Do You Live According to the..

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Brethren, I'm going to invite you to please open up your Bibles to the Book of Romans, Romans Chapter 8. Today, we are going to continue, by God's grace, with our study through the Book of Romans. So let us please open up our Bibles to the Book of Romans. Romans chapter eight.

Last week, by God's grace, we address in verse one Romans chapter one verse Romans chapter eight verse one that it says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are going to be speaking today about this idea that Christians are not to leave according to the flesh. We can put that even as a question. Do you leave according to the flesh? And I'm taking the title to my sermon from verse 12.

If you pay attention to rest 12 in Romans chapter eight, the apostle is going to give this clear exhortation or call to Christians. He's just inverse 12. So then, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to leave according to the flesh. For if you leave according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds off the body, you will leave.

So if we were going to put it in terms of a question, that question will be, do you leave according to the flesh? The apostle is going to tell us that in verse 12 that we are not to be debtors to the flesh, to leave according to the flesh, but rather in contraposition to that, that we are to leave according to the spirit. So we were going to even put more questions to that. The question is, do you leave according to the flesh or do you leave according to the spirit? The apostle uses this language of walking in the spirit or walking in the flesh or walking or living in the spirit or living in the flesh.

That is what I want us to consider from the 1st 14 verses of Romans chapter eight. So we're gonna be addressing Romans chapter eight versus one through 14. And we're gonna try to speak about that idea that are not to leave or to walk in the flesh but they are to leave or walk in the spirit in the terms of I question do you leave according to the flesh so let us come before the Lord, as we always do. And let us pray that he will guide us in the truth of the Scriptures and that the outcome of this will be that God is glorified and that his people are edified. Let us pray together and come before the Lord.

Father, we come before you in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Once again, we're gathered here on this Lord's Day, and we give you thanks, Lord, for the great mercy that you have bestowed upon us and making us your people. Lord, we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by and through the word of the Lord. So as we have the scriptures here in front of us, Lord, we know that our faith is strengthened through hearing your voice and your word. So we pray, O Lord, that you will grant us that truth.

Pray, Lord, that you will sanctify us, that you will make us more like Jesus Christ. There are so many ways in our minds, in our heads, Lord, in our ways that we are, Lord, that are according to the flesh. We don't want just to be Christians that say with their mouths that we are Christians, but we want to come to the scriptures and to see who you are and what you have done for us and what you tell us that we ought to live by. And we want to be obedient. We want to be obedient to your word.

So, Lord, as we have the scriptures here before us, we are asking, Lord, that you will speak to us through it, that your words will be exalted, that you will grant us, Lord, to be able to understand and to comprehend with all the saints the depths and the width of the great love that you've had for us in Christ Jesus. We know that you can do that through your words. We pray, Lord, as we consider today this, that the Christians are not to live according to the flesh. I pray, Lord, that you will teach us that. And if there is anyone among us here within the sound of my voice that is living in the flesh or according to the flesh, I pray, O Lord, that the truth of the scriptures would present Jesus Christ so clear that we will know that the only way for us to live according to the spirit, it is in and by and through Jesus Christ.

So even from the very onset of our prayer of our prayers and the sermon law, we ask that you will forgive us for the many times that we have walked and lived according to the flesh. And I pray, O Lord, that you will teach us to live according to the mercy of the spirit of Christ Jesus. Teach us, Lord. This afternoon, I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Very good as I said so we're gonna be reading together brethren from Romans chapter 7 verse 14 all the way through Romans chapter 8 verse 14 that is going to give us the context of what the Apostle Paul is doing here in light of these Exhortation that we have in the scriptures not to leave according to the flesh. So let us read together This is Romans chapter 7 verse 14 all the way through chapter 8 verse 14 says verse 14 in chapter 7 for we know that The law is a spiritual, but I am of the flesh soul under sin, for I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being.

But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind, and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Some of you may have there those who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Verse two, it says, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh.

But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set On the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it that is the mind of the flesh, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If, in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is death because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

So then, he says in 12, so then, 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, the deeds of the flesh, you will live. Why? Verse 14, for all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Amen. This is the reading of God's work. And as I said, I want us just to ask ourselves this question. And the question is, do we leave according to the flesh or do we leave according to the Spirit? If we were going to make this question more personal, I suppose we could say, do you leave according to the flesh or do you leave according to the spirit?

Because these are the two categories of people that Paul has explained in these 14 verses of Romans chapter eight. Those who are walking or leaving according to the flesh. those who leave or walking according to the spirit and the reason why Paul now is going to address this topic of distinguishing between people that walk in the flesh or live in the flesh and those who leave or walk in the spirit is because in chapter 7 the Apostle has very clearly stated the corrosiveness of seeing if you want or the dangers of seeing or He has even said that he has this principle that is at war with him, that he wants to do the things of God, but he finds that there's this scene that is present in him that is making war. And then he says in verse 24, who will be able to deliver me a wretched man that I am? who can deliver me from this wretched body.

And then the apostle knows that the only one who can deliver him is the Lord Jesus Christ. But after he has stated of this conflict or this war that happens within the person, there's also a chance that someone may believe then that the person is okay living alive in the flesh. So the apostle is going to come now in chapter eight, and he's going to say absolutely no. If you are in Christ Jesus, then there is no condemnation for you because you have been liberated from the dominating power of sin. And if there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, then the result of it is that you are going to live not according to the flesh, but that you're going to live according to the spirit.

So the teaching of this passage is very simple. That is that because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, The result of it is not that they are going to give themselves to leave according to the flesh, but rather is that they are going to leave according to the spirit. It is true that there's no longer a sentence that is pressing upon the Christian that is condemnation. They have been justified before the Lord. But because they have been justified, that does not mean that they can leave in the flesh.

Rather, it is expected that those who are in Christ Jesus and for whom there is no condemnation, they will leave not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit that is made very clear. If you have the new King James or the King James, In verse one, when the apostle says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Oh, in the ESV, the apostle makes it very clear in the second half of verse four, when he says, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And if that is not enough, then we can see verse 12, which is the one that I quoted in the beginning, where the apostle is actually calling to action these people in verse 12, the church, he says, so then brethren, We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. Simple and clear teaching.

The reason or better, because we are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation for us. There is no legal sentence that is pressing upon us. We are forgiven and we are one with the Lord. But the result of it is that we are going to walk not according to the flesh, but we are going to walk according to the Spirit. We are going to explore that from these verses here and also Galatians chapter 5, which is the parallel passage that the apostle mentions this idea of walking by the Spirit.

But more than understanding what we have here in Romans chapter 8, of course, the important question that we need to ask ourselves in our minds and in our hearts is this. Are you living according to the flesh or are you living according to the Spirit? I'm not asking if you understand the meaning of this passage or I'm not asking if you are very well versed and understand the difference between walking in the flesh and walking in the spirit. I'm not asking about understanding of matters, but rather I'm asking through what the apostle says here in the scriptures. Are you personally and individually walking before the Lord according to the spirit and not according to the flesh?

Because as the apostle has stated here there is no agreement between not having Condemnation upon us because we're in praise Jesus and walking in the flesh the two combination of the two sides to this is no condemnation and And then we leave according to the spirit. Let me just say simply a couple of things before we get into this text. This text is not teaching that ultimate and final salvation. It is about how good and how righteous you are. Now, the apostle is stating that because we have been saved or we have been justified by grace, there's no combination for the Christian.

The result of it is going to be that we have a transformed life. Now, transformed life is the result of our position before the Lord, and not a transformed life is what gives us a position before the Lord. So, very important to join what the Apostle says, that salvation is by grace through faith, and this is not of works that no one might boast, Ephesians chapter 2, that is completely the work of the Lord. But once a person has been justified by faith, Romans chapter 5 verse 1, You have been justified by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. Once a person has been justified, then that person, there is no condemnation for that person.

And because of that, the result of it is that that person will live not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. There's a couple of things that I want us to do from this text. And that, of course, the first one is going to be to explore that reality of what the apostles is here or the meaning, the understanding of what it is to walk according to the flesh. We could put it on both sides, the spirit of the flesh, but let us just simply put it on the side of the flesh. I want us to understand from the context and Galatians five what it is to walk or to leave according to the flesh.

And then the apostle is going to give us here in this text from verse two. through verse a 11. He's gonna give us four reasons why the Christian is not to walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirits of first, we're going to explore from the scriptures this idea of walking according to the flesh. And then second, we're going to see the reasons that apostle gives for which the Christian for whom there is no condemnation should not leave according to the flesh, but should leave according to the spirit. And then finally, if the time allows us and the spirit gives us freedom, then we will go into this call that the apostle gives us in verse 12 that we're not to be debtors to the flesh to leave according to the flesh, but we have to live by the spirit.

And by that spirit, we are to put to death the deeds or the works off the flesh. Why? because he were led by the spirit. You were sons off God with daughters of God, and that spirit is the one that helps us mortified to put to death the deeds of the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Let's go with the first one, and that is this reality of walking according to the flesh.

What is it? What is the meaning of walking according to the flesh and walking according to the spirit? I suppose they're understanding the difference between this two is very important because some people might have the concept of the idea that once a person has professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by grace through faith, they profess to be Christians, but now they can leave. lives of sin and sometimes you may even have heard this in the past that there are some people or some christian says that there are some immature christians or fleshly christians or carnal christians and some people may say that this idea of living or walking in the flesh is when you have already been forgiven you have already received justification that comes from above you already have joined those people in roman chapter 8 verse 1 for whom there is no combination because you are in Christ Jesus, but you are now struggling with things. And because you're struggling with things, there is a permission for you to leave according to the flesh or for you to leave according to the passions that are within you.

Let me submit to you that even though it is true that not everyone is spiritually mature, none of us, none of us is, and that we are in a walk of progressing and advancing in a maturities unto the Lord, and that there is in a sense in which this battle that we have with our sinning inside of us progressively advancing victory, while that is true that we are progressively advancing in conformity to Christ, what Apostle has here, it is not two categories of Christian, one that is spiritually mature and another one that is immature, but rather what Apostle has here and also in Galatians chapter 5, is a person who is generally in Christ Jesus, and the person who is dead in their sins and their trespasses, and namely in the flesh. When the apostle mentions here in Romans chapter 8 and Galatians chapter 5 what it is to be in the flesh and what it is to be in the spirit, he is distinguishing between the genuine Christian who by grace through faith now is abiding in Christ Jesus. And because he is in Christ Jesus, this person has been forgiven. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And hence, this person walks according to the spirit.

distinguishing these from those who are in the flesh and those who are in the flesh are those who are in Adam. And for them there is condemnation. Why? Because they're not in Christ Jesus, but they are in Adam. And the simple evidence that we have for that is verse nine.

In verse nine, the apostle has clearly told us there that the believer is not in the flesh, but he's in the spirit. Pay attention there to verse nine. You, however, he's contrasting those in the flesh with the Spirit. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Very clearly, these two categories of people have been just separated here in Romans chapter 8. Those who are in the flesh are the ones who do not have the spirit of Christ in them. And those who are in the spirit are those who have the spirit of Christ in them. In simple words, we have the genuine Christian who has the spirit of God. And then we have the person that is dead in their sins and their trespasses, the person who is in the flesh.

Now this spiritual condition of being in the flesh and being in the spirit is going to be manifested in the way that the person lives. And that's what Apostle refers when he says, do not live according to the flesh or do not walk according to the flesh. The best example or explanation of living according to the flesh and living according to the spirit is given to us in Galatians chapter 5. So let us go to the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 5, because in this parallel passage, the Apostle is going to use very similar language to Romans chapter 7 and Romans chapter 8. And there he's going to compare those who are in the flesh, that is, they are not in Christ Jesus, and those who are in the Spirit, and how these two categories are going to result in different lifestyles or different practices of their lives.

We're told they're in Galatians chapter five. If you go to Galatians chapter five, there's 16. It says, but I say, but I say, let us read from verse 13. Perhaps let's just read from verse 13 for you were called. Paul is speaking not to the Galatians, and this is very likely that these may have been written first, but verse 13 for you were called to freedom, brothers.

Not only do only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love, serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you're not consumed by one another. He says in verse 16.

But I say, walk by the spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit. Paul says in Romans chapter 7 that they are waging war inside of him. He says here in Galatians chapter 5 verse 17, For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Remember Romans chapter 7? The things that I don't want to do is what I keep on doing. Now it says in verse 18, but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Romans chapter 6, verse 14. Now the works of the flesh are evident.

So this is what it is to walk in the flesh. Verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, feats of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy. Some of you have their murder, drunkenness, orgies and things like this.

I warned you as I warned you before pay attention that those who do or leave or practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control against such things. There is no law on those who belong to Christ. Jesus hath crucified the flesh with his passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become considered provoking one another, envying one another. The two categories of people have been clearly there stated. Then we have those who are in the Spirit, that is, that they are in Christ Jesus, and those who are in the flesh. flesh, they are in Adam. For those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation, because they are in Christ Jesus.

And the expectation, the result, is that they will live not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh, it is because they are dead in their sins or trespasses, and the type of life that they live is according to the passions of the flesh that the apostle has told us there. Now, even though we distinguish and we recognize that, once again, it is important to acknowledge one more thing. And that is that even though the Christian is in Christ Jesus, and for him or her there is no condemnation because they're in Christ Jesus, and even though the Christian is called to live in the Spirit, not to live according to the flesh, the apostle acknowledges here in Romans chapter 7 and 8 and Galatians chapter five, that there is going to be a battle within him or within her, that there is going to be still passions of the flesh. He says, walk by the spirit that you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

So it's not of the Christian. The outcome of the life of the Christian is always perfection. No, actually, we're not perfect at all. but is that the pattern of life of the person who is generally in Christ Jesus, for whom there is no condemnation, will be a pattern of life in which is alignment and in a step with the spirit of the Lord. Now, if the pattern of life, or if the habitual type of life of this person, it is on the things of the flesh that have been mentioned there, sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, and things like this, If the pattern of life of the person is in those things, then those people, it says there in verse 21, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God, not because they were in the kingdom of God and their behavior took them out of the kingdom of God is because they were never into that kingdom of God.

but otherwise they wouldn't receive the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the instruction of the apostle, if we return there to Roman chapter eight, is very simple. If you are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation for you. There is no fear that should come upon you because there's no condemnation. But the fact that there is no condemnation is going to be evidence in the fact that you're going to live according to the spirit, providing and bearing all the fruit of the spirit that we saw in English chapter five.

And you're not going to leave according to the flesh. And that's why this question that we asked in the very beginning is not a question about the style of life of the person, but rather is a question about the spiritual condition of the person is not asking about the things that you do, but better are you in Christ? Because if the person is living according to the flesh, we have already seen it in Roman chapter eight and Galatians chapter five. That person shall not inherit the kingdom of the Lord. But apostle is going to give us here for reasons why Christians, for whom there is no condemnation, they should walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

And he's going to start breaking down or giving us those reasons from verse two. He's going to give us four reasons why we Christians are not to live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, or in other words, are to live in the Spirit. The first one is given to us in verse two. I'm going to put him in a statement for her first, then explain the text and then expound on them. The first one is this.

We Christians who are in Christ Jesus, for whom there is no combination, should leave not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, because we have been liberated from the principle of sin and death. We have been liberated from that by the principle of life. in Christ Jesus. We have been liberated already by this principle that was governing inside of the person, this principle of sin and death, by the principle of spirit and life in Christ Jesus. This is what the apostle says there in verse 2.

Let us read together. four the law or the principle of the spirit of life has set you free in christ jesus from the law of sin and death the apostle here is to is comparing two realities before jesus christ we were under the principle of sin that produced death. And now that we are in Christ Jesus, we are under the principle not of seeing, but we're under the principle of the spirit that leads to life life in Christ Jesus. Before we had seen and death. Now we have the spirit alive.

The reason why we can leave not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, is because genuine salvation requires that the person has been liberated from the dominating power of sin. While it is true that sin is going to be present in us until we die, it's not true that a genuine Christian will live under the dominating power of sin and death. Genuine salvation will always bring Liberation from the dominating power off scene on the Christian is going to work under a walk under a different principle. That is the principle of the Holy Spirit in the person of Jesus Christ. Then that means that the Christian, even though he or she is not perfect, she and he are going to be in a process of becoming like Christ Jesus, liberating themselves by the power of the Holy Spirit from those scenes that enslave them in their previous life.

If a person says with their mouth, I belong to Jesus Christ and I believe in God while in their lives, I live in a life of slavery to the principle of sin and death. Then there is a lie that has been said, not by the scriptures because they are clear and they're always truth, but a lie that has been said by the person who says with their mouth, I follow God and I believe in God while they live under a principle of sin and death. But not only a qualifier of genuine salvation, a great hope for the Christian. Because my dear brother and sister, if the Spirit of God is in you and in me, then we can know that we can be victorious over sin. We may not be perfect, and I know it might not be an easy thing.

But if there's anything that was clinging to our lives, to our consciences, any sin from the past that was just so strong to our lives, we can know that because we have been liberated from the principle of sin and death, we can have victory over that. Many times, which in the society in which we live, the past and our infancy and the things that we have done in the past seem to define so much people in the present. The hope that the Christian have is that your life is no longer defined by the things that happened in our past. Yes, it is true that there's going to be things that will happen in our past that are going to affect us and that are going to define us who we are now. But remember that our identity is no longer found in the spiritual condition that we were before, but in the spiritual condition that we have in Christ.

It does not mean that you are going to overcome all the sins that you developed in your previous life. But it does mean that we have hope in Christ, that if we abide in him, we are no longer under the dominating power of sin and death and we can pray, and we can live in Christ knowing that we are under this principle of freedom in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should never give up to any of the sins that defined us in our previous life or that defined us in the past. We should never just think that just because this is the way that I was raised or this is the thing that people taught me or just this is the way the behavior that I developed that just because that was my past, that this is going to define how I'm going to be in the future. The identity of the Christian is no longer defined by the past or the present, but the person of Jesus Christ and what he does for them.

And what we have here in verse two is that the Christian has been liberated from the dominating power of sin and praise God for that, because then that means that we can enjoy the blessing of what it is to have victory over sin. And even though we are not saved by being sanctified, or we are not saved by being holy, the Bible is very clear that without holiness no one shall see the Lord. And that is not because that requirement of holiness is put upon the person, but that is because genuine salvation is going to work in a person an outcome in which that person is going to be growing in holiness. There's no combination, there's transformation, and there's freedom in Christ Jesus as we advance into holiness. Why?

Verse two, because when we were under this principle of sin and death, now we have been liberated out under the principle of life in Jesus Christ, the spiritual principle of life in Christ Jesus. Second, we have it there in verse three, not only because there's freedom from this principle of sin and death, but second, and very important, it is because this work is the work of God and it's not the work of obedience as unto righteousness. The reason why we have been liberated is not because you were so obedient that you managed to liberate yourself and you made yourself righteous. But the reason why we have been set free from sin and death by the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is because the work has been done by God himself through his son. It is the The work of God, the one that liberated us.

We're told there in verse three and four, pay attention to that. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh, pay attention to this, could not do. So we have on one side what God could do and what the law and us could not do. Pay attention to verse three. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do.

How? How did he do it? By sending his son in the likeness of our sinful flesh, and he became like one of us, and for sin, or as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. For what purpose? In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

The reason why Christians Can leave not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit is not only because first we have been liberated from the principle of sin and death, and now where this spiritual principle of life in Christ Jesus, but second, because this work of liberation is the work of God, and it's not the work of men. He's not the work of your obedience. He's the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're told very clearly that it's impossible for the commandment to do what God did. It was impossible for me when I was under sin and death through obedience to defeat my sin and death.

So it is impossible for any human being through obedience and through their own righteousness to defeat that principle of sin and death. So then God, knowing that it was impossible for us to be made righteous, through obedience, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, God the Father, sent His Son, Jesus Christ, in the likeness of our flesh, so that He will be under the system that we could not obey, that we could not keep, so that when God will deliver His Son as a sacrifice, He will condemn sin in the flesh. Here, the apostle is playing with two words, the word condemnation for the Christian and condemnation for sin. In verse one, he has told us there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But in verse three and four, he tells us that God has condemned sin in the flesh.

There is no condemnation for the Christian. Why? because God has condemned sin in the flesh. We have that there in verse 3. Let us read it once again.

That expression, sometimes we might pass it just over quickly when we read it. It says in verse 3, For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, or as a sacrifice for sin. Continue. He condemned God, condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. What is the meaning of that?

What is the meaning that God... There's no combination for me and Christ Jesus. But what is the meaning that God condemned sin in the flesh? In simple words, what that means is that sin no longer has authority to claim death upon those who are in Christ Jesus. Why?

Because sin no longer has authority to claim death upon Jesus Christ. You see the validity of the authority of Satan, sin and death. It is only valid when you have a sinner. The Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death. So every time that a sinner dies, Satan and sin and death are doing something that is legal.

They are following the normal course of action. The wages of sin is death. Sinners deserve legally to die. That is the normal outcome of what should happen. death and sin are victorious when someone dies.

And that is the normal course of action. But when Jesus Christ came, Jesus Christ was not a sinner. He was not a covenant breaker. He was a covenant keeper. He was not unrighteous.

He was righteous. So then the equation of the wages of sin is that should not apply to Jesus Christ because he did not sin. He was always righteous. He was not meant to die, but he gave his life. for us.

And when he died upon the cross, Satan, death and sin did something evil, not only evil, but something wrong. And that is that they killed the righteous one. And by killing the righteous one, they lost all their authority over that person because he should have not died. That's why the apostle of the author of Hebrews tells us Hebrews chapter 2 and also in 1st John chapter 3 that Christ came to destroy the works of the evil one that he destroyed dead in a sense Jesus Christ killed death with his death Jesus Christ was not meant to die, but he did. And when that happened, sin and death lost all their validity and all their authority.

So there was condemnation for sin and death just as governments. And this illustration will not help, but I hope that helps a little bit. Just as governments are supposed to uphold that which is right, and the role is to uphold that which is right. And when the government does not uphold that which is right, but actually does the opposite to upholding that which is right, they now have lost all the authority to continue to do so. So sin and death, lost authority over Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ died upon the cross because he should have not died.

And now those who are in Christ Jesus, Now, sin and death no longer has a valid claim or authority over them because Jesus Christ has fulfilled the requirement of the law. That's why we're told that God has condemned sin in the flesh, flesh of Jesus Christ, so that in us will be fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law. This is the perfect work of God. And I'm certainly not a lawyer, but if I was one of them, I would devote myself to understand this that happened at the cross, because this is the most profound legal thing that has ever taken place, that God, who is righteous and holy, made a way for sinners to be forgiven in the person of Jesus Christ by destroying the validity of the authority that kept them captive, Satan, sin and death. That's the most glorious thing that has ever taken place that got legally and righteously and under terms of justice managed to destroy the authority of sin and death.

to genuinely forgive, to genuinely transform your life, and to make you see his child genuinely. Not as a judge or as a person of our world that will just simply be paid a bribe, and they will change the outcome of the decision. Or not as a person who does not understand the law very well, and then makes a mistake when they are just applying that law. Or not as a person who just puts the sins or the crimes under the cover or under the carpet just to hide the result of it. But as someone who did it, genuinely, honestly, justly, and transparently, righteously, this is what God has done for you.

And this is the work of God. And if it's the work of God, it means that it is perfect and cannot be undone. If this was your work, Someone might come and be able to find many problems to the work that you've done, and that will just simply come and backfire, and then you will be found guilty. But God has completed this work, and because He has completed this work, we can now know that we are completely free from the dominating power of sin and free from any claim that sin and death may have over you, so you are free not to live a life of unrighteousness, but now you are free to live not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. If someone is going to try to find an encouragement to live the type of life that we are supposed to live, we are not to look into ourselves, my dear brother and sister.

We are to look into what God has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ. You know, when you go online and when you go and read books and how people encourage each other to do different things, they will usually tell them, no, look to yourself and you are very good and you can do it. You're on top of the world. You're the best version. You can be the best version that yourself.

And when the person does that, they put themselves in a prison. In a prison in which they search, yes, and they look to themselves and they look to their hearts. And in that prison, they find that they are not what they want to do, that they fall short in many ways of the things that they would like to have. Why? Because all we all are the same.

The Christian is not to look into self. to derive strength and power to live the life that we are to live. We are to look to what God has done. And when we look outside and see what God has done, we realize that the majesty of His love, we realize that the majesty of His grace, the perfection of His works and the love that He has had for us in Christ Jesus, that when we genuinely consider that, that is what drives us to live the life that we are supposed to live, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Third, we're told there in verse five that is not only because we have been liberated the first two and also because this is a work of God, another work of obedience of men.

But third is that the Christian, the one for whom there is no condemnation, has had a change of mind. I renewed mine in verses five through verse eight. The apostle is going to compare two types of minds. The mind of the flesh on the mind off the spirit on the apostle is going to contrast that by telling us that those who are in Christ Jesus have the mind of the spirit on those who are in the flesh of the mind in the flesh transformation for the Christian is that we no longer have the mind of the flesh, but we have the mind off the spirit. Pay attention there to verse five.

It says for those But all of these are reasons because these are with because of for for those who leave according to the flesh said their minds and things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit said their minds on the things of the spirit for to set the mind on the flesh is dead. But to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace for the mind that is set in the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God. God's law. Indeed it, that is the mind, cannot, the mind of the flesh.

Verse eight. Those who are in the flesh, as we have the mind of the flesh, cannot please God. Now, the apostle now refers to a very internal, a very core aspect of the person, and that is the mind. As you know, the mind or the heart represent the substantial aspect of the person, that which defines the person. You can see a person in the outside, you can see the color of their skin and their countenance and their hair and their body shape, and you can make some conclusions from the externalities of that person.

But there is something deeper that defines that person, that which happens inside of us, the substance of who we are, our heart, our mind. And even though I might be able to change certain things that I do outside, I'm not able to modify and to change in of myself the things that happen in my heart. That's why here the apostle compares the mind of the flesh and the mind of the spirit. Clearly, we know that the one who has the mind in the things of the spirit is the Christian, and those who have the mind in the flesh are the ones who are not in Christ Jesus. The apostle is going to point us to three things in these verses.

In verse five, you can see here what is the focus of the attention of the mind of the person. Verse five. It says, For those who live according to the flesh. Pay attention to this word that I have in the ESV set their minds literally do the mind or do mine. There's five.

Those who live according to the flesh set or have their focus or have their attention or are taken or do are in alignment with the things of the flesh. I connection a strong connection between the mind, the thoughts that what we have inside of us with the things of the flesh. Those who are in the flesh, they set and focus their minds on the things of the flesh, contrary to what the ones that are in the spirit do, it says. But those who live according to the spirit set their minds and their things off the spirit. There are many things, as I said before, that I can do to modify my externality, my behavior, Even I can train myself over years to behave and to act in a particular way.

I may I may be able just to train myself to say certain things and to fit within certain standards and requirements. But what happens in here, what happens inside of my heart, which the Lord knows and he's full witness of that I cannot change if it's not the work of the Savior. If it's not the work of the Holy Spirit, that which is here and that which is in my heart, it is generally focused and driven unto the things of the flesh. According to the Apostle John, remember, do not love the world nor the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

What are the things of the world, the lust of the eyes and of the flesh and the pride of life? Those things are passing away. But who are the ones who abide those who do the will of the father? If the mind of the person, as the Apostle says in first John, or the love of the person is taken captive by the things of the flesh, then there is a mind of the flesh. Why?

Because that person cannot give their thoughts in captivity to Jesus Christ, in obedience to Jesus Christ. Whoever is the owner of your mind is the owner of your soul. Whoever is the owner of your thoughts, your intentions and your affections is the owner of your soul. Whoever is the owner of your time with yourself in the depths of your mind, when no one sees, when everything is dark and you close your eyes, whoever takes the throne of your thoughts and your intentions and your desires has already taken the throne of your soul and will come one day to claim and to take your soul to take it to a certain place. So the mind of the spirit is one that is set upon the things of Jesus Christ.

Now, because the person has come to general understanding to say Jesus is appealing to me, but rather because the spirit has opened the mind of the person to see who Jesus Christ, the focus of it is that is going to be Christ Jesus. The outcome of it is given to us in verse six. The outcome of the fleshly mind and the outcome of the spiritual mind. The outcome of the fleshly mind is going to be death. Why?

Because that person is under the principle of sin and death. So the mind of the flesh is going to end up in death. But the outcome of the mind of the spirit is going to be life and peace. We have it there in verse 6. Verse six, he says, for to set the mind on the flesh is death.

But to say to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. This peace, brethren, and there's so many things that we could say here, you know, but the mind that abides in Christ. has found the strongest walls of protection for the things of this world and the uncertainties of life. The mind that has found the preciousness of Christ and the mind that has found the value of what it is to be forgiveness because of the work of Jesus Christ, the mind that has discovered the beauties and the sweetness of who Christ is, what he has done and continues to do and what he will do. That's mine has been able to build walls that cannot be broken by the things of this world.

And even though sometimes we might be tempted to despair with the things of our lives and the things of this world and the things of this life, we know that ultimately there's one that is in control of all things, that sustains our steps and keeps our days, and that governs everything that has been created, and that is taking us until the end. And in that, the mind of the person rests. This is perhaps what the prophet saw in Isaiah 26. If you come with me quickly, because I really want you to see that from the scriptures in these glorious, beautiful songs that the prophet sings for Jerusalem or for Zion. applicable of course to those who are in Christ Jesus in Isaiah 26 as the prophet gives this beautiful song in Isaiah 26 We have strong city it says in Isaiah 26 verse 1 We have in that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah We have a strong city He sets up salvation and walls and bulwarks.

Open the gates that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. But then should diversity. You keep him in perfect peace. Who? The one who has a lot of money or the one who, you know, hires bodyguards to come and protect him or the one who is governor or president or prime minister.

You keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. What is to be strong is not to have a lot of muscle, which that sometimes helps. It's not to have a lot of money, that sometimes helps. It's not to have many houses of things, that sometimes helps.

But what is most important for the person, it is to have their mind in God. Because when the person have their mind in the Lord, that is abiding, is staying on the Lord and the things of the Lord, everything in this world falls in perspective of how minute and temporal it is in comparison to the one who created all things. And in that, the person will find peace and rest. This is the Shalom. This is the Sabbath that people of all we're trying to find that is only found in the person of Jesus Christ.

Because once a person has been saved, generally, even though the trials of this world may come, and even though the sufferings of our flesh will come, and even though we may grow old and weak, and our days may be shortened, and even though many foes and enemies will come our way, we know that the greatest thing that they can take is our lives, but they will never be able to take our souls. They will never be able to take our hearts because now they belong to Jesus Christ, our Lord. That is the mind that is not sent in the things of the flesh, but that is the mind that is sent on the things of this period. And I'm going to tell you the same thing that I say to me, of which I fail many times every time that I'm tempted, every time that I'm just walking away from the things of the Lord, every time that I'm just deviating from the things that I should be doing. The problem is not found in the things that I do.

The problem is found what is going on here. And I need to focus my mind and my head on the things of Christ to abide in his work and in his truth. And the more that you abide in the truth of the Savior and in the word, the Savior, the more that you will be cleansed in the things of Christ and the more that you will have perspective of who he is, what he's doing and how he's taking us a step by step to be with him. Let us return to our text. It's not only the focus of the mind, which is the flesh or the spirit and the outcome of it which is death for the mind of the flesh and life and peace for the mind of the spirit but here the warning is given to us in verse 7 and 8 the mind of the flesh is enemy of with God."

This is the warning that Paul gives us. The mind of the flesh is in enmity with God. Verse 7, For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, he cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Those who are in the flesh can not please God. God's law and God's commandments and God's testimonies have been given to people as a testimony, not of the things that they can accomplish, but of the brokenness of their ways. Because when the commandment says you shall not lie and we have already lied, that shows us know what we ought to do in order to be righteous before God. But the commandment that we have already broken when God says that we ought to do something and we're unable to do it, that does not shows us what we need to do to be accepted. But rather, it shows us of our inability, our limitations within ourselves because the flesh cannot please God the only way that we can please God Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6 it is by faith without faith it is impossible to please God so then that means that we need the Spirit of God in us changing us and transforming us and we know and we ought to know that the flesh is in hostility to God for the mind of the flesh of the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God's law indeed he can not if a person is in a pursuit of being righteous, is in a pursuit of doing the things that are right.

And they find themselves breaking and breaking the commandments and breaking the things of God and breaking the standards that God have given. That is a testimony to the inability of the flesh to please the Lord. The only one who has fully pleased God is Jesus Christ. And in him alone, we find what it is needed. And then finally, It is not only that we can leave according to the according to the spirits, I'm not according to the flesh because we have been liberated.

Verse two. Well, because this is the work of God. Verse three and four. Well, because we have a new mind, the mind of the spirit. Verse five through eight.

But very importantly, and I'm going to say more importantly, it's also very importantly, because we have the spirit. Verse nine through 11. Because we have the spirit. The reason why we can live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh is because there's someone else in you and this someone else is the Spirit of God. It is not you in your wisdom and your ability that is the one that is to live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

You have the Spirit of Christ in you. The apostle tells us that in verse 9, you, however, speaking of the Christian, not the one that is in the flesh, but the one that is in the Spirit, says you, however, are not in the flesh. But in the spirit, if he's gonna give us three conditionals here, if, in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. That is that We can be liberated from the dominating power of sin and live not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Because being a genuine Christian is not only being liberated from the dominating power of sin, verse 2, and having been recipient of the completed work of God, verse 3 and 4, and having a new mind.

But it's also having the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ in us. The genuine Christian is not only a person who says, I agree with Christianity, and I acknowledge that historically speaking, Christianity seems to make sense over all religions. And I agree because my dad was a Christian. My mom was a Christian. I was taken to the church and because I've done all of these things, so it makes sense that I'm going to agree to follow this pattern.

No, it is not only an assent. It's not only something that we do and say, but it's a person living in us, and that is the Holy Spirit dwelling in the one who is a genuine Christian. If you are in the Spirit, then that means that you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you, abiding in you. Then you are not perfect, but you have the Spirit of God in you. And if you have the Spirit of God, then the Spirit of God is the one that is going to empower you to do that.

To have the Spirit of God is a qualifier of genuine salvation. There's no such a thing as a person who says to be a Christian and does not have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. Or the giving of the Spirit is not an experience, a second experience that I need to wait two, five, five years or 10 years. And once the Spirit comes, I will speak in tongues and I will go into the floor and I have the presence of the Spirit. No, the Spirit of God is in dwelling.

in every single genuine Christian upon the moment of conversion. When the Spirit of God comes, then the Spirit takes a boat inside of that person, and that person has been transformed. It does not mean that he or she is going to be perfect, but it means that this broken vessel that should not have anything good, now is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. I mean, just saying that that is mind blowing. That does not make sense at all.

How would God abide in our heart, in a mind, in a vessel like you or me? But he does because of what Jesus Christ has done. And this spirit is what gives us the promise that even though the body is dead because of sin, we shall live because of righteousness. In other words, that is that we are going to be sanctified. Verse 10.

Pay attention to verse 10. But if Christ is in you, But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is live because of righteousness. And I know that the apostle writes there in a way that is not so easy to understand. But the simple thing that the apostle is saying there in verse 10, that if the spirit of Christ is in you, in other words, if you're a Christian and the spirit of God is in dwelling in you, Even though you still have the presence of sin and the struggle of the body, Romans chapter 7 and Galatians chapter 5, there's going to be righteousness and life because the spirit is in you. That's what he says.

If Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. Even though we are now dead to the sins and trespasses, we're dead to the law of sin and death, this body is dead. There is life and righteousness in us. Why? Not because we have the new body and we are strong, but because the spirit of Christ Jesus is in us.

And this righteous life is going to be manifested because of that spirit. And then the apostle knows that the Christian may be tempted to despair because we know that in this present time, even though we want righteousness, we're not going to obtain that righteousness. So the apostle, as he's preempting what he's going to do, In Romans eight later on, he's speaking of this glory that is going to come of this future liberation in verse 11 verse 11. It says if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also Give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you That is that even though now in the present time you have to coexist with this body that is dead And that it will have to pass away. There's one time in which you're going to die You're going to be resurrected in the illness of life with a new body and the spirit that is now in you Is the guarantee that this mortal body is going to be made immortal?

What is the when the lord comes which is what paul is thinking in verse 18 and onwards? Here, the main thing, we're going to explore that in the future if the Lord allows us. But the main thing is this, that the reason why we can live, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, is because you have freedom in Christ Jesus who has set you free. The work of God has been completed in those who are in Christ Jesus, not the result of obedience or self-righteousness, but the work of God. Third, your mind has been changed.

It's no longer a mind that is slave to the flesh, but it's a mind that is in the spirit, and their mind is to be given to the things of Christ, to the things of the Lord. Fourth, you have the Holy Spirit in you that is empowering you, guiding you, leading you, that promises that even though you have to cut seeds with sin, Righteousness will live in you because of that spirit. And there is a promise that one day your mortal body will be made immortal, that you will be able to see the Lord and be like him. That's why the apostle concludes this letter or this part of this letter there in verse to say so then Brethren in verse 12. So then, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, live according to the flesh, and that makes complete sense.

You're no longer a slave of the things of the flesh. We're no longer slaves to sin and death. We're slaves of Jesus Christ. So we're not debtors to the passions of our flesh. I know that the passions of our flesh might be in us, and sometimes they may seem to be so powerful and strong, but we are no longer under those passions, brethren.

We are under the liberating power of Jesus Christ who has loved us and he has given himself for us. So even though, yes, many times we seem to be so weak in temptation, we may be so weak in struggles and in difficulties, brethren, we ought to know that there is a powerful principle in us. And that moment of temptation, that moment of difficulty, that moment of temptation to sin is when we ought to come into the throne of grace in time of need, Hebrews 4, verse 16, and enter into the presence of the Lord and say, Lord, I'm being tempted with my eyes. Please help me. Lord, I'm being tempted with my mouth.

Please, Lord, help me. I'm being tempted with my thoughts to have this evil thoughts. Please, tempt me. Lord, please, I'm not having self-control about this particular matter. Please, Lord, help me.

Lord, please, I'm being tempted with this and with that. You are the one who has promised that in me there is a principle that is more powerful than this temptation or the thing that is within me. So, Lord, give me of your spirit. I know that you are powerful to help me and to rescue me. I don't want to be a debtor.

to the flesh. But I want to be a better of the spirit. I don't know what I don't want to be enslaved to the things of this world. I want to be enslaved to the things of righteousness and the one that is enslaved to things of righteousness by the spirit will put to death. The things of the body is what the puzzle tells us that in verse 13 for if you leave according to the flesh, you will leave.

But if he for if you leave according to the flesh, you will die better. Change the Scriptures completely there. For if you leave according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the bits of the body, you will live. Why?

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. The Spirit of God will lead you. you into the ways that He has foreordained for the foundation of the world. We are to trust in Him and we are to give our lives to Him and we are going to trust Him all the way. He's the one who began the work.

He's the one that will bring it to completion. He's the one that keep us, He's the one that sustain us, He's the one that is going to present us before Him with joy, without stumbling. He's the one that is going to finish everything that He has started, because He's the one that liberated us. He's the one that did what the law could not do. He's the one that gave us a new mind, the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

The mind that we're not to be anxious about anything, but we pray in supplication, we are to make a request not to the Lord, and he will keep us, remember, in Christ Jesus. He is the one that will sustain us. We are to think upon Jesus Christ. It's in him alone, brethren, that we gain or we win better the battle of the mind. And we are strengthening the heart to live lives of righteousness unto the glory of the Lord.

And even though we're all seated here, this battle starts now, has started already, continues every single second of our lives, because there's so much things that are happening around us and so many voices around us that constantly speak to us, the things of the flesh, the things of the world, the things of our own hearts, contrary to the will of the Savior. So it is our duty, brethren, not to be debtors, to the flesh and the system of the flesh but to be debtors to the one who loved us and gave himself for us no temptation no pleasure of this world will ever will ever compare with what it is to be in Christ Jesus and to have our sins forgiven. One day this life will come to an end, brethren, and we will be on the other side of eternity in the presence of Jesus Christ, purely by and because of His glory and what He has done. My Lord, help us not to live according to the flesh, but to live according to the Spirit, something that can only be done purely by the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Amen.

Amen. Let us read the scriptures. Let us pray. Father, Lord, we give you thanks for your patience and your goodness towards us, Lord, and what's such a difficult topic and such a difficult truth, Lord, that we find here in the Word of God. But I pray, Lord, that you will strengthen these brethren, that you will guide them, these brothers and these sisters, Lord, in the ways of Christ.

Lord, that if we have been found ourselves walking according to the flesh and in the things of the flesh and gratifying the desires of our passions and our flesh, Lord, We repent, we confess our sins before you, Lord. We know that you're just and faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We know, Lord, that you are the one who empower us and strengthen us to live lives of righteousness according to what you have stated for us, Lord. So we're coming before you, Lord, and we ask that you will forgive us, that you will grant us the strength and the power that is needed for us to live according to the Spirit and not to live according to the flesh. We want to be led by the Holy Spirit that was given to us.

We want to have a mind that is set and focused on the things above and other things of this earth. We want eyes and thoughts and desires and affections that are in alignment with Your will, O Lord. I pray You will bless our families and husbands and wives and the elderly and the single, everyone that is found in Christ Jesus with this power to abide continually in the person of Jesus Christ. We give You thanks for the great love You have had for us, that You saved us, rescued us, He gave us life, Lord, so we praise you for that. And as we come to this table and as we're going to partake together of this table, Lord, I pray not only that you will remind us from where we have been taken, but also that you will remind us that there was a body that was given and was broken so that the body of death that is ours will be bought, purchased, and we will be liberated from our sins.

So please bless us, Lord, with your presence and with your power as we partake of the table. I pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.