Breaking off Condemnation and Experiencing Freedom Part II
Romans 8
Who is Life and Peace?
Introduction:
- America is the richest nation in the world and the most addicted to pain killers, sex, and illicit drugs than any nation of the world.
- America is the most physically healthy nation in the world, and yet we have more psychosis’, more people in mental institutions, and more depression than any nation of the world.
- Obviously health and wealth doesn’t buy happiness!
- If any of you are struggling with depression, you have come to the right place.
- There is one chapter of the Bible that can meet your darkest hour, your deepest depression, and your deepest confusion.
- Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, one of the great preachers of the 20th century, once said, “If a Christian’s Bible fell on the floor, it should automatically fall open to Romans 8.”
- Romans 8 is the antidote for depression and condemnation.
- Depression is always in one of three areas:
1. Haunted by our past
2. Anxious about our future
3. Depressed about our present
- When we’re depressed, anxious, and under condemnation, we start to ask the questions: How do I get out of this? How do I live the Christian life?
- If you ask the wrong question, you will get the wrong answer.
- Rather, the question is not “How,” but, “Who?”
- “Who” is the key question
- It is not a seminar you take
- It is not a syllabus you study
- But “WHO”
- “Who” is the question
- “Who” is the key
Vs. 1
- As we discussed in our last message, there is absolutely no condemnation, none whatsoever.
- Like the prostitute before Jesus, there is no condemnation.
- Jesus said to her, “I don’t condemn you! Go your way and sin no more!”
- “I am freeing you from all condemnation. You are free!”
- To those who are “in Christ Jesus.”
- Ex. Like Noah and his family in the Ark, God told Noah to put pitch within and without, the word “pitch” is the same for atonement (Kaphar). It is a picture of salvation!
- The rains came and the Lord shut them in. In the pitch, they were shut in. He did not say, “I give you 8 pegs to hold on to and if you can hang on, you will make it.” Noah was in the Ark, and you are in Christ.
- No matter how tough the seas may be, you are shut in, you are covered, you are saved.
- Ex. I love Homemade Ice Cream. Do you know what the ingredients are in homemade ice cream? Pure cream! White sugar! Pure Butter! The CALORIES!! But homemade ice cream is now “in Steve Holt.” All of that ice cream is hidden “in Steve Holt.” Buried, hidden, sinfully delicious ice cream is covered by me!!
- So, too, if you have believed in Christ, you are “in Christ.” When the Lord looks at you, He doesn’t see you. He sees His Son.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
- You are hidden in Him, thus you are free in Christ.
- You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
- Whoever you are, wherever you have been, there is absolutely no condemnation.
Vs. 2
- We are all being pulled down by three forces:
- Satan
- Our Flesh
- World Systems
- They are always pulling us down, creating Spiritual atrophy.
- You cannot take on all 3 in your own power!
- Satan uses your flesh and the world systems, together, to bring you down.
- But the Spirit has set you free from the spiritual gravity of sin and death!
- The Spirit is the power. The Spirit is mentioned 20 times in this chapter. No other chapter of the Bible mentions the Holy Spirit this much.
- Ex. We have a number of military pilots in our church and they will tell you that the power of the plane engine is a higher law of aerodynamics. This is a higher law than the law of gravity.
- It is not possibility thinking. No! Visual imagery? No! It is the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus, living within me.
Vs. 3-4
- The law itself, the 10 commandments, could not be kept by our flesh.
- You can set up all kinds of laws for yourself, even write them in your journal, but you will find that you will always break them.
- But God has taken care of the law, by the righteous fulfillment of the law made known through Jesus, the Holy Spirit.
- It is not done by keeping rules and regulations, but through a relationship, a friendship, with Jesus.
Vs. 5-8
- To be “carnally minded” is death! Your spirit, your conscience, your energy all die.
- To be “spiritually minded” is life and peace!
- Is there really any choice? Are you nuts to go back to death? Bondage? Depression?
- The flesh, Satan, and the world will eat you alive and kill your spirit.
- Work with your kids on this!
- To live carnally is to constantly think about the flesh: food, our homes, our vacations. We are minding the things of the material realm.
- Why is it death? God is a Trinity, (Father, Son, and Spirit), 3 in 1, in perfect union, and when God created us, He created us in 3 parts, a kind of lesser trinity of Body, Soul, and Spirit.
- The Spirit is the real you, the deepest part of you. The soul is your mind and emotions, and the body is this physical thing we live in temporarily.
- When God created man, He created him 3 in 1.
- The Spirit of God and the spirit of man communed with each other. It was life.
- Then man sinned and gave into his flesh; the flesh took over. The body on top cannot relate to the Spirit of God. They are out of touch; they are at war with each other.
- With the body on top, the Spirit cannot relate, and they are now out of touch with each other.
- The mind is in the middle:
- It is our mind, our soul that determines which direction we are going to go, how we are going to be entertained, how we are going to feed our flesh.
- Who is going to control the mind, the body or the Spirit?
- Is my body controlling my thinking? If so, I am carnally minded and I am experiencing death!
- Is the Spirit controlling my thinking? That is life and peace!!
Romans 12:2
…do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Colossians 3:2-3
Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
- If you have received Christ, you have the Spirit of God.
- But then the body comes again and gradually takes over!
Who is going to control my soul, my mind? The flesh or the Spirit?
If it is the flesh, it will lead to death. And we will wonder why we are not connecting with God.
- Good News!! There is more to life. You must be filled with the Spirit; your mind must think on the things of the Spirit.
- Happiness is being filled with the Spirit, letting the Spirit control your life.
Ephesians 5:18
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.
- Who is going to control your soul? Is it your flesh, your house, your cars, your hobbies? This is death.
Ex. Ask Solomon! Money and gold? They were like dirt. Women and sex? Solomon had 1000 wives. Wisdom and knowledge? “Vanity of vanities” is what he said!
- Solomon couldn’t find happiness through power, prestige, and people. “Vanity of vanities” is what he said.
- The average person, thinks “I’m almost happy. I just need a little more money, a little more house, a little more….more, more, more…”
Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure"; but surely, this also was vanity.
2 I said of laughter--"Madness!"; and of mirth, "What does it accomplish?"
3 I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.
4 I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.
5 I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6 I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. 7 I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.
8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds.
9 So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my wisdom remained with me.
10 Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;
And this was my reward from all my labor.
11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.
- Learn from Solomon: the richest man, the wisest man in the world. This was his conclusion:
Ecclesiastes 12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man's all.
- What is ruling your soul? The Spirit? The flesh?
- There is no condemnation, but wake up!! If you are living carnally minded, then the next ski weekend, the next vacation, is death!
- The great challenge is to help our kids understand this: it is not about the right clothes, the right car, or the right hobby.
- Show yourself spiritual. The priorities of your life are the Spirit.
- As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! This is where peace comes into our troubled homes.
Vs. 9
- The word “dwell” means to “be at home.” Is the Holy Spirit “at home” in your life? Can the Holy Spirit kick back and enjoy your life and your mind?
- Or do you take Him to activities, to parties, to conversations that quench the Spirit?
- Paul says that if you are in an immoral sexual relationship, fornication, or an extramarital affair, you are joining Christ to a harlot.
1Corinthians 6:15
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!
- Do you think Christ can be comfortable in your life if you are involved in fornication?
- Would you think about that the next time you watch something questionable on TV?
- Would you think about that the next time you read a novel?
- Or will you spend too much time with that magazine? Or take in that gossip? Jesus is in that activity because Christ lives in you.
- There is no condemnation, but there does need to be a realization of what is going on. You are the one who is missing out! Your kids are paying the price for your carnality.
- Is Christ happy with what you are joining Him to?
- Is Christ in your life? Have you given your heart to Him?
- Do you long for life and peace? I have found that there are two key activities that can transform a life:
- Learn to Serve for the glory of God: Jesus said the greatest is the servant of all.
- Learn to Give for the glory of God: Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Vs. 10-13
- This is the great freedom for us!
- Crucify your flesh! Nail your flesh down.
- You crucify the flesh through the Spirit. What does this mean? You can’t crucify yourself. You can’t get down on the cross and nail yourself down. You can only get halfway.
- If you want to walk in the Spirit, you must let the Spirit crucify your flesh.
- Ex. Remember the story of the Ark and the nation of Israel. The Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant and they put it in their Temple of Dagon, the fish god, (half god/half man). The next day, the priests came in and the great statue of Dagon had fallen over and it was broken. They said that the Ark had to go!!
- The way to overcome your carnal flesh, the deeds of the flesh that are controlling you, is to bring the Ark, Christ, into your life.
- Let the presence of the Holy Spirit take over your life.
- Bring in the Spirit of Christ.
- Be filled with the Holy Spirit! It will actually give you physical energy!
- Give your life to Him first thing in the morning! Seek the Lord to guide you when you turn on the radio or when you turn on the TV.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
- God will begin to give you new interest! Not working through Dagon, but bringing the Spirit!
- If you walk in a dark room, you don’t rebuke the darkness or shout at the darkness; you turn on the light!!
Conclusion:
Are there areas in your life that you want to see God take over this year?
Are there fleshly areas that you want to invite the Spirit to work on?
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This sermon was produced at Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs, with Senior Pastor Steve Holt. www.mountainsprings.org
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