My Sin . . . and "The Things of the Spirit", Part 1

Today from Chuck Swindoll's capable to be throughout life is a little three letter word sin.

If we could somehow get past the sin how high we would fly how alive we could be in Christ, leaving Jesus explained that help was on the way companion was coming later.

The apostle Paul would explain this phenomenon to the Romans. He said the spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in and just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead. He will give life to your mortal bodies by the same spirit living within today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll helps us understand the magnitude of this promise versions worship. Perhaps I should say paraphrases of the New Testament came from the pen of JB Phillips.

Some of us will remember when he first began to write those letters to young churches in and we we purchased a copy of of his paraphrase to the churches in and of the letters of Paul and the end of the Peter and James and Jude and John and then as time passed. Phillips finally released the entire work to the New Testament and it is always been one of one of my favorite perhaps because he is British. He was British and had had that particular touch on the English language that we in America sometimes lack.

I remember reading a small work of his son years ago that had a title that sort of shook me by the shoulders.

It was a statement that became the title of his little book your God is too small. If you are able to find a copy is now out of print, but if you're able to find a copy of that you will find it intriguing. It is made up of a number of his radio messages, your God, is to small I meet up with and I confess to you in my own life I meet up with a number of Christians who are not satisfied with their walk with Christ. It isn't that that we are in some gross valley of the disobedience it it is in fact that we want to to obey Christ, but it isn't real clear and we seek God's direction in mind to know what it is exactly that is missing and it is difficult to put our finger on it. I I confess to you that I have thought within recent weeks and months. Perhaps there is a there was a source of power. And I mean this for God's glory. Not something I want to have by way of power for my own use, but a reservoir of power that can be tapped into that we may be missing. It is my personal opinion that in light of Phillips title for that little book that we need to let God out of the box that we have a defensiveness weave evangelical Christians, we have a defensiveness about our our theology, and it is a desire that we stay with in balance of that of of that frame of reference. Lest we be labeled something else and I have found that many time with and run with or more concerned about the label that might be given that about obeying what the Scripture says and I get uneasy about that. At the same time I do not believe that is wise to throw all caution to the wind and give up the discernment that we should have in in shaping our thinking, we need to hold God in the awesome respect that he deserves. But at the same time you and I walk in, in such limited realms of light when I feel there is so much more that could be hours for the having so much more peace so much more confident so much more assurance that that we are in his will, and we are moving in the direction he would have us go and we are not to see ourselves as victims of a world but rather as conquerors as victors Martin Lloyd Jones put it this way, we must be careful in these matters. What do we know of the realm of the spirit. What do we know of the spirits falling on people. What do we know about these great manifestations of the Holy Spirit. We need to be very careful lest we be found fighting against God, lest we be guilty of quenching the Spirit of God, and I was say to those words of the late to Lloyd Jones of being careful should not in any way hinder us from being open, being careful should not in any way make us resistant to truth to being teachable willing to hear and to heed so far. We played our cards pretty close to the vest. Definitely in at least in this series we have looked at Jesus words in John 14. His words to the 12 on the Last Supper. We have watched the apostles respond to him in a very human manner. We have seen the spirit of God, Pentecost, and we stand back in a room. 20 centuries removed from that and we look at it from a distance trying to imagine what it would be like out-of-control as the wind of the Holy Spirit came and swept upon those believers in. We have watched and transformed into God's voice boxes as they poured into the street and began to speak. The very words of the living God. These men who only hours before were so afraid they had locked themselves away from the public and now that the spirit to come upon them. They were they were addressing the people face-to-face up close and personal. So far we've kept a safe distance from all of this. We've just been studying sacred and inspired biography of men and women whose lives were changed, but in in this time together. We will bring the picture into closer focus with us. It may be that your God is too small.

You haven't met that to be true, but it could very well be true, and for fear of of things occurring that you can't quite explain or don't quite fit your system of theology you've kept the brakes on all this to say that that we come now to Romans chapter 8 in our in our study of the Scriptures and as you turn to these wonderful words of Romans eight I need to tell you that every time I do seven verses like a block.

That's like a block of truth flashing like neon light always stand out to me. Romans eight and I'm referring to five through 11 when I get to Romans eight. Aside from that grand conclusion where Paul mentions that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, and about and nothing was separated from the love of God until I get to that part.

It's the five through 11. The seven verses that stand out.

Let me read them for you will come back to them more than once in our in our study, this time for those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death. He's contrasting here, but the mindset on the spirit is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. It does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not able, even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. That's on the one hand, however, you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

But if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ that would speak of the lost person. He does not belong to God, he does not belong to the family of God does not belong to him.

And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet observed, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. The implication is and he does, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who indwells you revolutionary series of thoughts but as I read through them.

I come to the realization that our our inescapable anomie throughout life is a little three letter word sin. If we could somehow get past the sin, the drag of sin. The anchor of sin. How high we would fly how far we could go with God. How alive we could be in Christ you know that and it doesn't even need to be illustrated and so Romans eight has it is in a context is all of you know every Scripture risks within its own setting and serious students of the Scriptures are known for integrating the passage that they're dealing with with the setting or the it's called the context that is around that that particular setting. Romans eight is no exception.

It is in the context of truth.

It's like a diamond set in a context that sets off this diamond in all of its brilliance. So let me give it to you quickly. The first three chapters of Romans is a form Paul's exposé of sin. It is foul, it is ugly it is. It is ever present in the heart of humanity note no one does good and not even one sin has has been our plague since the first breath. We took and it will stay with us until the end of life we will never be what we should be until we are with our Lord. Sin will be there with us and he has described in chapters 4 and five. Christ is brought into the scene as having redeemed us from the domination of sin's power we haven't escaped the presence of sin, but sin has been defused. It has lost its dominance over us while we were lost and without Christ before the cross we were victims of sin, we sin because we we loved it. We sin because we wanted to we couldn't help but sin sending was a way of life.

Christ came.

Romans four and five, and brought us relief brought us peace with God.

As God saw us in Christ at salvation and declared us righteous. This is called the doctrine of justification, having been justified by faith, we have at last peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now it's at this point, having dealt with sin and having presented Christ. It's at this point many people in the Christian family of heaven a little muddled.

What I do now that I'm a Christian, but a lot do with sin. Some teach. You have no sin, your sin is been eradicated.

You are now in a state of perfection. I am I'm always nervous when I hear that, teaching always want to talk to the wife of the person that teaches that kind of thing because I know truly, it has not been eradicated.

I know by experience and I know by Scripture.

What has what is happened to sin. Now that Christ is coming to my life. If it once had that dominating power over me in the Christ to set me free.

What is my relationship now with the sin problem and that's why we have chapters 6 and seven. So let me get even more specific. Back in chapter 6. To give you a statement. The subject of Romans six is sin no longer has power over me. At Romans six, we have been emancipated. We have been freed from slavery sin no longer has power over me.

Look at verse 12 of Romans six.

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lowest. Now that's a command Christian.

This is addressed to the believer, you have Christ do not let sin reign over you as it once did. Lost person you could never say that to the lost person, he or she has no power to resist or restrain. We do so, he says do not let sin reign over you and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, or in fact you are and your members as instruments of righteousness to God for sin shall not be master over you. You are not under law but under grace.

For by grace we have been saved through faith and as a result, because of the entrance of of of grace in our lives. We have been freed from the dominating power sin. What a great statement I have said before and I'll say again, it sounds a little like a borderline heresy, but it isn't that it all. You and I can live. I am unconfident days of our lives without sin.

When we learn the techniques of Romans chapter 6 we we discover that when we can when we walk in the light as Christ is the light we can be so sensitive to the light and so in the power of Christ we can live our lives for several days without falling into sin. I was raised another kind of teaching you sin every day of your life. And so the end of every day you lay down your bed and you start going through your day. See between eight and nine between nine and 10 I done this between 10 and 11 70 boy 11 and 12 man was a bed.

The bed so you start listing and your evening is spread rehearsing all of your sins and we become sin conscious, rather than Christ conscience Romans six is that's no way to live. Don't yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness understand but yield yourselves and God. I'm driving along a mountain road and there's a sharp curve ahead. The city has are the County has an op option of what to do. They can either build a very nice well-equipped clinic at the bottom of that hill and of wait for me to come down and and meet with them in go through their x-ray system and let them put me back together of through the help of orthopedic surgeons or they can put a sign up that says danger. Slow. Romans six is this is a sign danger curve ahead. Slow down soon as possible. Here way stop. Consider your members as instruments of unrighteousness descendent. So when I step into my day and I see worry on the horizon ready to take charge is nothing but a middle sin I refuse to worry, I give it to God, I proceed with caution around the curve that curve only to find another curve. I since it's a possible sin that's ahead of me. It could be need not be an argument. The Christ, and I live my life in conscious awareness of the dominance of Christ rather than my my preference for sin as I did for so many years of my life as a lost person so we no longer sin no longer has the power over me.

That's Romans Romans six Romans seven comes along and it says, but sin is still present in me or within me. Sin is still present within me. We may have been Matt emancipated, and we may not have a mastery over us, but it's still there and if you don't believe that. Look at verse 14. Romans 714. We know the law is spiritual, but I'm of the flesh. I'm a flash sold into bondage to sin. I got a part of me that still wants to do wrong. It's called an old sin nature for that which I'm doing. I do not understand how many times that we said that for therefore I am not practicing what I would like to do for him doing the very thing I hate, done that. Say yes yes I've done that to do the very thing I hate what I've done and I look back you tell me you hated doing that and you did the very thing you ate.

Paul is simply telling you about me. Here in verse 15 and about you and about himself.

For if I do the very thing I do not wish to do.

I agree with the law confessing. It is good.

So now no longer am I the one doing it, but the sin which indwells me in my conscious mind I know better. I have the power of Christ resting within me and filling me with with his.

His relief in his victory. But I also have an anchor that has been brought since birth and on dragging it along through life which I would love to get rid of, but it will take to have to make that happen, and so on. Living with how to handle this anchor that keeps dragging from my boat sin indwells me for I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my place for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not sound like a tongue twister, but you'll know exactly what he saying for the good that I wish I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not wish for. I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am for if I'm doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find that a principal is not so much a teacher. Paul is so great I find in a principal that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good.

You're right Paul absolutely right and we must learn from this sin may no longer have the dominating power over me, but it is still present within me. There is a part of me interwoven with in this being of mine this inner person that still desires to live just obediently even though a part of me knows that it should not that I will not be happy. It will not bring me relief are peace.

I cannot get away from the fact that I'm carrying around in this bag of bones. The flesh, the carnal desires of the flesh. Verse 24 wretched man wretched woman MRI we say back to God.

Wretched one wretched man that I am who will set me free from the body of this cat. Romans eight the holy spirit the holy spirit who has not been mentioned.

Up until now. In the letter to the Roman he's waited for this climactic moment to introduce you to the to the book, the member of the Godhead who has been given as the intimate presence of God within our lives. Romans eight is saying the spirit provides a new dimension of living. That's Romans eight the spirit provides a new dimension of living. By the way, did you catch in chapter 7 that Sam dwells in me. Verse 17.

No longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. Look at verse nine of chapter 8.

However, you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you look at that. We've got two things dwelling in us, sin indwells us 717 the spirit indwells us eight in verse nine verse 11 is a mouthful. Says the same thing more than once if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, and he does, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who indwells you rare you find one person mentions all three members of the Trinity. Verse 11 does the spirit God the father who raised Jesus, God the son from the dead. All three members of the Trinity stated here were were familiar with the father. The planner, the one who set in motion. Our redemption were familiar with God the son, our Savior, our Lord, our master, the one who went to the cross who died for our sins. We are not too familiar with the spirit. He sort of drifts about doing unusual things to other people and filling people in the Scriptures with incredible power, but surely the intimate spirit was not given just for the other or just the people in biblical intimate spirit of Christ provides for us of power. Just as he did, yes, and it's the same spirit, one that radically transform the saints of old, who gives us power even to this day you're listening to Insight for living. There's much more to discover in the series from Chuck Swindoll called flying closer to the flame with a few minutes remaining. I want to remind you that inside for living offers a wide variety of Bible study tools so you can dig deeper on your own. For instance, you'll be glad to learn that each sermon Chuck delivers in this study is paired with online study notes. We call this feature searching the Scriptures. It's an interactive document that you can either print out and share with your friends or you can type your notes directly into the online document all the details are@insideworld.org/studies and over the years. Chuck is become known for his winsome approach, a good sense of humor and the laughter that so easily erupts when you're around. If you been unsatisfied with what's become a ho-hum existence. If your longing to break free from legalism that describes your past, then you'll truly appreciate Chuck's deep dive into God's amazing grace. His book called the grace awakening has been a life changer for readers all across the world to purchase a copy right now. Go to Insight.org/store or call us if you're listening in the United States called 800-772-8888 at Insight for living. We know the price of fuel has impacted consumers all across the world combined with alarming inflation. The cost of operating a nonprofit ministry has escalated to where trusting God for his faithfulness through people like you. Thank you so much for remaining consistent in your voluntary donations because you truly making a difference for those who here. Chuck's daily Bible teaching to give a gift today.

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