WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.759 We're going to be in Romans chapter 8, starting in verse 1 going through verse 17. 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:16.960 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:21.359 What the law could not do, since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:33.119 He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:41.200 For those who live according to the flesh have their mind set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit have their mind set on the things of the spirit. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:46.560 No, the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the spirit is life and peace. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:50.960 The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God's law. 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:53.200 Indeed, it is unable to do so. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.719 And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.799 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God lives in you. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:04.079 If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:10.319 Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:20.640 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his spirit who lives in you. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:29.200 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.480 But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.319 For all those led by the God's Spirit are God's sons. 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.840 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:46.079 Instead, you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:50.719 The Spirit Himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God's children. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:55.519 And if children, also heirs, heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:01:59.599 If indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:04.480 And again, Lord, please be glorified as we study your word and let your will be done. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:05.359 Amen. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:07.280 Please have a seat. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:08.400 Okay. 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:24.319 So I love this passage because it does a really good job of declaring the whole, basically the whole life of the believer in one big 17-verse chunk in that way, which I'll explain more in a little bit. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:34.000 But first of all, just to give a little bit of a picture, we want simple, easy, one-point answers to how things work. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:34.879 It's just this. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:36.879 All you have to do is this, all you need is this, all this. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:38.400 And to a certain extent that's true. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:43.199 However, there's always usually more nuance in that. 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:51.759 And so there are two things we're going to hold intention in this passage in order to live healthy and grow in maturity. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.400 And those two ideas, which I'll talk about in a moment. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.560 Picture a suspension bridge. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:02.639 I am not an architect or an engineer or anybody responsible for keeping things from falling. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:05.280 I grew up in the Bay Area in the earthquake in 89. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:07.280 I saw bad bridge experiences. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:19.680 So I'm not an expert on this, but with a suspension bridge, you have these two big pillars, vertical, that have the weight and the compression with that, and then you have these cables in tension to do that. 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:26.240 And that way you can have that way you can have long spances that you otherwise could not be able to cross with a bridge. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:31.280 And so two different things, these big vertical pillars and these cables in tension. 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:34.319 So keep that idea of the suspension bridge in your mind. 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:45.680 So having that said, the first verse here in chapter 8, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:50.560 This is awesome because condemnation here, we have to unpack this a little bit. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:52.159 This is a legal term. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:58.319 It is a verdict of guilt, condemnation. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:03:59.840 There is none of that. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.520 There is no guilty verdict. 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.400 The verdict is not guilty. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:13.919 So imagine a courthouse at a situation where you have a big trial and the judge says, verdict, not guilty. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:18.800 And someone's like, Well, I don't know about that. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:22.720 The judge would be like, not guilty. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:27.360 Like, how we feel about it does not change the fact of it. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:31.279 How we perceive that does not change the fact of it. 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:35.040 It is not a dimmer switch, it is a light switch, if that makes sense. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:37.439 Guilty or not guilty. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.360 Not uh, sort of guilty, but you're getting to level seven. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:42.720 It doesn't work that way. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:46.240 And that is the beauty of what we're talking about here. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:56.879 And it also, we need to say this because of the world we live in today, condemnation, as again, this is guilt before God as a result of our sin. 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:01.920 This is not a feeling of negative emotion. 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:07.360 This is not saying, therefore, you won't ever feel bad again in Christ Jesus. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.959 The Lord chastens us as sons and daughters, because he loves us. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:15.600 So having that said, we're not going down that road either. 00:05:15.759 --> 00:05:17.680 But there is no condemnation. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:18.240 Why? 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:23.199 Well, we start with the word therefore, so that's everything that's gone before thus far. 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:26.240 I am going to summarize the entire. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:28.240 No, I'm not. 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:30.720 We don't got time for that. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:43.600 So suffice it to say, all human beings, whether under the law or apart from the law, are guilty before God as a result of their own sin and are unable to achieve their own righteousness by any means. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:52.160 And as a result, through the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ, righteousness is imparted to us, and that's called justification. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:06:02.319 Through faith in Jesus and nothing else, through faith in Jesus alone, we can be rendered righteous before God through that justification, through that atoning sacrifice. 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.519 And as a result, not guilty. 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:06.959 Isn't that beautiful? 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:14.399 These are the pillars of our suspension bridge that do not move, that stay there standing still. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:18.639 Those are those really cool uh vertical things on the on the Golden Gate Bridge. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.000 I don't know, for some reason I'm still a small child when I go across the Golden Gate Bridge. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:36.399 It's like but with that, remember this is a legal term, and if you are in Christ Jesus, that's how it is, whether you feel that way on a Tuesday or not. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:40.399 And we'll talk about that more in a moment, but ultimately that's the key thing. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:47.199 Not there is no condemnation for those who have affirmed themselves and self-actualized. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:50.959 It's no it's no condemnation for those who are in what? 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.120 In Christ Jesus. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:56.079 And that is the key around with everything. 00:06:56.240 --> 00:07:01.040 You cannot have anything that we talk about in the book of Romans without faith in Jesus. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:06.079 And I want to remind you that Paul is writing to believers. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:08.000 We see that in chapter 1 of Romans. 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:21.759 He's writing to Christians, a combination in a church of Jewish converts and Gentile converts, one who are still struggling with wanting to keep the law, and one who is still struggling with just wanting to do whatever hedonistic thing they want. 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:29.360 And he's having to remind both sides not only about each other but about themselves, not guilty. 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:31.120 Isn't that beautiful? 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:38.800 This is a promise that we can cling to, that we have truth, that we can have confidence in if we are in Christ Jesus. 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:42.079 Sanctification, there are two pieces that we'll talk about today. 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:46.079 And this is where it can get confusing if we don't talk about it. 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:48.959 Because sanctification comes in two pieces. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:08:04.639 There's positional sanctification, which means upon faith in Jesus, upon righteousness being imparted through justification, through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are declared holy and righteous before God. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:06.959 That is positional sanctification. 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:12.480 There is no condemnation because we are declared holy. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:14.240 That's what sanctification is. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.800 Break that down, declaring holy before God in God's eyes. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:20.720 That is a done deal. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.879 That doesn't run away for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:38.879 So these are the pillars that we can count on, that we can cling to, that are not a part of our feeling in that moment, not a part of the difficulty of things, not a part of struggling with sin, like we talked about last week in chapter 7. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:40.240 This is fact. 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:43.039 Not guilty in Christ Jesus. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.159 Isn't that beautiful? 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:46.240 Continuing on, verse 2. 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:51.279 The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:53.679 This is how we are positionally sanctified here. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:59.759 The law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:08.480 We are declared free because the greater law of Jesus' sacrifice, paying for ours, has set us free. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:12.080 Verse 3, what the law could not do in that it was weakened by the flesh. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:16.240 And again, over here the Jewish converts are like, what'd you just say? 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:18.159 The law was weakened by the flesh. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:19.360 What on earth does that mean? 00:09:19.519 --> 00:09:29.440 It means that what we've talked about before, like when we talked about in chapter 3, because of our sinful nature, our flesh, we cannot achieve righteousness through the law. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:33.679 The law is impotent to make us righteous. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:38.720 And now what it is what it means by the law could not do it because it was weakened by the flesh. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:45.039 It was rendered incapable of making us righteous because we have a sin nature and a flesh nature. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:52.399 The flesh nature being our bodies that are still corrupted by sin until glorification, which we'll talk about later. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.519 And again, I recommend listening to the message last week for more on that. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:59.600 So, what the law couldn't do, God did. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:01.200 Who did it? 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:02.799 God did. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:05.519 I didn't do it, you didn't do it. 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:06.559 God did it. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:14.320 And that's the beauty of the confidence we have of that in Christ Jesus, because it is God doing the work, not us. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:22.960 He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:33.600 So he rendered just punishment for sin in the flesh by sending Jesus in the flesh as a sin offering. 00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.519 And again, the Jewish side of the room would be like, I know sin offering, I understand that. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:46.240 The payment for sin, in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who don't walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:49.919 So God did this through Jesus. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:56.159 So those of us who have put faith in Jesus can be declared not guilty. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:03.519 So positional sanctification is achieved by the work of Jesus and the washing of the Spirit. 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:12.080 For those of you who are note takers, 1 Corinthians 6.11 talks about being washed and sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus and the Spirit of our God. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:22.159 That the Spirit, upon faith in Jesus, enters us, indwells within us, and also washes us and declares us not guilty. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:30.320 So it ends here in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who don't walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:38.000 First of all, just a quick mention, in verse 3, it says, He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:51.279 Way, way, way, way back in the first couple centuries, there are people who believed that Jesus was spirit, he had no physical body, it was the likeness of flesh, and therefore that's how he was able to be perfect, how he would appear to die and appear to suffer. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:53.279 That's called heresy, by the way. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:12:00.320 That's why they had counsels and why they worked through all of that and were able to declare that not orthodox. 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:01.919 So that's not what is being said here. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:03.279 He came in the flesh. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.519 He was fully God, fully human. 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:12.480 So, and here in verse 4, Lord, that the requirement would be filled in us who don't walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.120 This idea of walking according to the flesh and according to the Spirit. 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:21.120 Now it's easy at that point to go, well, wait a minute, does that mean that my no condemnation is shaky? 00:12:21.200 --> 00:12:22.960 Because what if I'm walking according to the flesh? 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:24.559 What if I'm walking according to the spirit? 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:25.279 How does that work? 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.879 What they're talking about here is a lifestyle. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:38.559 Those who are walking according to these things will serve these things, will invest in these things, and will glorify these things. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:45.840 So if we serve the f if we are serving the flesh, investing in the flesh, and glorifying the flesh, that's what's talking about here. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:48.799 And that is not the life of a believer, which I'll show you in a moment. 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:57.200 Verse 5, those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:02.799 So that is the mindset of those who walk according to the flesh. 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:05.600 It's not somebody who struggles like we saw in chapter 7. 00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:15.759 Somebody who has their mind set on the flesh, their heart turned towards that, to follow and obey and indulge in and to glorify the flesh. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:21.600 But those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.879 They are invested, they serve, and they glorify the Lord in the Spirit. 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:32.720 Verse 6, the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:40.480 And here in verse 7, the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God, because it does not submit to God's law and is unable to do so. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.320 So this is what we're talking about here. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:45.679 This is clearly not a bel not a believer who struggles. 00:13:45.919 --> 00:13:52.559 This is not somebody who is struggling in sin but having that struggle. 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:59.360 It's somebody who has their minds set on it, who lives according to it, who does not submit to God, who is hostile to God. 00:13:59.519 --> 00:14:01.039 That's not a believer. 00:14:02.159 --> 00:14:03.840 And then it kicks off in verse 8. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:06.720 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:18.799 So that's a nice shot again to the people on this side of the room, the converted Gentiles, who want to say, hey, I'm gonna, I believe in Jesus, but I'm just gonna keep doing whatever I want to do, and I'm not going to submit to him. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:25.679 I can be sinful, I can do that, and I cannot obey that, and I don't have to submit to him. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:27.200 I'm gonna do what I want. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.840 So both sides are already still uncomfortable with that. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:45.919 So here we see in verses 5 through 8 the bad the difference, whereas what we want to in this church, you know, the Jewish side, the Gentile side, they're trying to create a division this way between the two, saying there's a difference. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:54.320 Here Paul is saying, no, you guys are in the same group, and then there's a distinction between those and those who follow the flesh and do not follow God. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.279 You cannot achieve righteousness through the flesh. 00:14:57.440 --> 00:14:58.720 So that's the distinction. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:02.320 It's not Jew or Gentile, it's not uh law, spirit, things like that. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.200 It is Jesus or not Jesus. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.559 I just put myself on the not Jesus side, and that made me really uncomfortable. 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:12.799 So it is it is Jesus, and then way, way, way back there, not Jesus. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:18.960 So the determining factor we see in verses 9 and 10. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.879 You, however, again, he's speaking to who? 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:31.039 Believers, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God lives in you. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:38.399 So, how do we know that we are in the spirit if the spirit of God lives in us? 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:45.679 This is called the indwelling of the Spirit, which is given upon faith in Jesus. 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:53.519 It was promised by Jesus in John 14, 17, that when he goes, the helper would come, would be with them, and would live in them. 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:59.519 And this indwelling we see as a seal and as a down payment. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:15.840 The seal being this idea that you have product on a dock that's yours that's going to be shipped to your house, and you put the wax on it, and then you melt the wax, and you put your signet ring in that that says, This is mine, and I'm picking it up on the other side. 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:19.919 And that's what the Holy Spirit is in the life of a believer. 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:25.759 That affirmation, that truth, that fact, that we belong to him. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:27.519 And also that down payment. 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:36.960 If you put a down payment down, you're saying, we're entering a contract here, and I will pray, I will come back with the rest, but this is mine, don't sell it to somebody else. 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:44.559 If you put down a down payment on a car, and then they sell that car to somebody else, we're gonna have a conversation. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:50.559 So, with that, that's what the Holy Spirit does as a seal and a down payment. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:17:00.000 And again, this is not, I don't feel like I have the Holy Spirit living within me. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:03.840 It's okay to think that, and it's okay to have that thought. 00:17:03.919 --> 00:17:04.960 That's not a wrong thought. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:09.599 It's just not true if you have confessed and believed Jesus. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:18.000 Because the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a fact through the person and work of Jesus. 00:17:18.160 --> 00:17:34.000 And so the Spirit is the guarantee and the down payment and the seal that makes us go, even on good days and even on bad days, there is no condemnation for me, for I am in Christ Jesus. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:35.680 Isn't that amazing? 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:46.319 Here's the crazy thing about this passage is that there are 30 mentions of the Holy, and by my count, 30 mentions of the Holy Spirit in Romans, 15 of them are in this passage. 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:54.799 So I think that he's trying to say something here about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:01.759 So, God achieved this not guilty verdict for us. 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.400 We receive it through faith in Jesus. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:10.799 We have the Holy Spirit living within us, and therefore we are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:12.000 Is there struggle? 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:12.880 Yes, absolutely. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:14.160 We went over that last week. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:16.880 There is a struggle between the two, and we'll talk about that in a moment. 00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:24.480 So, in verse 11, actually, I'm gonna do it in verse nine, you're not in the flesh, but in spirit, indeed the spirit of God lives in you. 00:18:24.559 --> 00:18:26.720 If anyone doesn't have the spirit of Christ, he doesn't belong to him. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:28.480 See, that's the determining factor here. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:34.960 Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit gives life because of righteousness. 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:44.240 And the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his spirit who lives in you. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:58.079 So, once again, the determining factor of whether there's condemnation or not, faith in Jesus, indwelling of the Holy Spirit, that is a legal declaration regardless of how we feel on a given moment. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:15.759 And ultimately, here's the beauty: we have a struggle still, like we talked about last week, between a sin nature that lives within us, that we'll talk about in just a moment for the rest of this passage, but a sin nature that lives within us, and a spirit who lives within us that convicts us and encourages us and exhorts us. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:18.480 And that's a battle in between us on a daily basis. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:26.400 And we saw Paul having that battle in the previous chapter, which is very, very encouraging, that he still has that battle, and he's, well, Paul and I'm not. 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:30.640 So, but the beauty in here is this promise. 00:19:31.119 --> 00:19:40.240 If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his spirit who lives in you. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:47.119 Sin is defeated on the cross, death is defeated one day in glory. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:52.000 And there's here's again, I'm throwing uh theology statements at you. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:53.440 Glorification. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:20:11.200 This is what this means when we will one day trade our old bodies, which we currently have, tainted by sin, that will be removed, we will be given new bodies, we will be raised in newness, not tainted by sin. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.640 That struggle has a shelf date. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:17.759 And one day it will no longer be. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:19.039 Isn't that encouraging? 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:28.799 So at the beginning of the life of a believer, you have no condemnation because you have positional sanctification, right? 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:36.160 Because you have been given righteousness through the justification of God, through the work of Jesus, as we have faith in him. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:42.480 And you have positional sanctification as the Holy Spirit washes you and says, you are holy in God's sight. 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:49.119 At the end, you have glorification, where even the struggle will die. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:55.839 And even the sin nature that lives within us has a shelf life. 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:02.559 That just as Jesus is raised again, so we will be raised and receive a new body. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.119 Praise the Lord for that. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.160 What happens in between, though? 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:13.920 Because that's where we're living now, for those of us who believe in Jesus, and that's where we're going next. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:23.119 We talked about two parts of sanctification positional sanctification, and then there is progressive sanctification. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.640 Because theology people have to use alliteration, apparently. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.240 They both start with a P. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:28.720 Okay. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:35.200 So, and this is what they call the Ordo Saluti, because apparently they got to use Latin too. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:45.759 So, looking at the life of a believer, there is confession and belief, salvation, justification, positional sanctification. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:54.160 And then through the life of the believer, you have what's called progressive sanctification, which we'll talk about in a moment, leading up until glorification. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:57.440 And that is the life of a believer according to scripture. 00:21:57.680 --> 00:21:59.519 What is progressive sanctification? 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.720 This is the work in progress. 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:05.359 This is the struggle we saw in chapter 7. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:09.440 This is the everyday battle that we see there. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:18.319 So in verse 12, he says, So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.079 Because if you live according to the flesh, you're going to die. 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:24.400 Wow. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:27.119 That was a sharp right turn. 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:36.720 So, talking to brothers and sisters here, talking to the believers in the church in Rome, he says, we don't have to live according to the flesh. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.440 We are not obligated to do so. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:41.519 We are not enslaved to do so. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:47.440 Before Christ, we were enslaved to sin and to follow and obey sin. 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:52.880 Here he's saying, in Christ, you don't have to follow that. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:55.839 You don't have to obey that. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.960 You can not sin. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.839 Because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.240 That's a pretty intense statement, right? 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:17.599 It reminds me of Genesis 2.17, when God is speaking to Adam in the garden, prior to sin. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:22.319 You can eat the tree, any tree in here. 00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.319 Just don't eat from this one tree, for on the day you eat it, you will surely die. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:33.200 And that is a beautiful picture of what this looks like. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:40.000 Choosing to follow and obey, rather than choosing to disobey. 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:49.839 So here he's saying to these believers, to these Jewish believers, you don't have to follow sin, because if you do, you're going to die. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.599 There are consequences for sin, it turns out. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:55.599 Very real and sort of consequences. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:24:01.200 Without getting too weird and don't take this further than I'm saying it, but the Lord is sovereign, right? 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:04.880 And if he says he's going to do something, he is going to do it. 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.039 But we might have a whole lot of consequences along the way. 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:13.440 And the best picture I have for that is the life of Sampton, which is brutal. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:18.720 Because I don't know why in children's ministry typically they have like the flannel graph and the what was it? 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:21.519 He was a strong man, and then he cut his hair, and that's the end. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:23.920 There was a lion in there somewhere in a jawbone. 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:24.400 Okay. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:34.160 Before he was born, God had an immense calling on his life and told his parents, this man will begin to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:40.720 Samson then proceeded to literally do every single thing wrong that he could have done wrong. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:42.079 Intentionally. 00:24:42.319 --> 00:24:45.359 Deliberately, violently. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:52.319 Is it weird that we celebrate a man who beat hundreds of men to death with a jawbone? 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:53.279 Okay. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:25:08.799 Um having that said, at the end of his life, in his suicide, he brings down the temple on the Philistines, and the statement, he killed more Philistines with his death than in his life, is so chilling. 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:12.960 Because God still did what he said he was going to do. 00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:21.519 But in Samson's life, he lost his wife, he lost his love. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:25.119 Seemed from the text that he actually loved Delilah. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:26.720 Idiot. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:34.400 He lost his strength, he lost his eyes, and at the end he lost his life. 00:25:35.119 --> 00:25:49.119 He over and over and over paid the price in his own body leading up to his death, idiot, for his, see, I want to be equal opportunity here, uh-huh, for his sin. 00:25:49.440 --> 00:25:56.480 And so, if we choose to continue to sin, there are real life consequences that happen, and there is real life stakes in that. 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:02.079 How much condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:02.559 None. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:05.920 None! Absolutely not guilty. 00:26:06.880 --> 00:26:13.599 But there can be a whole lot of death that comes if we choose not to follow him in that. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:22.000 So, if in verse 13, if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:23.279 Okay, this is important. 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:25.119 A couple of important things in here. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:37.519 First important verses or words, if by the spirit, by the spirit, not by your own efforts, not by your own doing, by the spirit. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:46.319 The next thing, if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 00:26:46.799 --> 00:26:50.400 This is really, really important, and I'll talk about this a little bit here. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:55.599 Who gave us victory over sin and death? 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:57.119 Who condemned sin in the flesh? 00:26:58.079 --> 00:26:59.599 Yes, exactly. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:01.440 God, through Jesus. 00:27:01.759 --> 00:27:02.720 He did that. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:05.599 It is very clear in this passage. 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:08.000 We are called to do this. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:13.039 And this is where it gets important that we don't over-generalize. 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:18.000 That we don't sit there and go, okay, not guilty, good, move on, that's all you need to do. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:20.000 Do whatever you want, we're good. 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:30.720 Here, Paul is exhorting Christians to, by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body in order to live. 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:31.599 Active. 00:27:32.079 --> 00:27:34.480 You actively put to death the deeds of the body. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:38.000 So, this is what progressive sanctification looks like. 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:40.079 Actively doing so. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:42.400 We need to talk a little bit about how that works. 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:46.000 Because, again, that can get really, really, really dicey. 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:49.519 So, here's the best way I can do it. 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:53.119 For a couple of years, we lived in the panhandle of Florida. 00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:54.559 Respect. 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:56.960 You think it's hot? 00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:57.519 Mm-mm. 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:05.039 Our friends there who live now that are about to talk about, I think in the morning, the morning temperature was 89 degrees. 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:11.759 So, all that to say, um, they have an overabundance of things that are called alligators. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:27.200 And so we have friends, dear friends, who bought this amazing property outside of the city, and it's huge, they have all the land they need, and they're sitting they're telling us we have this beautiful lake. 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:35.200 It's amazing, and our our kids can go boating in it, and they go swimming, and they go fishing, and it's so amazing. 00:28:35.839 --> 00:28:42.799 Yeah, there's an alligator that lives in it, but it is so, and I'm just like, well, okay, we're gonna bring that back to the point where you said that. 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:44.079 It was like, let me get this straight. 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:45.680 You have an alligator, yes, we have an alligator. 00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:54.079 It's like there is an apex predator living in the lake where your kids swim. 00:28:55.039 --> 00:28:59.359 And they're like, well, well, yeah, but it's not big enough to be a problem yet. 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:03.519 And here's the thing how do you know when it's big enough? 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:05.920 At what point do you know? 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:12.000 Oops, well, sorry, like that's a that's insane. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:14.880 Okay, why am I telling you this? 00:29:15.039 --> 00:29:22.160 This is a really good illustration for what this looks like and how it can go right and how it can go wrong. 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:31.200 See, in our lives, in the life of a believer, we have a lake that has been purchased for us. 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:34.400 And we live there, and we're great with that. 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:39.279 The sin nature in our life is an alligator living in our lake. 00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:42.559 And we have to reconcile with that. 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:46.400 And there are three big ways for how we might reconcile with that. 00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:48.480 Here's the problem. 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:53.440 It's a hard punch, but I'll say it. 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:57.279 The reason we struggle with sin is because we don't hate our sin. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:08.799 We hate how it makes us feel, we hate the consequences afterwards, but if we are really, really honest, we really love sinning in the moment. 00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:14.559 And how I know that is because if we hated it in that exact moment, we would stop. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:19.839 We might hate it the moment afterwards, but in that moment, it feels so good to our flesh. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:25.279 So we do not view sin as an alligator living in our lake. 00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:35.519 We kind of view sin as a squirrel that lives in our yard that is kind of annoying and cute and endearing, and yes, it's frustrating that it digs in our yard and makes holes and leaves acorns everywhere. 00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.880 Gosh, I wish you would stop that, but it's gonna be okay. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:51.279 How we have been deceived to have that mindset that the sin nature in our lives is a cute and cuddly creature rather than an apex predator that wants to destroy us is amazing to me, but I do the same thing. 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:54.880 So, what do we do? 00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:59.119 What do we how do we reconcile? 00:30:59.359 --> 00:31:00.720 Three ways to do this. 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:08.799 Number one, you can go, I'm gonna take that alligator down. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:14.960 I am going to dedicate my life to fighting alligators. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:20.880 By my strength and by the power of my right arm, I'm left-handed, okay? 00:31:21.440 --> 00:31:24.240 I shall defeat this alligator. 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:29.440 If I see anything that looks even remotely like an alligator, I'm gonna punch it in the face. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:31.599 Just to be safe. 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:37.920 And again, the question I would ask is what if you're not quite strong enough? 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:41.519 That's gonna be ugly, you know. 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:47.839 And also, alligators are really good at living in lakes, really good at swimming. 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:51.920 That whole death spiral barrel roll thing, I've seen way too many nature shows. 00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:56.720 So, we do that by our own strength. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:58.640 We will probably die. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:01.759 Here's the other side. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:04.000 I am afraid of that alligator. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:08.079 I need to stop fearing the alligator, guys. 00:32:08.480 --> 00:32:15.279 So I am going to wage war on fear, and I'm going to be encouraged. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:23.359 I am going to walk in faith that that alligator is never gonna kill me, never gonna touch me. 00:32:24.960 --> 00:32:26.480 We can coexist. 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:28.160 It's not that big of a deal. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:32.000 In fact, I might even befriended by my encouragement. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:40.799 And once again, I would submit to you that in that moment the alligator goes, that's an easy snack. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:54.240 The third way, this is really controversial and a little bit mind-blowing. 00:32:55.039 --> 00:33:01.279 Get rid of the alligator! Have it removed, get help. 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:04.079 Get those who can do it. 00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:12.960 You know that our friends can just literally just call a phone number and someone will arrive and take the alligator and take it away, our other neighbors you are. 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:37.359 If we live solely in positional sanctification where there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, I am good, I am fine, I need nothing. 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:47.440 What we do in that moment, we get puffed up and it inoculates us from the reality of accountability. 00:33:48.720 --> 00:34:01.359 We don't need to deal with anything because we have some supernatural experience that's a trump card, and we can say, nope, not an issue in my life, look at that, done. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:06.079 Well, all the people are like, yeah, but look at your life, look at what's going on. 00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:08.719 No, I don't have that, I don't need that. 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:31.039 We inoculate ourselves from accountability if we do not take progressive sanctification seriously, if we do not take our positional sanctification seriously, we get puffed up in our pride that we can take down anything, and we become unbearable human beings. 00:34:31.519 --> 00:34:45.920 Not only constantly living like we need to punch anything that looks remotely like an alligator, but also that we should probably do that in the lives of everybody around us, driven by that fear. 00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:49.440 We need both. 00:34:49.679 --> 00:34:59.519 We need the positional sanctification of those vertical beams of a suspension bridge, and intention with the progressive sanctification of those cables coming across. 00:34:59.840 --> 00:35:00.480 Intention. 00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:03.440 We cannot live in a healthy way with one without the other. 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:06.400 We need both in order to grow to maturity. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:19.440 There's a really, really good quote, wish I knew who said it, that um says something along those lines of if your God never disagrees with you, you're probably worshiping an idealized version of yourself. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:23.199 That's intense. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:33.039 But that is what happens when we sit on the one side without addressing the other. 00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:39.519 And really bad things happen when we lose sight of our lack of condemnation, too, as well. 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:40.639 You need both. 00:35:40.800 --> 00:35:43.280 We need both, and that's why the Bible teaches both. 00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:45.599 What gives us this authority? 00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:55.840 How do we have the authority to mortify sin, as it has been called for hundreds of years of church history? 00:35:57.599 --> 00:35:58.719