Catch On Fire Podcasts - Bible Teaching & Christian Encouragement

What Changes When We Live by the Spirit? - [Romans 8:1-4 Verse by Verse Bible Study]

• Novella Springette | Bible Teaching & Christian Podcasts • Season 1 • Episode 16

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What if the worst thing you’ve ever done no longer had the power to hurt you? We open Romans 8 and step into a verdict that changes everything: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Not a feeling, not a slogan—an unshakable judgment that frees you from shame and sets you on a Spirit-led path toward life, purpose, and courage.

We trace the turning point Paul reaches after seven chapters of wrestling with sin and the law. The law exposes the wound but cannot heal it; the Spirit of life does what effort never could. You’ll hear how Mary Magdalene’s story embodies restored identity, how Lillian Trasher’s care turned abandoned infants into leaders, and how former addicts in Hong Kong learned to love the unloved and set captives free. Paul’s own transformation—from Pharisee to servant—shows what happens when the Spirit redirects ambition into sacrificial love.

Then we look at the shape of a Spirit-led life: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus set aside status to honor Jesus with humble, costly devotion. Bonhoeffer models courage under tyranny, refusing to bow to evil. These portraits reveal a pattern: freedom from sin and death becomes freedom for generosity, justice, and worship. Along the way we offer clear takeaways on identity before instruction, the law of the Spirit of life, and how the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us through the indwelling presence of God.

If you’re ready to trade condemnation for calling and fear for freedom, this conversation will meet you with Scripture, story, and practical steps for living by the Spirit. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review telling us where you’re seeing the Spirit lead you this week.

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Catch On Fire Podcasts aims to lead us all into a closer walk with God as we strive to become more like Jesus.

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What if the worst thing we've ever done no longer defined us and never would again? Romans 8 opens with one of the most powerful declarations in all of Scripture. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This passage is not merely theological, it is transformational. In just four verses, Paul explains what God has accomplished through Christ for those who believe. What the law can never fix, God Himself has done. Sin loses its grip. The Spirit brings real freedom. A completely new kind of life begins. Romans 8 is a turning point in Paul's letter. After seven chapters of wrestling with sin, law and human inability, Paul now shifts from struggle to assurance, from frustration to freedom, and from death to life. This new life is not powered by human effort, but by the Spirit of God. In this podcast, we will explore what it truly means to live without condemnation, how the Spirit sets us free from sin and death, and how believers are now enabled to live spirit-led lives. We'll walk through Romans 8 1 to 4, verse by verse, focusing on three core truths. One, believers have freedom from condemnation in Christ. Two, the law of the spirit of life sets us free. Three, believers now live according to the Spirit. With that foundation in place, let us step into the text itself. Paul begins not with instruction, but with identity. Paul opens the chapter with a sweeping declaration. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. The word therefore signals that this statement is the conclusion of everything Paul has argued in chapters 1 through 7. Humanity is sinful, the law is holy but powerless to save. Even the most sincere efforts cannot produce righteousness. Yet, because of Christ, everything has changed. Because Jesus, the second Adam, has died and risen again, believers are no longer slaves to sin, and the law no longer holds dominion over us. No condemnation is not a feeling, it is a legal declaration rooted in faith in Christ. This truth is not abstract. Scripture gives us vivid examples of what life without condemnation looks like. One of the clearest is Mary Magdalene. This formerly demon-possessed woman was the first person entrusted by Jesus to tell others that he was now risen from the dead. Jesus did not condemn her for her past. We know that Mary had to have been tormented because she had not one but seven demons which had taken up residence in her body. No information is provided on how she fell prey to this calamity. It is presumed that she must have dabbled at some point in some form of witchcraft, as normally it is through these practices that human beings tend to fall prey to demonic influence. Demonic possession is devastating. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, and he plies his trade on those who are totally under his influence. We do not know how many years she was under the influence of the demons. What we do know is that no one had been able to free her from these demons, and there were certainly members of the priesthood, scribes, and Pharisees in her town, as she was definitely a Jew. It was only when the King of Glory, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus stepped into Mary Magdalene's life that she was delivered from bondage. Luke tells us that after being set free, Mary Magdalene followed Jesus as he went around doing good. The Bible records that Mary Magdalene stuck with Jesus during his last days on earth. She was there when the crowd said, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. She was also there when they said, Crucify him. Early on resurrection Sunday, Mary rushed to the tomb to continue worshiping Jesus. She did not go empty-handed. She arrived with sweet spices to anoint Jesus. Even in debt, she was still giving Jesus of her best. Jesus revealed himself to Mary. It is to Mary Magdalene that Jesus first entrusts his message to the other disciples that he is truly risen. This once despised, a much looked down on woman, was treated with grace by our loving Savior. Mary Magdalene had no condemnation. Lillian Trasher served Jesus as a missionary in Egypt from 1911 to 1961. She ran one of the largest orphanages in the world, and many of those who she rescued went on to attain respectable positions in society. Often, when new babies came to Lillian's orphanage, they were filthy, thin, sick, motherless, and often fatherless as well. Lillian would welcome these ragged, dirty babies by giving them a warm bath and a bottle of milk. She would then place the babies in nice clean cribs so that they could sleep comfortably. In her memos, Lillian speaks about traveling to Cairo to visit with some of these once destitute abandoned babies who had gone on to live successful lives as adults. William, the son of a blind man, was now the principal of a fine school. Philip was a professor in Alexandria. Zachar graduated with a bachelor's degree from Cairo University. Edward was designing airplanes. These adults who were once unwanted and unloved babies were now living their lives out in the fullness of God's love with absolutely no condemnation. God still offers the same freedom to all who will believe. And if there is truly no condemnation, the question naturally follows, how is this possible? Paul answers that question next. Point 2. The law of the spirit of life sets us free. Paul explains the reason condemnation has been removed. Because through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit, who gives life, has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. The law could reveal sin, but he could never remove it. No matter how sincerely people tried to obey, the flesh always failed. Only Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, fulfilled the law perfectly and offered himself as a substitutionary sacrifice. Because Christ has paid the price in full, believers are now freed from the law of sin and death. The Spirit of God now reigns where the law once condemned. Paul knew this personally. As a Pharisee of the Pharisees, he outperformed even the most scrupulous law keepers. Yet when Christ set him free, his life was transformed. No longer driven by self-righteousness, Paul became a servant, collecting aid for the poor, suffering persecution, and pouring himself out for the sake of others. Several New Testament epistles document that the Apostle Paul, who once tried to destroy the Christian church, collected money from the Gentile churches to take to the poor in Jerusalem who are being persecuted and suffering. Paul had been set free to live for Jesus. This same pattern appears again and again throughout church history. Jackie Pelinger witnessed former drug addicts in Hong Kong, once enslaved, now free, become instruments of freedom for others. They loved the unloved, rescued exploited children, and lived out the reality of new life in Christ. Some of these former drug addicts went to a city in Asia and found children who were flower sellers. Most of these flower sellers had run away from home and were now slaves. They had come to the city hoping to make money and were sleeping by the railway station. The boss who gave them the flowers to sell also took all the money they made. These former drug addicts took these children out to eat hamburgers and noodles and loved on them. One young girl met Jesus as this group loved on her, fed her, washed her, and cared for her. These former drug addicts then asked the boss to set the little girl free and send her home. They also told this boss about the love of Jesus. He too accepted Jesus and agreed to release the young girl. These former drug addicts raised the money for the train ticket and took the young girl back to her family who were overjoyed to see her again. An encounter with Jesus set this little girl free from a formerly desperate life and allow her to walk in newness of life. Freedom in Christ is never merely freedom from something, it is freedom for something. Paul now shows us the purpose of this freedom. three, believers now live according to the Spirit. Paul concludes, and so he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Until Jesus condemned sin by coming in the flesh, dying and being raised from the dead, the righteous requirements of the law could not be fully met by anyone. Through Christ's death and resurrection, the righteous requirements of the law can now be fulfilled, not by human effort, but by the indwelling spirit. Believers become the temple of the living God, empowered to live differently. We see the Spirit-led life in the actions of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. These wealthy, respected men set aside their status to care for the broken body of Jesus. After Jesus gave up his life on the cross, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus asked Pilate for permission to collect the body and bury Jesus. These two were extremely wealthy and powerful men who were asking permission to carry out what would normally be done by servants. This was definitely a spirit-led choice. Scripture implies that Joseph and Nicodemus removed the bloody, dirty body of Christ from the cross without any help. In those days it was the custom of the Jews to wrap the dead body in spices and ointment. Before placing Jesus in the tomb, Joseph and Nicodemus prepared to wrap Jesus with myrrh and aloes. Although less than one pound was normally used in Israelite funerary preparations, Nicodemus brought 75 pounds to prepare Jesus' body for burial. Nicodemus was giving his all and his very best. Before wrapping the body with the spices, it had to be prepared. That meant Nicodemus and Joseph had to remove all foreign matter from the body and wash it thoroughly. There were thorns in Jesus' head from the crown of thorns. There were splinters from the cross all over his back and body. These all had to be removed. The blood that Jesus was coated in had to be washed away. Normally, a servant would do this type of dirty work, but these two extremely wealthy men did it all by themselves. They were acutely aware that they were honored to have the opportunity to do so. Joseph and Nicodemus did not spare any expense or effort in the burial of Jesus. They gave generously, served humbly and spared no effort. The obedience flowed from love, not obligation. Today, because those two men ignored their social standing and were led of the spirit to undertake what was supposedly a menial task, we still honor their worship. During World War II, Dietrich Bonhoeffer decided that he would not collaborate with Hitler and that instead he would be led by the Spirit of God. Adolf Hitler personally specified on April 5, 1945, that Dietrich von Hoeffer was not to survive the war and ordered his death. Dietrich von Hoeffer was led by the Spirit of God to actively work against Hitler's evil. Once we encounter Jesus, our lives are no longer shaped by the standards of the world. We are led by the Spirit of God. We began by asking whether the worst thing we've ever done still defines us. Paul's answer in Romans 8 is unmistakable. Through Jesus Christ, there is now no condemnation. The Spirit has set us free from sin and death, and we are empowered to live spirit-led lives. Our past no longer has the authority to define us. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Before you go, if this message spoke to you, like this podcast and subscribe so you don't miss what God is doing here at Catch on Fire Podcasts. If you are ready for real change, take a moment right now to pray with me. Jesus, I give you my life. Lead me, forgive me, and make me new. If you pray that, welcome to the family. Follow along, stay connected, and let's walk this walk together. Please join me as we confess words of life over all of our lives. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are still holding on to God's unchanging hand. We are still in God's holy plan. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are living holy lives as God requires. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, giving clothes to those in need, ministering to the sick and visiting those in prison, and we are doing so to the least of those among us, as when we do so we are ministering to Jesus. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we have received healing, as by his stripes we are healed. From the crown of our head to the soles of our feet, all of our bodily organs are working correctly. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that God is ordering our steps, that all weapons that are formed against us have been utterly and completely destroyed, and every tongue that is rising against us in judgment is condemned. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that all generational curses are cancelled. Anything that runs in our ancestral bloodline that is not of God has no power over us, our children and our grandchildren, and is eliminated forever right now. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that angels are watching over and keeping our family. Family, our children, our grandchildren, or loved ones safe. We declare in the Queen the name of Jesus that every negative word that has been and is being spoken over our lives and that of our family, children, grandchildren, and loved ones is cancelled and sent back to the pit from whence it came. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are the head and not the tail. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are not and will never be ashamed. Our enemies have not and never will triumph over us. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that anything that is not of God, that has been dispatched to hinder our blessings, our progress, and our well-being is immediately destroyed. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are financially in line with God's word, and as such we are lenders and not borrowers. As a result, all of our debts have been paid and are forgiven. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that the enemy of our souls has no authority over our finances and our funds, and that we are good stewards of the money that God has placed in our keeping. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that in the area of business and our carriers, that just as Isaac reaped a hundredfold, the blessings of Abraham are falling on us, and we are reaping a hundredfold from whatever we put our hands to. We declare and decree in the name of Jesus that we are living under an open heaven in every area of our lives. Blessings are falling on us, our family and our loved ones. These blessings are being manifested in our lives, in the spiritual and in the physical. Let's repeat the 23rd Psalm together. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restored my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies, thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runeth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen.