Momentum Church
The Good Life
Pastor Ross Wiseman
Locations & Times
Momentum Church
659 Arnold Mill Rd, Woodstock, GA 30188, USA
Saturday 9:15 AM
Saturday 11:00 AM
Jesus Lives for You
The Holy Spirit Lives in You
The Father Lives with You
The Holy Spirit Lives in You
The Father Lives with You
We have a proclivity towards rebellion. Because of that we naturally lean towards condemnation.
-Negative self talk
-Defeatist mentality
-Prone to mistrust of self & others
-Negative self talk
-Defeatist mentality
-Prone to mistrust of self & others
We live under a new law.
Without the Law of the Spirit rules are just there to break.
Law based homes.
We realize we can’t keep the law.
Without the Law of the Spirit rules are just there to break.
Law based homes.
We realize we can’t keep the law.
#1 Focus on Failure & Condemnation
#2 Focus on Jesus & Freedom
The opposite of Law isn’t Freedom..... The opposite of Law is rebellion.
#2 Focus on Jesus & Freedom
The opposite of Law isn’t Freedom..... The opposite of Law is rebellion.
Two Big Lies of Satan
#1 He tells the condemned that they are righteous. This is Demonic
#2 He tells the righteous that they are condemned. This is Demonic
Jealousy towards a faithful spouse.
It’s a lie, but received as truth it makes the relationship miserable.
Some of you think it’s God beating you down and it’s not. It’s Demonic
When Satan speaks to you he often speaks of you in the 2nd person.
“You”: 2nd Person
“I”: 1st Person
You are a ______________.
#1 He tells the condemned that they are righteous. This is Demonic
#2 He tells the righteous that they are condemned. This is Demonic
Jealousy towards a faithful spouse.
It’s a lie, but received as truth it makes the relationship miserable.
Some of you think it’s God beating you down and it’s not. It’s Demonic
When Satan speaks to you he often speaks of you in the 2nd person.
“You”: 2nd Person
“I”: 1st Person
You are a ______________.
Three Big Truths of God
Let’s focus on what is truth instead of focusing on a lie.
#1 The Holy Spirit in you changes everything.
Let’s focus on what is truth instead of focusing on a lie.
#1 The Holy Spirit in you changes everything.
#2 Your flesh has been dealt with so you don’t owe it anything.
#3 You are a child of God
Condemnation will cause you to focus on you and talk about you.
Worship causes you to focus on Jesus and talk about Jesus.
You are rejected.......Through Jesus.....I am accepted
You are a failure.......Through Jesus.......I am
Worship causes you to focus on Jesus and talk about Jesus.
You are rejected.......Through Jesus.....I am accepted
You are a failure.......Through Jesus.......I am
Chapter Twelve—The Three Spiritual Laws
Romans 8:1–13
Scripture Outline
The Law of Sin and Death (8:1-8)
The Law of the Spirit of Life (8:9-11)
The Law of Fulfilled Righteousness (8:12-13)
In the long history of human affairs there have been few statements more resounding than Paul’s assertion: “There is there-fore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus… .” Having carefully expounded the divine principle whereby God justifies sinners and frees them from all condemnation for their guilt, Paul now shows that the believer has much more to enjoy in terms of freedom from condemnation. The words “therefore now” link his “no-condemnation” statement to the subject with which the previous chapter closed, namely, the deep desire of the justified believer to be delivered from the wretched tyranny of indwelling sin. Paul is pointing out that God does not condemn his redeemed children to a life of wretchedness and defeat. Bruce suggests that the word “condemnation” in this context can mean “penal servitude” or the “punishment following sentence.” The explanation of this powerful truth follows his impelling opening declaration:
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
—Romans 8:1–8
It should be noted that the final phrase of verse 1, which also appears in verse 4, is not found in many manuscripts and is regarded by most scholars as an interpolation that anticipates the later verse.
As we have noted earlier, Paul’s use of the word “law” varies considerably, and in the key statement about the “law of the Spirit of life” in verse 2, there is a further development. In the same way that a law can be either a legal requirement or a scientific principle, so Paul sees the law sometimes as a divine requirement and other times as a spiritual principle. It is the operation of the principle of the “Spirit of life” in the believer that sets him free from the operation of the principle of “sin and death.” The practical experience of deliverance from sin that dwells within is clearly related to an understanding of the dynamic interaction of the opposing principles of the “Spirit of life” and “sin and death.”
The Law of Sin and Death
To understand what Paul means by the “law of sin and death” we need to note the link between “the flesh” and “sin” in his thinking. For instance, he concludes the previous chapter with the dismal words “with the flesh [I serve] the law of sin,” thereby clearly identifying “the flesh” as the means whereby sin operates within the human experience. At this point, considerable confusion can arise because of Paul’s habit of using “flesh” (Greek, sarx) in a number of ways. In Romans 2:28, “flesh” obviously means the tissues of the physical body; in Romans 1:3, it means natural descent; in Romans 3:20, it is a synonym for the human race, and in Romans 8:30, it refers to human nature. To add to the confusion, the translators of English editions of the Bible occasionally translated sarx words by the English word “carnal.” But all is not lost if we remember that when sarx, whether translated “flesh” or “carnal,” appears in contrast to God and His work in human lives, it means human nature with particular reference to its inbuilt sinfulness. Godet defines it as “the inclination to seek self-satisfaction in everything,” and Bruce weighs in with “sinful propensity from Adam.” The flesh is an attitude or inclination operating in complete rejection of the divine will that requires self-sacrificial submission, choosing rather the free expression of anything and everything that will bring self-gratification. It is in this flesh that the law of sin and death moves and has its being.
Anyone who reads Romans 8 should have little difficulty grasping the significance of the flesh. The law is said to be “weak through the flesh” (v. 3); those who live “according to the flesh” set their minds on the “things of the flesh,” which we are told is “death” (vv. 5–6); the fleshly mind is “enmity against God” and “is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be” (v. 7); furthermore, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (v. 8). To be “in the flesh” means the same as being “in Adam,” or unregenerate; to live “according to the flesh” means to live as if unregenerate after becoming regenerate. Paul’s cry for deliverance is therefore a longing to be free from the discouraging tendency he has discovered in himself to live, although justified, as if he is not. He finds within himself a sinful propensity which is so powerful that he recognizes he, in himself, is incapable of breaking it; in fact, it is so pervasive that he feels as if he is “sold under sin” because his human nature is so thoroughly imbued with selfishness and self-serving. This is the law of sin and death from which he longs to be free.
Paul carefully outlines the stages of God’s dealings with sinful human nature, the flesh in which the law of sin and death operates. First God gave the law which could neither make man right with God nor make him live rightly before God. This lack of ability was no reflection on the law, but rather a condemnation of human nature.
In my youth I attended a school where we had a brilliant musician on the staff. His first and only love was music, and he lived for nothing else than to make music. He longed to join our youthful voices into a choir which would perform the works of the masters. Unfortunately, he was trying to produce music through a bunch of young thugs whose interests were limited to football and rugby. The result was that he, like the law, although brilliant, was weak through our flesh! Nevertheless, by his own musical genius he did expose the total Philistinian lack of his youthful choir—a similar achievement to that of the law.
Second, God then sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin” (v. 3). The precision of Paul’s statement should not be missed. If he had said that Christ came “in the likeness of flesh,” he would have delighted the followers of docetism who taught that Christ only “appeared” to come in human form, with no physical reality about His Incarnation. On the other hand, if he had said “in sinful flesh,” he would have attributed to Christ a sinful nature like ours. He could have limited his statement to “in flesh” and thus avoided both pitfalls, but he would also have avoided making a desperately important point. Christ came into our humanity and assumed our personality, but He was unique in that, while human flesh is consistently corrupt, He lived with and in our nature without in any way succumbing to the sinfulness which goes along with it. It was the inescapable fact of His sinlessness while living in the vehicle of our humanness which roundly condemned the fleshliness of our nature and the sinfulness of our lives.
Third, Christ came “for sin” (v. 3)—an expression which in the Greek is found in the Septuagint as a translation of “sin offering” in Psalm 40:6. Having condemned sin in the flesh by His flawless 33 years inhabiting our humanity, He then assumed our sin on the Cross, and in dying for sin, He made the most thoroughgoing denunciation of sin once and for all.
Fourth, those who are “in Christ” have identified with Him in His condemnation of sin in the flesh and in so doing have taken the first step to living free of its dominion. Those who choose rather to excuse their fleshliness by blaming it on heredity or who condone it by pointing out it is “only human” cannot begin to live in liberty. But those who intelligently take their stand in Christ not only lament their sinfulness—cry for deliverance, as did Paul—but also take great interest in the operation of the “law of the Spirit of life” which “in Christ” sets them free.
The Law of the Spirit of Life
Up until this point in Paul’s painstakingly systematic presentation of the Christian gospel, the Holy Spirit has been conspicuous by His absence. In the early chapters of the epistle, He makes only two brief appearances, and in the crucial seventh chapter, He is not mentioned at all. Presumably this omission can be explained by the fact that the burden of Paul’s message so far relating to the believer’s sanctification has been to show the hopelessness of the spiritual experience of those who seek to do it on their own, or, as he explains it, on the basis of autos ego—“I by myself.” But when the Third member of the Trinity is given His rightful place in theology and experience, the change is dramatic and radical.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
—Romans 8:9–11
T
he Holy Spirit is given many titles in Scripture—indeed, in the few verses before us—but there can be none more exciting than “the Spirit of life.” He emanates from the Father who is the Author and sustainer of life and takes up His abode in the life of the believer, thereby banishing the spiritual deadness with which he had been plagued. Through His intervention in human affairs, dullness and deadness give way to vivacity and vitality; in Him bondage is banished and freedom reigns.
Having described in detail what it means to be “in the flesh” and to live “according to the flesh,” Paul now sets out to describe the divine alternatives, which are to be “in the Spirit” and to live “according to the Spirit.” “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (v. 8) either in terms of moving Him to save them because they have been good, or in terms of living such exemplary lives that He delights in watching them do it. But believers do not need to be unduly concerned about this human limitation because they are “not in the flesh but in the Spirit” (v. 9) and, accordingly, have the capability of pleasing the One who has redeemed them. The proof that they are “in the Spirit” is to be found in the fact of His indwelling presence. It is apparent that Paul moves freely from one title to another when writing about the Holy Spirit. In the verses we are considering, He is called “the Spirit of God,” “the Spirit of Christ,” “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead.” While each of these descriptions is synonymous with the others, they all point to a different aspect of His personality and remind us of the Triune God.
The unique Christian truth dealing with the fact of God’s indwelling presence was introduced to the disciples by the Lord Jesus. They were definitely unreceptive to what He had to say because He introduced the topic by telling them that He proposed leaving them and that they would be better off without Him. This unpalatable prospect was improved considerably for them when He explained. After He had left them, He said, the Comforter would come to them and make it possible for Him to live in them. With the same kind of free interchange of ideas which characterize Paul’s treatment of the truth, the Lord talked about the Holy Spirit’s indwelling them, His own indwelling them, and even God’s taking up His abode in them. It was the indwelling of their lives which would be far superior to anything they had as yet experienced; therefore, the departure of the Lord which would precede the arrival of the Comforter was to be to their advantage. In the body of flesh which He had assumed, the Lord was subject to the limitations of time and space common to all men. As a result He could not be with Peter in Galilee and at the same time with John in Jerusalem, but when liberated from His earthly body through the Resurrection and Ascension, He would come to them in the Spirit and live in their lives, imparting to them His grace and power.
Because Christ spoke these words to His elite corps of disciples, and because of the remarkable nature of the words spoken, it would be understandable if people, on reading John’s account, would assume that the indwelling presence of God was reserved for the supersaints of the apostolic group. But Paul banishes this thought to oblivion by saying, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom. 8:9b). In other words, the indwelling presence of Christ through the Spirit, far from being the preserve of the few, is the birthright of all believers and the authentic seal of their redeemed status.
To give the Roman Christians some idea of the significance of the divine indwelling, Paul introduces another of his favorite sets of contrasts. Whereas the human body is subject to death because of sin—a concept already developed—the spirit of man through the presence of the life-giving Spirit possesses life eternal because of justification. While the body of man is not exempt from the corruption common to the race because of Adam’s sin, the spirit of man is preserved unto life through the sheer power of the indwelling Spirit. The mortal bodies of the believers which will, of course, return to the dust from which they came, will in a coming day be resurrected to a reunion with their corresponding spirit. Both the eternal preservation of the human spirit and the ultimate Resurrection of the human body are attributed to the Spirit of God. But of particular interest to us in this context is the fact that the power thus exhibited by the Spirit is the power made available to believers in the present age in order that they, through the Spirit of life, might be set free from the law of sin and death.
This description of the power of the Spirit is advanced even further when we note that His name, the Spirit of God, is introduced in the second verse of the Bible. There He is seen actively engaged in the monumental task of creation ex nihilo. It is the Spirit of creation who indwells and empowers the believer. Then Paul’s careful use of the “Spirit of Christ” in verse 9 reminds us that it is the same Spirit who indwelt Him who indwells us. Jesus, “filled with Spirit,” was directed by the Spirit into the Wilderness for His personal confrontation with the Evil One. From this cosmic clash He emerged triumphant the power of the Spirit” only to meet him again on Calvary. The result was the same, as He defeated the one who holds humanity hostage to fear and death, but it was “through the eternal Spirit” that He prevailed. This same Spirit is the indwelling Comforter of the contemporary believer, the means of deliverance from the law of sin and death. In case the point of the potential power of the Spirit should escape the Roman reader, the apostle adds, for good measure, the information that it is the Spirit of the One who raised the dead Christ to the heights of glory who is alive in the believer. For the apostles there was no greater demonstration of power than the Resurrection of Christ. They were constantly referring to this act of God as the crowning achievement which justified the claims of Christ and epitomized the power of God available to mankind.
In the same way that Paul’s detailed description of sin’s abundance set the stage for his presentation of abounding grace, so his stark, searing description of the law of sin and death has set the stage for the understanding of the law of the Spirit of life. If the overwhelming power of indwelling sin is clearly understood, the power of the indwelling Spirit will be magnified in the believer’s mind because the latter is more powerful than the former.
The Law of Fulfilled Righteousness
So far in this chapter we have examined the nature and capabilities of the two mammoth contenders for the inner workings of the believer’s life and affection. It may seem to the reader that the chapter has been similar to the interminable introductions before a heavyweight championship, where the opponents glower at each other across the ring while the fans wonder if the fight will every get underway!
The fight takes place in the complex of human experience and thus must not be regarded as a fight in a vacuum. The person in whom the conflict rages is not isolated from the struggle; in fact, although both the principles at war within him are more powerful than he, without his cooperation neither can win. It is true that Paul talks of the struggle between the two laws as if the victory of the law of the Spirit of life over the law of sin and death is a foregone conclusion, but a careful reading of the text will reveal the most important role the believer plays in the struggle.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 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.
—Romans 8:12–13
There are three things that identify this role. First, the believer must “mind” the things of the Spirit rather than those of the flesh. Second, the believer must choose to “walk” according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. Third, the believer is required “through the Spirit” to “put to death the deeds of the body.”
When the apostle talks about the mind, he means more than intellectual capability. The word he uses—phronein—-stops short of obsession but goes far beyond casual interest. In other words, Paul reminds us that, when it comes to spiritual life, everything is important and nothing is to be taken casually. There is a particular danger for Christians who have worked themselves into a comfortable, undemanding situation where they are confronted with little external challenge and have so come to terms with their own lifestyle that they see little or no necessity for deepening of the spiritual life. Without realizing it, they may have ceased to be ambitious for the things of the Spirit and may have lapsed into a kind of spiritual neutrality which in reality is an ambition for the comfort of the fleshly and an identification with the purely natural.
My younger son, who plays basketball for his high school, came back from practice recently so tired that he went straight to bed. Next morning when I asked how he could be so out of shape halfway through the season, he said, “We are in great shape, but the coach said we had won so many games so easily that we were becoming casual and sloppy in our play and that unless we got our act together we would be beaten by teams far inferior to us.” In other words, the young ball players had forgotten to “mind” the essentials of the game and had slipped into an attitude that spelled danger.
The options available to the believer are spelled out clearly. Either we aspire toward the things of the Spirit or those of the flesh. Without a clear understanding of both and the ability to identify each, there is a distinct possibility that the flesh will take over because the secular environment in which we live is dominated by selfish interest and governed by fleshly concerns. The impact of advertising in modern society is a perfect example of this. The modern approach is to make surveys of human thought patterns that clearly identify the hidden longings and aspirations of the average person. Then clever means of presenting painless answers to these longings are developed and presented in such attractive forms that the person subjected to the advertising may unwittingly become totally governed by fleshly attitudes. The principles of the Spirit do not, of course, find their way into most television commercials. The average believer may very well spend more time absorbing commercials than epistles and be exposed to more sales pitches that aim to boost his ego than spiritual principles that promote the Spirit. His aspirations quite understandably may be tarnished without his realizing what has been happening. The mind set on the flesh leads inevitably to estrangement to God and alienation from His Spirit, which is another way of describing spiritual death and deadness. The unbeliever who lives in this way is dead, but the believer who minds the flesh while possessing new life exhibits nothing but dullness and deadness. This is particularly sad when we remember that the human heart longs constantly for life and peace—qualities that are promised by most competitors for human attention but that are delivered exclusively by the Spirit of God. The believer is therefore presented with options that require choices so basic that they operate at the deepest level of desire and ambition, aspiration and intention.
It is worth noting that, although Paul regards the “things” of both flesh and Spirit of the utmost importance, he does not outline what they are. But from the context it would appear that he was thinking of the presence of the Spirit in the believer, which, when borne constantly in mind, has a most salutary impact on the individual’s thought processes. The contrast between the holiness of the Holy Spirit and the things that so easily captivate the believer’s thinking is underlined when it has become increasingly normal for the believer to concentrate on the Spirit’s presence. No doubt Paul’s presentation of the power of the Spirit can be seen as an indication of another effect to be minded. The downward pull of sin and surrounding sinfulness can become such a debilitating force in the believer’s life that he may become so defeated that he settles for being a defeatist. But if he is in tune with the power of the indwelling Spirit, this attitude will quickly be banished and replaced by one of positive anticipation that the powerful Spirit will be a factor in daily living. Like the two men who looked through prison bars, those who concentrate on the things of the flesh will see mud while those who mind the things of the Spirit will see the stars.
The “walk” according to the Spirit is a most natural development from minding the things of the Spirit. It means to make definite decisions based on the intelligent appreciation of the Spirit. It is helpful to remember that there is an obvious difference between taking a step and going for a walk. While Christian experience involves taking some massive steps occasionally, the normal Christian experience is the product of a succession of relatively unimportant steps that require varying degrees of decision. When the Holy Spirit reminds me of the unholiness of a particular pursuit I am contemplating, I may choose to disregard His prompting and take a step in the opposite direction. This will, of course, lead to bondage to the flesh and the law of sin and death. But a step of obedience taken in response to the Spirit’s prompting will lead to a right decision which in turn will produce a walk in the Spirit. It should not be assumed that the believer will have to concentrate exclusively on “spiritual things” to the exclusion of other legitimate aspects of life. But if the right attitude is nurtured, there will be an unconscious sense of rest in the Spirit which will only become obvious when the pressure of decision becomes imperative. In the same way that a person standing still is not conscious of breathing, the person who is warmly embracing the life of the Spirit will not be concentrating exclusively on Him. But if that person who has been standing still begins to climb twenty flights of steps at a rapid pace he will think of nothing else but breathing. Just so, when the believer is confronted with the old fleshly attractions and the inward response to them, he will become excruciatingly conscious of the step he must take in order to walk after the Spirit.
The negative side of this walk is suggested by the expression “through the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body” (v. 9). The decision to do something is inextricably bound up in the decision not to do the opposite. This then may require a courageous act of self-denial that is so difficult that the believer feels incapable of doing it even though he knows it is right. The balanced truth that Paul presents is that we “through the Spirit” perform the necessary spiritual surgery. God knows that it would be an exercise in futility to tell us to put to death these deeds. That is why He insists that we take action through the Spirit. The extreme opposite approach to that of the dedicated self-denier is that of those who “leave it to the Spirit” to do the necessary decision-making. It is as out of order to expect the Spirit to do what we have been told to do as it is to endeavor to do what only God can do. But when the believer cultivates the attitude of the Spirit, takes steps to follow His objective teaching and subjective prompting, and through His power says a loud “no” to the temptations to which the flesh readily and enthusiastically responds, he will then experimentally discover the liberation from the law of sin and death.
Some years ago in California, after I had tried hard to explain this principle to a group of people, I was somewhat discouraged to hear one man say, “Now you’ve really confused me.” When asked if I would have time to talk to him privately, we discovered that the only time I had available was the time he usually spent flying his light aircraft, so he asked me to go and talk and fly. I agreed without any great enthusiasm. To me flying is nothing more than the means of getting from A to B quicker than it should naturally take.
When we arrived at his plane, I feigned horror at its flimsy construction and refused to get on board. He was most perturbed, particularly when I expressed doubt that such a contraption was capable of bearing my weight, let alone lifting it in the air. With great concern, he explained to me that the law of aerodynamics which was stronger than the law of gravity could set me free from earth. But I said that he was only confusing me, until he asked me tentatively if I was “kidding him.” I assured him I was, and then as we took off, I explained that in the same way that the law of aerodynamics in the plane was setting us free from the law of gravity on earth, so the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus was setting us free from the law of sin and death. He said that made sense, so I pretended to open the door of the plane as we flew high over Los Angeles, and when he remonstrated, I assured him that I would not fall because of the law which set me free from gravity! By this time he was in tune with my teaching method and said, “Now you are reminding me that it is as important to abide in Christ to derive the benefits of His life as it is to stay in the plane to be set free from falling.”
The quality of life related in the believer through the power of the Spirit is called “the righteousness of the law.” But notice that this life is not the product of frustrated self-effort; rather it is the result of human response to the divine Spirit.
D. Stuart Briscoe and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Romans, vol. 29, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982), 149–160.
Romans 8:1–13
Scripture Outline
The Law of Sin and Death (8:1-8)
The Law of the Spirit of Life (8:9-11)
The Law of Fulfilled Righteousness (8:12-13)
In the long history of human affairs there have been few statements more resounding than Paul’s assertion: “There is there-fore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus… .” Having carefully expounded the divine principle whereby God justifies sinners and frees them from all condemnation for their guilt, Paul now shows that the believer has much more to enjoy in terms of freedom from condemnation. The words “therefore now” link his “no-condemnation” statement to the subject with which the previous chapter closed, namely, the deep desire of the justified believer to be delivered from the wretched tyranny of indwelling sin. Paul is pointing out that God does not condemn his redeemed children to a life of wretchedness and defeat. Bruce suggests that the word “condemnation” in this context can mean “penal servitude” or the “punishment following sentence.” The explanation of this powerful truth follows his impelling opening declaration:
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
—Romans 8:1–8
It should be noted that the final phrase of verse 1, which also appears in verse 4, is not found in many manuscripts and is regarded by most scholars as an interpolation that anticipates the later verse.
As we have noted earlier, Paul’s use of the word “law” varies considerably, and in the key statement about the “law of the Spirit of life” in verse 2, there is a further development. In the same way that a law can be either a legal requirement or a scientific principle, so Paul sees the law sometimes as a divine requirement and other times as a spiritual principle. It is the operation of the principle of the “Spirit of life” in the believer that sets him free from the operation of the principle of “sin and death.” The practical experience of deliverance from sin that dwells within is clearly related to an understanding of the dynamic interaction of the opposing principles of the “Spirit of life” and “sin and death.”
The Law of Sin and Death
To understand what Paul means by the “law of sin and death” we need to note the link between “the flesh” and “sin” in his thinking. For instance, he concludes the previous chapter with the dismal words “with the flesh [I serve] the law of sin,” thereby clearly identifying “the flesh” as the means whereby sin operates within the human experience. At this point, considerable confusion can arise because of Paul’s habit of using “flesh” (Greek, sarx) in a number of ways. In Romans 2:28, “flesh” obviously means the tissues of the physical body; in Romans 1:3, it means natural descent; in Romans 3:20, it is a synonym for the human race, and in Romans 8:30, it refers to human nature. To add to the confusion, the translators of English editions of the Bible occasionally translated sarx words by the English word “carnal.” But all is not lost if we remember that when sarx, whether translated “flesh” or “carnal,” appears in contrast to God and His work in human lives, it means human nature with particular reference to its inbuilt sinfulness. Godet defines it as “the inclination to seek self-satisfaction in everything,” and Bruce weighs in with “sinful propensity from Adam.” The flesh is an attitude or inclination operating in complete rejection of the divine will that requires self-sacrificial submission, choosing rather the free expression of anything and everything that will bring self-gratification. It is in this flesh that the law of sin and death moves and has its being.
Anyone who reads Romans 8 should have little difficulty grasping the significance of the flesh. The law is said to be “weak through the flesh” (v. 3); those who live “according to the flesh” set their minds on the “things of the flesh,” which we are told is “death” (vv. 5–6); the fleshly mind is “enmity against God” and “is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be” (v. 7); furthermore, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (v. 8). To be “in the flesh” means the same as being “in Adam,” or unregenerate; to live “according to the flesh” means to live as if unregenerate after becoming regenerate. Paul’s cry for deliverance is therefore a longing to be free from the discouraging tendency he has discovered in himself to live, although justified, as if he is not. He finds within himself a sinful propensity which is so powerful that he recognizes he, in himself, is incapable of breaking it; in fact, it is so pervasive that he feels as if he is “sold under sin” because his human nature is so thoroughly imbued with selfishness and self-serving. This is the law of sin and death from which he longs to be free.
Paul carefully outlines the stages of God’s dealings with sinful human nature, the flesh in which the law of sin and death operates. First God gave the law which could neither make man right with God nor make him live rightly before God. This lack of ability was no reflection on the law, but rather a condemnation of human nature.
In my youth I attended a school where we had a brilliant musician on the staff. His first and only love was music, and he lived for nothing else than to make music. He longed to join our youthful voices into a choir which would perform the works of the masters. Unfortunately, he was trying to produce music through a bunch of young thugs whose interests were limited to football and rugby. The result was that he, like the law, although brilliant, was weak through our flesh! Nevertheless, by his own musical genius he did expose the total Philistinian lack of his youthful choir—a similar achievement to that of the law.
Second, God then sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin” (v. 3). The precision of Paul’s statement should not be missed. If he had said that Christ came “in the likeness of flesh,” he would have delighted the followers of docetism who taught that Christ only “appeared” to come in human form, with no physical reality about His Incarnation. On the other hand, if he had said “in sinful flesh,” he would have attributed to Christ a sinful nature like ours. He could have limited his statement to “in flesh” and thus avoided both pitfalls, but he would also have avoided making a desperately important point. Christ came into our humanity and assumed our personality, but He was unique in that, while human flesh is consistently corrupt, He lived with and in our nature without in any way succumbing to the sinfulness which goes along with it. It was the inescapable fact of His sinlessness while living in the vehicle of our humanness which roundly condemned the fleshliness of our nature and the sinfulness of our lives.
Third, Christ came “for sin” (v. 3)—an expression which in the Greek is found in the Septuagint as a translation of “sin offering” in Psalm 40:6. Having condemned sin in the flesh by His flawless 33 years inhabiting our humanity, He then assumed our sin on the Cross, and in dying for sin, He made the most thoroughgoing denunciation of sin once and for all.
Fourth, those who are “in Christ” have identified with Him in His condemnation of sin in the flesh and in so doing have taken the first step to living free of its dominion. Those who choose rather to excuse their fleshliness by blaming it on heredity or who condone it by pointing out it is “only human” cannot begin to live in liberty. But those who intelligently take their stand in Christ not only lament their sinfulness—cry for deliverance, as did Paul—but also take great interest in the operation of the “law of the Spirit of life” which “in Christ” sets them free.
The Law of the Spirit of Life
Up until this point in Paul’s painstakingly systematic presentation of the Christian gospel, the Holy Spirit has been conspicuous by His absence. In the early chapters of the epistle, He makes only two brief appearances, and in the crucial seventh chapter, He is not mentioned at all. Presumably this omission can be explained by the fact that the burden of Paul’s message so far relating to the believer’s sanctification has been to show the hopelessness of the spiritual experience of those who seek to do it on their own, or, as he explains it, on the basis of autos ego—“I by myself.” But when the Third member of the Trinity is given His rightful place in theology and experience, the change is dramatic and radical.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
—Romans 8:9–11
T
he Holy Spirit is given many titles in Scripture—indeed, in the few verses before us—but there can be none more exciting than “the Spirit of life.” He emanates from the Father who is the Author and sustainer of life and takes up His abode in the life of the believer, thereby banishing the spiritual deadness with which he had been plagued. Through His intervention in human affairs, dullness and deadness give way to vivacity and vitality; in Him bondage is banished and freedom reigns.
Having described in detail what it means to be “in the flesh” and to live “according to the flesh,” Paul now sets out to describe the divine alternatives, which are to be “in the Spirit” and to live “according to the Spirit.” “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (v. 8) either in terms of moving Him to save them because they have been good, or in terms of living such exemplary lives that He delights in watching them do it. But believers do not need to be unduly concerned about this human limitation because they are “not in the flesh but in the Spirit” (v. 9) and, accordingly, have the capability of pleasing the One who has redeemed them. The proof that they are “in the Spirit” is to be found in the fact of His indwelling presence. It is apparent that Paul moves freely from one title to another when writing about the Holy Spirit. In the verses we are considering, He is called “the Spirit of God,” “the Spirit of Christ,” “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead.” While each of these descriptions is synonymous with the others, they all point to a different aspect of His personality and remind us of the Triune God.
The unique Christian truth dealing with the fact of God’s indwelling presence was introduced to the disciples by the Lord Jesus. They were definitely unreceptive to what He had to say because He introduced the topic by telling them that He proposed leaving them and that they would be better off without Him. This unpalatable prospect was improved considerably for them when He explained. After He had left them, He said, the Comforter would come to them and make it possible for Him to live in them. With the same kind of free interchange of ideas which characterize Paul’s treatment of the truth, the Lord talked about the Holy Spirit’s indwelling them, His own indwelling them, and even God’s taking up His abode in them. It was the indwelling of their lives which would be far superior to anything they had as yet experienced; therefore, the departure of the Lord which would precede the arrival of the Comforter was to be to their advantage. In the body of flesh which He had assumed, the Lord was subject to the limitations of time and space common to all men. As a result He could not be with Peter in Galilee and at the same time with John in Jerusalem, but when liberated from His earthly body through the Resurrection and Ascension, He would come to them in the Spirit and live in their lives, imparting to them His grace and power.
Because Christ spoke these words to His elite corps of disciples, and because of the remarkable nature of the words spoken, it would be understandable if people, on reading John’s account, would assume that the indwelling presence of God was reserved for the supersaints of the apostolic group. But Paul banishes this thought to oblivion by saying, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom. 8:9b). In other words, the indwelling presence of Christ through the Spirit, far from being the preserve of the few, is the birthright of all believers and the authentic seal of their redeemed status.
To give the Roman Christians some idea of the significance of the divine indwelling, Paul introduces another of his favorite sets of contrasts. Whereas the human body is subject to death because of sin—a concept already developed—the spirit of man through the presence of the life-giving Spirit possesses life eternal because of justification. While the body of man is not exempt from the corruption common to the race because of Adam’s sin, the spirit of man is preserved unto life through the sheer power of the indwelling Spirit. The mortal bodies of the believers which will, of course, return to the dust from which they came, will in a coming day be resurrected to a reunion with their corresponding spirit. Both the eternal preservation of the human spirit and the ultimate Resurrection of the human body are attributed to the Spirit of God. But of particular interest to us in this context is the fact that the power thus exhibited by the Spirit is the power made available to believers in the present age in order that they, through the Spirit of life, might be set free from the law of sin and death.
This description of the power of the Spirit is advanced even further when we note that His name, the Spirit of God, is introduced in the second verse of the Bible. There He is seen actively engaged in the monumental task of creation ex nihilo. It is the Spirit of creation who indwells and empowers the believer. Then Paul’s careful use of the “Spirit of Christ” in verse 9 reminds us that it is the same Spirit who indwelt Him who indwells us. Jesus, “filled with Spirit,” was directed by the Spirit into the Wilderness for His personal confrontation with the Evil One. From this cosmic clash He emerged triumphant the power of the Spirit” only to meet him again on Calvary. The result was the same, as He defeated the one who holds humanity hostage to fear and death, but it was “through the eternal Spirit” that He prevailed. This same Spirit is the indwelling Comforter of the contemporary believer, the means of deliverance from the law of sin and death. In case the point of the potential power of the Spirit should escape the Roman reader, the apostle adds, for good measure, the information that it is the Spirit of the One who raised the dead Christ to the heights of glory who is alive in the believer. For the apostles there was no greater demonstration of power than the Resurrection of Christ. They were constantly referring to this act of God as the crowning achievement which justified the claims of Christ and epitomized the power of God available to mankind.
In the same way that Paul’s detailed description of sin’s abundance set the stage for his presentation of abounding grace, so his stark, searing description of the law of sin and death has set the stage for the understanding of the law of the Spirit of life. If the overwhelming power of indwelling sin is clearly understood, the power of the indwelling Spirit will be magnified in the believer’s mind because the latter is more powerful than the former.
The Law of Fulfilled Righteousness
So far in this chapter we have examined the nature and capabilities of the two mammoth contenders for the inner workings of the believer’s life and affection. It may seem to the reader that the chapter has been similar to the interminable introductions before a heavyweight championship, where the opponents glower at each other across the ring while the fans wonder if the fight will every get underway!
The fight takes place in the complex of human experience and thus must not be regarded as a fight in a vacuum. The person in whom the conflict rages is not isolated from the struggle; in fact, although both the principles at war within him are more powerful than he, without his cooperation neither can win. It is true that Paul talks of the struggle between the two laws as if the victory of the law of the Spirit of life over the law of sin and death is a foregone conclusion, but a careful reading of the text will reveal the most important role the believer plays in the struggle.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 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.
—Romans 8:12–13
There are three things that identify this role. First, the believer must “mind” the things of the Spirit rather than those of the flesh. Second, the believer must choose to “walk” according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. Third, the believer is required “through the Spirit” to “put to death the deeds of the body.”
When the apostle talks about the mind, he means more than intellectual capability. The word he uses—phronein—-stops short of obsession but goes far beyond casual interest. In other words, Paul reminds us that, when it comes to spiritual life, everything is important and nothing is to be taken casually. There is a particular danger for Christians who have worked themselves into a comfortable, undemanding situation where they are confronted with little external challenge and have so come to terms with their own lifestyle that they see little or no necessity for deepening of the spiritual life. Without realizing it, they may have ceased to be ambitious for the things of the Spirit and may have lapsed into a kind of spiritual neutrality which in reality is an ambition for the comfort of the fleshly and an identification with the purely natural.
My younger son, who plays basketball for his high school, came back from practice recently so tired that he went straight to bed. Next morning when I asked how he could be so out of shape halfway through the season, he said, “We are in great shape, but the coach said we had won so many games so easily that we were becoming casual and sloppy in our play and that unless we got our act together we would be beaten by teams far inferior to us.” In other words, the young ball players had forgotten to “mind” the essentials of the game and had slipped into an attitude that spelled danger.
The options available to the believer are spelled out clearly. Either we aspire toward the things of the Spirit or those of the flesh. Without a clear understanding of both and the ability to identify each, there is a distinct possibility that the flesh will take over because the secular environment in which we live is dominated by selfish interest and governed by fleshly concerns. The impact of advertising in modern society is a perfect example of this. The modern approach is to make surveys of human thought patterns that clearly identify the hidden longings and aspirations of the average person. Then clever means of presenting painless answers to these longings are developed and presented in such attractive forms that the person subjected to the advertising may unwittingly become totally governed by fleshly attitudes. The principles of the Spirit do not, of course, find their way into most television commercials. The average believer may very well spend more time absorbing commercials than epistles and be exposed to more sales pitches that aim to boost his ego than spiritual principles that promote the Spirit. His aspirations quite understandably may be tarnished without his realizing what has been happening. The mind set on the flesh leads inevitably to estrangement to God and alienation from His Spirit, which is another way of describing spiritual death and deadness. The unbeliever who lives in this way is dead, but the believer who minds the flesh while possessing new life exhibits nothing but dullness and deadness. This is particularly sad when we remember that the human heart longs constantly for life and peace—qualities that are promised by most competitors for human attention but that are delivered exclusively by the Spirit of God. The believer is therefore presented with options that require choices so basic that they operate at the deepest level of desire and ambition, aspiration and intention.
It is worth noting that, although Paul regards the “things” of both flesh and Spirit of the utmost importance, he does not outline what they are. But from the context it would appear that he was thinking of the presence of the Spirit in the believer, which, when borne constantly in mind, has a most salutary impact on the individual’s thought processes. The contrast between the holiness of the Holy Spirit and the things that so easily captivate the believer’s thinking is underlined when it has become increasingly normal for the believer to concentrate on the Spirit’s presence. No doubt Paul’s presentation of the power of the Spirit can be seen as an indication of another effect to be minded. The downward pull of sin and surrounding sinfulness can become such a debilitating force in the believer’s life that he may become so defeated that he settles for being a defeatist. But if he is in tune with the power of the indwelling Spirit, this attitude will quickly be banished and replaced by one of positive anticipation that the powerful Spirit will be a factor in daily living. Like the two men who looked through prison bars, those who concentrate on the things of the flesh will see mud while those who mind the things of the Spirit will see the stars.
The “walk” according to the Spirit is a most natural development from minding the things of the Spirit. It means to make definite decisions based on the intelligent appreciation of the Spirit. It is helpful to remember that there is an obvious difference between taking a step and going for a walk. While Christian experience involves taking some massive steps occasionally, the normal Christian experience is the product of a succession of relatively unimportant steps that require varying degrees of decision. When the Holy Spirit reminds me of the unholiness of a particular pursuit I am contemplating, I may choose to disregard His prompting and take a step in the opposite direction. This will, of course, lead to bondage to the flesh and the law of sin and death. But a step of obedience taken in response to the Spirit’s prompting will lead to a right decision which in turn will produce a walk in the Spirit. It should not be assumed that the believer will have to concentrate exclusively on “spiritual things” to the exclusion of other legitimate aspects of life. But if the right attitude is nurtured, there will be an unconscious sense of rest in the Spirit which will only become obvious when the pressure of decision becomes imperative. In the same way that a person standing still is not conscious of breathing, the person who is warmly embracing the life of the Spirit will not be concentrating exclusively on Him. But if that person who has been standing still begins to climb twenty flights of steps at a rapid pace he will think of nothing else but breathing. Just so, when the believer is confronted with the old fleshly attractions and the inward response to them, he will become excruciatingly conscious of the step he must take in order to walk after the Spirit.
The negative side of this walk is suggested by the expression “through the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body” (v. 9). The decision to do something is inextricably bound up in the decision not to do the opposite. This then may require a courageous act of self-denial that is so difficult that the believer feels incapable of doing it even though he knows it is right. The balanced truth that Paul presents is that we “through the Spirit” perform the necessary spiritual surgery. God knows that it would be an exercise in futility to tell us to put to death these deeds. That is why He insists that we take action through the Spirit. The extreme opposite approach to that of the dedicated self-denier is that of those who “leave it to the Spirit” to do the necessary decision-making. It is as out of order to expect the Spirit to do what we have been told to do as it is to endeavor to do what only God can do. But when the believer cultivates the attitude of the Spirit, takes steps to follow His objective teaching and subjective prompting, and through His power says a loud “no” to the temptations to which the flesh readily and enthusiastically responds, he will then experimentally discover the liberation from the law of sin and death.
Some years ago in California, after I had tried hard to explain this principle to a group of people, I was somewhat discouraged to hear one man say, “Now you’ve really confused me.” When asked if I would have time to talk to him privately, we discovered that the only time I had available was the time he usually spent flying his light aircraft, so he asked me to go and talk and fly. I agreed without any great enthusiasm. To me flying is nothing more than the means of getting from A to B quicker than it should naturally take.
When we arrived at his plane, I feigned horror at its flimsy construction and refused to get on board. He was most perturbed, particularly when I expressed doubt that such a contraption was capable of bearing my weight, let alone lifting it in the air. With great concern, he explained to me that the law of aerodynamics which was stronger than the law of gravity could set me free from earth. But I said that he was only confusing me, until he asked me tentatively if I was “kidding him.” I assured him I was, and then as we took off, I explained that in the same way that the law of aerodynamics in the plane was setting us free from the law of gravity on earth, so the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus was setting us free from the law of sin and death. He said that made sense, so I pretended to open the door of the plane as we flew high over Los Angeles, and when he remonstrated, I assured him that I would not fall because of the law which set me free from gravity! By this time he was in tune with my teaching method and said, “Now you are reminding me that it is as important to abide in Christ to derive the benefits of His life as it is to stay in the plane to be set free from falling.”
The quality of life related in the believer through the power of the Spirit is called “the righteousness of the law.” But notice that this life is not the product of frustrated self-effort; rather it is the result of human response to the divine Spirit.
D. Stuart Briscoe and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Romans, vol. 29, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1982), 149–160.