This message is from the teaching
ministry of James Tippins, pastor of Grace Truth Church. More information
can be found online at gracetruth.org and anchoringfaith.org. A people
for His glory, by His grace. Tonight we're going to be in
verse 9 of chapter 8 of Romans and we are going to talk tonight
about the Holy Spirit. Now in our day and in our Oh,
what's a good word? Culture. The Holy Spirit is one
of the most misunderstood, often misapplied, misinterpreted, mis-evaluated,
mistaught, mistaken subjects and also persons of the Godhead
in all of history. I mean, it's forever being abused,
the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And if it's not being abused,
it's been forsaken. And if it's not being abused
or forsaken, it's just being manipulated. And so we could
spend the next three or four months going through all the
ways in which God the Holy Spirit has been mistaught. But we don't need to do that
because teaching the not truth is not learning the truth. Though
there are times when scripture will show us what is false, scripture
spends more time showing us what is true because it is the truth
that we are looking for. Over the last few weeks, months,
we've been re-evaluating our view of justification by faith. We've been re-evaluating the
historical narrative of what it means to be sanctified, what
it means to be holy, what it means to be set apart for God,
what personal holiness is, is there such a thing? We've looked
at all of these texts in Romans, and I pray that you're able to
see, church, the continuity of what Paul has been teaching to
such a degree that you are rejoicing a little bit more at peace, a
little bit more solid in your grasp of these things so that
you can worship better, that you can sleep better, that you
can trust better. and that you would not depend
upon the evaluation of your own flesh in these matters. As I
look at commentary and as I look at theologians throughout the
centuries, I continually sort of grimace, not because it's
just rank heresy, which I have found, but more that it's just
misapplied doctrine. People so passionately want to
see the behavior of individuals change that they have historically
manipulated the text of Scripture in response to that desire. And they've done so just, I think,
well-meaning. They've done so so often that
they've actually hidden the true meaning of the Gospel of Grace
and the outcome of the Gospel of Grace. to where most of us,
if we were honest, especially us older ones, we would say that
there have been seasons of our life that we actually felt condemned
because we could not measure up to the standard of those around
us in the body of Christ. But really, our standard is not
what matters. It's God's standard that matters.
And as we've seen in this teaching of Romans, God's standard is
absolute impeccability. God's standard is an absolute
perfection. And no human being who has ever
lived but Jesus the Christ will ever, nor has ever, measured
up to this standard. We are all sinners under judgment,
but God in His mercy has given us life through Jesus Christ,
through His obedience, through His righteousness, through His
death, through His resurrection. The totality of the work of Christ
is where we stand righteous before God. It is only the imputation
of Christ's obedience that we are counted obedient. It is only
the imputation of our guilt to the death of Christ in His flesh
that we are counted forgiven. It is only by faith that these
things are received and enjoyed and understood and apprehended.
And that in itself is a gift of God through the hearing of
this truth, the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I
want you to keep in mind as we continue in Romans 8, we have
several weeks left before we get through this. As a matter
of fact, it could be several months. It may be some into the
spring before we get through Romans 8, if I tarry. But keep
in mind that the point of this total chapter, or in total, is
that there is no condemnation for we who are in Christ Jesus,
because Christ has fulfilled all the conditions of the covenant
of redemption, and therefore there is no condemnation. And
the outcome of that is that nothing can separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So we are not condemned
because of Christ and we will never be cast away because of
Christ. So in that sandwich of this teaching
comes a certain assurance that Paul even deals with the reality
of the flesh and its death and its being dead, it being dead,
versus the spirit and the soul of man being made alive by God
the Holy Spirit. And many people, as I've already
said, have through the centuries desired to see people fearful
in order to walk in a better way and some sense of morality
or some sense of quote goodness or quote righteousness that they've
lost the teaching of Romans. And I hate to say this does sound
smug, but I believe just like when we read through Revelation,
I believe if people would take their time and set aside all
of their presuppositions, all of their bias, and all of their
desire to use the text for their own purpose, they would read
the Bible, the Holy Spirit, God would teach us the truth. And
the Holy Spirit, as He teaches us the truth, He solidifies this
truth in us. And so tonight, as we continue,
understand that Paul's examination of the flesh in chapter 6 is
in response to what? The gospel of grace that is so
amazing. Grace that is so perfect. Grace that is so effectual all
by itself. that Paul answers the question,
should we continue to sin because grace should abound so much,
so that grace could continue to be great. And he says it's
an absurdity, discussion's over, move it to the side. Then he
begins to talk about his flesh in His regenerative state. He begins to teach about how
He struggles in sinfulness in and as a believer in Christ. Because His body, His fleshliness,
Though He is redeemed in His soul, He is redeemed by the Spirit
of God, His body is still flesh. That body will still see corruption
because God, in the regeneration of His people in this temporal
realm, will not regenerate our flesh. And that's why He comes to what
He's come to here in Romans 8. Romans 8 is a breath of fresh
air for the church. It is there so that we might
see that while we will fight the Spirit in the flesh, while
we will fight the Spirit in the mind, while we will fight the
Spirit in our spiritual lives because of our natural mind,
while we will fight and be at war in these things that our
flesh is not going to win because the war has already been won
in the person of Jesus Christ. and that though we may, in some
sense, separate ourselves from worldliness, we may see some
purity in our lives, those things are not effectual in measuring
our assurance and our righteousness because Christ is the measure
of our righteousness. and it is not left up to us to
even hold fast by our own power, especially in our flesh, but
the Spirit of God fulfills that purpose. We then are not of the
flesh, but are of the Spirit. Look at verses Goodness look
at verse 3 on down through verse 11 for God has done what the
law Weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his son in
the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin He condemned sin
in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according
to the flesh, they have set their minds on the things of the flesh.
But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds
on the thing of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh
is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for
it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who
are in the flesh cannot please God." Now let me say one specific
thing that I think I said last week, but I want to reiterate
just in case, is that Paul here is comparing the flesh as those
who are unregenerate. and then he's revealing the fact
that we still have that fleshliness though we are regenerate. The
difference is, not that the flesh has been put away or made good,
but that we who are in the Spirit, though we have flesh, no longer
put our mind on the flesh and what it can do for righteousness,
but we put our mind on the Spirit and what He has done for our
righteousness. And the difference in the flesh of the regenerate
man and the unregenerate man is that the unregenerate man
will work to affect his own righteousness, instead of trusting in the Spirit
of God. And, in the same way as Paul demonstrates in his own
temptation of what? What is he tempted to do? He
is tempted to covet. He is still righteous because
Christ never coveted. Paul is tempted to cry out in
despair, how am I ever going to survive this body of death? Paul then says, it is through
God and Jesus Christ that I will survive. It is He who will rescue
me from this body of death. So, this is something to keep
in mind as we go. We are not in the flesh. We are
in the Spirit. Look at verse 9. You, however,
are not in the flesh, but are in the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit
of God dwells in you. He goes, anyone who does not
have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ
is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit
is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised
Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus
from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors
not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live
according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you
put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all
who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Verse 15,
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into
fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, by
whom we cry, Abba, Father. And the Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if
children, then heirs, heirs of God, and heirs, fellow heirs
with Christ, provided we suffer with Him, in order that we may
also be glorified with Him. So here, I read on, I'm not going
to get to verse 12 tonight, but I read on so that we could hear
with our ears that Paul is not talking about any type of moral
exchange. Paul is not discussing a sense
of morality here. Yes, it's in light, we know that
living by the Spirit is to what? Walk in a manner worthy of the
Lord, but what is in light here, what is actually explicitly being
taught here is the difference between how we are standing before
the Lord, either in the works of our flesh or either by the
work of God and in the Holy Spirit. So if we put to death the deeds
of the body, we will live. But Paul says, all who have the
Spirit are alive. And then he says, those who do
not have the Spirit are condemned. So we who are the Spirit have
the Spirit. We are the sons and daughters
of God. We can call Him Papa, Daddy,
Father. We have been adopted. There is
nothing that we can do to be separated from this adoption.
No matter what people tell you, you cannot lose this work of
redemption. You cannot be lost. But if you
do not have the Spirit of God, no matter how good you are to
the outside observer, you are not a child of God. Just because
you look the part, but rather you are only a child of God because
you have the Spirit of life within you. That is what Paul is wanting
to show us this evening. What does it teach us then? Verse
8, as we closed last week, God is pleased with those who are
His. God is displeased with those who are not His, because those
who are not His are in the flesh. Therefore, they cannot please
God. As a matter of fact, they are
condemned by God. What does it mean to be in the
flesh? Well, it means to not have faith in the finished work
of the flesh of Jesus Christ and His humanity. First, His
obedience and also His death. Then we see in verse 9 that we
are not in the flesh. Now this would be true of the
Galatians. who really screwed up their understanding of the
Gospel through the Judaizers who were coming along and trying
to add to the Gospel. And Paul is very clear that they
are in the Spirit. They are not in the flesh because
they are the children of God. However, those who reject the
Gospel and add to it in such a way that they find their hope
don't have the Spirit. And so then he continues to say
the same thing about the church of Corinth. The church of Corinth
are not those in the flesh, but are in the Spirit. As a matter
of fact, the church, those of you who are the body of Christ
in Corinth, the Spirit of God dwells within you. However, we
want to see the correction of this sin that you all are dealing
with. We want to see the correction
of incest, or put the brother out. We want to see the correction
of this fighting and infighting. We want to see the correction
of this hostility and arguing. We want to see the correction
of all these things. You who the Spirit of God indwells, we
want to see the correction of these things, lest I come with
a stick and beat you like children. You see, Paul doesn't say those
who sin are lost and those who don't sin are saved. It would
violate the very cross of Christ. He says to the Corinthians, I
chose to preach nothing but Christ and Him crucified. If I do preach
anything other than the cross, it'll lose its power. If there's
anything I can add to the cross, it is worthless. It's fruitless
because the message of God through Christ is that He is obedient. He is the law keeper. He is the
Lamb. He takes away our sins and we
are redeemed because of Him. So you, however, now, back to
Romans 8, 9, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. Our dead body
is not working toward our sanctification. Our dead body is not working
for our justification. We do not come to the end of
our life and God does not look at us and say, well done, you
really cleaned up. So you must be saved. Glory to
you. You must be saved. God is not
going to say, glory to you. God is not going to look at my
life and measure it by some invisible standard that He's failed to
give us in the Scripture. He's going to look at my life and
measure it by the finished work of Jesus Christ that I hold to
by faith alone. And He's going to say, well done,
my good and faithful servant. You've never sinned against me.
You've never disobeyed me. You've always believed. everything
and obeyed everything I've ever commanded you, because your righteousness
that I see is Jesus." You see, that is the good news. There
is nothing else to be added to that that's good news. Everything
that you can add to the gospel of grace is damnation. Everything
that we could possibly consider as a way of maneuvering around
the works of the flesh in the gospel is condemnation. Therefore there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ. So those who add to some sense
of a moral standard to the gospel as the fruit and the evidence
of salvation are adding to the gospel and are condemned according
to Paul in this text. Now, people say, well, Tippins,
you are really beating this drum lately to the point of antinomianism. Hush, grow a pair of ears, listen
to what the Word of God has already said, and shut your mouth. That's what I want to say to
people when they say that stuff. It is as dumb as if I call myself
the king. to say that we teach antinomianism
when Paul said it is an absurdity to continue in sin because we
have received grace. If we continue in sin, we are
disciplined, we are corrected, we are embraced, we are ejected. Didn't mean to make a poem there.
But our dead body cannot work toward our justification or our
sanctification or our salvation because Christ is already our
sanctification. Christ is already our justification. Christ has completed the work
and the Spirit of God that lives within us has made us alive because
of righteousness. Paul says it in just a few minutes.
and He lives within us. You, you are not in the flesh,
but you are in the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit of God dwells
in you. You are pleasing to God, beloved.
because He dwells in you. You are pleasing to God because
Christ has lived for you. You are pleasing to God because
Christ has died for you. You are pleasing to God because
God has purchased you. You are pleasing to God because
Jesus Christ is fully pleasing to the Father, and you who are
in Him whose Spirit indwells you. You are pleasing to God,
for God cannot be displeased with Himself. We are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God created
beforehand for us to walk in." And I'll tell you, church, to
be pleasing before God is really, is really, what most every human
being has ever wanted in life. So much so that many would say,
well, there is no God. That's how I'm pleasing to God.
That's how I know that I'm okay. So, we are not okay except Christ
has satisfied our debt. We are not okay before God unless
Jesus' obedience is given to us. We are not okay unless Christ's
righteousness has been imputed to us. The latter part of verse
9 says this, in contrast, anyone who does not have the Spirit
does not belong to Him. See, we have the Spirit. And
because we have the Spirit, we belong to God. Because we belong
to God, we have the Spirit. And so on, and so on, and so
on. We are His. But there are many
among the world today who profess to be in Christ, and even in
their lives, they look so much like Christians. They look the
part as they walk around in the midst of the assembly. They look
the part as they speak the truth of God's Word and teach it ever
so carefully. But every now and then, we can
hear things that aren't quite right. These, though they may
look and maybe not even make error in their teaching, these
are not necessarily God's people unless the Spirit is in them. That's what Paul is talking about
here. The Spirit of God is proof we belong to God. Now the question
that we're asking is, how do I know that I have the Spirit?
Well, we'll answer that question in a moment. How do I know that
I have the Spirit so that I can prove that I am truly, actually
God's people? How do I know? Well, if you do
not have the Spirit, you are not His, no matter what we look
like or live like or act like or profess and also believe. We are not born of God if the
Spirit is not within us. But God puts His Spirit in us.
In verse 10, we see that, that God put His Spirit in us and
He dwells in us and that's how we know that we are indeed. What
is it that the Spirit of God does in us to keep us or to show
us that we are actually His? Well, there's a lot of things
we're going to learn as we close out this letter, but I'm going
to give you a preview of all of it tonight. One of the things
that we see is that God and foremost, God, the Holy Spirit, keeps us
in the faith. He keeps us in the faith. As
I taught yesterday to our homeschool group of some 20 kids, I shared
with them the struggles that we have often in life. And as
this season of their life is the greatest season of margin,
it's the most freedom they'll ever have. And so this is the
moment where they seem to be most discouraged as a young person,
but I promise them more discouraging days are ahead. You might think,
well, that's very unencouraging to teach them that, but it is
the truth. But in the context of God's economy of grace, we
know something that's amazing in this situation. We know that
God the Holy Spirit will cause us to continue to confess Christ
as our only hope. It will not be when we're weak,
we say we're lost, though we may think it, almost immediately,
when the Spirit of God works, the Word of God will come to
mind and we will be reminded that even in our weakness, He
is strong. We'll be reminded that when we are faithless, He
remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself. We'll be reminded
in just a few verses that when we cannot pray, God the Holy
Spirit will pray for us. We will be consoled. We will
be kept. The Holy Spirit continues to
cause us to walk in a place of faith so that we might believe
We might always hold fast to the finished work of Christ.
This is the very thing that's evidenced in Matthew chapter
7 where Jesus talks about if we have fruit, that we will be
known by our fruit. He's talking to the Pharisees
who just got out of their mouth that he was working under the
power of Satan. And then Jesus gives them this
teaching that by the words you will be condemned. By your words
you would be justified. What is your words? We are the
body of Christ and we are born of God. We have the Holy Spirit
and by the Holy Spirit we know and confess that Jesus Christ
is our righteousness. And there's nothing that can
shake it. No matter how rocky it was before we came in here
tonight. No matter how rocky it is for the rest of us who
didn't make it in here tonight. No matter how frustrating it
may be in the morning when we wake up and our faith is in shambles
or our life is struggling or our finances are nowhere to be
found and we're digging in the couch to buy potatoes. Our hope
is in the finished work of Christ. The Holy Spirit keeps us there. The Holy Spirit seals us. This
is the evidence of salvation. But even then, how do you know?
What happens when we can't feel God, when we can't see God, when
we can't experience God as the world would like to say? Paul
will explain that in a moment. God's Spirit is within us. So
that means that we have the power of God working in us to keep
us in the faith. We may see and hold fast to Christ
as He has revealed Himself, and there is no other way that we
are right with God. Condemnation is not ours to claim,
but rather God has satisfied His own wrath through Jesus Christ
His Son. The Spirit of God does four things,
and I expressed this earlier. I'm going to share it with us
now and go through each of them. In this chapter, or in this teaching
of the Holy Spirit in Romans, Paul says that the Holy Spirit
illuminates, the Holy Spirit sanctifies, the Holy Spirit supplicates,
and the Holy Spirit gives peace, or consoles. First, illumination. See, the man who is in his natural
state of unregenerate lostness cannot see spiritual things.
The Scripture says that the natural man is hostile to God. It cannot
submit to God's law. It does not want to submit to
God's law. It does not want to believe.
It cannot believe. So God, through the work of the
Spirit, causes His people to believe as He sees fit. when he sees fit. So without
the work of God the Holy Spirit to illuminate us, we do not have
faith. We cannot see God. We do not
have the privilege or the ability to actually believe. So the Holy
Spirit, Paul says, gives us life in that the Spirit of God shows
us truth. Regeneration precedes faith. Faith is a gift that comes. from
God through regeneration. It's when the mind has been made
right and been made new and the soul is new and the soul is alive
even though the body is dead because of sin. We'll see that
in a moment. But the natural man now can see things because
he is no longer dead in his natural state. He's been made alive by
the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit illuminates
through the giving of life, the new birth, regeneration, and
the man is made new, though his flesh still fights the Spirit.
Though His flesh still wars against the Spirit. The Spirit wins. The Spirit has won. And the Spirit
indwells our minds to keep us in the faith. The second thing
that I said is sanctification. And I use that word on purpose
because it is a trigger word for a lot of people. But the
Spirit sanctifies us. The natural man can do no sort
of obedience, effectually setting himself apart for God. No, God
the Father must give us to the Son. The Spirit must apply life
to our dead souls, etc. So the setting apart or the sanctifying
or being made holy is done by the Holy Spirit. How? Through the finished work of
Jesus Christ. We are set apart because Christ is our righteousness. Christ is set apart. Christ is
holy. Therefore we who are in Him are
alive because He lives within us. In contrast, Paul says, who
shall rescue me from my body of death as a believer? Oh, this
body of death that so befalls me and fights against the Spirit
of God within me? It is Christ. How does Paul know
that? By the Spirit of God that illuminates
and by the Spirit of God that has set him apart forever for
God. We are set apart by the Holy
Spirit. Supplication. What does that
mean? That means that God actually prays for us when we cannot pray.
You ever thought about that? It even says it there in verse
26. We're not there, but we can read
it for the weeks to come. But it says, likewise, the Spirit
helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with
groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows
what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes
for the saints according to the will of God." According to the
will of God. And we know that for those who
love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to His purpose. So here, the Holy Spirit does
not work on behalf of the lost. The Holy Spirit does not pray
for the unregenerate, but the Holy Spirit prays on behalf of
the people of God, those who have been adopted. The natural
man can be so labored in temptation and suffering that he's unable
to see, but the flesh of the new man can even be in that way
that he is unable to pray. His fleshly struggles against
the Spirit can overcome Him, it seems at times. But, but God
the Holy Spirit is ever-present, and God the Holy Spirit is forever
praying for us. Though we may feel we have lost
our way sometimes with no path and no light, God the Holy Spirit
is actively praying for us. and He's praying for our minds,
and He's praying for us to have peace, and He's praying for us
to understand and to know the will of God, and moreover, He's
praying the will of God on our behalf, and the Spirit knows
the mind of God, for He is God, so when the Spirit prays, it
is always effectually yes. The answer is always yes. We
are very, very much prayed for when God the Holy Spirit prays.
What better way for us to have prayer for us than for God Himself
to pray for us? The last thing that the Spirit
does is He gives us peace. What is peace except that we
are now right with God through Jesus Christ? What is peace except
that now we who were enemies are now made friends? What else
is peace except that in this struggle, in this world, in this
life, that our minds will go to despair, that our bodies will
want to give in, that our hearts will want to run and hide, but
the Holy Spirit keeps us. And when we are in mid-stride
to walk away, God the Holy Spirit brings us back. When we feel
like there is no hope for tomorrow, God the Holy Spirit shows us
light. When we realize that there is nothing more that we can do,
all of a sudden we think that All hope is lost. God the Holy
Spirit gives us peace. We are consoled by the Spirit
of God. We are dealt with in such a gentle way, not to be
rebuked to guilt and fear, but the Holy Spirit, even in the
conviction of sin, does so as we are children. and draws us
forcefully and powerfully to the center of our hope, who is
Jesus Christ the righteous. This is the work of God, of the
Holy Spirit, and the life of His people. And there is much
more. There is much more that the Scripture shows us, but just
in the context of Romans 8, can you not see the power of God
at work? And that is the question that
people, as they read this, have. Paul, so new by the Holy Spirit's
power, and understanding that people would think this way,
that He even answers that question now in verse 10 and 11. How is the Spirit working so
wonderfully? I mean, how powerful is the Spirit? So what can the Spirit do? That
is why this coming May, we're going to host a conference on
the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. And we're going
to have some great men of God who can come and help us understand
the person of God, the Holy Spirit, the work of God, the Holy Spirit,
and how we are to relate to one another in our understanding
of the Holy Spirit, as well as teach those around us. Because
I know as Baptists, it's very easy for people to just forsake
the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as I started out this service
this evening. Friends, I want us to know more
about who He is, contextually, not culturally, from the Word
of God, not from the Word of my grandmother. I want us to
know God, the Holy Spirit, as He has revealed Himself, not
as history has revealed Him, but as He has revealed Himself
through the Son, through the Father, through the Word of God. So we are at peace. The lost
are not at peace, but we are at peace. The new man, though
we are at war, sometimes in our mind, God the Holy Spirit reminds
us we are at peace with God. The Spirit gives us this peace
and nothing can take us away from God. Nothing can separate
us from the love of God. Nothing, therefore, can destroy
our joy. Y'all listen to this. Nothing
can destroy our joy even at the time when it is inexpressible. Even when all of sadness is all
we can muster on the outside, there is a joy that is enveloped
around the heart of the gospel that is peace with God through
Jesus Christ. And the Spirit of God gives us
this. We are consoled by God our Father
through the work of God the Holy Spirit. His Spirit. His Spirit. Verse 10. but if Christ is in
you." Now, I want to stop right there. What have we been talking
about thus far? Paul has been talking about the
Spirit of God. God the Father puts His Spirit in you, indwelling
in you. Now, all of a sudden, we see
the words, but if Christ is in you. There's some doctrine there.
There's theology there about the Trinity. God the Holy Spirit. is God. And if God is in us,
then God the Holy Spirit is in us. And God the Holy Spirit is
in us. God is in us. Jesus is God. Christ is in us. But Christ is not the Holy Spirit.
You see. The Son is not the Father. The
Father is not the Son. The Spirit is neither. And vice
versa. They are distinct persons, but
they are all God. Only one God. He is God. And He indwells His people. It's
an amazing truth, beloved. Jesus says in John 17 and other
places in the Gospels, where as He leaves, He will send a
comforter. Now, God did not send the Holy
Spirit for the first time. It's just the reality of that
image. When Jesus left, His disciples
were in despair. What shall we do now? Look at
the persecution that you received. Look, you died and God made you
alive. And you're going to leave us?
We are fearful. You're going to leave us? We won't have power.
You're going to leave us? What are we doing? And we see
what happened in Thessalonica where they just sort of sat on
their hands and did nothing, waiting for the Lord to return.
And then someone came along and told them that He had returned,
and they just moped around and did nothing. But Jesus, is with
us because God is in us. Christ is in us. The Spirit is
in us. The Father is in us. And he says
there, the Spirit of God dwells in you and Christ is in you. Although your body is dead, the
body is dead because of sin. Because Christ is in you, the
Spirit is life because of righteousness. Now there's two things at play
here. The Spirit of life, the life-giving Spirit, God the Holy
Spirit that illuminates, as Jesus says in John 3, that blows where
it wishes and gives life, that resurrects and causes one to
be made alive. Christ is in us. How is Christ
in us? What's the effectual benefit
of Christ being in us? Christ's righteousness is imputed
to us. The Spirit of God has made us
alive. We then, by faith, believe that Christ's righteousness is
ours. So this is also a teaching of imputed righteousness. This
is not a personal righteousness. This is not James Tippens walking
obediently in his flesh. This is Jesus Christ walking
obediently in His flesh. And by faith, I believe that
His obedience is mine. That's what it is. That's what
the gospel teaches. So Christ is in us. His righteousness
is in us. There is therefore now no condemnation.
You see why I told you to keep that in mind as we continue to
read this. The body is different than the
soul. The soul being this forever consciousness,
we don't understand it, but Paul is saying the body is dead because
of sin, but the soul is alive because of the Spirit. The soul
is alive because of Christ. The body is dead, but the Spirit
is life. The body is sold into sin, but
the soul is made righteous. How? Because Christ is in us. It makes sense now, doesn't it?
When Paul says, it is not I who live, but Christ who lives within
me. What does he mean? Don't follow
me, except that I follow Christ. That's what Paul says. Christ
lives within me. I live this life by faith. And
the one who loved me and gave himself for me. So in this life,
we have hope. In the righteousness of Christ,
we are made alive. In the power of the Holy Spirit,
we are righteous. But we struggle, we labor, we
fight, we often feel, as I've said seven or eight times already,
despair. But when we do, we know by the
Spirit of God we are not rejected. We are not rejected. And though
our body fights, though our body dies, you see, our body is dying. My gray hair is getting greater
and greater and grayer and my body is hurting more and more
and more because the wages of sin is death and my flesh is
not rescued from the wage of its sin. Neither is the tree
outside who has never sinned. Paul talks about that in Romans
8 in the verses to come. That even creation is moaning
as if a woman in labor waiting for that moment when the labor
is over and the child is birthed. and all the pain subsides, we
will then be made alive one day also in our flesh, though we
are now alive in Christ Jesus by the Spirit today in our soul.
One who is dead in himself, listen to this, there is no such thing
as personal holiness, personal righteousness, because one who
is dead in himself cannot be counted alive because of himself.
One who is dead in himself cannot come and work with God to effect
righteousness with God in himself. Let's be honest. I don't want
you to raise your hands. I don't want you to tell me. Have we not sinned today? Have
we not felt frustration today? Have we not just sort of had
apathetic attitude towards something today? Have we not been angry
today? Have we not failed to read our Bible today? Have we
not failed to share the gospel today? Have we not sinned today? Yes, we have. So we're not righteous
in our flesh, but we're righteous because Christ is in us. Christ's
righteousness is ours. And we are alive. If man is dead
because of sin, then the righteousness that would cause him to live
cannot be from within his flesh. It cannot be within our person.
It cannot be from within our being. So what is the power of
God to affect this righteousness? How is it that God can keep us
in the righteousness of Christ? Well, there's a lot that's already
been answered in that, in this teaching already. But in verse
11, we see, "...if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you." What's that teach us? You want to see
the power of God the Holy Spirit? God the Holy Spirit, who, listen
to this, Jesus, who knew no sin in His humanity, of course in
His divinity, of course not, in His person, has never sinned,
never did sin, never could sin. He knew no sin, yet He suffered
death. Why? As a substitute for us. And God raised Him from the dead.
So God raised Jesus Christ from the dead because Jesus in His
flesh is righteous. This is part of the promised
hope of the believer. Though our flesh dies, our spirit
lives. We are given over to death, as
Paul would say in 2 Corinthians 4, like lambs led to the slaughter,
yet though we die in the body, we are alive in the spirit. Though
we are dead now because of our flesh, and in the flesh is dead,
It has been crucified with Christ because God crucified flesh and
dealt with sin in the flesh when He crucified Jesus in the flesh
who had no sin. So Jesus is a worthy substitute.
And then in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead by the
Holy Spirit, by the power of God Himself that dwells within
us, we have been given the promise that because Christ is our righteousness,
we too then will be made right in our flesh one day in glorification. That's why Paul closes this entire
chapter with the past tense of glorified. Don't believe me? He says there. Those whom he
called, he also justified. Those whom he justified, he also
glorified. He asks the question, what shall
we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up
for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all
things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God
who justifies. Then who is left to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised? Who is at the right hand of God?
Who is interceding for us? Who, what, who shall separate
us from the love of God? Nothing. Knowing all these things,
we are more than conquerors. through Him who loved us, for
I am sure that nothing shall separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus." The power of God will keep us in
the faith. The power of God has granted
us righteousness. The power of God has imputed
righteousness to us. The power of God that raised
Christ from the dead dwells in you, and He who raised Christ
from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
His Spirit, who dwells in you." And this is where we end tonight.
Who dwells in you. And in this dwelling, what do
we see? We see hope. We see the mercy
of God. We see life. And we see a resurrection one
day where our redeemed soul is placed with a redeemed body. Now I have some friends who love
to argue a preteristic approach to the resurrection that leaves
every saint in a spirit form. And I don't know how to handle
it except to take a whiteout and blot out every aspect of
resurrection power of the Holy Spirit in Paul's teaching. I
really don't see it. As a matter of fact, part of
my daily hope is bound up in the reality of the promise of
God to not leave me the way I am, but to grow me, or excuse me,
to glorify me in His presence as Christ is today. To put me right fully. To put me right fully. And I
pray, church, that you would see this. I pray that you would
understand that this gospel is not something that we can just
ignore. We can't play games with works and pretend like it's okay
if somebody just says, oh, it's alright, you know, we'll believe
our way and you believe your way. Friends, if we erase the
work of the cross of Christ as fully and only sufficient for
us, we have erased the gospel of grace completely. And if we've
erased the gospel of grace, there is no mercy. And if there is
no mercy, there is no life. And if there's no life, there's
no Spirit. And if there's no Spirit, there's no hope. If there's
no hope, there's no love. If there's no love, there's no
guarantee. And the list goes on and on.
But we have been guaranteed, and we will stay in Christ because
of God the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Let's pray. Father,
I pray, Lord, that You would help us understand what we're
learning tonight. Lord, I seem like I just was
so redundant and went over the same thing over and over again.
But I thank You, Father, that Your Spirit teaches us, and it's
not about me being the best teacher. Because, Lord, in my passion,
sometimes I just get wound up in this particular section of
text because I want us all to see it and to be at peace in
our hearts as we are at peace judicially and spiritually before
You. I want us to rest in this. And so, Lord, I pray that as
we continue here, as we leave tonight, and as we continue to
learn, Lord, that we would understand Just what a mighty Savior you
are. What a mighty and glorious and
wonderful Father you are. What we have can never be taken
away. What we have been given will
never cease. And we rejoice in that, in Jesus'
name. Thank you for listening. We hope
that this message has encouraged you in the faith. Subscribe to
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