Law & Grace - Romans 8:9-17 Christ in you

Good morning. As we go through this passage, I think you might find it interesting. I may be teaching some things you haven't heard before. Oh, yeah. Anyway, we'll see as we go along here. The first part here in Romans 8, 9 through 17, we want to kind of go over some general ideas that relate to the passage and then go into the passage verse by verse.

One thing is that this passage teaches God the Father, God the Son, Jesus or Christ, as he is called, and the Holy Spirit. Those three persons of the Trinity are referred to in this passage. And they are, in some cases, like the Spirit, given several times. In Matthew 28, 19, Jesus spoke of baptizing them in the singular name, and then he says, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

This is consistent with the teaching of what's called the Trinity. The Trinity is a word not used anywhere in the Bible. However, the teaching of the Trinity, that God is three personal beings, one essence, is taught throughout the Bible, from the very first chapters until the very last ones. All three persons of the Trinity are involved with all of us.

We'll see that more as we go through this chapter. We have representation of it graphically here on your handout and on the slide above here. We have the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit who are not just different expressions of the same being, but three different persons, but all are God. And that's enumerated, the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, and this table given to the right there on your handout as well.

Now something else we need to point out is in this passage there are eight places where the word if occurs and there are some things for us to keep in mind if we're going to read this. All eight of these ifs are of a form in the Greek that they are assumed to be true for the sake of following Paul's logic. While it is not always the case universally, the ifs here in this passage shouldn't be thought of as just possibilities but rather certainties. They are given that way as an if and not a since. An if in order to think it through with the Apostle Paul. It's an invitation for you to think through what he is laying out there. And one of the other things that we present is this is a graphical representation of a human being.

There is a physical part of the human being, and there is a spiritual part of the human being. The brain, we say about our physical being, the brain is a part of the body. And in the same way, the soul is a part of the spirit. So that's an important distinction for us to keep in mind. You have a little more detail to that. We have on both the physical side and the spiritual side a mind, emotions, and a will. So an important distinction. To that we're going to add this detail. The believer's soul and spirit are God's dwelling place. And we're going to see more detail on that. in this passage here.

And one of the points that we put on here from previous chapters where we've studied is the sin nature is a spiritual entity attached to the body. It is on the spiritual side, but it is connected to the physical realm. So this is the whole of what you have there on page one of your handout.

The word flesh here throughout this passage is used in several ways in the Bible, but in a specific way in this passage. In this context, this word flesh is used rather than the term the sin nature as we've been seeing in previous chapters. What is the flesh? The flesh in this passage refers to the sin nature as it is acting through this body. The sin nature as it is acting through the body is the flesh.

Finally, Paul elaborates on and lists some of the deeds or works of the flesh in Galatians 5.16-21. We will be looking at portions of that as we examine things here this morning.

Now, Romans 8.9-17 reads like this, and we'll repeat this from what Courtney read for us, just kind of verse by verse so we stay in context.

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." Now I put this here on the slide, in flesh and in spirit, because in fact in the original language, the Greek, the definite article, the, is actually not there. So it's in flesh and in spirit.

The unbeliever who is in flesh is locked into being constantly, and by nature, in flesh. That expression of the sin nature in and through the human body. So what is he doing here? He's making a statement of the position of the unbeliever. They are locked into being in flesh. That sin nature operating through the body is the way it always works with the unbeliever. They have no choice except to believe. In which case, that's the only choice that they have. Everything otherwise is operating in flesh.

The believer, on the other hand, has the multiple ministries, and as they walk with the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit indwells believers always. Anyone who does not have the Spirit promised and sent by Christ is not Christ's, does not belong to Christ, as this passage puts it.

Now, here is something you may not have heard before. We teach often at Holly Hills that the believer is in Christ and Christ is in the believer. We will often teach that. However, what is less often brought forward is we are also in Spirit. This passage teaches that. We are in Spirit and the Spirit is in us. Our being in Christ and Christ being in us and our being in Spirit and the Spirit being in us, while those sound very similar, they have very different purposes. And we'll look at some of those purposes here this morning and in the weeks to come. In verse 10, if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. So the if here is Paul's invitation to think it through alongside him. It might be, it's not a possibility. It is certainly assumed to be true, but he wants you to think it through with him. If this, then that.

Though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. So this human body, however, is not going to make it. You can keep the various parts, work on them, exercise, and try to develop them as much as you can, and it's probably not a bad idea. But it's not going to make it. These things aren't going to get out of here alive.

That's just not the way it works. The spirit of the believer, however, is alive to God, we saw that in Romans chapter 6, and is alive because of the indwelling of Christ, who is our righteousness. Spiritually, we are alive, though these bodies are not going to make it. And neither is the sin nature that is connected to these bodies. It also is not going to make it. The sin nature is terminal, or the flesh as it's called.

This Christ is in you is a teaching not only from here but here's 2nd Corinthians 13 5 Jesus Christ is in you Paul wrote to the Corinthians in Galatians 2 20 I've been crucified with Christ is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me or in Colossians 1 27 Christ in you the hope of glory Christ is in us is a consistent teaching of the New Testament We have from this diagram here, this teaching, on the spiritual side of the believer, the believer is indwelt, soul and spirit, as God's dwelling place. Christ being one person of the Trinity, as taught in this passage, who indwells you, along with the spirit. There has been for some decades this song, The Lonesome Valley. It's been made a folk song into a country, western song, goes into a lot of gospel albums. You've got to walk that lonesome valley. You've got to walk it by yourself. Nobody else can walk it for you. You've got to walk it by yourself.

Let's check that out. Compare these words, Romans 8, 9, and 10. The Spirit of God dwells in you. Christ is in you. Galatians 5, 16, and 18. Walk by the Spirit. You are led by the Spirit. So, let's check out this lonesome valley. The lyrics. Is that right? Is that correct? It is not! It is horse feathers. It's nonsense. We do not have any lonesome valley to walk. Are you going to walk to that lonesome valley all by yourself if the Holy Spirit is indwelling you and Christ is indwelling you? Absolutely not! Absolutely not. So anyway, enough of that song. Okay, verse 11.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Now there are a lot of passages in the New Testament that say God raised Christ from the dead.

Quite a few, in fact. Dozens of them. There is one in Galatians, however, that says specifically that it was God the Father who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Very interesting. Galatians 1, 1 and 2. This is Paul's introduction to the book. Paul, an apostle, not sent from men or through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised him, Christ, from the dead.

So there's the explicit statement. God the Father is the one who raised Christ from the dead. Romans 6.4, Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father.

So here we have the Holy Spirit sent by and from God the Father. The one who raised Christ from the dead dwells in you. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. If you're a believer here today, the Holy Spirit dwells in you. And we can take it from the previous passage. Christ dwells in you. You have two persons, from this passage, you have two persons of the Trinity dwelling in you if you're a believer here this morning. You do not walk the lonesome valley. There is no lonesome valley to walk. Now, and that same Holy Spirit will give life to your mortal bodies, we who believe will be resurrected from the dead by Him.

By Him. So this body isn't going to make it. God's going to change it. We will all be changed. We will all be changed. The Father will tell Christ, our bridegroom, go get your bride. He is the one who establishes the time when Christ comes. I hope it's today. I hope the Lord comes before I'm done here. Go get your bride.

By a work of the Holy Spirit we will all be raised to new life. What that means is that day that that happens, and I hope it's today, will involve all three persons of the Trinity. The Father will establish the time, Christ will come for his church, and the Holy Spirit will do the resurrecting. All three persons of the Trinity will be involved in that day. Isn't that great?

In verses 12 and 13, which we're going to look at together here, So then, brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Now, the flesh, of course, can be very, very demanding. Have you noticed that?

But we have no obligation to the flesh, and we don't owe it anything. It would be kind of like if, you know, prior to coming to Holly Hills 11 years ago, I had various former bosses. It would be kind of like one of my former bosses walking in here and saying, Fern, we've got projects for you to work on. We've got all sorts of engineering for you to do. You've got to get busy. And I'd go, what?

This is the mode that we have with the flesh. The flesh can be very demanding, but it has no right to demand anything. You have no obligation to the flesh, no matter how loudly it screams, no matter how demanding it comes across. If we live by the flesh, we will be paid, Romans 6.23, the death wage, as the flesh is the sin nature acting in and through the body. If you want death, you're going to have to work for it. If you want eternal life, why, that's absolutely free. And there's no way even to pay it back. That death wage will be separation from God in our fellowship, that is our daily condition, but not our eternal position. We can walk out of fellowship with the Lord. That doesn't change our relationship to the Lord. Okay? Important distinction.

In our position in Christ, we have died in relationship to the sin nature, which when it acts through the body is called the flesh. In our position, we have died in relationship to that sin nature. By the nature and action of the Holy Spirit, the deeds of the flesh, the sin nature as it works through the body, remain separated from what we do in our daily condition. That we have been separated from the sin nature in our position as something accomplished by Christ on the cross when we died with Him.

That day-to-day separation from the sin nature and its actions is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. You see that? Christ did it in our position, the Holy Spirit does it in our condition. Important distinction. Because a lot of Christians will struggle with, well, man, I don't know. I struggle with sin and things that just grab me. It is Christ who did it in our position. We are completely separated in our position from the sin nature.

Day to day, that gets carried out as a work of the Holy Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit's job, and that's why we are in spirit, and that's why the Spirit is in us. It's the implementation of what Christ already accomplished on the cross. That's why we have the Holy Spirit in us. Death is separation from the sin nature, from the law, from the world, in our position. It gets carried out by the Holy Spirit in our daily condition. The Holy Spirit is the one who makes that reality moment by moment.

Romans 8.14 talks about being led by the Spirit. For we who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Galatians 5.18 has a similar statement but clarifies it. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Our being led by the Spirit comes from our eternal position. Because you're a believer who is in Christ, and Christ is in you, and because you're a believer who is in Spirit, and the Spirit is in you, the Spirit is the one who indwells us, and the Holy Spirit is always leading us in grace. The Holy Spirit does not lead us into law. The Holy Spirit does not lead us into trying to achieve righteousness by law. by law-keeping.

The Holy Spirit is leading us into the grace which we've been made to stand, that's from Romans 5, as the reigning principle, Romans 5.21. The Holy Spirit will always lead us graciously and not into law. Now we have this term, sons of God, so does that mean we're going to be all made spiritually male?

Not so much. The word sons here means an adult son, and we're going to see in a couple verses here that we're called children of God. But in the Bible, if it doesn't refer to a literal son, to be the son of whatever it is, is to be like in character and close in relationship. So to be the son of God, we believers are in our position like in character and close in relationship to God.

That's what that means. In Ephesians chapter 2, the first few verses there, it says that unbelievers are sons of disobedience. What does that mean? They are like in character to disobedience and close in relationship to. Son of means those two things throughout scripture.

Now, let's take a look at verse 15. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which we cry out, Abba, Father." Now this relates to this spirit in the spiritual side of the believer. The spirit of slavery, what is that?

Galatians 5.1 and Galatians is a book where Paul is dealing with, in great part throughout the early chapters of the book, is dealing with the idea that believers are somehow under law.

So Galatians 5.1 says this, it was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery. Keep standing firm in the grace in which you've been made to stand. And don't be subject to the yoke of slavery. What slavery? Slavery under the law. It's the law that enslaves.

The same word here is used in Romans 8.15, slavery.

By faith in Christ, when we put our trust in Christ, our spirits were made to be free from slavery to the sin nature, slavery to the law, slavery to the world, slavery even to the fear of death under the manipulations of the devil. We are free in all those ways. Our spirit has received a spirit of liberty from these things. We're not under the slavery of the sin nature, the law, the world, or the fear of death. We have received, however, in our spirit, a spirit of adoption of sons.

Our spiritual being, soul and spirit, is radically changed when we believe by God's doing. He did it. It's not that we got some effort. We believed He did all the radical changes. One of those radical changes is we receive a spirit in our spiritual being. We receive a spirit of adoption as sons.

Now what does that mean? It doesn't mean God went and adopted a little baby. That's not what adoption of sons means in the cultural context. He used this term, adoption of sons, only with those places that had a substantial Roman influence. And I think the letter to the Rome, yes, it has a substantial Roman influence, right? Okay. He used it here in the letter to Rome. He used it with the church at Galatia, where two of the five cities of Galatia were Roman colonies.

He used it with the church at Ephesus, Ephesians 1.5. Why did he do that? Because there was a Roman governor and 3,000 Roman soldiers stationed there.

He used this term, adoption of sons, in those places that had substantial Roman influence, including Rome itself. So, adoption of sons is one word in the Greek, literally it means son position. If there ever was a statement of our position, in fact, here's a word that means position, right? Our position in Christ, this is it.

By Roman law, the adopted son had a position better than and ahead of a natural-born son. You see, this adoption of sons was approved at the highest levels. The Roman Senate had to approve the adoption of sons. Not only that, they had seven witnesses to the So this had high-level approval. When the Apostle Paul wrote, we have the adoption of sons, people are going, wow! Because this was done for emperors. This was done in order that an emperor might have an heir, and this is the designated heir that I want. Approved at the highest levels. Phenomenal power and influence. Let's talk about what that means.

He was a full heir, irreversible, which also goes, by the way, to talk about, can our salvation be lost? Adoption of sons was an irreversible process. The adopted son was legally severed from any prior sonship. For example, if you were sons of disobedience, Ephesians 2, 1-3, you're separated from that. Nope. Your new sonship displaces that entirely.

Augustus Caesar, the one who was Caesar during the time of the birth of Christ and his early childhood, he was one who received the adoption of sons. Tiberius Caesar was another who received the adoption of sons, the one who was emperor immediately after Augustus Caesar and into the time of the Book of Acts. So those two emperors from before the birth of Christ into the time of the Book of Acts and the early time of the apostles, both of them were emperors by the adoption of sons. This was a new process originating in Roman law in order that an emperor would be assured of having an heir to the throne and one that he chose.

You may be familiar with the classic movie or even the book Ben-Hur. based on this novel by Lou Wallace. In that movie, Judah Ben-Hur, the Jewish slave, rescues Roman General Quintus Arius in a ship disaster. So in that you may be familiar with the famous scene there where they have the chariot races and all that. Well, the grateful Roman general Quintus Aureus later adopted Judah Ben-Hur as his son through this adoption of sons process. Judah Ben-Hur went from being a slave locked in chains and darkness in the galley of a ship to having unrivaled wealth, power, and influence at the head of Rome.

Here are the consequences of adoption under the Roman law. First, the adopted son lost all rights in his old family and gained more rights than a fully legitimate son in his new family. Secondly, he became an heir to his new father's estate even if other sons were born afterwards. The one who has adoption of sons is ahead of any natural born son. It takes priority. Thirdly, the old life of the adopted son was completely wiped out. If the adopted son had debts of great magnitude and number, those were all wiped out. No debts.

Did that happen to us? Yes. Our debt was paid by Christ. He said, from the cross. You know where it's translated, it is finished? It's an accounting term. It's all paid. If he had any criminal record, that was wiped out as well. All debts, all crimes, completely wiped out as he entered this new life as an adopted son. Fourthly, and finally, the adopted son was literally and absolutely the son of his new father.

Priority above all other positions. This is amazing stuff. When the people read we have the adoption of sons, I can imagine them going, whoa, wait a minute, let me soak that in. This is astounding. This is amazing privilege. This is amazing forgiveness. Galatians 4, 4-7 have some strong parallels to this passage we're looking at here.

When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth a son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Because you are his sons, God sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, an heir through God. Abba was an Aramaic word equivalent to Papa or even Daddy. We have a dear, intimate, and family relationship to God the Father. We run into the throne room, Papa! Daddy! That's our relationship to God the Father. The last couple of verses, 16 and 17, read like this.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. Now recall the ifs here are not possibilities, not a it might happen, but invitations for us to think through along with Paul's thinking. Also remember that what he's talking about is addressing here the spiritual side of the believer and the believer's soul and spirit. The Holy Spirit, who indwells all of us who believe, carries on multiple ministries in our lives and in our spirits. We have a spirit, okay? And so this is one of those ministries of the Holy Spirit to testify with our spirit.

That we are children, and in fact this means born ones. Born ones. There are different words translated children. We are born ones of God. And guess what? We are in fact born again. Right? We are spiritually born into God's family. That's why we can go and run into God's throne room and say, Papa, Daddy, we are born ones into God's family. The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are those born once. Being a child of God and a son of God has nearly identical meanings in this respect.

Believers are like in character and close in relationship to God. Close enough to run into the throne room and say, Papa, Daddy. That close. The if here is an invitation for us to think alongside the Apostle Paul. Being children who are born ones, born into the family, we have an inheritance from God and are fellow heirs with Christ. Now soak this up. Imagine we are adult sons of God.

That's what we've seen before. And we get the advantages of adoption of sons, plus all the advantages of a child who is a born one. So we get all of them. That's pretty cool. No, that's really cool. Right? Astounding and most awesome privilege. This is amazing. What Paul has done here is say, look, here's all the possible positions of advantage and you get all of them. That is astounding. That is amazing.

Hebrews 1, 1, and 2 reads like this, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things. Now put this together. Christ is heir of all things. And what's your position with Him? A fellow heir. A fellow heir of the one who is heir of all things. Wow. Wow. This is amazing.

Since Christ is the heir of all things, and we are fellow heirs with Christ, this is beyond amazing. We are seated with Christ, our fellow heir of all things. We're seated with Christ, our fellow heir of all things. We sit on the throne with Him. We are fellow heirs with Him. And He is the heir of all things.

Finally, the verse ends up, but if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Interestingly, we might be asking, well, wait a minute, suffer with him? I mean, I thought he lived and died like, you know, a couple thousand years ago. Yeah, that's true. But the perspective of scripture is that his sufferings and our sufferings are not all that far apart.

Paul wrote in Philippians 3.10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. What? Fellowship of his suffering? We're going to go downstairs and we're going to have fellowship, right? Are we going to have fellowship of his sufferings downstairs? Well, maybe not quite. I hope you're not planning on suffering. But anyway, a fellowship of his sufferings. We share in his sufferings.

And then 1 Peter 4.13, you share the sufferings of Christ. Well, I think there's a perspective here that's important for us to recognize. Here is Paul on the road to Damascus. Christ is speaking to him.

And he says this, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Notice he didn't say, why are you persecuting those Christians? He said, why are you persecuting me? And he said, that is Saul, later to be called Paul, Who are you, Lord? And he, Christ, said, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

When we go through things, Christ takes it personally. He doesn't just say, you know, you're doing something to them. This is happening to them. What's happening to you, he takes personally. And there's good reason for that. You are in Him, and He is in you. So why shouldn't He take it personally?

Right? Yes, when we are going through things, whatever things those may be, Christ is going through it with us. That's what this passage, I think, talks about. Now, Christ has already been glorified. That's clear. A moment will come, and I hope it's today, when we will be glorified with Him.

1 John 3, 1 and 2, see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, and by the way that verb tense means permanently bestowed, a love He's permanently bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God, and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, Now, we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.

We know that when He appears, we will be like Him. The one who is already glorified will be like Him on that day, because we will see Him just as He is. We will be glorified, too, like Him. Glorified like Him, heirs with Him, seated with Him. But even now, we have access to the Father, intimate access. We can call Him Papa. Let's talk to Him now.

We thank you that we have that intimate access. We thank you for the marvelous truths that you've laid out here in these passages that we've seen up to today. We are in Christ, and Christ is in us. We are in Spirit, and the Spirit is in us. ends being for different purposes, but they're marvelous accomplishments done by you. We thank you for these truths. We thank you for the reality of them. We pray in Jesus' name.