Grace Christian Fellowship: Christian Teachings from Romans

Romans 8 "The Best Part of the Gospel"

Perhaps the best part of the gospel is that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The Holy Spirit is the part of the gospel that we get to enjoy now. Paul has told us already about justification, that we are proclaimed righteous and can enter into heaven. But what about now? Last week we talked about how there is a constant battle between the mind and the flesh. The mind wants to do what is right and good but the flesh has a will of its own. All the flesh is interested in is what is good for itself. The flesh only wants what feels good right now. But with Jesus Christ in our lives the battle lines are changed. The battle is no longer between our mind and our flesh, but His Spirit and our flesh for control of our minds. Verse 5, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans 8:5-9) It is very clear that every believer, every born again Christian has the Spirit of Christ living inside of them. Each of us who have confessed Jesus Christ to be our Lord have the Holy Spirit indwelling us.

Some people are confused about this. There are people who teach that you have to have a special second experience to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But this is not what the Bible teaches. Paul says here that if you don’t have the Holy Spirit in you, you are not Christ’s. In other words, if you are Christ’s you will always have the Holy Spirit in you. Why do people get confused? Many are confused because nobody ever told them about the Holy Spirit when they got saved. They knew about the Holy Spirit but did not know that the Spirit had taken up residence in their hearts. For many of these people when they first experienced the Spirit in their lives it was a life changing experience as deep and meaningful as their first conversion. But this is not the way it should be. We don’t have to ask God for a second "filling" of the Holy Spirit because from the time we believe the Spirit is living in us.
What does it mean for my life that the Holy Spirit is living in me? Let's read on with Paul,

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:10-11)

The first thing that the Spirit does is let you start to really live. Real life is not a matter of blood pumping and lungs breathing. It is a matter of righteousness. The more we walk in God’s way the more really alive we are. But the more we walk in sin the more dead we become. Paul uses a different word here to talk about the body than he has used before. Until now he has been talking about the flesh. In Greek the "Sarx", the part of us that wants to sin. But here he says that that through the Spirit God will give life to your "mortal bodies" your "Soma". This body that we live in can be used for righteousness. It can be reclaimed from the flesh and used for the glory of God. It can learn to really live. Paul said before, "For I know in me (that is in my flesh) no good thing dwells." I want to do good, but I do not know how to perform it! Every three or four months it seems that there is an upgrade to the system software in my computer. I am usually about two or three of these upgrades behind on my system. When I get too far behind I start to get disturbing messages on my screen. Each time I try to use some new software program it tells me that it won’t work unless I install the new system. I want to run the new software but the old system doesn’t know how. The Holy Spirit is like a system update for your soul. Until now you would look at righteousness and say, "Does not compute." It looks good but I just don’t know how to run this stuff. But with the Holy Spirit in control you can run all the righteous software perfectly. You know how! One important thing I learned about computers. No matter how big your hard drive is, the computer can still only do one thing at a time. Of course it does each thing very quickly but only one thing goes through the processor at a time. The software decides what to do with each thing. It is the same with life. God gives us the Spirit so that we can know what the right thing is and how to do it. He could of given us a huge manual to study with the right thing to do in every situation that would ever come up in life. But instead He gives us the Spirit so that we have the answer right then as it comes up.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

The second thing that the Spirit does for us is allow us to live as children of God. There is a big difference between being led by the flesh and being led by the Spirit. When we were led by the flesh we were slaves. We were ruled over and had no choice in the matter. But by the Spirit we are led as children are led. How do I lead my children? First, I lead them gently. I take them by the hand, or if the way is too difficult I carry them. How are slaves led? They are led in chains. If they are too slow they are likely to be whipped or beaten. Second, I lead my children in the way they need to go. I am not going to take them anywhere that is dangerous or unhealthy. No, I am going to take them to the best places for them. But slaves are not led to the best places for themselves, they are led to the place that benefits their master. If the slave is hurt along the way what does the master care? Third, I lead my children personally. If I can I set the example for them. We talk along the way. I answer their questions and guide them through it encouraging and instructing. Slaves are only told what to do and punished if they don’t do it fast enough. What a difference between children and slaves. No wonder Paul says that we did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the Spirit of adoption. The life of a slave is one of fear. But the life of the child is one of freedom.

We have been adopted by God. One of the most difficult things about adoption is for the child to accept that he or she really is part of the family. Many children who are adopted at an older age suffer anxiety that it won’t last. They fear that the new family will reject them and they will be abandoned again. God knew that we also would struggle with the same thing. He knew that we would doubt whether we are really accepted by God into His family. So one of the reasons why He gave us the Spirit is so that we could feel His love for us. By the Spirit we can cry out "Abba, Father." The Aramaic word "Abba" is like our word for "Daddy" or "Papa". When we call God, the Almighty Creator of the Universe, "Papa", it is so unbelievable that we could almost expect for the heavens to laugh at us. Or worse a lightning bolt to fall from the sky and roast us on the spot. But instead the Holy Spirit, Himself bears witness with our spirit that its true! How does it work? I think that this is what happens in worship. When we worship God, singing His praise and approaching Him boldly. The Spirit joins in with us and we feel His presence. It is not just us singing but there is something more. We feel the pleasure of God, the love of God. This is the third work of the Spirit, linking us intimately with our adopted Father.

Finally, if we are children of God then we are also heirs. An heir is the one who inherits the wealth of the father. Now normally the heirs inherit the wealth of the father when the father dies. But in this case it works the other way around. We inherit the wealth of the Father when we die. Ephesians tells us that we have been blessed with all the spiritual blessings of the heavenly places. This is our inheritance. It also tells us that the Holy Spirit is the "guarantee of our inheritance." A guarantee is something that we can hold onto now to assure us of what we will get later. When you pay money to go to a concert you receive a ticket. If you paid and didn’t receive anything you would be a little worried that at the concert gate they would not let you in. But with the ticket in your hand there is nothing to worry about. When Jesus tells us that we are saved and can enter heaven He also gives us something to hold now so that we won’t be worried. The Spirit guarantees that we will be able to enjoy the inheritance.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body, For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

The reason why we need a guarantee is because there are sufferings in this life. The inheritance is not now but when we die. We are waiting and hoping, but it is the firstfruits of the Spirit that allows us to eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Without the Spirit it would be difficult indeed to keep our eyes on the hope of glory and off our present sufferings.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

The fifth work of the Spirit is intercession for us, helping us to pray. Almost like a translator allowing us to speak the language of heaven. We do not know how to pray as we ought. It is like asking a question about the computer. I say something like, "When I press the button the thingy doesn’t do what it is supposed to do." I don’t know what the right word is for it. I don’t even know why it does what it does. All I know is that something is wrong. In the same way, in our spiritual lives there are many times when we do not have any idea what is wrong, all we know is that something is not right. At these times the Spirit that is dwelling in us knows exactly what the problem is and is already taking the issue up with God.

There is much more to the Holy Spirit but this is a great start to understanding God in our hearts, making us truly alive, children of God, intimately linked with the Father, guaranteed of an inheritance and interceeded for perfectly because He knows our hearts and knows the will of God. What a blessing to be led by the Spirit!

Romans 8:28-39 "God's Great Design"

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

Last week after church as we were talking about the sermon, Richard told me that he was disappointed that I did not preach about verse 28. I told him don't be, I am going to spend the whole sermon next week on it. This is one of the greatest promises of the Bible. If you can believe it is incredibly encouraging. "And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." The promise is simple and easy to understand. All things, both things that we see as good, and things that do not appear to be good, both enjoyable things and difficult things, all things are being controlled and manipulated by God along His great design towards our good. This is such a huge promise. It allows me to say, in any situation, "God is going to use this for good". No matter what may happen to me I know that it will be ok, because God is in control and His purpose for me is good.

This is a great promise because it requires so little from us. The only thing that we have to do is love God. Absolutely everything else is God’s job. Unbelievable? But true. You might look at me and say "But pastor, isn’t this just wishful thinking? You don’t really know my life. I have been through so many terrible and painful experiences. I have suffered so much and it always seems that I am getting the worst instead of the best. How can you say that all things work together for good? Please understand that God is not trying to make you happy. God’s purpose is not to make your life comfortable and pleasant. His purpose for you is to bring you into glory. He wants to make you shine! He wants you to be just like Jesus, the Light of the world.

Wow, He is going to all that just for me? Just because I love Him? Well, actually no, not just because you love Him. You loving God is not really all that important. Can you imagine going to a Celine Dion concert here in Japan. For those of you who don't know she is the one who sings the theme song from Titanic. Considering how crazy people are about that movie and about that song, I think you would find yourself in a huge stadium, surrounded by tens of thousands of teenage girls all screaming "We love you Celine!" If you joined in and called out "I love you, Celine" do you think it would matter? Would she even notice? 30,000 people calling out, would one more voice make any difference? Not at all. Now think of how many millions of people in this world love God. Is it all that important for one more person to join with them? Does it make much difference that you have added your voice with the rest of them? If you are honest with yourself, not really. Your love is pretty insignificant to God. Unless, He gives it significance by loving you. Imagine back at the Celine Dion concert that before she sang the theme song from Titanic she stopped and spoke into the microphone. "Is Jonathan Wilson here? Yes, up there in the 52nd row! Come down here on stage with me because I want to sing this song especially for you." Wow! For me? This is what God wants us to know, how much He loves us. Because of His love for us, our love for Him isn’t just one more voice in the crowd, it is our response to His personal invitation to us. All that is required of us is that we love Him. But look at the depth of that love. It all started with God’s purpose for us.

In the very beginning. Even before the creation of the world, God had a purpose. Before He started the wheels of time in motion God set the whole plan out before Himself. He laid it out. The word for "Purpose" in Greek is "Prothesis" and it means to set something before oneself. Both my Grandfather and my brother had the wonderful talent of making furniture out of wood. I have tried to make things like them but have never been able to match their level of craftsmanship. One of the reasons why they were so skilled was because before they ever started cutting the wood, or drilling a hole or pounding a nail they would lay out the whole plan on paper first. They had a picture in their mind of the finished product and worked out each step towards achieving their end design before starting the project. God’s end design is for us to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that we can share in His glory.

Now I know that to succeed in making a beautiful piece of furniture that I must plan ahead. But somehow even though I also lay out the plan beforehand my end product never reaches my expectations. The reason why is that my Grandfather and brother were able to do two more things that I still can’t. My purpose, my desire is the same but I am lacking two vital things. You see they could look at the paper, the rough sketch, the measurements, and they knew how much wood they would need, how many holes to drill, how many nails they would need. They knew what kind of tools they would need to do the job, what kind of finish would look the best and what kind of joints would be the strongest. They knew all this before they ever started. God is also a master craftsman. In the very beginning, God knew everything that He needed to accomplish His purpose. In our text this is called foreknowledge, "Prognosis", to know what will happen beforehand. In English now, we use this word for the knowledge that the doctor has of how a disease will progress. He knows, not because of some mystical power, but because of his skill. Like my Grandfather, God knows what needs to happen to accomplish His purpose.

There is one more thing that I have not been able to do. My Grandfather and brother, because of their knowledge, could make decisions based on that knowledge. Of course, I also make decisions when I make a project. But because I don’t have the knowledge I usually make my decisions as I go along. I work until I run into a problem and then try make a way around it. But my Grandfather wouldn’t run into a problem because he had already worked out all the problems beforehand. All the important decisions had already been made. Paul calls this "proorisen", in English, "Predestination". The greek work means "to determine before". You see how these three things go together. First God had a purpose, a grand design, set before Himself. Then God because of His great wisdom and skill could look at that design and know before He started everything that would need to happen. Finally, because of this knowledge He could make all the decisions beforehand so that everything would be perfect. Of course we are not talking about furniture, but about you and me. You see God’s purpose is for us. His knowledge is of us. His decision was for us. God was considering us, planning for us, working for us, from the very beginning. From the very beginning He was designing this world so that we could join Him in glory. Our little love for Him is nothing compared to the great depth of His love for us!

Paul shows us here God’s love for us from the very beginning all the way to the completion of His purpose for us. Look with me at verse 30. It starts with His decision at the very beginning to include you in His design, that decision beforehand, predestination. I can see Jesus and the Father discussing it, "Ah, what we need is Jonathan right there." "Yeah, that would be great, and I am sure that he would accept, what do we need to do to make it possible." At that point the Holy Spirit joins in, "I will make sure that he knows that we love him and there is a way for him to be saved." So all through my life the Holy Spirit has been working, even before I was born until the day I received Jesus Christ calling me through the Word, through hundreds of people who witnessed to me, through loving parents who took me to church and prayed for me, even through difficult things that He allowed me to go through so that I would realise my need for Jesus. Jesus’ job was to make that way of salvation possible. Looking at me at the very beginning one of the decisions that was made was Jesus’ to sacrifice Himself to cleanse me of my sin. Jesus knew that unless He died on the cross there was no way that I could make it to glory. I have way to much sin. But because of God’s plan for me, Jesus decided to go to the cross so that I could be justified and made acceptable to enter into glory with Jesus Christ. Can you see the depth of God’s love, how little of it depends on me. His love for me has been working from the beginning of time and stretches all the way into eternity. My love responding back to Him is so brief in comparison. Can you see how stable, how safe, how solid, God’s love is? It does not depend on my love for Him that sometimes is strong but other times is shaky. Instead His is built into His grand design, based on His foreknowledge, determined before I even knew about Him. This is why Paul can say in verse 31, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" If God loves us so much that He has designed the whole world around us so that we can join Him in glory, what can possibly come against us?

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)

Who can be against us? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? Who is he who condemns? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? I am persuaded that nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. How could anything created by God, snatch us out of God’s plan? Folks, listen carefully. Our God is the creator of all things. There is nothing that was made that He did not make. There is nothing that God did not know about when He made His design. Nothing surprised Him. Everything that God decided to include in His plan was for the purpose of bringing us to glory, because of His love for us. So how could anything that God made separate us from His love? How can anything that God made be for evil against us? It cannot! Because God designed it all from the beginning so that we could have the victory. That we could spend eternity in His love. That we could share in His glory. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

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