Romans: Session 11 – Led by the Spirit

Notes:

Led by the Spirit – Rom.8:1-27    See Session Slides Here

If we are not under the law, how do we live? We walk according to the Spirit. See Rom. 8:14

 1) The Holy Spirit imparts to us a new nature (Rom. 8:5-9)

  • We are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. Jn.3:6. We have a new nature.
  • Those in the flesh mind the things of the flesh, i.e. time and sense. God is completely out of all their thoughts and considerations.  1 Cor.2:14. Jn.17:3. The Spirit will always lead us to Jesus. Jn.16:14. These are the things of the Spirit; we set our mind on these things.

 2) The Holy Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies so that we can reign (Rom. 8:10-11)

  • God’s answer to our sins is the blood of Jesus. His answer to sin and the flesh is the Holy Spirit. Christ is our life; and the Administrator of that life is the Spirit of God.
  • The Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies. Rom. 8:12-14. The Spirit leads us to yield our members to Him; not to sin. He will manifest the life of the risen Christ in our mortal bodies.
  • He works upon our hearts and desires – Phil.2:12-13. He yearns within us jealously.

3) The Holy Spirit testifies to us that we are sons of God (Rom. 8:14-16)

  • We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. This is the Spirit’s work in the unbeliever using the law to bring conviction. Now, for the believer, He is the Comforter.
  • What about when we sin? He still testifies that we are sons of God.
  • The Holy Spirit gives us a feeling of our sonship. The Holy Spirit has given us a spirit of adoption that makes us feel the same as Jesus in the presence of the Father (Gal.4:6).
  • Rom. 8:17-19. Being sons means that we are heirs. The sons of God have an inheritance of glory. We are already sons of God, but the world doesn’t know us. One day we too will be revealed for all to see. Salvation that did not restore man’s glory would be incomplete. We are being prepared for this by the Spirit (2 Cor.3:18).
  • The apostles never wrote of glory without suffering. Rom. 5:2-3. Here, Paul is referring to specific suffering, i.e. suffering with Christ. We share in His sufferings – Jn. 15:19; 17:14;  2 Tim.3:12. Our sufferings are directly linked with our glory. They are inseparable.
  • Rom. 8:18. General suffering. Our present suffering is “not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us”. We need to see our sufferings in perspective. We are not disappointed with the present because of the future.
  • Rom. 8:19. God is going to put us on show. The world will witness the revealing of the sons of God

 4) The Holy Spirit teaches us what to pray for in the midst of our suffering

  • Rom. 8:23-25. We also groan because of the pain we see that sin causes in our lives, and others.
  • Faith looks back to the finished work of Christ, but hope looks forward with eager anticipation for the fullness of those things He purchased for us at the Cross.
  • Rom. 8:26-28. Our problem, in the midst of suffering, is what to pray for? When we are going through trials we often do not know what to pray for (Greek = ‘the what’). Should we pray for deliverance or for strength to endure? There’s no ‘one size fits all’ in the Christian life.
  • When Jesus ascended He didn’t give us a formula for the Christian life. He left us His Spirit. Without the Spirit we would just pray for our temporal needs to be met. But the Holy Spirit knows the will of God for us and helps us to pray in accordance with what God wants for us.
  • We know that all things will work together for good. It is a part of His work of preparation for the manifestation of the sons of God. The glory of the Christian life is that there is nothing without meaning. All has purpose.



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