Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program. I'm glad you could join us. Now today I'm concluding
a series of messages that I've been preaching on this subject,
walking after the spirit, talking about the Holy Spirit. And this
is part four, this is the conclusion. I've had three messages before
this. And so if you haven't heard those
three messages, go to our website or go to a sermon audio and look
for them on our webpage or order them. And you can listen to the
whole series concerning walking after the spirit. I'm gonna look
at Romans chapter eight I told you that if you've heard the
prior messages, I started in Galatians 5, where the Apostle
Paul wrote, walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the
lust of the flesh. And then I'm in Romans 8 here,
because those are two passages, Galatians 5 and Romans 8, that
really describe what it is to walk after the Spirit. And in
Romans 8, one of the things that is important for you to understand
He's making a distinction here. He talks about, I read this last
week, Romans 8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. If you're in Christ, there's
no condemnation. And to be in Christ means many
things. For example, to be in him is
to be in him as our representative. To be in Him is to be in Him
as our surety, our substitute, our redeemer, our intercessor,
our preserver, all of these things. To be in Him is to be in Him
by faith, God-given faith. And that's what causes a believer,
a sinner saved by grace, to walk after the Spirit. So he says
in Romans 8, one, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. I've really tried to deal in
detail about what it is to walk after the flesh and what it is
to walk after the Spirit. But one of the things that you
need to understand about this passage is that the apostle is
not describing here a believer who sometimes does what he or
she should do, and other times does things that are bad. We know that there are passages
of scripture and examples in the Bible of believers, true
believers, who have done some bad things. We're all sinners. There's only two types of people
on this earth. There's sinners saved by grace and sinners who
are still in their sins, in unbelief. We know that there are believers
that sometimes they fall into particular habits, sinfulness,
as we say, but we're always sinners. There's not a moment in the life
of even a believer that I can say, now I've reached the perfection
of righteousness in anything that I think, say, or do, because
the perfection of righteousness can only be found in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere else. I can say, for
example, because of God's grace and power in my life, and because
of the spirit within me, and because of spiritual life he
has given me, I do love God and love my neighbor, but I don't
do it perfectly yet. See, I'll always fall short.
My love will never equal Christ's love while I'm in this life.
My obedience will never equal his, it always falls short. So
the perfection of righteousness can only be found in Christ.
Now I am righteous in God's sight, based upon Christ's righteousness,
imputed, charged, accounted to me, the merits of his obedience
unto death. That's the righteousness of God
revealed in the gospel. And therefore I cannot be condemned.
But when Paul talks about here, verse five again, for they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. They that
are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. He's talking about
the difference between a believer and an unbeliever here. Those
who mind the things of the spirit are after the flesh, or those
who mind are after the flesh do minding the things, that's
an unbeliever. Now it could be an immoral unbeliever
in the eyes of men or a religious unbeliever, but it's an unbeliever. And they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit, he's talking about a believer there,
a sinner saved by grace. He says in verse six, to be carnally
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. A believer,
a sinner saved by grace, cannot be condemned because there's
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
They cannot be condemned, Romans 8, 33, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect. It's God that justified. Verse
34, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. So if you're a true believer,
you cannot be condemned because you have a, God cannot charge
the merit of your sins to you. He charged him to Christ, and
he's a just God. He's charged you with righteousness
if you're a true believer. Now, some people get confused
in other areas, and they try to get, well, what if, what if,
and what if. Listen, if you're a true believer, you're a sinner
saved by grace eternally, and if somehow, if you fall into
any particular sin or whatever in the eyes of men, again, we're
always sinners. but you're to be called back
by the cords of grace. Recovered, the scripture says.
Paul deals with that in several passages. Another passage is
from other writers that God used. To recover, not to condemn. But if you claim to be a believer
and then totally fall away from the faith, what does the Bible
say? It says you never did believe it. You never were a true believer. You were just a false professor.
And so, I'm not gonna go into all that now. But here, when
he says in verse six of Romans eight, to be carnally minded,
the minding of the flesh is death, he's talking about an unbeliever.
An unbeliever is one who has no evidence of life, spiritual
life. Spiritual eyes, spiritual ears,
a new heart, the presence of the spirit. But to be spiritually
minded is life and peace because the carnal mind, verse seven,
is enmity, that is an enemy against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. And I always use this
example. You take a person who doesn't
know Christ, who is not a true believer, who doesn't believe
salvation by grace, but who's doing their dead level best to
try to keep the law in order to be saved. That's a person
who is an enemy of God. Now understand that. They're
enemies because God, the only ones who are friends of God are
those who are in Christ. This is my beloved son, he said,
in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. Without Christ, you're an enemy
of God. The Bible says in Colossians
chapter one that enemies in our minds by wicked works, and that
can be religious works. So understand that. So he says,
to be subject to the law of God is to be submitted to Christ
as the only perfection of the law. My only perfection. To be submitted to Christ. Remember
Paul wrote that in Romans 10, when he talked about Israel,
who are religious and sincere and dedicated, but they were
ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, and have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. And verse four says, for Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And
so then, they can't be, as long as you're seeking salvation,
any of its benefits and blessings, by your works, you cannot be
subject to the law of God. You're denying the law of God.
because God doesn't benefit and bless his people that way. We're
benefited and blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. So he says in verse eight, so
then they that are in the flesh, unbelief, cannot please God. Bible says in Hebrews 11 verse
six, without faith it's impossible to please God. What is, what
do you mean without faith? Without looking to and resting
in Christ. As our only righteousness before
God, you cannot please God. But look at verse nine. Now this
is proof of what I'm telling you. He's talking about unbelievers
and believers here, not a believer who does bad things sometimes.
He says, but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If
so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now does the Spirit
of God dwell in me? And that's an evidence, that
if there's an evidential if. You're not in the flesh if the
Spirit of God dwells in you. Verse nine, now if any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of
Christ. He leads sinners to Christ. He
causes sinners to rest in Christ for righteousness, for forgiveness,
for spiritual life and eternal glory. He's the Spirit of Christ. And if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. In other words, you don't belong
to Him. And verse 10, and if Christ be in you, now how do
I know if Christ is in me? Well, Christ indwells His people
by His Spirit and by His Word. You understand that? If I have
the Spirit of Christ, I will look to and believe and rest
in the word of Christ, beginning with the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace based upon the righteousness of God, which
is the merits of Christ's obedience unto death as my surety, my substitute,
and my redeemer. He who died and was buried and
rose again the third day because of my justification, forgiven
of all my sins by his blood. He to whom my sins were imputed,
charged, accounted. I stand in Him having His righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. And so he says in verse 10,
if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, this
physical body. Believers still get sick, they
still die. I know the health and wealth
and prosperity gospel guys, they kind of ignore that part of the
reality. They tell you, well, if you're
sick, it's because of some sin in your life. Well, all sickness
is the consequences of sin. Whether there's some particular
sin in your life that's causing this or not, that's not the way
we're to look at it. You see, if you really, the reality
is, what they were telling you is true. You should never get
sick and you should never, or they, at least they shouldn't,
if they have enough faith or whatever. But that's not what
this, this physical body. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15
that this corruptible has to put on incorruption. This body
has to die. It's part of the old creation.
We fell an atom. And the consequences of sin is
death. But physical death is the only death that a believer,
a sinner saved by grace, has to suffer. will be changed in
the twinkling of an eye. The second death is what we want
to avoid. That's eternal death, eternal
damnation. And that's what he's talking
about. If Christ be in you, verse 10, the body is dead because
of sin, but the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is life. Why? Because I'm such a good guy?
Or because I made a decision when I was 12 and walked an aisle
and got baptized? No, the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. You see, life is the product,
the fruit of righteousness, not the other way around. You see,
Christ's righteousness, where am I gonna find righteousness?
Not in myself. Not by my works, not in the preacher,
not in the baptistry, being dunked in water, no. The only way I'm
gonna find righteousness is by looking to Christ, who is my
righteousness. And that's where the spirit comes
from in giving life to dead sinners. So verse 11, but 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, give life,
your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Now this
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of God, who
was instrumental in raising Jesus from the dead in His resurrection,
if that same Spirit dwells in me, then he's going to raise
me up in the last day, quicken my mortal body. In other words,
this body that died, he's gonna give me a new body, a new body
without sin, in which I will inhabit the new heavens and the
new earth and be with Christ forever and ever, without sin,
without sorrow. I often have people ask me, what
is that new body going to be like? And my pat answer is pretty
much I said, well, we know very little about that. What we do
know is we could probably look at Christ after the resurrection
and how he was. He was spirit, had a spiritual
body. I don't really know exactly what all that means. And then
the only scriptural revelation that we have on things like that
is in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I've written a book on what is
salvation in which I divided salvation into four realms. The
first realm is the eternal realm. God is an eternal God. He's immutable,
unchangeable. And He chose His people before
the foundation of the world and gave them to Christ. And then
the legal realm, that's our justification before God. Our sins being put
away by His blood, His righteousness imputed to us. And then the spiritual
realm, that's our new birth. We who have been chosen by God,
we who are justified in His sight through the blood and righteousness
of Christ, we for whom Christ died, we will be born again by
the Spirit and walk after the Spirit. And then the fourth realm
is the glorified realm. In that sense, as we have our
sojourn here on earth at some point in time, Christ is coming
again and He's going to glorify His people. And most of that
chapter on the glorified realm is taken up with 1 Corinthians
15. But here's what we know, and
we have to stick with what the scripture reveals, that if the
spirit of Christ dwells within us as evidenced by walking after
the spirit, looking to Christ, resting in Christ, following
him in his word, fighting the warfare of the flesh and the
spirit. That's a big part of it. Knowing that I'm not condemned
because of what he accomplished, then he will quicken my mortal
body by his spirit that dwell within me. Verse 12 of chapter
eight. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors
not to the flesh to live after the flesh. We don't owe anything
to the flesh. The flesh is our sin. Somebody
says, well, if I believe what you believe, salvation totally
by grace, not conditioned on me, but conditioned only on Christ,
then I'll just go out and sin as much as I want to. Well, go
ahead, but that's not what the scripture teaches. That's not
what you're commanded to do. That's not what it is to walk
after the spirit. You see, the grace of God is
not just a doctrine, I believe, it's a power within me by the
Spirit of God that inspires me and motivates me to live and
walk in and walk after the Spirit, to read and study and live by
the Word of God. to try to be the best I can be. Not because I'm trying to be
righteous in God's sight in order to attain or maintain salvation,
but because I already am righteous in Christ because of what God
has given me. It's motivated by grace. It's
motivated by love. It's motivated by gratitude.
The Bible teaches me that walking after the Spirit is warring after
the flesh. Go back to Galatians chapter
five. Again, verse 17, here's walking after the Spirit. Now
the flesh, verse 17, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit. The
Spirit against the flesh. Now those who say, well, I'll
just sin as much as I want to, is that the Spirit of God motivating
you to do that? Is that the Spirit of God living
in you and just saying, well, let's just give up and go? No,
that just means you're of the carnal mind, enmity against God. No, sir. The Spirit of God. The
Spirit is a person. The Spirit of God is powerful.
He's a power. He's an influence. But He's more
than that. He's a person. And if we walk after the Spirit,
it says, these are contrary the one to the other so that you
cannot do the things that you would. Whatever the flesh inspires
you to do, you can't do it to its fullest, which would be ultimately
to go away from Christ, to forsake Him totally and live under yourself. But if the Spirit of God dwells
in you, you can't do that. Now, on the same token, the flesh
keeps us from going the full perfection of righteousness in
our love and in our obedience and all of that. It still contaminates
everything I do. It still influences. I have to
fight it. It's a war. So if the Spirit of God is dwelling
within me, I'm warring against the flesh, but I still, listen,
if the Spirit of God dwells in me, I still have found and am
resting in the perfection of righteousness, which is in Christ,
and it's mine, because God gave it to me. Righteousness, we're
cloaked in His righteousness. So he says, we're not condemned,
not condemned. Go back to Romans eight. We're
not debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh. Verse 13, for
if you live after the flesh, you shall die. If you live unto
yourself, not unto the glory of God, if you live thinking
that you can make yourself good enough, righteous enough to be
saved, you'll die. But if you through the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall
live. Now, how do we mortify the deeds of the body? To mortify
something is to put it to death. How do we put to death the deeds
of the body? It's in God-given faith and repentance. Because here's what I'm telling
you, the deeds of my body, they are dead works, but I cannot
be condemned because Christ put them to death on the cross. That's mortifying the deeds of
the body. I look to Christ's deeds alone, His work alone,
His obedience unto death alone, His merits alone, His righteousness
alone, to save me, to keep me saved, and to bring me to glory. The deeds of my body have no
place and no place in that ground of salvation. That's totally
Christ. And if God, listen to me, I say
this all the time, if God were to judge me based upon my best
deeds as to salvation, attaining or maintaining salvation, I'd
be condemned. But I'm not condemned. You see
that? I'm not condemned. And why? Because Christ put my sin to
death. He made an end of sin. He finished
the transgression. He satisfied justice. He paid
my debt in full. My sins were nailed to the cross
with Christ. And that includes the sinfulness
of my best deeds. And once we believe that and
realize that and look to Christ and repent of our dead works,
that's what it means to mortify the deeds of the body. That's
a gift from God. And he says, if you do that,
not conditioned now, but evidenced, if that's what you've done, you
evidence that you shall live. You have the spirit of life.
Look at verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God.
Now remember, we're talking about walking after the Spirit, walking
in the Spirit, led by the Spirit. They are the sons of God. Those
who are led by the Spirit, those who are walking after the Spirit,
those who are walking in the Spirit. What does that mean?
Those who are looking to Christ. Their faith is in Him. It's God-given
faith in Christ. They've repented of the dead
works, mortifying the deeds of the body, resting in Christ because
of his blood and righteousness. That's a child of God. That's
a child of God. He's still a sinner. And sometimes
he may not act like a child of God. Read the Bible. Look at some of the choices of
saints. You might say it that way in
our eyes. because we're all equal in God's eyes. But think about
it. When David committed adultery
with Bathsheba and connived to have her husband killed, was
he acting like a child of God? No, he was not. He was acting
according to the flesh in that sense. But let me tell you something. We know by God's testimony that
David always was a child of God. and he had to be recovered. And
God sent a prophet, Nathan, to recover him. And that's what
happened. And David was brought to godly
sorrow over his sin. And you can read about that in
Psalm 51. We could go on and on. We could use our own selves
as an example. But you're a child of God if
you're led by the Spirit. Verse 15, for you have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear. Now what is bondage? That's
legalism. The bondage there is the thinking
that pervades the natural mind, thinking that I can only be saved
if I do something for God. If I do this, do that. If I stop doing this, stop doing
that. If I meet some condition or if I make the right decision,
that's bondage, and he says, For you have not received that
Spirit. We're born with that Spirit.
But you have received the Spirit of adoption. Adoption. Adopted into the family of God
by His grace. This is the adoption of grace.
And it's a legal adoption first because it's based upon the blood
of Christ. All legal obstacles have to be
removed. Our sins have to be paid for.
Justice has to be satisfied. and it's a spiritual adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Verse 16, the Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And that's what it is to walk
after and mind the things of the Spirit. That's what it is
to be led by the Spirit. That's what it is to walk in
the Spirit, is the Spirit of God. dwelling in you, teaching
you, guiding you, driving you to Christ. Hope you'll join us
next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.