By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 1-4 of chapter 8.
1.1.1. We noted
that in chapter 8 of Romans we see an entirely different Paul and an entirely
different experience which he had in his Christian walk. This walk described in chapter 8 is a walk in
victory over indwelling sin.
1.1.2. In chapter
7, Paul wrote about all of his many failures in his life to keep God’s Law, and
now we saw in chapter 8 how that Paul writes about how through walking in the
power and leading of the Holy Spirit he has victory keeping all of God’s laws.
1.1.3. We noted
that chapter 8 dealt with the role of the Holy Spirit within the believer’s
life.
1.1.4. We noted
that an essential foundation for Paul’s experience of chapter 8 was that now
his Christian life was not a set of rules and legalism but a deep understanding
of the grace of God in his life. Paul
realized that now that he was in Christ Jesus he was “justified” and
that this occurred because he as a Christian was in a position with God where
he was no longer under any “condemnation.” Jesus Christ had been condemned, judged, and
justly punished for his sins and therefore he was free from any and all
condemnation.
1.1.5. We mentioned
that chapter 8 of Romans is one of the most encouraging chapters in all of the
Bible. In chapter 8, Paul reveals many
aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. Chapter 8 deals primarily with the process of
the work of sanctification of the believer through the Holy Spirit. Chapter 7 dealt with how we as Christians
cannot keep God’s Laws in and of ourselves, and therefore that we cannot
perfect ourselves in God’s sight, which prepares us for chapter 8 where Paul
deals with how that the Holy Spirit Himself does that work of sanctification
within Christian’s lives.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses
5-10 of chapter 8
1.2.1. Charles
Hodge in his book, “Systematic Theology,” has written the following
overview of theology based upon the book of Romans and in a sense it is a
overview of what we have covered so far in the book, “In St. Paul’s epistle
to the Romans, for example, the following positions are assumed and
established: (1.) The law must be fulfilled. (2.) It demands perfect obedience;
and, in case of transgression, the penalty of death. (3.) No fallen man can
fulfill those conditions, or satisfy the demands of the law. (4.) Christ, the
Eternal Son of God, clothed in our nature, has made this satisfaction to law
for us. (5.) We are thus freed from the law. We are not under law, but under
grace. (6.) All that is now required of us is faith in Christ. To those who are
in Him there is no condemnation. (7.) By his obedience we are constituted
righteous, and, being thus reconciled to God, we become partakers of the holy
and immortal life of Christ, and are delivered not only from the penalty, but
from the power of sin, and made the sons and heirs of God. (8.) The great
condemning sin of men under the gospel, is rejecting the righteousness and
Spirit of Christ, and insisting either that they need no Saviour,
or that they can in some way save themselves; that they can satisfy all God’s
just demands, and deliver themselves from the power of sin. If the foregoing
principles are eliminated from the Pauline epistles, their whole life and power
are gone. And Paul assures us that he received his doctrines, not from men, but
by the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is against this rock, —the substitution
of Christ in the place of sinners; his making a full satisfaction to the
justice and law of God, thus working out for us a perfect righteousness, by
which we maybe justified,—that the assaults of philosophy, falsely so called,
and of heresy in all its forms have been directed from the beginning. This it
is that the Gnostics and New Platonists in the first centuries; the Scotists and Franciscans during the Middle Ages; the Socinians and Remonstrants at,
and after the Reformation; and Rationalists and the speculative philosophy of
our own age, have striven to overthrow. But it remains, what it ever has been,
the foundation of the faith, hope, and life of the Church.”
1.2.2. As we enter
this study this morning, we will see that there are two different lifestyles
that are being profiled for us. The
first lifestyle is that of the unbeliever, and it is a lifestyle that is
described as being one of death. The
second lifestyle is that of the believer in Christ, and his lifestyle is one
that is described as being life and peace.
1.2.3. The life
that is lived by a Christian is designed to be a supernatural life, a life that
has been invaded by the supernatural, for the Holy Spirit resides within each
and every believer and His residence produces certain qualities within a
person.
1.2.4. Paul is
exhorting us here in this study of the importance of living the type of life
that should typify one who has been invaded by the Holy Spirit. This is the lifestyle that should typify a
child of the King. It is a lifestyle
where our minds are set upon the things of the Spirit, not the things of the
flesh.
2. VS 8:5 - “5 For those who are according to
the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are
according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” -
Paul tells us that those whose mind is according to the flesh set their mindson the things of the flesh but that those whose minds
are according to the Spirit set their mind on the things of the Spirit
2.1.
In chapter 8, we see that Paul is proving throughout
the chapter the truth that he proclaimed in verse 1, namely, that there is no
condemnation for those who are in Christ.
In verse 3, we saw that Paul taught that the reason that the Christian
was no longer under condemnation was because of what Jesus did for him, in
taking his sin and punishment due him upon Himself on the cross. Then, we saw in verse 4 how that the actual
requirements of the Law for righteousness are being fulfilled in Christians who
are walking in the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. Our lives can be pleasing to God and we can
be victors over indwelling sin and this occurs whenever we are walking in the
power and control of the Holy Spirit.
2.2.
In this verse, Paul begins to write about the
difference that is made in a person’s life as a result of receiving Christ into
his life. As a result of receiving
salvation, a Christian begins to walk in the Spirit. Before conversion a person is dead
spiritually and is at enmity with God, however after being saved, that person
begins to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
If a person never begins to walk in the power of the Spirit after
becoming saved, then we have to question his/her conversion. Jesus said that ‘by their fruits you will
know them,’ and if a person has come to salvation there will be fruit in
his life. The inward transformation in a
person’s life cannot be masked, it will begin to show through. The fruit will perhaps be immature and small
at first, but none the less it will be there, for it must be there.
2.3.
So then, this walk in the Spirit is characteristic not
of some Christians, those who have broken through (or as some commentators have
said who have passed from Romans 7 into Romans 8), but rather of all
Christians. The reason this is so is
because of the inward transformation that occurs in the life of every single
person when he/she is born again by Christ.
Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 5:17, “17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new.”
2.4.
So then, we see that in this verse as well as in all
of chapter 8, that what Paul is writing about is expected to be true of all
Christians. Even though all Christians
will fall in their walk and fail in their flesh to be able to keep God’s Law,
as Paul described of himself in chapter 7, all Christians have a new dynamic of
the Spirit in their life, and they all have a walk in the Holy Spirit. We can look right in this very chapter of
Romans for proof texts for this.
2.4.1. In Romans
8:9 Paul writes, “9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
2.4.2. Likewise,
Paul writes in Romans 8:14, “14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of
God, these are sons of God.”
2.5.
It is important for us to see that what chapter 8
describes is expected to be typical of every Christian’s walk. This reality occurs because Christians have
the 3rd person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, resident in their person day in
and day out, 24/7. Christians don’t need
more of the Holy Spirit in their life, they have all of Him that they will ever
need. He needs more of them, and they
need simply to yield to Him and His leading and control of their life. So, this walk in the Spirit is accessible for
every true Christian, and is only being hindered in a Christian’s life by lack
of submission to God, lack of faith, lack of understanding about the Holy
Spirit, etc.
2.6.
Therefore, when Paul writes in this verse that ‘those
who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,’
we know that he is thinking about non-Christians, those who have never entered
into the realm of the Spirit since they have never come to salvation. Even though Christians have their Romans 7
experiences, and temporarily during those times set their minds on the flesh
and the things of the flesh, Paul is primarily speaking about those who have
never been saved.
2.7.
Likewise, when Paul writes in this verse that ‘those
who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit,’ we must realize
that Paul is speaking here of what is true of all Christians. This is of prime importance because of the
fact of the complete and all-encompassing changes that are brought about in a
person’s life because of becoming a Christian.
As was mentioned, every Christian has become a “new creature,”
and everything in his/her life has become new.
2.8.
Paul writes in this verse about the things that
captivate a person’s mind. He says that
a person who is saved has ‘set’ his mind on ‘the things of the Spirit,’
however those who have never been saved have their minds ‘set’ on ‘the
things of the flesh.’
2.9.
Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following definition
for this Greek word “phroneo” which is
translated ‘mind’ in this verse :
1)
to have understanding, be wise
2)
to feel, to think
2a)
to have an opinion of one’s self, think of one’s self, to be modest, not
let one’s opinion (though just) of himself exceed the bounds of modesty
2b) to think or judge what one’s opinion is
2c)
to be of the same mind i.e. agreed together, cherish the same views, be
harmonious
3)
to direct one’s mind to a thing, to seek, to strive for
3a) to seek one’s interest or advantage
3b) to be of one’s party, side with him (in
public affairs)
2.10.
The idea that is conveyed from this Greek word “phroneo” then is not the gray-matter of the brain,
nor the understanding per say, but rather the actual thought life itself and
the meditations of the heart. Paul uses
this word in Phil. 2:5-8 when he wrote, “5 Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.”
2.11.
The person who has become a Christian has as a result
of becoming a Christian, become preoccupied in his thoughts and the meditation
of his heart with ‘the things’ of the Spirit. He has a desire to know God in all of His
ways, and he has a desire to serve God with his life. He is really preoccupied with ALL of the
things of God. It is not that he feels
that he ought to think about God and the things of God, it is that he cannot
help but think about God and the things of God.
2.12.
Before coming to Christ, many people would sit through
a sermon in church or hear someone speak about the things of God, and they had
no understanding whatsoever about these things, nor did they have the desire to
know about these things. However, now
having come to Christ they cannot learn enough about Him, for the things of God
are foremost in their thoughts.
2.13.
On the other hand, the non-Christian sets his mind on
‘the things of the flesh,’ and lives completely in that realm. The non-Christian’s mind is obsessed with
thinking about the things of this world, things that are temporal in nature,
things that may not necessarily be sinful in and of themselves. The non-Christians’ pursuits are all worldly
in nature, and these people have no interest whatsoever in the things that
pertain to God. In Galatians 5:19-21,
Paul declares a partial list of sins which are committed by those who are
non-Christians and therefore have their minds set the things of the flesh, “19 Now
the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity,
sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of
anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and
things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that
those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
2.14.
However, we must realize that in reality much of what
occupies a non-Christian’s thought life is not evil in and of itself. A non-Christian’s mind can be consumed with
thoughts about his career, finances, the car he wants to buy, etc. He may think often about his home, wife,
family, etc. However, the point I’m
making is that non-Christians do not have God in their thoughts, they don’t
want to know more about God, they are in their hearts haters of God, and they
are trying to shield themselves from the truth about God.
2.15.
We Christians must gain discernment from this verse
and this section of verses here in Romans 8.
We need to recognize that even though a non-Christian may have dedicated
his life and energies to Philanthropy for instance, his motives are really
self-centered. Even though a person may
dedicate his/her life to feeding the poor, he/she is still a hater of God, at
enmity with God, and not desirous of knowing truth about God.
2.16.
Concerning religion, we Christians need to gain
discernment from this verse. There are
many unsaved people who are religious, some are even fulltime ministers in
churches, yet they are only fulfilling self-serving motives, and they are not
really interested in knowing the God of the Bible. What matters is whether or not Christianity
is something that a person tries to put on, or whether it is something that
originates from within him/her, due to a regenerated nature within. Some people try to act like Christians are
supposed to act, and because they are trying to put on Christianity, the fruit
from their lives is often very similar to the fruit in an artificial fruit
platter. Artificial fruit looks much
better than the real thing, yet if one bites into an artificial fruit it is not
at all a satisfying experience. Walking
in the power and leading of the Holy Spirit produces real and genuine fruit for
God.
2.17.
We Christians need to recognize the fact that the
person who has truly come to salvation will be preoccupied with the One and
True God, however the person who is merely religious has created and worships a
God of his own making. The religious
person does not want to know the God of the Bible, rather he is only concerned
with serving the God which is just a figment and creation of his
imagination. I have heard people say
things like, “Well, my God wouldn’t ever judge anyone!”, or, “My God
wouldn’t ever send anyone to hell for not believing in Jesus for salvation!” To that effect they are correct, their God
wouldn’t do that, however their God exists only in their imagination.
2.18.
We Christians need to recognize that the person who
has truly become saved has a love for justice and God’s Law, as well as His
grace and mercy. In fact, the person who
has truly been saved has a love for all of God’s ways, since he or she has
truly come to know the living and true God.
The person who has not been saved cannot accept the God of the Bible
just as He exists and in all of His ways.
2.19.
In 1 Cor. 2:14-16, Paul writes about the fact that a
non-Christian (whom he calls a “natural man”) cannot understand
Spiritual things, and that he is not even able to understand them, “14 But a
natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is
appraised by no man. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should
instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
2.20.
It should be a very sobering truth for a non-Christian
to realize that not only he does not, but he “cannot” understand the
things of God because of his own blindness and hardness to God.
2.21.
We Christians ought to take heart in the fact that
from 1 Cor. 2, we know that we have been given the ability to understand the
things of God, and that He has even given us the very “mind of Christ.” We Christians then are able also to
understand “all things,” for Paul says that we appraise all things, yet
we are not appraised (or understood) by anyone.
2.22.
We Christians should be reminded that we can go
through the motions of Christianity without having our minds set on the
Spirit. Our Christian experience can
consist of traditions, ritual, spending all of our time with those who are
church people, attending a church, etc., and yet our minds are still not set on
the Spirit, but rather on the flesh. A
mind set on the Spirit will long to spend time with the Lord, long to serve the
Lord from the heart, long to walk in the light as He is in the light, etc.
2.22.1.
Is your mind ‘set’ on the things of the Spirit
or are there other things that occupy your thoughts and thus are more important
to you? What is it that preoccupies your
mind?
3. VS 8:6 - “6 For the mind set on the flesh
is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,” - Paul tells us that the mind set on the flesh
is death but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace
3.1.
In this verse, Paul writes that from God’s perspective
on life, the person who has his mind set on the things of this world, the
things of ‘the flesh,’ is
dead. He is dead spiritually, and the
fruit of his life is the fruit of death.
3.2.
Paul writes about the fact that all Christians were
before coming to Christ dead in their trespasses and sins in Eph. 2:1-6, “2:1 And
you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among
them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the
rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He
loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with
Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,” In
this section of scripture in Eph. 2, Paul indicates several things that were
true of Christians before coming to know Christ.
3.2.1. First of
all, they were dead in trespasses and sins.
3.2.2. Second, they
walked according to the ways or course of this world.
3.2.3. Third, they
walked according to the leading and unction of the Devil himself.
3.2.4. Fourth, they lived
their life in the lusts (or desires) of their flesh, indulging all of its
desires, even those that tantalize their mind and pride.
3.2.5. Fifth, their very
nature was that of “children of wrath.”
3.3.
Next, in this verse Paul describes the Christian who
has his or her mind set on the things of the Spirit (which we discussed
concerning the previous verse) as being ‘life and peace.’ The Greek word that Paul uses for this word
translated ‘life’ is the word that is always used in the New Testament
for “eternal life.” In John 17:3,
Jesus said that to know the Lord in a personal way was to know and experience “eternal
life,” “3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.”
3.4.
When a person comes to have a saving relationship with
Christ, then he begins to experience this quality of life that comes from God
by His Spirit, called “eternal life.”
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:45 an interesting clause about Jesus now being a
“life-giving spirit,” “45 So also it is written, “The first man,
Adam, became a living soul.” The last
Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
3.5.
The apostle Paul finally writes in this verse that the
mind set on the flesh is life and ‘peace.’ We saw in Romans 5:1 how that a Christian has
now been made “justified by God” with the result being that he has come
to be in a place where he has “peace with God.” As I mentioned concerning that verse, God has
declared peace between the Christian and Himself, ending all of the hostilities
that exist. This “peace with God”
is now the basis with which he or she now can have that inner tranquility which
is called “peace” or “the peace of God,” which is also a fruit of
the Spirit produced in the life of the believer.
3.6.
The believer in Christ now has an inner tranquility or
‘peace’ at the core of his being because the Spirit of God has control
over his flesh, and his conscience is not now being squelched as it was before because
of his unrepentant sin.
3.7.
The unbeliever has no peace however. His conscience is constantly trying to speak
out about his sin, however he chooses to fulfill the lusts of his flesh rather
than listen to the voice of his conscience.
The result is that constant turmoil reigns in the heart of the
non-Christian. Isaiah wrote in Is.
57:20-21, “20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be
quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud.
21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.””
3.8.
If a person tosses a rock into a small body of water,
the repercussions of that toss produces waves of diminishing size that seem to
go on forever. In the ocean there is no
ending to the constant stirring up of its waves. In the same way, Isaiah wrote that those who
do not know God are similarly always being stirred up and never at peace. There is constant turmoil and unrest in their
lives, never that inner contentment and satisfaction that God’s people
experience as a result of the Holy Spirit in their life, and their minding of
the things of the Spirit.
3.9.
Either the things of the world will fill up our minds
as Christians or the things of the Spirit, and we have a most important charge
to keep in guarding what goes into our minds.
There are many scriptures that give us examples of what being
spiritually minded as Christians ought to look like, including the following
exhortations by Paul :
3.9.1. Ephesians
5:18-19, "And do not get drunk
with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
with your heart to the Lord;
"
3.9.2. Colossians
3:1-4, "Therefore if you have
been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is,
seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the
things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be
revealed with Him in glory "
3.9.3. Colossians
3:15-17, "Let the peace of
Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be
thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom
teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God
the Father."
3.10.
Our minds as Christians need continual renewing. We need to place God’s word in our minds so
that we can be renewed and thus be molded into the image of the Lord. Also, God wants to share with us His thoughts
and heart but first we need to learn to speak His language and learn about Him
so that we can hear the wonderful things that He wants to share with us. Getting into His word allows us to do this.
4. VS 8:7 - “7 because the mind set on the
flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God,
for it is not even able to do so;” - Paul tells
us that the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile towards God and not
subject to the law of God
4.1.
In this verse, Paul writes that the result of a person
whose mind is obsessed with the things of the flesh is a mind that is by nature
‘hostile toward God.’ As I
mentioned concerning verse 5, a non-Christian does not want to know the true
God, the God of the Bible. He does not
want to hear the sober truth. This
because his very mind is ‘hostile toward God.’ He hates God, whether or not he is willing to
admit it, or whether or not he is even aware of it.
4.2.
Likewise, the person whose mind is obsessed with the
things of the flesh has a mind that ‘does not subject itself to the law of
God.’ The non-Christian whose mind
is obsessed with the things of the flesh does not want to know what God’s law
and justice consist of. He truly does
not want to know what the truth is for he is hiding from the truth in his
life. If a person such as this is
religious, then he has created a god of his own imagination which he serves,
however he does not serve the God of the Bible, and he does not in reality want
to know right from wrong, or truth from error.
4.3.
Paul says that the person whose mind is obsessed with
the things of the flesh has a mind that is ‘not even able to’ subject
itself to the law of God. A
non-Christian, without God’s intervention and revelation of truth, and even if
he wanted to know the truth, can have no comprehension or appreciation of truth
about God. Understanding spiritual truth
and concepts is not possible apart from God’s intervention in a person’s life,
for in and of themselves people have no mechanism for discerning and sorting
the truth.
4.4.
Only the Holy Spirit can enlighten a person to the
truth from God’s word. Likewise, the
scripture is clear that if anyone does not understand the things of God it is
because the Devil has blinded his eyes from the truth, 2 Cor. 4:3-4, "And
even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose
case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that
they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God. ”
5. VS 8:8 - “8 and those who are in the flesh
cannot please God.” - Paul tells
us that those who are living their life in the flesh cannot please God
5.1.
In this verse, Paul writes what should be obvious at
this point: those whose minds are not
set (or obsessed) on the things of the Spirit, and therefore have their minds
set on the things of the flesh, ‘cannot please God.’ God will delight in no works of man which are
wrought by hands that have not been cleansed from sin by Jesus Christ. God will not see as acceptable works
performed by one who does not have a regenerated mind and heart, and in whom
God’s Spirit does not dwell and reign.
5.2.
The first sacrifice that was not acceptable to God was
that performed by Cain. Cain did not
obey the Lord and by faith offer the sacrifice that the Lord had shown him
would be acceptable to Him, and as a result God did not acknowledge Cain’s
sacrifice as being acceptable before Him.
For this, Cain became jealous of his brother Abel, and murdered
him. Cain was a man whose mind was
obsessed with the things of the flesh, or how else could he have murdered his
brother? The heart and mind of the one
sacrificing must be approved by God before any of his/her works will be
approved by God.
5.3.
The person whose mind is set on the things of the
flesh cannot perform any work of God which God will accept or appreciate. In fact, the Lord despises those who give
gifts to Him, and yet their hearts are far from Him. It is better for those people to give nothing
to the Lord at all.
6. VS 8:9 - “9 However, you are not in the
flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” - Paul tells us that we are in the Spirit if
the Spirit of God dwells within us but if anyone does not have the Spirit of
God dwelling within him he does not belong to God
6.1.
In this verse, Paul explains whom the person is that
he was profiling previously in this chapter.
The person who is after the Spirit and whose mind is set on the things
of the Spirit, is one who is a Christian.
This is so because Paul writes in this verse, that ‘if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.’ Every Christian is one who has been placed in
the life in the Spirit. Every
non-Christian is one who is ‘in the flesh,’ since he has never come to be
in that place where he has been placed into the Spirit, and the Spirit placed
into Him.
6.2.
Some have misinterpreted this phrase ‘the Spirit of
Christ’ to mean the “attitude of Christ.” They have done this since to refer to the
Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, as the ‘Spirit of Christ’
presents for them a theological difficulty, a sort of strange theology. This view would say that if a person’s
attitude is not like Christ, then he has no life in him -therefore he is not
saved. What instead this phrase ‘the
Spirit of Christ,’ as well as ‘the Spirit of God,’ in this verse
should direct us to consider is a correct idea of the Trinity.
6.3.
The three persons of the Trinity are distinct, and yet
they are one as well. Therefore, the
Holy Spirit is called by several names in the Bible, each of which refer to His
particular activity and function at a particular time. ‘The Spirit of Christ’ is one of the
Holy Spirit’s titles and is similar to another of His titles, “The Spirit of
God.”
6.4.
Jesus said that He would send to His disciples the
Holy Spirit, so in that sense the Holy Spirit can be called the Spirit of
Christ. Jesus also said that it would be
the Holy Spirit’s job to reveal Christ to people, He would glorify Jesus. However, with reference to the Trinity, not
only does the Holy Spirit dwell in the believer, so does Jesus. Paul wrote in Col. 1:27, “27 to whom God
willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In fact, in John 14:23 Jesus said that the
Father and He would come and live within the believer, “23 Jesus answered
and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will
love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him.”
6.5.
So, what we see in the scripture is that each of the
persons of the Trinity has a distinct personality, however there is also a
unity in all of their functions. They
all do the same things.
6.6.
Another example of the Trinity that is seen in
scripture is from the account of creation.
Genesis chapter 1 states that the Father created everything, however it
also says that the Holy Spirit moved over the waters. Yet, if we look at Paul’s writing in Col.
1:16 , we will see that Christ is the creator of everything, “16 For by Him
all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things
have been created by Him and for Him.”
6.7.
If we have become saved, then we truly are now in the
Spirit, and as a result we can now partake of the things of the Spirit. We can live in the Spirit, walk in the
Spirit, be led of the Spirit, and understand all of the deep things of the
Spirit as God will reveal them to us. We
must apply ourselves to knowing God and His Word, and to spending time with
Him, and as He reveals truth to us we must walk in that truth.
7. VS 8:10 - “10 And if Christ is in you,
though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of
righteousness.” - Paul tells
us that if Christ is in us that though our body is dead because of sin our
spirit is alive because of righteousness
7.1.
There are two ways to interpret this verse that are
commonly employed :
7.1.1. The first is
to say that when Paul uses the word ‘body’ here, he is actually meaning
“flesh,” and that he is referring to the old man or old nature that is
within the Christian, even though he uses a word which is typically used to
refer just to the physical body.
7.1.1.1. This interpretation
then simply has Paul reiterating what he already said in Romans 6 about the
fact that for the Christian that his old nature has died, yet he has received a
new nature and been raised up to new life in Christ, in the Holy Spirit.
7.1.2. The second way
to interpret this verse is to consider that when Paul used the word ‘body’
in this verse, that he is really referring to a Christian’s physical body.
7.1.2.1. The Bible
teaches that a person is composed of a body, soul, and spirit. This interpretation then says that the
consequences of sin in a person’s life actually affect his physical body, which
is something that we all know to be true.
From the time a person is born, his physical body, due to inherited sin,
begins to deteriorate and die.
7.1.2.2. We can see that
Paul refers to the effects of sin affecting the physical world later on in this
chapter when he says that all creation is groaning and awaiting the restoration
of the world from sin’s effects.
7.1.2.3. Since a
person’s body begins to deteriorate from the time of birth, if one takes this
interpretation, then Paul is probably saying that even though a Christian’s
body is deteriorating physically due to sin, the Christian’s spirit has been
regenerated and given new life.
7.1.2.3.1.
In this NASB translation, the word ‘spirit’ is
not capitalized indicating perhaps a preference for this interpretation, with ‘spirit’
not referring to the Holy Spirit, the 3rd person of the Trinity, but to the ‘spirit’
that is resident within man. Paul is
then saying that the life of God abides within the Christian’s spirit.
7.2.
Both interpretations have credibility, and good sound
Biblical interpreters who support them.
7.3.
Paul writes in this verse that the spirit is alive ‘because
of righteousness,’ and I believe He must mean that a person has been able
to receive regeneration through Christ because of the fact that Jesus, the lamb
without spot or blemish, who alone could be the sacrifice has paid the perfect
price in atonement for our sins due to His ‘righteousness.’ This ‘righteousness’ of Christ is then
imputed to the believer, the one who has faith in Christ (we saw in Romans that
our faith in Christ is reckoned as righteousness before God for us).
7.4.
We Christians must settle it in our minds once and for
all that we have been given life, and that we are no longer walking according
to the reign of Adam, which was a reign of death, but according to the reign of
grace which leads to life in us. We are
alive and “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.” We are alive, and thus we shall walk in
victory in Christ.
8. CONCLUSIONS:
8.1.
Lets make a commitment today to set our minds on the
things above not on the things that are on earth, and be spiritually minded,
for that is the life that is filled with joy and peace and which brings glory to
God.
8.2.
Live for the things of the Spirit not the things of
this earth, nor the worldly lifestyle.
Let the things of the Spirit occupy your mind 24/7. Remain preoccupied with the things of the
Spirit in your life.