Romans 8:1-11 The Normal Christian Life Pt. 1

Announcements!!  Adopt-a-dawgs!  “Around the Table” (Nov. 22nd)  Thanksgiving Meal!! (At CV)  Christmas Extravaganza!! (Dec 3 rd )  Senior Night!! (Dec. 4 th )  Bigger Vision!! (Dec. 6 th )  Gulf Coast Getaway!! (MLK Weekend—Jan )  Honduras!! (July 12 th -19 th ) 1 st meeting on Dec. 8th

Romans 8 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not 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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Weird Words  Condemn (V.1)  “Express complete disapproval of, typically in public”  Sentence  Courtrooms and houses  God is both the righteous judge of the universe and the good father of His children  The God Pendulum

“Condemned Men”

Evil and Men  There is something to be learned of God in the way we respond to evil  Casting out, pushing away, a covering up of sorts  We know enough to know we can’t take this on ourselves  But that’s where God is different  In Jesus, God takes up evil into and onto Himself and deals with it, allowing a choice to be made (V.3)  He CONDEMNS CONDEMNATION  The choice is condemnation or no condemnation

4 Paths That Condemn  Everyone is one a path (V.5)  “Set you MINDS”  Everyone is looking for JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION, SANCTIFICATION  We make GOOD things ULTIMATE things  1. Ourselves  Self improvement  “I can do this!”  What happens when you fail?  Self-condemnation

4 Paths That Condemn  2. Others  JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION, SANCTIFICATION  Self-fulfillment  End up USING others instead of LOVING them  This is where this ULTIMATELY goes  Others condemn you or you condemn others

4 Paths That Condemn  3. The World  Think systems or structures  JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION, SANCTIFICATION  Lots of people put stock in these (consumerism, politics, organizations, causes)  But they will ultimately turn on you or disappoint you or blind you (Kony 2012)  Condemnation comes through the structures to you impersonally

4 Paths That Condemn  4. Religion  Seems to offer a way out  JUSTIFICATION, ADOPTION, SANCTIFICATION  Every other religion is about how you get UP to God  Rules are more important than relationship  Rules condemn you

Gospel CAN Save  We have all rebelled against God because we have made these things and ourselves king (V.7)  The Gospel of Jesus both undercuts and fulfills all these things  It is the only thing that can forgive you when you fail it because it is BOTH PERSONAL and had AUTHORITY  Gospel comes in history  SENDING in V.3 is ROYAL language  The kingdom turns everything upside down  The weak become strong, the strong become weak  Repentance sets us on the true path

Gospel CAN Save  We turn away from the old world of Sin and Death (Egypt)  Live out of and for and towards the world to come  FLESH in Paul in the Old Way  SPIRIT is the New Way  Not Gnosticism  The Real and the Hyper-Real  The things that are really going to last and matter

Flesh Vs. Spirit  The ROPE of ETERNITY  Focusing on FLESH is destined to fail because you will die  Focusing on God, Spirit, and Eternity on the other hand is what lasts (V.6)  Changes the way you look at people, possessions, relationships…  CS Lewis on DESIRE  2 Cor. 5:14-21

“In Christ”  These things only come to those IN CHRIST  When is someone in the ocean?  Belief is when you move toward something  There’s a moment when you go from being ON LAND to IN THE OCEAN  Paul uses this 171 times in the NT  No other major faith talks like this!  There is a COSMIC nature to this Jesus  Christianity is an invitation to SOMETHING BIGGER  Annie Dillard

Dwells In You  God in me? Weird?  When Paul says this, he undoubtedly thinking of the temple in the OT  The temple was the place where people went to meet with God  At the center was the HOLY of HOLIES, where God was thought to actually LIVE  God wants YOU to be the place where people meet God  You start to become like your Father  This is the same power that raised Jesus!  There’s some motivation to fight Sin!

What Activates This Power?  Cross-shaped love! Vulnerability, humility, etc.  We learn in both Jesus and the Spirit that when God gives, He gives HIMSELF!  Heb. 12:2  Let go of the shame! The cross took it!  Your sin isn’t to big for the cross!  Confess and carry each others burdens (Gal. 6:2)  This is living out of the Spirit  HIDING is living out of the FLESH!

Prayer