Sermon Notes 5-10-2015

The Road to Romans!

Our behavior has to match our staus

Romans 8:12–17 (ESV)

¹²So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

¹³For 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.

¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

¹⁵For 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!”

¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Now we talk about the Sanctification Process!

For 8 ½ chapters we have talked about the Justification process (being saved by grace through faith in Jesus), and now we get into the Sanctification process (to live like Jesus)!

This is the hard part of the walk, where we have to dig in and work with the spirit to become more and more like Jesus!

Our obligation to Jesus Starts!

Romans 8:12–13a (ESV)

¹²So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

¹³For if you live according to the flesh you will die,

We owe the flesh nothing

·      We are not indebt to it

·      We don’t have to live according to the world, according to Sin

·      The flesh (sin) never did you much good, so why would you be obligated to it!

·      The flesh only brings death, destruction, and pain

·      Being delivered from so great a death by so great a ransom, we are deeply indebted to our deliverer not sin.

·      It is the pleasing of self, the fall to Sin that brings havoc to your life

·      Think about your last real heart ache

o   Did you act like Christ?

o   Or were you be self serving?

By Gods Spirit living in us, that’s how you but this all behind you

13b , but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

·      We allow God free reign in our lives.

·      When we live in such a way, we are doing more than following God—we are simultaneously putting to death the deeds of the flesh.

·      Instead of living in the behaviors that lead to death, we put those deeds to death so that we have life.

·      Only God’s indwelling Spirit enables us to live this way; without His presence, we’d end up being enslaved to sin once again.

·      But the spirit cant do it alone

o   We have to do our part

o   We have to put in some effort

o   So your choice please the Spirit

o   Or destroy your soul

§  Live in the drama of life

§  And never find true joy!

When your led by the Spirit, your are a true Child of God!

Romans 8:14 (ESV)

¹⁴For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

We have to be led!

·      Not bullied

·      Not made to

·      Not tricked

·      We must be led

·      And we must follow!

Soldiers are led in to battle

·      Horses are led to water

·      And you have to be led

·      And you have to be willing to follow

Matthew Henry

“It is the undoubted character of all true believers that they are led by the Spirit of God. Having submitted themselves in believing to his guidance, they do in their obedience follow that guidance, and are sweetly led into all truth and all duty.”

When you are truly led by the Spirit your are then a true child of God

·      This is where the hard part comes in

·      We have to be willing be led

·      We have to be willing to die to this world

·      We have to be willing to allow Gods Holy Spirit Guide us in everything we do!

There is no more fear!

Romans 8:15 (ESV)

¹⁵For 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!”

·      There is no more fear of not being able to do it

·      There is no more fear of being slave to the law

·      The law held us captive, but Jesus sets you free

·      We don’t fear God anymore

·      What great news!

·      THERE IS NO MORE WRATH, NO MORE FEAR FOR THE CHILDREN OF GOD

And you received the Spirit of Adoption!

·      The Spirit of adoption works in the children of God

·      And you will have a devoted love to God as a Father, a delight in him, and a dependence upon him, as a Father.

·      A sanctified soul bears the image of God

Instead of being a slave to something, we can be adopted children of God

·      Something we have a legal right to your soul

·      Sin and death will make you a slave to the God of you

·      The Spirit will set you free

·      And you will be adopted

And when you let the spirit set you free, we cry, “Abba! Father!!

·      Wow how beautiful is that

·      Praying here is called crying

·      Like a baby cries out because it cant speak

·      That means we pray wit hall our heart

·      We pray with all our emotions

·      We pray to our Father

·      We cry out in Joy, sadness, pain, gladness, anger, and happiness

Jesus said to pray to our Father

·      Abba, Father means dad of all dads

·      Abba! Father! Means

o   My Dad id the dad of all dads

o   My Dad is the creator of Heaven and earth

o   My Dad hears everything I say

o   My Dad only wants what’s best for me

o   My Dad hurts when I hurt, laugh when I laugh

o   My Dad always forgives me

o   My Day is God Almighty!

So why is understanding this flesh and Spirit thing so important anyway

Romans 8:16–17 (ESV)

¹⁶The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

¹⁷and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Gods Spirit bears Witness that our Spirit is right and we are His children!

·      This is the corner piece to the puzzle of the sanctification process

·      If we don’t understand we have to be led

·      To follow

·      To trust God and his word

·      We will look at the laws and the bible as something we have to do

·      We will look at it as work

·      We will want to insert our wants and our desires in it

·      If we don’t understand we have an obligation to

o   Listen to Gods Spirit

o   To learn what Gods word says

o   To live in Gods family

o   To be held accountable by Gods people

o   To change one sin at a time

o   Everything else in this book of Romans will just be a long list of rules to grudgingly follow

We are heirs to a kingdom, Just like Jesus!

·      We live in a world that is not our home

·      Our prize waiting for us when we get home

·      And that is the prize we have to keep our eye on

·      We cant forget it

And while we are waiting for that day we have to know we will suffer some

·      When life gets hard, know that life was hard for your savior

·      When it seems like you are all alone, know your big brother felt that way too

·      When you want to give in to temptation, your big brother felt that too

·      When we expect to suffer, when we expect bad days, when we expect set backs we are better prepared for them

We can suffer well

·      When we are humble in spirit

·      When we seek Gods people

·      When we lay it at the cross

·      When we CRY out ABBA FATHER, he will be listening

·      Because His Spirit will be connected to your spirit!