Epistles of Paul 76

Romans chapter 8 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible. Paul in Romans explains in the first few chapters that we all Jews and Gentiles alike have sinned, and then he proceeded to explain that we justified freely from post-sins by what God and Christ did, or should I say what God did through Christ, but he above did and worked together in this plan. Additionally, then Paul made it very clear that we as Christians must do our part, committing ourselves to be a new man and using God's Holy Spirit as a helper. In Romans chapter 7 verse 22, we see Romans chapter 7 verse 22, he says, for our delight in the law of God according to the inward man. So we should be delighting in God's law, and God's law should be a pleasure to us, a blessing, because the law is for our good. It is interesting that a lot of people, when they give, rarely do they give for other people's benefits, but God is giving not with his own personal interest, but he's giving it for our good. That's why he says this law obey it for your own good. So we should delight in God's law in our inner words being, because it is for our own good. Indeed, that's what Paul said in verse 12 of Romans 7. He says the law is holy and the commandment is holy and just and good. It is for our good. But then, a little later in verse 23, Paul explains at the conclusion of this chapter that there is another law in our members which is fighting against our intent and desire and our delight, delightful desire to obey God's law. And that is our old human nature. And the point is that once you and I are baptized, human nature is not going away. But we become more aware that now we need to overcome it with the help of God's only Spirit. So in summary, what Paul mentions here in this latter part is that human nature does not go away and the sin wants to dominate us, also does not go away, even after we are converted. We have to fight it for the rest of our lives. It's an ongoing fight, but we're not a slave to it. You and I can resist it, and God sees us try, sees you try, sees me try. And when we make mistakes, we need to immediately repent. And then God looks upon us and sees us not as someone with a death penalty, but he sees us, his beloved children, trying to serve him. And children which are headed, which are striving, which are working to overcome so that they overcome till the end. So ultimately they may receive the eternal life that he wants to give us. So Paul, as he concluded that section in chapter seven, he now explains what a true Christian is. So one of the important value statements in this chapter eight is that Paul is explaining what a true Christian is, and also what God does for us through his Holy Spirit. Some people call this chapter the Holy Spirit chapter. So let's read in verse one. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. To walk. Note that to walk is to live, and when it says to walk, it says according to the Spirit. That means we are living our lives according to the guidance for the leadership of the lead that God's Holy Spirit gives us. There's another interesting warrior, which is condemnation. Condemn, which is the Greek word 2631. Catacrima, which is verdict. It's like a decision in a court, which basically is a final decision of condemnation.

It's interesting to note, it's only used three times in the Bible, and those three times that's used is in Romans. The first time is used is in Romans 5 verse 16, which says, and the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned, but the judgment which has come from one offense resulted in condemnation. But the free gift came from many offenses, resulted in justification. The other time that is used is just two verses later in verse 18. It says, therefore as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. In other words, death because of sin. Even so, through one man, one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. And the third time, the only other time that is used in the New Testament is now here in verse one of chapter eight, where it says, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Why? Because of Christ's sacrifice, because of Christ's, Christ has done for us, opened up the way, He's justified us, He's forgiven us, He's made us right with God. It was not in a separated, condemned state. And those are of us who do not walk according to the flesh, do not walk according to the things of the flesh, but according to the guidance of God's only Spirit.

Verse two, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, what is that law of the Spirit of life? For one is through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, but the law of the Spirit is the working of God's only Spirit in our lives. Because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice, He redeemed us, He went up to heaven, and on Pentecost He sent us the Holy Spirit, the Helper, to help us. So the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which is the Spirit of Christ, which we receive, which is the Spirit of God, has made me free from the law of sin and death.

And so through Jesus Christ, you and I are delivered from sin. This is what Paul describes very aptly at the end of chapter seven, verses 23 and 24, when he says, I see another law in my members. That is that human nature, warring against the law of my mind, which is when I've got God's only Spirit in me, in my mind, there is that war between those two, human nature and God's only Spirit working in us, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. So the law of sin is always there, and I have to be overcoming it all the time. And then he says, oh, Richard, man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? And the eyes are answered.

In chapter eight, verse two, it's through Jesus Christ, we are delivered from sin. We are delivered, we are freed from sin. In Romans 6 verse 18, Romans 6 verse 18, it says, and having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. We have been set free from the death penalty, from the wages of sin, of our past sins. How? By repenting, by believing in Christ, and because of Christ's sacrifice, we accept, we are baptized, we receive Rosalie Spirit, we make that commitment, and now we are using Rosalie Spirit to become better people. In verse 22 of Romans 6 says, for when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But we, the point is, we were slaves of sin because we were under the penalty. The wages of sin is death, as it reads in verse 23 of Romans 6. But now, verse 22, Romans 6 verse 22, we have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God. For you, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. In other words, the life eternal, eternal life. So, the Holy Spirit helps us to combat, to fight sin. It helps us to combat the downward pull of human nature that drives the pulls of the flesh.

And then continue now in Romans 8 verse 3. Romans 8 verse 3, for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. On account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. So, we have to have God's Holy Spirit.

God's Holy Spirit is the missing ingredient in us that makes or rather helps us to overcome. That's why it says that the law could not do it. It was weak. You and I, as fleshly human beings, we can't live God's way. We need God's Holy Spirit. And so, God did this by sending his own son, as we read here, in the likeness of flesh and according to sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. How? Because he became a sacrifice for sin. In other words, he became a living sacrifice, a sacrificial offering, as we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. It says, for he made him who knew no sin, Christ knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteous of God in him. In other words, he became the sacrificial lamb.

And when it says he became sin for us, it doesn't mean that he was sin because he was not sin. It just says there that he knew no sin, but he became a sin offering for us. So this is a figure of speech which is called a metonymy, in which a word or a phrase is used to stand in for another concept that is closely related to or commonly associated with. So, a metonymy differs from a metaphor because a metonymy does not imply a likeness, but implies a direct association.

So, yeah, a sin is used to point to or symbolic to represent a larger idea, which is the sin offering that Christ became. So he condemned sin in the flesh. And how? Because he showed us it's possible to obey God with the help of God's Holy Spirit. And you and I know in Hebrews 13 verse 8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if he lives in us through God's Holy Spirit, as he should, if we are obeying and following the lead and using God's Holy Spirit, he will then live his life in us the same way he lived his own life in his own body. So what the law could not do to sinners, the law could not deliver sinners from the penalty of sin, the law could not make us righteous or justify us, it takes something else to make us righteous.

And that is Christ's sacrifice to forgive us, to justify us, and then with the help of God's Spirit in us, we can put that to practice and live God's way. And that's why now we continue reading in verse 4. It says, he condemns sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. The law has a righteous requirement. It is required to obey the law. I remember in the days of the apostasy, people were telling, oh no, it's not a requirement to obey this or do that. It is a righteous requirement of the law, and it says, might be fulfilled in us. A key word here is in us. You see, it does not say for us. So, yes, God does impurities righteousness through... because we believe and trust in Christ and for what Christ has done for us, but there is a part we have to fulfill. You see, the righteous requirement of the law requires us to obey. There's a part we have to fulfill, but the point is we humans need help, and so God sent His Son to make it possible for us to have that help. First, to have our sins forgiven, then by that, that barrier that divides us and from God because of our sins, is removed because His righteousness is imputed on us. In other words, we are justified freely, and then Christ gives us God's Holy Spirit, and therefore we now no longer are to walk according to the flesh. So, back to this phrase, the righteous requirement of the law. That is, not just actions or deeds, but it's our thoughts, our words. It's what the moral law of God demands. So, it's not just external actions, but it's inner thoughts of the mind and of the heart, and obviously what we say. In other words, it's what we think. We need to be thinking in God's way. We need to be acting the way God wants us to act, and we need to believe and trusting all along. And that means that the law is nothing else than the character of God. You see, you could draw parallels and highlight characteristics of the character of God, and then in parallel you could highlight characteristics of the law. You see, God is love. God's law is love, love towards God and love towards man.

God's approach is one which is righteous and just, and when we have God's law in our hearts and minds, we are going to act in a righteous and godly way.

We know Jeremiah 31 verse 33 and 34 that God's law is written in our hearts and our minds in the period of the New Covenant. That's what we are. God's law is written in our hearts and our minds, and that is God's very character. So let's continue now.

At the end of verse 4 says that it might be fulfilling us, we do not walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. So we're going to live according to God's only Spirit, according to how God's only Spirit guides us and leads us. Verse 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, the things of the Spirit.

The mind, the carnal mind, the mind, the human mind without God's only Spirit is always thinking on the things of the flesh. It's got a basic orientation. It's got a basic mindset. A carnal mind, a person without God's only Spirit, is not continuously saying, what would God want me to think or say? But we as people of God with God's only Spirit, we should always be careful on what we think and what we say. We know of scriptures like Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3. So let's just look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 3. And it reads, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh.

You see, there's these desires of the flesh. Why? Because we are fleshly human beings.

So they are normal fleshly drives. And people walked according to that, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and whereby nature children are wrath, just as the others. So we have to, as people of God's only Spirit, we have to walk according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh. We got to put away this passionate desire for certain things, and that is related to one's way of thinking, consciousness, perception. We got to put that away. That's the lust of the flesh and the lust of the mind. Another example is in 1 John chapter 2 verse 16. 1 John chapter 2 verse 16.

1 John chapter 2 verse 16.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. The lust of the flesh, the passion for things of the flesh, things that the eyes see, and the pride, the ego, the presumption.

Now, it would be nice if they were gone, like because they are a weight, but we read in Romans 7 verse 20, 20, 23, that Paul struggled with that. He said, there's a law in my members. We all have to struggle continuously. We have to struggle the downward pull of the flesh, and also the downward pull of the deceptions and inklings of Satan, and we fight that with the upward pull that God gives us through His Spirit, through His Word. As we read the Word, as we do our Bible reading, as we study the Bible, and as God's Spirit is in us, because that Word is Spirit, God's power through His Spirit is much more powerful than the pulls of the flesh, if we just use them. So, that power of God's only Spirit pulls us up, but, and He has the big but, but we have to yield to God. We've got to do the things that cause us to have more of the dead spirit. We've got to be pleasing God.

We've got to be close to God. We've got to be praying, fasting occasionally, studying, meditating. So, our orientation must be towards God. In Philippians chapter 2 verse 5, Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 says, Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Let me get to it and make sure I stated that correctly. It says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That's what our orientation needs to be. We've got to have Christ's mind in us.

In Philippians chapter 3, just a little later, in verse 15, it reads, Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind. We have to have this mind of Christ that is through God's Holy Spirit.

It's a mind that is a mind, a positive mind, that pulls us up instead of a fleshly mind that pulls us down. Look, for instance, at verse 19, still in Philippians chapter 3 verse 19 says, Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly. So, it's the desires of the flesh, the lusts of the flesh, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. So, we've got to have our mind on the things of God, just like we read in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. Let this mind be in you. And what is the mind that it's referring to in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5? It's described in the earlier verses of the same chapter that it says, By being like-minded as Christ is, having the same love, being one accord, one mind, nothing being selfish or conceit, but in lovelies of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. So, that's what we're going to do. That we're going to put on the mind of Christ. In Colossians chapter 3 verse 2, it gives us a little bit more detail on that. Colossians chapter 3 verse 2, it says, Set your mind on things above, not on things in the earth. And so, we can see that. That's what we got to do. But the point is, we are physical. We do have to think of physical things. We do have to think that that we have proper clothing to wear. We have to think of making sure that we have enough rest, because we are physical. So, we have to think of physical things. But God wants us to set our minds, in other words, set our goals and thoughts on the spiritual, on the long-term spiritual. And so, continue to read now in Romans chapter 8. We can now read verse 6. 4. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Carnally minded, the Greek word therefore, carnally is Greek 4561, sachs, which means flesh, which is the natural man, the natural man. Carnally minded is fleshly minded. It doesn't say, flesh is evil, but it says that the mindset on the flesh, that's the natural man. And that mind does not understand the things of God. And because of that, it's thinking of purely on the things of the flesh. And therefore, the equilibrium, the balance, goes more towards just the things of the flesh. Of course, we got to have making sure that things of the flesh are taken care of, like for instance, like I said, we got to have proper sleep, we have to have proper diet, we have to eat the right foods and things like that. And those are things of the flesh that are right and just for us to be concerned, because we are fleshly human beings. But to be fleshly minded is when that goes to an extreme beyond the normal balance, where there's no self-control. And those things of the flesh become over over the top, and people think they're doing the right thing, but the end result is death. That's what we're reading, Proverbs 14 verse 12. Let's just turn there. Proverbs 14 verse 12.

Proverbs 14 verse 12.

There we are. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death, which is also repeated in Proverbs 16 verse 25. And so it seems right. Why? Because the natural man, the fleshly man, sees things just from a natural fleshy way, and therefore it can become unbalanced to an extreme. And that's when it leads to death. But to be spiritually minded is life. In other words, be minded on equilibrium of love and care for fellow man. That's why it says, love others as you love yourself. It's that equilibrium. In fact, Christ said, I'll give you a new commandment that love others as I have loved you. He set a even greater standard.

So to be spiritually minded, as we read in verse seven at the end, is life. And that means eternal life and peace and peace. Now verse seven, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. The person that is unconverted just does not understand that his natural state of the fleshly mind is actually incapable to obey God's law. It actually refuses to obey God's law. And so this verse seven should be, let's call it, a memory scripture because the carnal mind is enmity against God. And so the unbeliever's problem is deeper than just acts of disobedience.

Now think about this carefully. The unbeliever's problem is more than just disobeying. His basic inclination and orientation is towards self, gratifying self, selfish, egocentric, me, myself and I. And that's why it says, it's impossible, says yeah, says yeah, his enmity against God is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

Because the basic human natural inclination is to satisfy self.

And that's what our conversion is all about. And when we get baptized, we repent not only of what we did, but we need to repent of what we are. That's very important. When I go through baptism counseling sessions, I make sure that people understand that repentance is not only of past sins of what they did, but repentance is what they are. And we are fleshly minded.

We human beings, all of us, are by natural tendency selfish. And obviously, why? Because we have a natural desire in the flesh, the way God created us, for self-preservation.

So we are selfish. But when that is unchecked, because it does not have God's only Spirit to balance the truth of God's love, then it's unbalanced and it goes like it says yeah, as an enmity, as an enemy, as a natural hostility against God. And so the fleshly mind, the mind without God's only Spirit, just with the flesh, without God's only Spirit to counterbalance it and to fight against that, that mind is hostile towards God.

You see, human beings are basically selfish. That's our basic human motivation.

Now, outwardly, people may be very religious. They may appear to be very religious. But if they do not have God's only Spirit, that religion is what we'll call today, in today's terminology, fake. It's false. You see, we need God's only Spirit to put us in the right balance of understanding, fighting that human nature, so that our orientation is now towards godly things, towards things of the Spirit. Our basic, major intent and motivation is now towards things of the Spirit. And therefore, what it means is that even the good deeds of unbelievers are not a fulfillment of God's law. Why? Because they're motivated by the flesh for selfish reasons. I'm not saying that every good deed is bad, but for it to really be a compliance of God's law, we need God's Holy Spirit. You know, think about the Jews. The Jews had the law, and they obeyed that law, and the letter of the law. I mean, look at the Pharisees, for instance, Christ in Matthew 23. He basically called them and converted. Let's look at a few things Christ said about them in Matthew 23. In Matthew 23, for instance, in verse 13, he says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! These were people that are very religious and very righteous in their minds, self-righteousness. And he called them, you bunch of hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against man, for you're not a go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. You put a stumbling block on people that are trying to believe what I say. Look at verse 14, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Look at verse 25. Verse 25, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they follow extortion and self-indulgence. In other words, selfish.

And this is just an appearance, an outside appearance. Look at verse 27 and 28. He says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead man's bounds, and all uncleanliness. And so Yah is again showing how somebody with a carnal mind, even though outwardly they try to be righteous, they are not.

They are not. Look at Romans chapter 10. In Romans chapter 10, Paul addresses this by saying, in verse 2, he says, For I bear them witness, he's bearing witness of these Sadducees, Pharisees, of the Jews, that they have a zeal for God. They're very zealous for God, but not according to knowledge. They're very zealous. They're very zealous. In modern language today, we could say, look at a number of Christians. They are very zealous for God, but not according to knowledge.

For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, seeking to establish their own righteousness. In other words, self-righteousness. It's easy to people say, oh, the important thing is righteousness. The important thing is righteousness, but they are seeking their own righteousness. And we know, in Isaiah 64 verse 6 says, our righteousness is like filthy rags. You see, it takes God's only Spirit living in us for us to become God's righteousness. Granted, as I mentioned, God's righteousness is initially imputed upon us when our sins are forgiven, but then we have to live and be hungry and thirsty for God's righteousness. And that was the brethren of the Jews. That's why they must amok. And so in chapters 9, 10 and 11, Paul explains that very clearly and shows therefore how God uses that to call the Gentiles. Because salvation is not just for the Israelites, it's for the whole world, Jews and Gentiles. And so, yeah, in verse 7 we see that the carnal mind is enmity against God because it's not such to God's laws. It requires a different mind that's a mind of God's only Spirit to be subject to God. It requires the mind of God, that mind that must be in us. Our minds must be changed. And what do we call that? What? We call that conversion. We must be converted. And so we don't just repent of what we've done, we must repent of what we are. We've got to be a new man, a different person, that old man must die and the new man must live.

So God needs to dwell in us, needs to live in us, and that must be the motivation in our mind because God's only Spirit is leading us, and that must be our motivation to keep going forwards. Now let's read verse 8, Romans 8-8. So then, those we are in the flesh cannot please God. God is not pleased with the actions and the way people live in the world, and people are cut off. We read in Isaiah 59 verse 1 and 2 that our iniquities have separated us from God. So people without God's only Spirit do not understand this and therefore they're not striving, but we need to be striving through the help of God's only Spirit to love God's way of life. We need to be striving, but those who are in the flesh cannot please God, verse 8. Now in verse 9, But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. We are not in the flesh.

In other words, we are not in the flesh. That is not what our mindset is focused on. Now we're obviously, obviously we are flesh, but he's not talking about what we are. He's talking about what our mindset is focused on. And then he says, But in the Spirit our mind is focused on the things of the Spirit because God's only Spirit dwells in us, in you and I. He says, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

And then he says, Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, which is God's Spirit, which is God's Spirit, and what do you mean by that? We'll show you scriptures that it's God's Spirit that proceeds from the Father and is given to us by Christ. So it's the Spirit that Christ gives us. It's the Spirit of Christ. Obviously it's the same Spirit. There's only one Spirit, but it's the Spirit of Christ that he gives us, but proceeds from the Father. And so it continues here, Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, is none of his.

A Christian is one that has God's Holy Spirit. All these religions, all these people that do not have God's Holy Spirit, they're not Christian. That's not what I say. That's what the Bible says.

You have to have the Spirit of God to be a true Christian. And how do you get God's Holy Spirit? Repentance. Repent of what? Sin. And what is sin? Breaking God's law. So do those people keep God's law? They keep the whole of the law, including the fourth commandment. And so they're not obeying God, and so they have not received God's Holy Spirit. And if they're not received God's Holy Spirit, they're not Christians. And also has to do with, as God called them yet, John 644, no one can come to me unless the Father draws him. It is a matter of God's election, and that will also be covered in chapters 9, 10, and 11. If God has not called us, we are not converted. And the point is, it is God who shows mercy, and it is God who does the calling at his decision as far as timing. He decides when to call somebody. So if people are not called yet, it's not necessary because they're bad. It's because God has not called them yet.

It's God's decision, God's wisdom, that he calls people at his timing according to his plan. And so as I mentioned, the Spirit, his God Spirit, proceeds from the Father. Look at John 15, John 15 verse 26. John 15 verse 26.

Now when the helper comes, the Holy Spirit, whom I shall send to you, so in a sense it's it's Christ's Spirit because he's sending us from the Holy Spirit, from the Father. You see, because the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, you'll testify on me. So God's only Spirit proceeds from the Father. That's why the Father is the Father, because through God's only Spirit we also are begotten, which we're not covering today. But that's why he's the Father. He's the one that gives us his Spirit, but we receive it through Christ. Look at John 14 verse 26. John 14 verse 26.

But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name. What do you mean in my name? By Christ's authority. When Christ gives the authority and says, right, you can have God's Holy Spirit, we will receive our Holy Spirit. It's Christ that gives us God's Holy Spirit. That's in fact what John the Baptist said. John Baptist says, I baptize you in water, but the heat that's coming after me will baptize you of the Spirit and with fire, with fire implying the sick and death. So Christ is the one that baptizes us with God's Holy Spirit. So Christ makes it possible for us to receive the Holy Spirit. That's why it's the Spirit of the Father, but it's also the Spirit of the Son. It's the same Spirit. It's the only one Spirit. Now continue now in Romans chapter 8 verse 10. It says, and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If Christ is in us, the body is dead. The old man is buried. In Galatians 2 verse 20, Galatians 2 verse 20, we read, I have been crucified of Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. You see, we, once we baptize, it's like we have been crucified of Christ. Our old man is crucified. He's buried, he's died, and now Christ is living in us. And it says, I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And then in Acts 2 verse 38 says, we baptized. Acts 2 verse 38. Acts 2 verse 38.

For the remission of sins. Let's just read that. Acts 2 verse 38. And Peter said, Repent and let everyone be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. That's by Christ's authority for the remission of sins. We baptized for the sins to be forgiven. And then, as Romans chapter 6, which we covered in a previous study, Romans chapter 6 verses 3 through 4, it says that we are baptized into Christ Jesus, into that spiritual body of Christ, by Christ's authority, of course. So it's two different things. We're baptized into Christ by Christ's authority. And then it says now, that's why it says we're baptized into his death.

Why? Because we're baptized into that body, spiritual body, which in a sense died, but then was resurrected. So we now have to walk in newness of life. And that's why also it says in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 2 that we are elect and we receive God's only Spirit, or in other words, for the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience.

God's only Spirit helps us to be set apart to obey God. Well, then continue now in Romans chapter 8 verse 10, and then it says if Christ, yeah, no verse 11, sorry, and if the Spirit of him will raise Jesus from the dead, dwells in you. That's the Spirit of God. And God raised Jesus from the dead through the power of his Spirit, through his extended arm. Think of it like God's only Spirit is like God's extended arm.

Stretch out arm, God's power, extra strength, and he raised up Jesus. Likewise, he who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells, or which dwells, in you. So our bodies are mortal. So yes, yeah, our bodies are mortal, but it is through the Spirit of God that we will be given immortality. When? Well, we now in 1 Corinthians 15, 52, and 53, that will be at the last trumpet.

At the last trumpet, the dead in Christ will resurrect, and we will be changed with him, and will be changed, and given immortality. Now, those in the world are not yet called by God. It's not that you and I are better. It's purely a matter of time. God will give everyone an opportunity for salvation. It's just a matter of when.

But now it's our time. God has called us, He's given us understanding, and now it's our time to use God's early Spirit and to live according to the Spirit. In verse 12, it says, therefore brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you'll die. But if by the Spirit you put to death, not you put to death, you and I have a job to do, we need to put to death the deeds of the body, you will live in a word, eternally.

In a word, we're going to repent, we're going to change, and with the help of God's early Spirit, we then put to death the deeds of the flesh. Who gives you the power to stop the things of the flesh? It's God that does it. God does it through his Holy Spirit. But you and I have to put on the effort. We have to struggle and struggle and struggle and struggle to the end, but we have to put to death our members of the flesh.

We have to mortify. That's what we read in Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 through 10. Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 through 10. Therefore put to death or mortify your members which are on the earth with its various deeds of fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, covetous, which is adultery, and in those things you once walked.

But now we've got to put off also things that are emotional like anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language. Verse 10, we've got to put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him, according to the image of the Father and which is represented in Christ. We've got to put on the new man.

And so now going to our last verse that we're going to cover today, which is verse 14. It says, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. You see, again, this verse also helps us to define who's a true Christian. Like verse 9 did, but verse 14 does the same thing. Are led by.

The Spirit must be leading you and, and in fact, the Greek word is, the verb is in the continually in a progressive tense, you know, was continuously being led. Then God is with us. God's Spirit is there, brethren, to lead us, to empower us, to strengthen us, to help us overcome, to bring all things to our mind, to comfort us, to help us all through that Spirit. But it never possesses us. It leads gently. It's a helper. And through that, the Bible describes Christ living in us. So the Holy Spirit, as that we receive God's Holy Spirit, in intent is Christ. Actually, Christ's mind, Christ's way of thinking, Christ's attributes are actually living in us.