The Spirit Gives Life

Well, let's look in chapter 8, and I want to start in verse 1, and read all the way down through verse 13, which is what we're going to hopefully end at today. And if not, we don't make it, we have some time. We can finish this up next week. That's kind of nice. We have a lot of information to get through this morning, so we won't be too pressed now to finish it up. Okay, verse 1 of chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. In order that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, and those who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

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, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. But 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 indwells you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, And if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are put into death to deeds of the body, you will live.

I was thinking about kind of a review and tying all these things together and kind of the idea of a monkey swinging through the jungle. He swings from one to the next, to the next, to the next, to the next. So how can we tie all these thoughts here? We're getting pretty deep into chapter 8. thoughts together. We read through it, but here's kind of the big points that kind of come out of this.

In Christ, there's no condemnation. Free from law of sin and death. God condemned sin in the flesh. Requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. Mindset on the flesh is death. Mindset on the spirit is life and peace. Flesh mindset is hostile, not subject to God. Cannot please God in the flesh. Believers are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. Spirit is life because of righteousness. Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies, not under obligation to the flesh. Walk in the flesh. Lose fellowship with God. By the Spirit put to death the flesh. Fellowship with God.

So kind of big points coming out so we can kind of keep all this in context for us out of a review so we don't lose sight of the big points of what's happening with the passage. OK, so this is what we did not finish last week. Did anybody have any time to give it any thought? Not surprising, we're all pretty busy here. So, where we left off, for those that weren't here with us last week, was the end of verse 10. We ran out of time.

So the end of verse 10 says, Yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. Now, that's the way that the New American Standard reads it. The Spirit is alive. because of righteousness. But if you have the KJV, which many of us do, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And there's quite a difference in those statements. So I thought it was worth unpacking and seeing really what's going on there.

So, is the Spirit in verse 10 referring to the human spirit or to the Holy Spirit? And that's the question that I left the class with last week as the bell rang and we ran short on time. So, let's just talk this through a little bit. Okay, option number one, which we'll look at the New American Standard first.

The spirit is alive because of righteousness, and this communicates that the human spirit is alive because of what God has done. I think that's what's coming across with this translation by the New American Standard group that did their translation. So, what we have is, I took this right out of House Notes for the major Bible themes, and so this is what's being communicated, that the human spirit is alive because of what God has done. So, man's spirit is simply the principle of life which was breathed by God. Man's spirit allows man to know God and to fellowship with God.

And we know that very clearly in the garden. Pre-fall, spiritually alive, Adam walked with God and was enjoying fellowship with God. Post-fall, there was spiritual death, there was separation from God. There was a spiritual disconnection, and man cannot receive or know the things of God or the things of the Holy Spirit, and that's recorded for us in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14. So, what happened is God, in His love and in His grace, desires to fellowship with man for all eternity, and therefore, God's Lord of the world, He sent His only Son so that we could enjoy a relationship and fellowship with God.

2 Peter 3.9 says that God is not willing or wishing for any to perish, but that all would come to repentance.

So man must be born again, spiritual birth by God's Spirit, by God's breathing again, breath again, and there in that verse of John 3.5-9 he's talking with Nicodemus, and you must be born again of the Spirit in order to become spiritually alive.

That's the context there of John 3.5-9.

So, spiritual birth is where real life begins, where man believes in the person and work of Christ. And the Holy Spirit communicates to the believer via his human spirit, which is now So, when we look at the New American Standard translation of this verse, that the spirit is alive because of righteousness, our human spirit has been made alive in relationship to God because of what it is that God's done for us, described for us there in this following point. So, option number one, and how the translators of the New American Standard took it. Option number two, the way that the KJV reads it, is that the spirit is life because of righteousness. A little bit of a different thought being communicated there. Communicates that the Holy Spirit is bringing spiritual life to the believer because of what God has done. Communicating that as we're walking by faith, that the Holy Spirit is filling us with the life of Christ, is reproducing in us the life of Christ as we're walking by faith here on the earth.

One thing to point out is that both of these truths are correct. Both of them are taught in very detail and very explicitly in the scriptures. So we're not trying to say one is right and one is wrong. We're trying to say which is the best interpretation of this phrase in this context. Scripture teaches both. I want to be very clear about that.

Okay, so when we see the word spirit here, and yet the spirit is alive, we're trying to see if it's talking about the Holy Spirit or the human spirit. So, the word spirit here is used over 300 times in the New Testament, and I referred to this last week in our closing, that it's used in lots of different contexts, but it's the same Greek word in all these different contexts, okay? referred to unclean spirits. The Bible talks a lot about unclean spirits. When we have that word, it's the same word that's used of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus' spirit referred to in Mark 2, human spirit referred to in 1 Corinthians 2.11, and also the Holy Spirit. Look also, in your Bibles there, you're open to chapter 8. Go over to verse 16. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we're the children of God. So there, in one verse, just like in 1 Corinthians, we've got the Holy Spirit being referred to, and we also have our spirit, the human spirit, being referred to. So it's the same word there too? Same word. For both spirits? That's right. Same Greek word used for both. So it's context, exactly right. So, again, why are we talking about this? What's our question?

Is spirit in verse 10 referring to the human spirit or to the Holy Spirit in the context of 8.10? Roger just mentioned which one of these fits best. Now, the spirit is used 27 times in Romans chapter 8. Isn't that incredible? The word spirit is used 27 times. You want to talk about what's the focus or what's the emphasis of a chapter in the Bible, it is absolutely no question in our minds what it is here. The use here in verse 10 is the 13th time that it's used. When we look at chapter 8, all prior uses refer to the Holy Spirit.

I just want to get a picture of what's going on here for us. In verses 15 and 16, The spirit is used two times, and it's clear that it's not talking about the Holy Spirit. Verse 15 says, you have not received the spirit of slavery. Obviously, that's not talking about the Holy Spirit. The verse we already read, our human spirit, obviously that's not talking about the Holy Spirit either.

So when you look at it in that context, good hermeneutics would say, well, let's stay with the focus of the book, where a very high percentage of the use of this word in chapter 8 is referring to the Holy Spirit. So when it comes in question here of verse 10, it would make good hermeneutical sense to say, well, let's stay with the Holy Spirit.

But the NAS group translated it one way and the KJV group translated it another way, and I don't think that we're going to really settle it here this morning. If they couldn't settle it and those big groups of men that did their translation. But certainly something worth thinking about. What do you guys, what do you think?

If you take this second one here, it becomes the Holy Spirit is giving life to our mortal bodies because of what God has done for us. And that is clearly explained in verse 11 as we're going to keep going to. Yes. In verse 15, I don't have the King James. Who has that? But in the original, nothing was capitalized. That's right. So that's the interpretation.

I think verse 16 is very much like 1 Corinthians 2.11, Jim, that you quoted, and that's the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit. We've got to be talking about the two different spirits. Sure, yeah. 16 is very clear, no doubt. Now, 15 is a little bit unclear. I mean, I don't think that would be our human spirit. If it's talking about adoption, we're adopted as heirs.

That's right. Then we have to be talking about the Holy Spirit. That's right, yes. We get the New American Standard as a result of the second spirit that capitalizes. Okay. Like what, Margaret's referencing? Okay, I see what you're saying. Let me clarify. Yeah.

In verse 15 and 16, the spirit is used two times where it's not talking about the Holy Spirit. I should have worded that. Again, I didn't have Rachel proofread my stuff this week. You know what happens is when I go home, I get her notes and I sit back down and I make all these kinds of corrections, wording and typos and unclear. Does that help out a little bit? In those verses, there's two times where it's clearly not talking about the Holy Spirit.

Thank you. Any other thoughts about that? Why was there a difference? Yeah, John, you get to 11. What swayed me, you know, Jim and I have had discussions about this back and forth, and it seems like 11 certainly is going to cast some light on some of what Tim said, because 11 is going to tell us who you raise, Christ Jesus from the dead, will also give life to your mortal bodies. That kind of swayed me, thinking, well, maybe if I take that and push it back to 10, that's speaking of the human spirit.

Just like you pointed out, that's what God has done. He's given life to the mortal body. So you can make a case from that perspective. Your case is, well, okay, if I look through, the Holy Spirit is mentioned over and over again and it fits in that context. There's supporting things from different aspects.

It's not easy. Yeah, there's support for both ways and that's why I'm sure it ended up the way that it did. But again, the bottom line is both truths are clearly taught in scripture. So we're not saying one way is right and one way is wrong. I think in this case it's okay because both of them are supported in scripture. Okay? Alright. Let's continue on to verse 11 here. Okay. So, let me read verse 11.

But the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. But 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 indwells you. So here, starting off, we see what God has done, is doing, and will do. He's raised Jesus from the dead.

He indwells believers. We saw that last week, that indwelling by the Holy Spirit into believers is permanent. The Holy Spirit can never be taken away. And what is He doing now? He's giving life. to our mortal bodies. So it's a past, a present, and a future that we're seeing there. So, but if the Spirit of Him who raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you.

Very similar thought, so I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this phrase. Very similar thought to what we talked about last week back in verse 9. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Basically a repetition of the same idea, of the same thought. So we're not going to dwell there much.

So, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he here is referring to God. In Acts chapter 2, 22-24, it says God who raised Jesus from the dead. Pretty straightforward, pretty clear. Where I want to really focus in this verse is this phrase right here. We'll also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you." This is where I really want to focus in on this verse 11 and spend some time.

God will give life to our bodies which are subject to death. We talked about that last week. Our mortal bodies, our earthly bodies, which are subject to death. And so what is being communicated here is that God is going to give life to our mortal earthly bodies which are subject to death.

Now it's interesting that we'll give life here, it's referring to the future. It's indicative future and it's active. So I think as we hook into this phrase a little bit, we have to ask a couple basic questions. When in the future is this going to happen?

How will we receive this life that's being talked about? The Holy Spirit is going to give this life to our mortal bodies, and what does this life look like? Those are some basic questions I think we need to to ask and also to answer. So we receive this life. How do we receive it? We receive this life through the Holy Spirit. It's nothing that we do in and of ourselves to try to generate or try to foster or to come up with this life on our own. It is received through the Holy Spirit.

So, if we're saying that we receive this life through the Holy Spirit, I think it's important that we take a minute and look at the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives, if we're going to receive this life through the Holy Spirit. We've got to take a couple minutes and look at that. Okay? So, Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18. Let's look over there for just a minute. Ephesians 5 verse 18.

And do not get drunk with wine, For that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. Now I think a better translation there would be to be filled by the Spirit, as opposed to being filled with the Spirit. Being filled by the Spirit is a better translation when we look at that.

So to be filled by the Spirit, what we have is that the Holy Spirit is the agent doing the filling. So, the question then, what is the Holy Spirit filling believers with? What is the content of His filling? If we're being filled by the Holy Spirit, what are we being filled by the Holy Spirit with? Coffee? Big lunch after church? What are we being filled by the Holy Spirit with?

Yeah, the life of Christ. The person of Christ, yeah, exactly right. The mind of Christ, sure. All the fullness of Christ, all that is included in that is what we're being filled with. The life of Christ, fullness of Christ, and of God. the time to go through all those verses, but wonderful verses if you're interested this week to take some time to look at those. So, how does the Spirit fill believers with the life of Christ? It's as we walk by faith, and we behold Him.

Colossians 2.6, as we have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, therefore walk in Him. We received Him by faith, therefore we're to be walking moment by moment, day by day by faith, and the Holy Spirit is filling us with the life of Christ, the fullness of Christ, as we're walking by faith.

So, when is the Holy Spirit going to carry out this ministry of of giving life to our mortal bodies. That's the next question. When is this going to happen? When in the future is this life going to happen? Because it's future. When we look at verse 11, when is it going to happen?

Some are going to say, this is going to talk about when you receive your resurrected bodies. Certainly we are going to be done with our mortal bodies and we're going to receive our resurrected bodies when we are with the Lord. That's certainly biblical. The scriptures teach that very clearly. I think what we're seeing here is that when in the future this is going to happen, it's the future days of walking with the Lord on this earth.

So when is this going to happen? It's going to happen within the next minute. It's going to happen later today. It's going to happen later this week, later this month, later this year, next year, next year. That's I think the future idea there of when this is going to be happening.

Because he's going to be giving life. to our mortal bodies, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to be filling us with the life of Christ. I think that's referring to something that's going to happen for the rest of our lives while we are here on earth, okay? Not to discount the future receiving of our resurrected bodies at all, but I think on the earth is the future tense of what's being talked about here. So, as we're walking by faith, the Holy Spirit will be reproducing in our mortal bodies the life of Christ. Okay, any thoughts?

It appears to tie in well with the end of verse 13. I actually have a thought about that. I think verse 13 definitely speaks to this right here. As we walk by faith, the Holy Spirit is produced in our mortal body. but I feel like in verse 10 it talks about if Christ is in you and it says the body meaning our physical body is dead because of sin while Christ is actually in us so then if it's saying he will give life to your immortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you it seems like that's referring to our resurrection then instead because it's contrasting it with verse 10 and then in verse 13 it brings in the life of the spirit in us now on earth.

Okay, good point. Any other thoughts? I kind of agree, because mortal implies, doesn't imply eternal. It's not going to last. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Any other thoughts? I think that same thing I was thinking of, 2 Corinthians 5 verse 4, believe that there is a tabernacle for burden, not that we would be unclothed at both times, that mortality might be swallowed up with life. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Alright, good. So, what does this life look like?

He who receives Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit. If we're going to take the direction that we're talking about through the Spirit, receiving the life of Christ here and now, in our mortal bodies, what's it going to look like? I think a great passage to look at is Acts 16. Look at verse 22, and let's go down through verse 25.

And the crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. And he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them."

Talk about God giving given life to mortal beings. There they were, they'd just been beaten, they'd just been thrown into jail, and now they're locked up and they're singing praises to God. Just thinking about biblical examples of the life of Christ being shown through mortal beings. I thought that was a great example there.

Colossians 1.27 refers to Christ and you, the hope of glory. 1.27, it says, for whom God willed to make known What is the richest of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ, life and us, the hope of glory. We saw that exemplified there in Acts. Again, another example over in Philippians. Look at chapter 4 towards the end here.

And 7, chapter of Philippians 4, 7, And the peace of God, which passes all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ. So the idea of having the peace of God in our mortal bodies while we're here on the earth, being able to walk in and to rest and experience the peace of God.

Verse 11, not that we speak from what I have learned, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

A picture, just a physical picture of that life, of Christ being lived out in a person's mortal body. I think we saw and heard testimony after testimony of that with Hal yesterday. The life of Christ being lived out in a person. What a glory to the Lord that was yesterday.

Alright, back to chapter 8 of Romans. So, verse 12. So then brethren, you are not under obligation, we are under obligation not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. So, who are the brethren that he is referring to here? Believers, sure, exactly right. Are we the brethren? Yeah. So as I read this, therefore brethren, he's referring to believers then, and he's also here referring to ourselves.

So, because of what has been previously said, so then, as the NAS reads, or therefore, As the KJV reads, the following statement is true. You're not under obligation, we're under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh because of what has been previously stated.

So, is this positional or is this a conditional statement? It has to be conditional, because we wouldn't be living in the flesh if it was positional. We wouldn't even be applying to it. I think it also has a positional aspect to it as well. We're not under obligation, you're not under bondage, you're not under the slavery to the flesh. But also, to live according to it carries with it the conditional aspect of it.

Jim, I keep going back to death being separation. Man was created by soul and spirit. Spirit was what connected us to God. When that was separated, the only thing it had to connect to was itself. The love of yourself. But the regeneration then put that together. back in connection with God, no longer tied in with the self.

It's switched, like hell. So that's really both conditional and conditional. Yes. I think we see both in that verse, yeah. Okay, any other thoughts? Well, I mean, Boyce's file 3 really gives you kind of a tangent, but it's certainly related. It says, for I testify again to every man that circumcised that he's a debtor to keep the whole law. I mean, that is, it's a condition, but it's based on a positional relationship. If you're in debt, under the legal system, the whole law. The only way the position can be fulfilled is if the condition is perfect.

This verse kind of frees you. What we see here is that in reality we are right now not under obligation to live in the flesh. So it's an indicative, present, active. We are not under that obligation. It's indicative, present, active. So I think that part of the verse is referring to our position. We're not under that. When it comes to the living part, to live, that is coming back to the conditional part of that verse. The idea here is under-obligation or debtors, as the KJV said, one who owes another to be under obligation to do something for someone, is what is coming across here with the idea.

So believers are not in debt to the flesh, and nor do they have to do something for the flesh. We're not under that obligation. We don't have to follow the temptations. or the commands of the flesh. We've been looking at this in detail as we've come through 6 and we're not under the obligation of the law to follow it as we looked at it in detail at 7. So why are we no longer under obligation or in debt to the flesh?

Why not? Because we died to it. Exactly right. Romans chapter 6 is very clear about that. Let's just go back and read that. 6 6 Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, that our body of sin might be done away, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. That's why we are no longer under obligation to live according to the flesh.

Verse 11, even so, consider yourselves dead to sin, alive unto God, in Christ Jesus. Verse 14, for sin shall not be mastered over you, for you are not under the law, but we are under grace. So also the idea here of no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness and God, I think comes out too.

Look at verse 17 and 18. But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed. And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Verse 22. And now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit resulting in sanctification and the outcome of eternal life.

So the idea of being under obligation, a slave is someone who is under obligation. And we see that we are no longer slaves to sin. We're no longer under the obligation to follow the temptations or the demands of the sin nature. But now we are enslaved to God, a bond-servant, so to speak, there as Paul has referred to, and many other places of being enslaved to God. Great verse, talking about our freedom, not being obligated to the sin nature any longer, to live according to the flesh.

Kind of an oversimplification, perhaps, that it might be just worthy of consideration. It's not what you did, it's who you are. Sure, yes. So if we're resting in who we are in Christ, then the result is going to be the fruit of the Spirit. Yeah, so the issue is our faith in that, and our abiding in that, and our resting in that, walking by faith in that, sure. Who we are. Yeah. Because the flesh is never satisfied in being a debtor to the flesh. Yeah. There's no victory. That's right.

It also kind of helps us to take away and say, The one nature is kind of, the two nature says I'm just going to bounce back and forth between these two natures. Well he's saying no you don't have to do that. You're not under obligation, even though it's attractive, even though there's a pull of the old nature. You don't have to go there. I've given you my spirit to allow you to live a life that's pleasing to me. And so that's wonderful news. That we're not under obligation. There's nothing you have to do for that. You don't need to get more spiritual or whatever, you have it now. Okay. Let's continue on and look at verse 13. So, let me just read it.

If you live according to the deeds, according to the flesh, you must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So, simply put, if you're living according to the flesh, the result is you will or you must die. And simply put as well, if you are living by the Spirit, the result is you're putting to death the deeds of the body and the result is that you will live.

Just two real clear statements coming out there. Let's go ahead and unpack this a little bit for us. If you live according to the flesh, you will or you must die. So the idea here of you live right now, Living in the flesh, present, active, indicative, you will die. The idea of walking in the flesh, dwelling in the flesh, abiding in the flesh is what's being communicated there. The result, you will die. So the question is, does this mean that if I walk in the flesh that I'm going to physically die? And so then what does the idea here of dying mean?

What's that? Let's hope not. Yeah, exactly right. It got asked a question because it says it. What's going on here? The world wouldn't be very populated, that's right, yeah. And Wayne, this speaks to what you were bringing out ten minutes ago, the idea here of death meaning separation. So let's talk about this in a little more detail and kind of explain why we say what we say here with the idea here of fellowship and of separation. Kind of throw those terms around a little bit loosely, I think. Let's talk about this a little bit more in detail. So look over at 1 John. in chapter 1 and look at verse 5. Let's read down through verse 7.

And this is the message we have heard from him and announce to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. And if we say that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." So, when believers are walking in the light, they're enjoying fellowship with God. This comes out clear from this scripture. But when believers are walking in darkness, they're not enjoying fellowship with God. When believers are walking in darkness, are they still saved? Sure. Absolutely. No doubt about it. But are they enjoying fellowship with God when they're walking in darkness? No. It is very clear from this passage.

So, tying this into our verse here in Romans 8, is living according to the flesh walking in darkness or walking in light? Darkness. And when we're walking in the flesh, we're walking in darkness. So therefore, The walking in the flesh, which is walking in darkness, there's no fellowship with God, and this is what will die means when we come to this phrase here in verse 13. So those who are walking in the flesh will die, must die, they will lose fellowship with the Lord. Not a loss of salvation, but simply a loss of fellowship. Any other thoughts?

It really sounds strong when you're saying that present active and indicative, that if you walk in the flesh, you are dead. Yes. God totally declared that, right? I mean, do we believe that? And experientially, you do. Because we often take that path. And that makes walking in the flesh very serious. Makes it very serious. Boy, because when I'm walking in the flesh, I am not enjoying fellowship with God. It's nothing to be, nothing to be, not to put the focus on me, but it's something to be taken very seriously.

I did not, no. Okay, thanks Roger. Okay, but if by the Spirit, by the Spirit here, the Holy Spirit is the source of power, so if through the Spirit or if by the Spirit, so our faith and our dependency must be in the Spirit. It cannot be in ourself and it must not be in ourself, but it has to be on the Lord, it has to be in the Spirit.

Galatians 5.16, and Matt, last time you were here with us, six weeks ago, you brought this verse out, I remember.

Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. So, this is what we're talking about here in this verse. If you're going to go the direction of the flesh, this is going to be the result. With the Spirit, this is going to be the result. If you're walking in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. That's kind of what's coming across here. Now, you are putting to death. So, if by the Spirit, if we're walking by the Spirit, you are putting to death. That's going to get kind of interesting here. In reality, you're right now putting to death the deeds of the body. Now again, it's indicative, present active, right now. It's happening. It's a reality. Not something that's going to happen in the future, it's right now, this very moment in reality.

You're right now choosing to believe and to depend on the Spirit. So it's not our self-effort that brings about this death, but it's our faith in God's revealed Word, specifically Romans 6-8. So by the Spirit, you're putting to death. So how are we going to put to death the deeds of the body? It's through our faith. and God's revealed Word.

That's it. It all boils down to faith. At the same time, I want to have this be balanced and find the balance here. This quote by Newell, I think was very interesting. For we must know carefully that a holy life is to be lived by us. And the italics was by Newell. It wasn't by me. I didn't put that in there. I'll throw that disclaimer for what it's worth. It's not that we have any power. We have none.

But God's spirit dwells in us for the express object of being called upon by us to put to death the doings of the body. Self-control is one of that sweet cluster called the fruit of the spirit. We're involved. We're involved. We are the ones that are putting to death the deeds of the body. But how are we doing it? It's by faith. It's by dependence upon the Holy Spirit. And so, note here that it did not say that the Holy Spirit is going to put to death the deeds of the body, but that we are. There's our involvement. We are, but not in our own strength, but through the Spirit. We want to keep it God's part and man's part, and keep a healthy look at both of them. Any thoughts about that?

I think it takes us back to John 16, 14 in terms of the role of the Spirit. It's so uplifting to think that the Spirit of The comforter that's going to be given is the spirit of truth and reveals all things. And in verse 14, he glorifies me. So, the concept of the spirit-led life is a Christ light bulb that kind of shines.

Absolutely. That active act of faith is, when spirit-led, it's another life. That's right. That's right. Coming back to the role of the Holy Spirit. is going to be filling us with the life of Christ. And as we're walking by faith, and the Holy Spirit is filling us with the life of Christ, the result is going to be that we're going to be put into death, the deeds of the body.

Isn't it neat to think He leads us into all truth? Yes, that's right. I don't know how to put a metric to that. The more you study and the more that we dig and we search into God's Word, it's a cliché now, the more you realize how much you don't know. But the Spirit is leading us and guiding us into all truth.

I know co-teachers that we teach here and having the privilege of studying with Hal in past days, that there comes a time when you're preparing for a class where you just have to stop. Because you can study, and you can dig, and you can look, and there's more riches, and there's more truths, and there's more gems of the Lord that you can keep unsurfacing.

But boy, you know, the Sunday is coming, and you've got to stop. You can only start so early. Here with the Rachel, yeah. You can only start so early for the class, and Saturday night you've got to stop. But yeah, the Spirit can reveal and guide us into all truth. That's right. Okay, so final slide here. The deeds of the body. What are the deeds of the body? What simply describes the deeds of the body?

Sin. That's right. We could go on that for a long time. Galatians 5, the deeds of the flesh. Anything that's not of Christ is sin. That's right. When we talk about that, we talked about it in the past, it's the outward manifestation of the sin nature, the deeds that are coming out of my body. my body, my mouth, when I say something that isn't nice to somebody, my thoughts that aren't focused above on the Lord. So that's what we're talking about when the deeds are by outward manifestation of the sin nature.

You will live. Again, I don't want to spend a lot of time with this. The second bell has rang. That was the second one, right? So, does this mean that if I am, through the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body, that I will not physically die, but will physically live?

Again, fellowship is what is being referred to. If we go back to 1 John 1, 5-7, the idea here is, as this is happening, As we're walking by faith, dependent upon the Spirit, the result's going to be that we're going to be putting to death the deeds of the body, and we're going to be enjoying the wonderful fellowship with the Lord that God intends for us to have.

Well, jot your questions down this week. There's some that we can revisit from this lesson, from earlier on in the class, talking about the Spirit's involvement there. My job is to come with them and we'll put Roger up on the podium and everything will be fine.

Let's pray. Lord, thanks for our time. Thanks for your word, that we can look into it and we can know you more, grow in the grace and knowledge of yourself, that we can be conformed into your image because of your work in our lives as we walk by faith. So thank you so much for that. And pray for Vern as he gives the sermon this morning and the rest of the time. In your name we pray. Amen.