All right, let's go to the Lord
in prayer first. Our Father, we come before You,
anxious, Lord, to read and consider these things. For our spirits
have stirred within us, Lord, to know more of the great work
of the Spirit of God, how He is an advocate for the children
of grace, how He guides them and gives them victory, how He
crushes, Lord, and leads them to victory, grace after grace. We thank You for this great passage. We pray for the sick ones, Lord,
that they might feel Your hand and Your touch and Your presence. And we pray for those that wait
upon them. We ask that they have strength
and they have faith, even our own loved ones, Lord. We pray
that Your hand might be upon her that she might recover quickly,
if it please thee. For we ask these things in the
name of Christ our Lord. Amen. Alright, Romans 8 beginning
at verse 5. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead," look at that, the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. For if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you. Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the
flesh. For if you live after the flesh,
you shall die. But if you through the Spirit
do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For we have not received the
spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit
of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself, or
Himself, beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God. And if children, then heirs,
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. Now, we only cover
the first four verses of the chapter in our first study, for
the things set forth there, especially in verse 3 and verse 4, require
that we move slow and that we be deliberate. to get it right,
that we might open up and understand what Paul is saying. Because
this actually sets the tone for what follows, I want it, therefore,
to be very careful. Let me give an illustration.
Imagine, if you can, driving through a high and a curvy, dangerous
mountain road, traverses narrow and falls off cliffs on either
side, You want to take it slow. You want to take it right. Then
you break out into the flat land and into the open, the level
road, and you can move along more quickly. And I like to think
that that is what we can do this evening. We have descended from
the high pass of verses 1 through 4 and come to the road easier
to navigate than we have read this evening. Now, the Apostle
has spoken. of two laws in verse 4. The law, or the rule, or the
dominion of sin and death. Remember, Paul uses the word
law in several different ways, particularly along in this place. Secondly, we saw the law, or
the rule, or the dominion, or the influence, or the guiding
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. And such as are all these
laws, for all are under one or the other. Every person is either
under one law or the other law. Everyone either walks under the
law to rule the dominion of sin and death, or they walk under
the law to rule the dominion of the spirit of life. So they
correspond to which one of the laws that they are under. They walk either after the flesh
or either after the Spirit, with the only reason in it can walk
after or in the Spirit being because God has condemned sin
in the flesh by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin. So beginning in verse 5, the
apostle now opens it wider for us, and he expands at length
upon the two principles, the flesh and the spirit. This he
does, first of all, by contrasting them. And he also makes two very
strong points of emphasis. Number one, he shows why one
walks after the flesh or after the spirit. He lays out the reason
that a person walks under one or the other. Secondly, he shows
what is entailed and what are the consequences and what is
the final end of each way of walking, whether under the flesh
or in the spirit. We do understand that Scripture
uses the word walk walked in the past tense, and walking as
a euphemism for a manner of life or a manner of behavior or conduct. The walk of an individual is
how they comport their life, how they deport themselves as
they walk in this world. Meaning to tread around, the
word does, or to walk at large. One good example is in Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 2 where Paul reminds them that in time past,
quote, ye walked according to the course of this world, unquote. They walked after and not uprightly. In Galatians 2 and verse 14,
Peter and some other did not walk or conduct themselves or
act uprightly. Thus, the way that one lives
is often called walking in the Scripture, and vice versa. And in these places, it has nothing
to do, walking, with bodily motion, or the shuffling of the feet,
or the energy of the body, but it is a course of life and a
manner of conduct to walk. And perhaps we should also define
the word flesh here, since it comes before us so often. Paul
uses the terms verse 5, after the flesh, verse 8, they that
are in the flesh, verse 13, they that live after the flesh, and
in these places and in others, flesh means fallen, depraved,
corrupt nature under the control of depravity and of sin. In verses 5 and 8, the contrast, between the flesh and the spirit
as the guiding power or principle in the life of an individual.
Let's look at that. Verse 5 said, They that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Verse 6 said, To
be carnally minded is death. Verse 7 said, The carnal or the
fleshly mind is enmity against God. And verse 8 said, "...so
then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." And here
are three more words that we might define for our better understanding. There is the word, after. After the flesh. Walk after the
flesh. It is the word, kata, meaning
down or under or according. And then Paul uses the word,
mind, here. meaning the sentiment or the
opinion, the mental inclination and the intent of the individual. And he uses the word carnal,
which means flesh or fleshly. Thus they that are after the
flesh or have the mind of the flesh are such as still or under
the power of sin and in their natural state. Their whole course
of life and their whole course of thinking and of acting is
under the influence of depravity. Because it is, as Murray said,
human nature as it is corrupted and directed and controlled by
sin, unquote. They walk after the flesh so
that the mind or the feeling or the inclination of such is
then consumed by the thoughts The inclination, the interest,
and the love of the flesh. They mind the things of the flesh. And not all that surprising that
Paul should say in the seventh verse that the carnal or the
fleshly mind is enmity against God. Very interesting that the
carnal or the fleshly mind is not indifferent to the things
of God, It is not that it cares not or pays no attention. It
is not indifferent, that is, it is not neutral. It is not
uninfluenced in one direction or the other, but there is natural
enmity in the natural man against God, and those that are in the
flesh share that feeling, even if they seem to be civil and
moral. even if it is not outwardly expressed
or manifested, even if such may call themselves religious. For example, who is there that
was more religious than Saul of Tarsus before his call and
conversion, until the encounter with Christ and the gospel and
Christianity, he brought his enmity to a boiling point against
Christ and those who worship in that way. Thus, there are
two sad consequences of those that are carnally minded. Number one, in verse 7, the carnally
and the fleshly minded is not and cannot be subject to the
law of God. This you will never see. This
you will never hear tell of. A fleshly mind subject to, or
friendly to, or delighting in the law of God. Remember 1 Corinthians
2 and 14, the natural man receiveth not the things of God, neither
indeed can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But I said there were two points
And the second one is, those that have the mind of the flesh
cannot please God. That's in verse 8. This is because
of what is said in the first half of the verse. Such can have
no inclination. They have no disposition. They have no desire to love or
to honor God. or the things of God, or the
Word of God, or the Gospel of our Lord. On the other hand,
quite different is it with those in whom sin has been condemned
in the flesh by the body of Christ, who are in Christ and, as a result,
are walking in the Spirit. They have been regenerate. They
have had grace to come. They have been called. They have
been given ears and a heart to know and to understand. So that
we read of them, verse 5, they that are after the Spirit do
mind the things of the Spirit. They live and they walk after
the way and under the influence and the direction of the grace
of God. Verse 6, the last part. The mind
of the Spirit is life and peace as opposed to the flesh. Paul
is honest about the state of those who are under the flesh. And all that do not walk in the
Spirit fulfill to some degree the lust of the flesh. And it
is a way of death. It does not lead to life, it
leads unto death. Now beginning at verse 9, Paul
speaks mostly from here on of the case of such as are in Christ
Jesus and walk after the Spirit. And he considers the blessings
that are to those that are indwelt by the Spirit and by the grace
of God after having clearly stated the case of those who are under
the flesh and spelling out how dreadful is their situation. In verse 9, he assures the believer,
the one who has believed upon Christ, you are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Christ dwells in
you. And the if and the so be do not
imply any degree of doubt at all. as to weaken the assurance
of the children of God. Some are content to render the
Word as sense, since you are not in the flesh, but you are
in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. And John Brown again wrote on
verse 9, Paul does not speak doubtfully, for he addresses
those who are no longer in the flesh or under its power." These
are the same ones he addresses in chapter 1 and verse 7, as
to all that be at Rome, called to be saints, beloved of God. And in chapter 6 and 3, they
were baptized into the death of our Lord. And in 6.14, they
are not under the law, but under grace. And in 6.18, they are
free from sin and become the servants of righteousness. And in 7.4, you are become dead
to the law by the body of Christ. Even so, having the Spirit, they
were not in the flesh. having the indwelling Spirit,
they were delivered from the power and rule and dominion of
sin and depravity. Now looking at verse 9 and the
last part, if any be without the indwelling of the Spirit,
any lacking the Spirit of Christ in them, which is one and the
same with the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, Since every
child of God has the Holy Spirit living and dwelling in them,
it follows that all and any who are without the Spirit of God
are not the people of Christ. All of His people have the Spirit
of God dwelling in them. Verse 10 is a very difficult
verse, at least for me. So let's take a look at it. What
he says here is contingent upon being in Christ. That the body
is dead because of sin, but on the other hand, the spirit is
life because of righteousness. I wonder if we could say, the
body is death because of sin. But no two contrasts in the verse. The first one is, Body and spirit. The body is dead, the spirit
is life. Secondly, notice the contrast,
sin and righteousness. And some versions of the Scripture
have it, although or even though. Though sin bring the body down
to death and the grave, Yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness
through Jesus Christ. I checked the Greek-English interlinear
to see how this might be rendered there. And it is put this way,
quote, On the one hand, the body is dead because of sin. On the other, the Spirit is life
because or on account of righteousness." William G.T. Shedd, in his critical
and doctrinal commentary on Romans, makes it to be what is called
adversative to the last part of verse 9. That is, expressing
opposition, or expressing the opposite side of a matter. So in verse 9, without the Spirit
of Christ, or none of his," in verse 10. But if, on the contrary,
Christ is in you, having that mystical union with Christ, the
body is a body of death on account of sin, this does not distinguish
the fleshly mortal body from the immaterial soul or the spirit. Eternal life dwells in the immortal
soul of the regenerate elect. The saint lives, however, in
a house of flesh, a body of flesh, a house of death. He drags about
a fleshly body everywhere that he goes. And that body is subject
unto death. That body in which the saint
lives is subject unto death. Though the inner man is renewed
in the image and the righteousness of God and of Christ. Death in
one, life in another, he said. Death in the body, life in the
spirit. Verse 11 declared, One of the
great benefits of having the Holy Spirit, as well as to answer
a difficulty which some might have in their mind, that physical
death, some might say, might present to the saint as if the
body and the soul are parted at death forever and forever. It would be unsound exegesis,
I believe, to make the quickening in verse 11 to be regeneration. That quickening in verse 11 to
be regeneration would be unsound, and that for two reasons. A. Jesus is the prototype of
the quickening. Jesus is the prototype or the
model for the quickening of others. And it cannot be said that He
was regenerated or supposed that He was ever dead in trespasses
and in sin. This was never and could never
be and would be blaspheming. B. Paul speaks here of the mortal
body, and Christ did die, and He was buried, and He did raise
again from the dead. God raised up Christ, as it said
in Acts 2 and verse 24, and other places in Acts and in the epistle. So Paul says there is a connection
between two things. Number one, The resurrection
of Christ and the resurrection of the saint. In that, listen,
him that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken,
that is, vitalize, make alive, give life to your mortal bodies. The word quicken is a dozen times
in the New Testament, all of them referring to the giving
of life making alive, bringing life up out of death. Secondly, we notice the connection
between the indwelling of the Spirit of God and the resurrection
of the mortal body. Now, the word mortal means liable
or subject unto death. And Paul says in verse 11, if
the Spirit dwell in you, and he refers to the Holy Spirit,
He shall also quicken your mortal bodies by," the margin has, because
of, He shall also quicken your mortal bodies by, or because
of, His Spirit that dwells in you. Remember what Paul tells
the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, to dissuade them from
fornication and from all manner of licentiousness, He tells them
in the 15th verse of that chapter, your bodies are the members of
Christ. Now, say it again, your bodies
are the members of Christ. And then down in verse 19 he
said, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in
you and which you have of God. Now Paul then, in verse 12 and
13 of Romans 8, gives a practical application and inferences drawn
from what goes before. Therefore, so then, as a result,
brethren, we, Paul includes himself, we are detars, which is the same
word Paul uses of himself In Romans 1 and verse 14, I am debtor
both to the Jew, to the Greek, to the barbarian, to the rich
and to the poor, and such like. A debtor is one who has an obligation. It is one who owes. And when
Paul said we are debtors, he is not speaking of anything that
we might do that is meritorious. For he makes a clear distinction,
saying, We are debtors, but not to the flesh. We are debtors,
but we are not debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh,
for we have received no blessing or benefit from the flesh. In
fact, they who live after the flesh, verse 13, will find it
to be a way of death. Linsky put it this way, to be
a debtor to the flesh would mean to make our entire life to be
lived in conformity and under the dominion of the flesh. Thus it is self-evident that
Paul's inference is that we are not debtors to live after the
flesh, that we are debtors to live after or in the Spirit. And there is another contrast
in verse 13. If you live after the flesh,
it will prove to be a way of death. You will die too. On the
other hand, if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of
the body, you will live. And here's another great doctrine
that's brought before us here by a word which we don't hear
much about today, and that's the word mortify. It is summed
eleven times all together in the New Testament. And each time
that it is used, it means to kill. It has something to do
with death. It means put to death. In fact,
it is the word used in Matthew 26, 59 and Mark 14 and 55 of
the Jews seeking to put Christ to death, mortify Him. It also is the word used in Romans
7 and 4. You are become dead to the law,
you have been mortified. In Colossians 3 and 5, mortify
your members upon the earth. We must be careful here not to
think only of self-sanctification, how far we can make ourselves
holy. How far we can put away sin,
we're not talking about self-sanctification, neither is Paul in Romans 8 and
verse 13. For this mortification of the
deeds of the flesh is to be done, listen, through or by the Holy
Spirit of God, and can only be done by such as are renewed in
regeneration, such as have the Spirit. In dwelling then, this
mortification is not apart from the Holy Spirit and the work
of grace. In every mortification of fleshly
deeds, it is exercised through the Holy Spirit of God. Any victory
over sin by a fleshly person is not true mortification of
sin at all, but partial reformation. It is not done for the glory
of God, but for some selfish, self-serving reason. And so it is just partly reformation. An example, people who think
they quit smoking, it will be better on their health, or lose
some weight, or that kind of thing. Self-reformation. Now
coming to verse 14, which further confirms what is said in the
digression in verse 12 and 13, that they who mortify the deeds
of the body are led by the Spirit of God, and they that are led
by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. While all guided
by the sovereign providence of God, unbeknownst to them may
be guided but not by the Spirit. The ones led by the Spirit are
children of God, and both seek and acknowledge the leadership
of God by His Spirit. And as Murray wrote, led by the
Spirit implies they are governed, guided, directed, led by the
Spirit. And quote, the emphasis is placed
upon the activity of the Spirit and the passivity of the subjects. Unquote. It is through the Spirit. And then having mentioned that
we're the children of God, Paul opens the attending blessing
and further implications of divine Sonship. You have that in verse
15, 16, and 17. We'll look at them some in closing. We do not have time to examine
the different views of the meaning of the 15th verse. There is mentioned
the spirit of bondage and the spirit of adoption, and fear
is contrasted with a phileal spirit, that is, a sense of sonship
and crying out to God Father. And whether the one spirit is
different from the other spirit, one is capitalized, at least
in the King James, one is not, causing some expositors to think
of the first spirit as a disposition. and the second spirit as the
Holy Spirit of God and His effectual work in the elect. As others
view both words spirit as being dispositions, as in the American
Standard Version, We have not, in being called to Christ, received
a spirit or disposition again to fear, but you have received
a spirit or disposition of adoption, a feeling of sonship, and that
causes us to cry, Abba, Father. Out of our spirit there is the
cry, Abba, Father. Now, let's look carefully at
verse 16 and 17. Verse 16 gives the fact Verse
17, the blessed consequences. Now, a close look at verse 16
may confirm what is meant by the spirit of adoption. In verse 15, it is a feeling
or a disposition. As in verse 16, there again appears
two mentions of the Spirit. One of them capitalized, the
other not. In verse 15, we cry, In verse
16, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God. 1 John 5 and 10, listen to it
please. He that believes on the Son of
God hath the witness in himself. He that believes on Jesus has
the witness in himself. For when the truth of God enters
the renewed mind and understanding, it gives witness to that person
or individual. The Scripture comes not in word
only, but also in power and spirit. The gospel becomes the gospel
of our salvation. Ephesians 1.13, "...send such
belief through grace..." Acts 18.27, "...and the Holy Spirit
bears witness with our spirit." In other words, as an expositor
put it, the witness of the Holy Spirit is said to be witnessed
conjointly with the witness borne by the believer's own mind, heart,
and conscience. The witness of the Holy Spirit,
therefore, is distinct from the witness of the believer, but
not at variance, for it bears witness with it. You have a similar
passage where Paul says in Romans 2, 14 and 15, concerning the
heathen, who says, Paul, have the work of the law written in
their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness with the
work of the law written in their hearts. Now, the work of the
law written in their hearts causes them to do certain things that
are according to the law. And the conscience bears witness
with that work of the law written in their heart. So one is bearing
witness with the other. Like in our text here, we have
the witness in ourselves, believing, having the Spirit, having the
grace of God, being regenerate and quickened in our understanding,
open, Then the Spirit of God who dwells within us bears witness
also with our spirit that we are the children of God. Thus, there are two witnesses
born to our sonship. One spirit says, I am a child
of God. And another spirit says, yes,
you are. And God's Son, by adoption, you
are. Now quickly in verse 17, Being
children means that we are heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with
Jesus Christ. And the children shall have the
children's portion, shall be heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs
with our Lord Jesus Christ. So, with adoption, we are the
sons of God. We therefore are regarded as
children and therefore have an inheritance. as the sons and
the daughters of God. Yes, life in the Spirit is a
very wonderful thing that Paul has taught us in this place.
There's another place where the Spirit helps us further down
in the chapter. I don't have time for it. But
when we go to prayer, the Spirit, the Spirit helps us in prayer
because we don't know what we should pray for as we are. But
we'll put it to an end there. All right, let's bow our heads,
please, for a closing word of prayer.