By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 5-10 of chapter 8
1.1.1. We saw that
Paul was continuing his thoughts from the first of chapter 8 where he had
written that “therefore,” that is, because of all that he had taught in
the book thus far, including the fact of the sinfulness of all mankind which
has placed them under God’s condemnation, that salvation is now not by works
but by placing your faith in Jesus Christ, that the Christian has come to a
place of being “justified” before God, that there is no way in and of
ourselves and the will power of our flesh that we can keep God’s law or be
pleasing to God, that, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus.
1.1.2. We
remembered that the Lord no longer imputes sin to the Christian and therefore
nothing can condemn him, not the corruption of his sinful nature that is still
resident within, not the failures of his past, not the accusations of the Devil
on his account, etc., etc.
1.1.3. We saw that
there were two different lifestyles that were being profiled for us. The first lifestyle was that of the
unbeliever, and it is a lifestyle that is described as being one of death. The second lifestyle was that of the believer
in Christ, and his lifestyle is one that is described as being life and peace.
1.1.4. We saw that
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.
1.1.5. We saw that
Paul was exhorting us here in that 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. The Christian is a person who is
obsessed in his thoughts about the Lord, how he may know and please the Lord,
how he may serve the Lord, etc., etc.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to be looking at
verses 11-14 of chapter 8.
1.2.1. We see now
that Paul makes the point that if a person is a genuine Christian that the Holy
Spirit dwells in him, and that this guarantees him that as Christ was raised
from the dead that God will give life to his mortal body.
1.2.2. Paul begins
then to enumerate some of the things that will be characteristic of a person in
whom the Holy Spirit is dwelling. Paul
states that this person will be one who is continually engaged in a battle of
putting to death the deeds of the sinful flesh.
Plus, he will be led of the Spirit.
1.2.3. We are going
to look closely at what a person’s life should be like if he is being led of
the Spirit.
1.2.4. We will also
look closely at this battle that genuine Christians are engaged in of putting
to death the deeds of their sinful flesh.
2. VS 8:11 - “11 But 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 indwells
you.” - Paul tells us that if the
Holy Spirit is in us that the same one who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead
will also give life to our mortal bodies
2.1.
In our previous study, we noted that just before this
verse that Paul had stated that if anyone did not have the Spirit of Christ
within him that he didn’t belong to Christ.
The Christian then is the person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.
2.2.
This verse has been interpreted in two primary
ways.
2.2.1. First, some
have taught that what Paul is writing in this verse is that a Christian has the
Holy Spirit in his life, and just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the
power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian will also be raised from the dead when
Christ returns.
2.2.1.1. This
statement is true, of course, and there are many verses which state that
Christians will be raised up from the dead when Christ returns, including.
2.2.1.1.1.
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15:50-54, “50 Now I say this,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the
perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be
raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable must put
on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this
perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on
immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is
swallowed up in victory.”
2.2.1.1.2.
Likewise, the apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:2, “2 Beloved,
now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We
know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just
as He is.”
2.2.1.2. Those who
interpret this verse this way look at the language concerning God the Father
raising up Christ from the dead as providing the necessary context for
interpreting this verse to say that the Christian is guaranteed a resurrection
from the dead also.
2.2.2. Secondly, it
has also been held by many that this verse refers to the resurrection life of
Christ that the Lord will produce in the person’s life who has the Holy Spirit
in his life and is thus designated as a child of God.
2.2.2.1. Those who
interpret this verse to refer to the resurrection life of Christ in the
Christian today look at the overall context of the verse to proving their
interpretation. Paul has been speaking
continually now in the book of the daily outpouring of the Spirit in the
Christian’s life.
2.2.2.2. This
interpretation would then have Paul simply reiterating things that he already
wrote earlier in the book.
2.3.
Both interpretations have credibility, and good sound
Biblical interpreters who support them.
2.4.
Interestingly, no matter which interpretation we
choose, we see in this verse something that causes us to reflect upon the deity
of Christ as well as the doctrine of the Trinity, and that is the fact that
this verse attributes to the Father, the raising of Jesus from the dead. However, we know conversely that in a couple
of different places in scripture that Jesus said that He would raise Himself
from the dead, including :
2.4.1. John 10:17-18, “17 “For this reason the
Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 “No
one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have
authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This
commandment I received from My Father.””
2.4.2. John 2:19,
“19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up.””
2.5.
As was mentioned in a previous study concerning the
doctrine of the Trinity as seen in the book of Romans, the scriptures reveal to
us that though all three persons of the godhead have individual personalities,
they none-the-less do the same things and thus also possess unity. In the New Testament both the Father and
Jesus are credited with raising Jesus Christ from the dead.
3. VS 8:12 - “12 So then, brethren, we are
under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—” - Paul makes a conclusion here from what he has
written, and that is that we believers in Christ are not under any obligation
to live according to the flesh
3.1.
Paul makes the assertion in this verse that we as
Christians are not in debt to our ‘flesh,’ or old sin nature.
3.2.
Paul realized that it is our sin which has almost destroyed
our lives, and would have completely destroyed our lives had we not become
Christians and been placed into Christ where we have died to the old man and
been raised up to walk in the newness of life in Christ Jesus.
3.3.
Each of us as Christians must come to the realization
of where before coming to Christ our ‘flesh’ was leading us in our
life. Our ‘flesh’ was leading us
down a path of death which would finally have resulted in eternal death. We must likewise come to that place to
realize that our ‘flesh’ is still the enemy that is trying to rob us of
all of God’s blessings in our life.
Therefore, because our sin is a real mortal enemy, we must realize that
we must constantly, moment by moment, put our old sin nature to death.
3.4.
We Christians must also realize what debtors we really
are to God for His love, mercy and grace in our lives. God has not given to any of us what we
deserved, but rather He has given us abundantly of His love, mercy and grace. We need to put to death the deeds of our
sinful flesh out of a motive of gratitude to God also.
4. VS 8:13 - “13 for if you are living
according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to
death the deeds of the body, you will live.” -
Paul tells us that walking according to the flesh will force us to die,
yet if we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh we will live
4.1.
This verse makes it clear that in this chapter when
the apostle is speaking of those who are according to the flesh, that he is
speaking of those who are not Christians.
The reason for this is because he writes that the person who is living ‘according
to the flesh must die.’ Paul would
never speak of a Christian as dying in this way.
4.2.
We saw in Rom. 3:23 that death is earned for, “The
wages of sin is death.” Those who
are going to experience “death” cannot be considered to be God’s
children because Jesus has taken the Christian’s sin and given him “life”
not “death.”
4.3.
The “death” that is mentioned here encompasses physical
death, spiritual death, and eternal death.
Each of these are earned by sinning and only trusting in Jesus as our
Lord and Savior can deliver us from the “death” brought about by our
sin.
4.4.
Since those who in this verse are ‘living according
to the flesh’ are non-Christians, then the other group mentioned here must
be Christians, those who are putting to death the deeds of the flesh.
4.5.
What Paul says about Christians is that which typifies
their lifestyle, they are ‘by the Spirit...putting to death the deeds
of the body,’ and as a result they will experience that quality of life
that is called “eternal life,” the type that comes through the Holy
Spirit and from being in fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.
4.6.
It is only by the Spirit and walking in the power of
the Holy Spirit that we can put to death the deeds of the flesh for we have
already seen in our study of Romans 7 that any attempt to please God or keep
His law in the power of the flesh can only faith.
4.7.
What Paul writes about what typifies the Christian is
not a passive life of just giving everything over to God and waiting for God to
take over and do everything through the Christian. Rather, what Paul is writing about that we
must do involves action. The Christian
is one, writes Paul, who is constantly putting to death, or mortifying, the
sinful deeds of the flesh in his life.
4.8.
Puritan John Owen has written the following statements
concerning our duty as Christians to put to death the deeds of our sinful flesh
in his book, “The Mortification Of Sin” : “be killing sin
or it will be killing you…The choicest believers, who are assuredly
freed from the condemning power of sin, should also make it their business all
of their days to mortify the indwelling power of sin…It is the constant
duty of believers to render a death blow to the deeds of the flesh, that they
may not have life and strength to bring forth their destructive influence…The
vigour, power, and comfort of our spiritual life
depend on the mortification of the deeds of the body."
4.9.
Baptist pastor John Piper in an article on the
mortification of sin found on the Banner Of Truth Web Page has written, “WHAT IS THIS PUTTING TO DEATH?” “The answer is that you
suffocate the sinful deeds of the body. You cut off the life-line, the blood
flow. Deeds of the body come from somewhere. Jesus said, "The things that
proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. (19)
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness, slanders. (20) These are the things which defile the
man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man" (Matthew
15:18-20). Sinful deeds have a life line that must be cut. In other words, there is a
condition of the heart that gives rise to the "deeds of the body."
It's a heart issue. We must cut off the hands and gouge out the eyes, not
literally, that would do no good, but with that kind of violent heart-work. You
kill the bad fruit by severing the bad root.”
4.9.1. Is there any
bad fruit in your life that needs to be cut out? Is there something in your life that is
choking out the life of God in you? If
so, repent of that sin and ask God to forgive you. Trust that God will give you the power
through the Holy Spirit to have victory over that area of your life.
4.10.
There are those in the church today who are from the “Holiness”
movement who believe that a Christian reaches a crisis point in his life where
he never sins again. They usually teach
that this is the point where a Christian is baptized in the Holy Spirit. They believe that at that crisis moment sin
is taken out of us, and we do not sin again.
They teach that a Christian should get to a point in his walk where he
simply lets go and lets God. Those who
teach this interpret the book of Romans to teach that at a certain point a
Christian leaves what Paul described in his life in chapter 7 concerning his
failures, to go into chapter 8. They
then teach that in all cases what the Christian is supposed to do is to get to
a point that he or she simply gives up and lets God take over. Then, when that moment occurs, the person’s
will is completely consumed by God who begins to work through his life. They teach therefore that prior to this
crisis event the Christian cannot no matter what, do God’s will in his/her
life. The Christian is helpless and
hopeless until the Lord takes over, and it is the Christian’s job then to do
nothing but surrender to God.
4.11.
However, this is not what the Bible teaches at
all. The second half of all of Paul’s
epistles was always dedicated to exhortation based upon commands from God’s
Word. The commands are given, and the
Christian is expected to obey. Obedience
is not an option for the Christian in Paul’s epistles. What the Bible teaches is that through the
indwelling Holy Spirit, Christians possess all the power to do all that the
Lord commands and desires for them to do in their life. It would be unfair for the Lord to command a
Christian to do something that the Christian is not able to do.
4.12.
Here are some of the command-based exhortations that
are found in the second half of Paul’s epistles:
4.12.1.
Romans 12:1-2, “12:1 I urge you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect.”
4.12.2.
Romans 13:14, “14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
4.12.3.
Gal. 5:16-17, “16 But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh sets its
desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in
opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”
4.12.4.
Eph. 4:1-3, “4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the
Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have
been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing
forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
4.12.5.
Eph. 4:22-24, “22 that, in reference to your former
manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in
accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been
created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
4.12.6.
Eph. 5:18-20, “18 And do not get drunk with wine,
for that is dissipation, but be [constantly] filled with the Spirit, 19
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all
things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”
4.12.7.
Phil. 4:8-9, “8 Finally, brethren, whatever is
true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything
worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. 9 The things you have
learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the
God of peace shall be with you.”
4.12.8.
Col. 3:1-3:
“3:1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the
things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind
on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died
and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
4.13.
My point then concerning this verse is that what Paul
is teaching here is that the Christian is one who through the power of the Holy
Spirit working through his life is able to obey all of the many teachings and
commandments of God’s Word. Because the
Christian has died to the sinful nature, and because he has been raised up to
new life, not being under any condemnation in Christ, the Christian is also
then expected to put to death the deeds of his body as he seeks to obey all
that God’s Word commands and expects of him.
Paul wrote of this victory that he himself experienced through Christ in
Phil. 4:13, “13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
4.14.
There is another view of Romans 8 that I believe is
equally wrong. That view teaches that
all the Christian has to do is to believe the correct positional truth
concerning himself and his death on the cross and being raised up to walk in
the newness of resurrection life in order to walk in the victory in
Christ. The error is in the fact that
the emphasis is in believing instead of in acting upon the truth in faith. The positional truth is correct, but just
believing that truth does not produce the victory unless the Christian is also
putting to death the deeds of his body as he acts upon the identification
truths concerning his death and resurrection to new life in Christ. This what Paul wrote in chapter 6 verse 11
when he said to “reckon” yourself to be dead to sin but alive to God in
Christ Jesus. He meant to act in faith
upon that positional truth in Christ.
This view is reinforced by the fact that Paul wrote next in verse 12 of
Romans 6, "Therefore do not
let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts. "
5. VS 8:14 - “14 For all who are being led by
the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” -
Paul tells us that those who are being led of the Spirit are sons of God
5.1.
In all of chapter 8 of Romans, as I have pointed out
before, Paul is attempting to prove what he stated in the first two verses, that
the Christian is no longer under condemnation.
He is attempting to give the Christian assurance of salvation through
Christ as a result of this knowledge.
5.2.
In this verse, as well as the next few verses, Paul is
attempting to reveal to Christians that the Holy Spirit Himself gives the
Christian a personal assurance in his heart that assures him of the certainty
of his salvation.
5.3.
In this verse, Paul describes the person who is a “son”
of God. This person is one who is ‘being
led by the Spirit of God.’ In Eph.
1:5-8, Paul writes about the fact that it was God’s idea to bring those who are
His people into the relationship to Him as children, “5 He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He
freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
8 which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight.”
5.4.
It was not man, but rather God, who before the
creation of the world, chose the way in which He would define His relationship
with His people. He chose to call them
into a filial relationship with Himself since He Himself desires to be the
Father of His people, in all that that relationship would imply to men.
5.4.1. It should be
such good news to us as Christians that this fact means that God feels toward
us the same way in which we who are parents feel toward our own children. In fact, God loves us more than any earthly
parent loves his/her child.
5.5.
The relationship which God desires to have with His
people is as ‘sons,’ yet not sons of proper birth, but rather adopted
sons. There is only one unique
only-begotten Son of God who came by proper birth. All of the rest of God’s people come into
relationship with Him through adoption.
5.6.
The significance of the adoption that God’s people
have with Him may also be seen in the fact that this word for ‘sons’
here means literally “full-grown” sons.
It appears that the significance of this term then is that when people
of an age come into a relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior, they then are adopted into God’s family and they are
given all of the privileges and inheritance which is due to one who is born of
proper birth into a family.
5.7.
In that amazing High-Priestly prayer of Jesus recorded
in John 17:22-23, Jesus prayed for us saying that He had given us His glory
which the Father had given Him, and He asked that the world might know that the
Father loved Jesus’ disciples with the same love that He loved Jesus, “22 “And
the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one,
just as We are one; 23 I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in
unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them,
even as Thou didst love Me.” This is
an incredible truth. God loves each of
His children in the same way and with the same fervency with which He loved
Jesus, His unique and only-begotten Son.
5.8.
This fact of how much God loves us as His children
helps to understand what the author of Hebrews writes about Jesus in Heb. 2:11,
“11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one
Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
5.9.
Jesus relates to us and will relate to us for eternity
as His brethren, since we too are children of God, albeit through
adoption. This type of brotherly
relationship does not negate His relationship to us as our Lord and Savior, in
whom we worship as the Lamb without spot or blemish and yield absolute
obedience as Lord and Master.
5.10.
If we know that God has placed into a relationship
with Him as His son, this should cause us to realize some very important things
about our relationship with Him.
5.10.1.
First of all, when we pray we should realize that just
as we earthly fathers may not have the time for this person or that person,
when it comes to our own children, we tend to (or should tend to if we are good
fathers) always have the time to devote ourselves to our children and their
needs and requests. So, our heavenly
Father devotes Himself completely to us when we come before Him.
5.10.2.
Secondly, just as in a normal family relationship we
know that we have a right to come boldly to our parents for help, knowing that
they will normally be moved to help us, we should know that we have a right and
can come boldly before the throne of grace in order to receive mercy and grace
to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).
5.10.3.
Third, when we address God in prayer, we Christians
ought to realize that He wants us to address Him with all of the affection with
which a filial relationship should imply.
He doesn’t want us to address Him as some great power who could crush us
at any instant, nor as some impersonal dictator whose favor must be won and
wrath appeased, rather He loves us and wants us to address Him as our Father in
Heaven.
5.10.4.
Fourth, when we come to God in prayer, we as His
children ought to implore Him passionately with our pleas since we know that we
have His attention and affection. James
5:16 says that it is the “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man [that] availeth
much”. As one author has written, we should recognize that if our hearts are
not moved in prayer that we shall not move our Father in Heaven’s heart!
5.11.
Now, notice that Paul uses an identical phrase as this
one in Gal. 5:18, “18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under
the Law.” In Gal. 5, Paul is
contrasting a person who is walking in the flesh and thus under the Law of God,
and the person who is walking in the power and influence of the Holy
Spirit.
5.12.
This then leads us to consider what it means to be ‘led
of the Spirit.’ There are those good
brothers of the Pentacostal persuasion who believe
that what it means here to be ‘led of the Spirit’ is to be “directed
by the Spirit,” as well as “to be led in the use of the gifts of the
Holy Spirit.” Although these are
ways in which a person is ‘led of the Spirit,’ I would interject that to
be ‘led of the Spirit’ means far more than that, and that it means in a
much more general sense to walk under the influence of the Spirit.
5.13.
J. W. McGarvey and Philip Y. Pendleton Commentary on Romans has
written, “To mortify the flesh is to be led of the Spirit, and to be led of
the Spirit is to be a son of God; for, though all in the church claim this sonship, the claim is only demonstrated to be genuine in
the case of those who are led of the Spirit. The Spirit leads both externally
and internally. Externally, the Spirit supplies the gospel truth as set forth
in the New Testament, and the rules and precepts therein found are for the
instruction and guidance of God's children. Internally, the Spirit aids by
ministering strength and comfort to the disciple in his effort to conform to
the revealed truth and will of God.”
5.14.
What then would be some tests for whether or not a
person is truly being ‘led of the Spirit’ in his/her life? Let me propose the following :
5.14.1.
A growing love for God.
5.14.1.1. 1 Cor.
16:22, “22 If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha.”
5.14.2.
A growing appreciation for Jesus Christ.
5.14.2.1. John 15:26,
“26 “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is
the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me,”
5.14.2.2. John 16:4,
“14 “He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it
to you.”
5.14.3.
A growing love and appreciation for the Word of God.
5.14.3.1. John 16:3,
“13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the
truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He
will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”
5.14.4.
A growing conviction of sin.
5.14.4.1. John 16:8,
“8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin, and
righteousness, and judgment.”
5.14.4.2. Andrew
Murray has written, “To be led of the Spirit implies in the first place the
surrender to His work as He convinces of sin and cleanses soul and body for His
temple. It is as the Indwelling Spirit, filling, sanctifying, and ruling the
heart and life, that He enlightens and leads…the leading of the Spirit is
inseparable from the sanctifying of the Spirit each one who would be led of the
Spirit begin by giving himself to be led-- of the word as far as he knows it.
Begin at the beginning: obey the commandments. ` He that will do, shall know,
said Jesus. ` Keep my commandments, and the Father will send you the Spirit.'
Give up every sin. Give up in everything to the voice of conscience. Give up in
everything to God, and let Him have His way. Through the Spirit mortify the
deeds the body (v. 13). As a son of God place yourself at the entire disposal
of the Spirit, to follow where He leads (v. 14). And the Spirit Himself , this
same Spirit, through whom you mortify sin: and yield yourself to be led as a
son, will bear witness with your spirit, in a joy and power hitherto unknown,
that you are indeed a child of God enjoying all a child's privileges in his
Father’s love and guidance.”
5.14.5.
A growing love for people.
5.14.5.1. 1 Cor.
13:1-7, “13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not
have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have the
gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all
faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if
I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be
burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is
kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not
act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into
account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices
with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.”
5.14.6.
A growing amount of the fruit of the Spirit,
especially the fruit of “love” that fruit which should most typify the
life of a true Christian.
5.14.6.1. Gal.
5:22-23, “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such
things there is no law.” Notice that
love is the first fruit that is mentioned, and this occurs because it is the
most prominent fruit.
5.14.7.
A growing desire to share the gospel with people.
5.14.7.1. Armor of
God, Eph. 6:15, “15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the
gospel of peace;”
5.15.
To be ‘led by the Spirit’ does not mean to be
driven by the Spirit. In some Bible
translations, there is an incident after the baptism of Jesus where they
translate that Jesus was ‘driven by
the Spirit out into the wilderness’ in order to be tempted by the
Devil. Dr. Martyn
Lloyd-Jones has written that the word that is translated there as “driven”
does not necessarily have to have the connotation of to drive someone, but can
just as easily mean to lead him. In fact
the word is used in many places in the New Testament, and only in those two
places is that aspect brought in the word.
He also states rightly that the Lord did not need to be “driven”
by the Spirit, since only those who do not listen closely to the Spirit need to
be driven. The Christian is one who
should be in tune with the movements of the Spirit and therefore not need to be
“driven.”
5.16.
When we Christians are trying to discern the leading
of the Spirit in our lives, we need to realize that when the Spirit is leading
us, there shouldn’t be this sense of being “driven” by Him. Guilt and condemnation can drive a man, but
the Holy Spirit gently leads His people.
We Christians can sometimes mistake the leading of the Spirit in our
lives with obsessions that we might have.
5.17.
Likewise, some people are always being led by their
own discontent, however we Christians must be discerning about what truly
motivates us in what we do for the Lord.
Being led of the Lord should not lead us to continually be
discontent. In Phil. 4:11 the apostle
Paul wrote that he had “learned to be content in whatever situation I am in.” Continual discontent reveals that we are
truly not being led of the Lord as we should be, we’re not truly abiding in Him
as we could be.
5.18.
In my walk with the Lord, I have been surprised at the
things that people I have known have “felt” that the Lord was leading
them to do. We Christians must proceed
cautiously during those times when we “feel” that the Lord wants us to
do something. More than anything, we
need to go to God’s Word and see if what we are “feeling” that the Lord
is leading us to do jives with what the scripture teaches us. If not, then no matter how strongly we may “feel”
that the Lord wants us to do something, we will be wrong if we do it.
6. CONCLUSIONS
:
6.1.
As we consider this study and how we ought to apply it
in our life, I would ask you if your life demonstrates that you are you being
led of the Lord? Are you demonstrating
that you are a son or daughter of God by the sanctifying work of the Holy
Spirit that everyone can see that is occurring in your life? Does your life bear the fruit of the Holy
Spirit? Is the love of God demonstrated
in your life in your attitudes towards others?
6.2.
Commit yourself
today Oh Christian to continually putting to death the deeds of the flesh in
your life. Your life is to be one of
action in putting to death the deeds of the flesh, not just one of sitting back
and surrendering to God. Trust that God
will give you the ability to have victory over sin as you moment by moment reckon
yourself to be dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.