our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6: But now we are delivered from the law, that
being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and
not in the oldness of the letter.
Now, Paul’s next point is very
important. This is the main point of how
we are continually delivered from the law of sin and death in our
sin-nature. This is referring to Paul’s
question back in Romans 7. Not only is
this how I was delivered from my sin-nature when at first I was born-again of
the Holy Spirit but this is how I continue to be delivered when my sin-nature
takes me captive. Paul asked, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?” I continue to be delivered
by the Spirit, not by my flesh. Read
these next two verses carefully and get what this says.
Romans 8: 10: And if
Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11: But if the Spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall
also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Being born-again of Christ, the Holy Spirit
is life within us. He has given us a new
nature in which we are eternally alive. And the Spirit of Christ is the life of
our new man—"Christ in you, the hope
of glory.” The Spirit is life
because of righteousness. He is our
Righteousness and he gave us this life because Christ made us righteous by his
obedience. Also, our new man is created
in righteousness and is truly holy and cannot sin.
Ephesians 4:24: And
that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness.
1 John 3: 9: Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he
cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Yet, he says our sin-nature is still nothing
but sin—"And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.” Get that: the body is dead because of sin. Every true believer has a new man which is
holy and a sinful nature which is a body of death. As we saw in Romans 7 (and as we know from experience)
our sin-nature brings our new nature into captivity. So who shall deliver me from my sin-nature? That was Paul’s question in Romans 7:
Romans 7: 22: I delight in the law of God in the inward man 23: But I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me
into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24: O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?
Will-worship religion says you must go back
to the law and mortify the deeds of your flesh yourself. Their message by which they tell you that is
called in scripture “the hearing of works.”
That is minding the flesh.
But who does God say shall deliver us? –Romans 8: 11: But if the Spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the
dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Yes, the Spirit shall quicken our mortal
bodies in the resurrection. But in
context Paul is declaring how we are continually delivered from the body of
this death, from the law of sin and death in our members, from our sin-nature. It is by the Spirit!
When our inner man is taken captive by our
sin-nature, the same as he did in the very first hour, through the hearing of
Christ’s faithfulness the Holy Spirit quickens our inner man, mortifying our
flesh and freeing us from the law of sin and death in our sin-nature. As the Spirit of Christ renews our inward man
in the knowledge of Christ and his works (reminding us we have no condemnation),
he quickens our mortal bodies by his Spirit so that our sinful nature cannot make
our bodily members do what our sin-nature would have it do.
Galatians 5: 17: For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the
other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
In Romans 7, Paul declared that we cannot do the good things our inner
man would do because of our sinful flesh.
In Galatians 5, in context, Paul declares that our sinful flesh cannot
do the sinful things it would do because of the Holy Spirit who mortifies our
flesh. In Galatians Paul was giving them
the same instruction as here in Romans 8, which we see next in the application.
THE APPLICATION
Romans 8: 12: Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye
through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Brethren, we owe this flesh nothing. We are never to look again to ourselves, to
the law, to attempt to mortify the deeds of our sin-nature ourselves. The apostle Paul warned about this more than
anything else in his letters.
Col 2:8: Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and NOT
AFTER CHRIST….20: Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ FROM THE RUDIMENTS OF THE
WORLD, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, [TOUCH
NOT, TASTE NOT, HANDLE NOT]…
“For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die.” If we go back to the law to mortify the deeds
of the body, [which religion erroneously calls sanctification] after that we
claim to be born of the Spirit of Christ, then we leave Christ for Moses, we
leave Christ for our flesh. If we do so,
we shall die. If we do so, we prove we
never were born of Christ to begin with.
Galatians 5: 1: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2: Behold, I Paul say unto you, that
if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3: For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he
is a debtor to do the whole law. 4: Christ is become of no effect unto
you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
How then do we mortify this flesh?—"but if ye THROUGH THE SPIRIT do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live.” This is what Paul was
telling them to do in Galatians 5 instead of going back to the law.
Galatians 5: 13: For, brethren, ye have been called
unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by
love serve one another. 14: For all the law is fulfilled in
one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15:
But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of
another. 16: This I say then, WALK IN THE SPIRIT, AND YE SHALL NOT FULFIL
THE LUST OF THE FLESH. 17: For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the
other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Again, in Romans 7, Paul declared that we cannot do the good things our
inner man would do because of our sinful flesh.
But in Galatians 5, Paul declares that our sinful flesh cannot do the sinful
things it would do because the Holy Spirit mortifies our flesh. So we are to mortify the flesh through the
Spirit.
How do we through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh? How do we walk in the Spirit? How did we begin? Was it through the hearing
of works or the hearing of Christ? It
was through the hearing of the gospel of Christ. When we hear the gospel preached all the
troubles we have vanish away as the Spirit fills our hearts. Our flesh is mortified through the Spirit as
we mind the things of the Spirit, as our affection is set on Christ above. This is what Paul told the Galatians who were
being turned back to their flesh by those who came preaching the works of the
law. Those Judaizers were saying that it
was fine to believe on Christ for justification. But for sanctification they needed to go back
to the law and mind their own works. Paul
asks them how their flesh was mortified in the beginning. How were we brought to believe on Christ in
the beginning?
Galatians 3: 2: This only would I learn of you,
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3:
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the
flesh? 4: Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in
vain. 5: He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh
miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?
Believer, Christ ministers the Spirit to us. Christ works these miracles among us. How did he do it in the beginning? We saw the answer in Romans 8: 2. It is through the gospel—"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death.”
It was the hearing of the gospel of Christ’s faithfulness, the
incorruptible seed of the word, by which the Spirit made me free from the law
of sin and death.
So, believer, if we would walk in the Spirit, if we would mortify our
flesh through the Spirit, let us immerse ourselves in the preaching of the gospel
of Christ. Study the word we heard
preached. Set our affection on things
above. Be always thinking on spiritual
things. This is what Paul meant when he
said,
Philippians 4: 8:
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things.
Romans 8: 14: For as many as are
led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15:
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16:
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God:
Remember, why God gave us the Holy
Spirit. We are sons, not slaves. We have been given the Spirit of adoption,
not the spirit of bondage again to fear.
So we are to call on God our Father to deliver us! The
Spirit even frees us as he bears witness with our new man, reminding us we are
children of God so that he brings us to cry Abba, Father! “But
preacher I can’t even pray!” But look at
this good news! It is also the Spirit
that makes intercession for us when we call on the Father for help.
Romans 8: 26: Likewise the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered. 27: And he that
searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
So seeing that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus
because of Christ’s obedience on our behalf, seeing that we were delivered from
our sin-nature by the Holy Spirit through the hearing of the gospel and seeing that
we continue to be delivered by the quickening of the Holy Spirit, notice what
comes next.
Romans 8: 28: And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose.
By the work of Christ for us on the cross and the work of Christ in us,
if you read the rest of the chapter the conclusion is this: no one can charge
us with sin and no one can separate us from the love of God in Christ. Indeed, God is working all things together for
the good of us who are THE CALLED—us who the law of the Spirit of life in
Christ has set free from the law of sin and death. And God is doing it because this is his
eternal purpose in Christ! None can
condemn us, none can separate us! Oh, let
us praise God and thank him that “the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death!”
Amen!