We have begun looking at part of the book of Romans and today’s lesson comes from Chapter 8. Remember that it’s part of a longer lesson from Paul in Chapters 6-8, in which Paul articulates the doctrine of Sanctification. Remember that the first five chapters of Romans talk about salvation, where it comes from, how we get it, what Justification is. Last week, we talked about what we do now that we are saved. What about sin? How do we deal with it? Paul recognized that he could not follow the law in spite of himself. On his own strength and will, he couldn’t do it. We are, like Paul, slaves to sin.
But it’s OK, because as Paul says: “Thanks be to God__through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul called for help. He couldn’t do it. We can’t do it. We are trapped in a state of selfishness. As long as man tries to save himself, he is doomed to failure, enslaved to a sinful nature. But when he calls for help from God, he can begin to look to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Chapter 7 ends with Paul reiterating “I, myself…” It is a call to futility and failure. Today, we will see that the “I, myself” is replaced with “In Christ.” Let’s look at what that means to us.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Just one verse before, Paul characterized himself as a double slave: to both God’s law and to sin. We have all heard it said that a man cannot serve two masters. So what is the answer to Paul’s dilemma? As we said last week, the answer is in Sanctification. But remember: Sanctification is a journey. It takes a lifetime to become sanctified. It is not only the road less traveled; it is also the road impossible to travel alone. Now, Paul reminds us that the believer is liberated, set free from the slavery of sin and death through Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit, drawing us to God, a gift from God to every man but a gift not claimed by every man, dwells within us and enables us to push sin aside. But it is not enough, for no matter how much of the Holy Spirit we are allowed to call upon, no matter how deep our faith resonates, we cannot rid ourselves of our sinful nature. Not to worry. Jesus fills in the blanks. In verse 3, Paul reminds us that our shortcomings are overcome by Jesus, who as God’s own and only Son, has donned the likeness of sinful man, lived the life of man himself, endured the temptations of the sinful nature as a man and, having done so without a blemish, without a sin, becomes the sin offering for mankind. Jesus the man lives a life without sin and becomes the model for mankind. Jesus in his divine nature goes to the cross not just for one man, but for all mankind. In this way, God’s perfect justice is preserved while his divine mercy is made available to each of us. So, according to verse 4, if we try to live in line with God’s will, if we seek to live by the Holy Sprit who dwells within us, then the “righteous requirement of the law is fully met in us.” The Holy Spirit guides us and the sacrifice of Jesus builds a bridge of grace to God. This is practical righteousness. He’s got us covered if we will but only try…and believe in Him and His power. Our sin is condemned as it should be, and Jesus pays the price we cannot pay.
What does it mean to live in Christ, to live in the Spirit? It means to get out of the way. It means to live a servant life. It means to give your life away, so that you can get it back. I have an old friend who had a pretty rough go of life as a young adult. Despite her best intentions, her marriage to her high school sweetheart didn’t work out. She was unable to raise her children and had to rely on her ex-husband. It was hard on this kind but unlucky young woman. Some years went by before she found out she wasn’t so unlucky after all. You see, this friend of mine had a twin, who found out in her early 30’s that she too had been dealt a tough hand. Her kidneys were failing. My friend stepped up immediately. She may have had some problems with handling stress, but nothing was wrong with her kidneys, or her heart. She donated a kidney to her twin. Thirty years later, these sisters are both doing just fine with one kidney each. This is practical righteousness. It’s not a sacrifice to serve your family. Servanthood is an investment in God’s kingdom.
It’s the love of God we’re talking about here. We read about how much He loved us. John says we love Him because He first loved us. That means, among other things, that He loved us before we loved Him, before we did one single thing to earn His love, to merit His favor. Even when it comes to loving Him, we have to count on the Holy Spirit to draw us to Him. So are there any methods by which we can seek this practical righteousness?
Let me suggest to you that the road to righteousness is paved with
prayer and obedience, and littered with thousands of kindnesses to our neighbor along the way. And friends, let’s understand once and for all who our neighbor is. If he or she is breathing and human, that qualifies as our neighbor. God made them in His likeness just like you and me.
Prayer is not a monologue. It is a conversation with God. We
speak to God with our words, our thoughts, our desires, our unspoken but heartfelt emotions. He answers sometimes in a rainbow or a mountaintop experience, but more often in the Holy Spirit guiding us through a constant and intimate contact with Scripture and the prayerful meditation of its reading.
The second ingredient to righteousness is obedience. “Not my will, but thy will, be done”, says Jesus in the garden just hours before His arrest. Do you want to love God? Do His will. Klaus Bockmuehl, the noted religious author, calls this the “most comprehensive revolution of human lifestyle we can think of. Our nature is to always seek our own interests, our own pleasures. But Jesus shows us that to love God is to do his will.” You know, if you really take a good look at the “saints” in the New Testament, they are a pretty undistinguished lot. But there is one thing that they all had in common. When God called, they answered the bell. They were ready to surrender their personal plans and agendas for God’s sake. It’s not that you have no aim in your life. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Your focus is to live out life in obedient discovery and discernment of God’s will for you.
Paul tells us in verse 11 that when the Holy Spirit dwells within us, when we evidence the influence of that Spirit by acting in servanthood, that we can rest assured that not only our human spirits but also our mortal bodies will be given eternal life__that our resurrection is just as certain as that of Jesus Himself. How glorious a promise is that! We have only to claim it, but our claim rests on our love in action. I’m reminded of a house I once bought. In practicing real estate law for so many years, I would occasionally buy a fixer upper. A few years ago, I bought a house that was shameful. I liked the neighborhood and the house had good bones, but it was rough as a cob. I tried to show my wife and oldest daughter its potential. The odor was so bad that they couldn’t make it through the house. We had to open the windows for a week before we could even get a painter or a carpenter to come in to start work. Well, the bones held up. It took a lot of time and effort, but now that house is home to the daughter of one of our best friends. The house needed some loving and a whole lot of attention to be a home again.
Our earthly beings are much the same. Think about your own home. If you own it, chances are that you have many hours invested in repairs and maintenance, from windows to roofs to insulation to flowers and plantings. A.B. Simpson says that if the Holy Spirit is only allowed to visit you at times, “He will not undertake to alter the dwelling, but if you give Him the keys and make it His home, He will make it a home worthy of Himself and of you. He will make it a blessed home…a little picture of heaven.”
One last point. Paul talks about the sinful nature throughout this passage and the book of Romans. He hammers home that mankind suffers from the sin of Adam and that his nature is sinful. Mankind needs the intervention of the Holy Spirit and the atonement of Jesus to achieve righteousness. This is certainly true. But do not mistake sinful nature for human nature. Sinful nature is our own disobedience. It is our inheritance from Adam. Human nature is that nature given us humans by God. It is our nature before the fall. In the very first chapter of God’s Word, God makes mankind in his own image, after His own likeness. God knows our every move, our every sin. The Psalmist tells us that He knit us together in our mother’s womb [Ps. 139]. Such is the omniscience and sovereignty of our Creator. But…God also sees us as He created us. Each of us is created in His image. That is the essence of human nature---created in the image of God.
So pray without ceasing and be obedient to His call. And let your earthly home be the house that God built. Be human! Live not in yourself, but in Christ.
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