"Life in the Spirit" part 1 (Romans 8:1-25)

1.       Freedom (v.1-4)

God created the world to share his grace. This wonderful offering of God’s grace would necessarily bring obligations for human beings to live their lives in a Godly way. Yet, basically from day one, human beings have sought to do things their own way; and in so doing have brought great distress upon themselves, others, and the whole of the world environment. We look outside our door and we see all sorts of violence, pain and disorder. We look inside our own hearts, and we see things that are too dark to easily to admit to.

God tried many times to set his people back on the right path and re-establish close ties with them. There were laws given to assist in the promotion of authentic life, but these could not adequately deal with the accumulating misuse of human freewill. Ultimately, what we really needed was a Saviour. So God sent his Son Jesus, an eternal member of the Holy Trinity, to earth, in human form, to live a human life, yet a Spirit-inspired perfect life, to give us a vision of what living according to God’s ways looked like.

But still, how would we ever (as broken humanity) be able to address this (holy) vision. What we needed was the weight of guilt and sin to be lifted off us, so that we could start afresh. Sin could never be trivialised or just simply forgotten, for it has too many dark and evil outcomes connected to it. So Jesus took all of that sin and guilt and shame upon his shoulders, bore the weight of it all, and took it to his grave. Then, in the power of God, he rose in victory, calling all those who wanted forgiveness into a new experience of life.

As we admit our misdeeds, and identify with Jesus’ act of sacrifice on our behalf on the cross, and sincerely commit ourselves to a process of change, then we are set free! “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “No condemnation” ... what does this mean?? If a person is found guilty of a crime, they are “condemned” to suffer a penalty determined by the lawful authorities. Therefore “no condemnation” would indicate escaping or being absolved from that penalty.

For those considered “in Christ Jesus”, this means that we no longer live under the judgement of sin; but rather live in the realm of ongoing forgiveness. We have received complete forgiveness for the past, and have daily access to further forgiveness as necessary. Ultimate death has been replaced by eternal life. God sees what we are becoming, and this is such a positive thing, that he quickly forgives and forgets our daily transgressions as we confess them.

Of course, this does not mean that we abuse such generosity (by acting however we like according to the ‘old nature’), for if we did, that would certainly bring great doubt upon our sincerity. But it does mean that we can live with a certain freedom and joyousness, knowing that Jesus walks beside us, not as our judge, but as our friend. So the biggest thrill we can get out of their being “no condemnation” for us, is the removal of any fear that is attached to the outcome of our lives.

We are God’s people, for God has declared it so! We no longer are measured according to any impersonal code, but rather have the very Spirit of God as our travelling companion. We are freed from the horrible negativity that often surrounds us; we don’t need to feel a failure or defeated because Jesus has given us victory. What a completely different dynamic that is! Unfortunately though, many people who want to be Christians just don’t grab a hold of this freedom tightly enough, and look like they still live under “condemnation”.

Yet for those of us who do grab this salvation with both hands, whenever we fall short, as we often do, we can be immediately put back on track, having learned a great lesson in the process. Whenever life gets really hard, we can know that (our loving Creator) God is present in our pain, confusion and hardship, and will stay there for as long as it takes.

In a former life we have been ‘slaves’ to sin, just like the ancient people of Israel were slaves in Egypt. There was no way out (or so it was thought), and that was all we knew. But now God has liberated us into a new form of being, where we are completely aligned with God’s mission of grace in the world. I started by saying that God created us in the first place to share his grace with us; now that we have experienced that grace for ourselves, we are God’s grace-bearers to the rest of the world.

2.       Focus (v.5-13)

This passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 8, does suggest that our new found ‘freedom’ needs to find some focus. We need to find out what are the “things of the Spirit” that we need to set our minds on (as opposed to the “things of the flesh” that we leave behind). That’s essentially what I talked about last week from Colossians 3.

The “things of the flesh” are those things that are based on our own ego and self-interest (and in some cases, greed), and neglect the needs of others and the priorities of God. We need to resist the ‘natural impulses’ in favour of more wholesome attributes, through the power of God’s spirit within us.

We can see from Romans 8 verse 5 ... that where our thoughts are, and where our minds are at – that is where our life will head. So we have to have our minds “set” on the important spiritual dynamics of life (and the ways of God) if our life, in all its component parts, is going to go in the right direction.

So no matter if we’re talking about what career to pursue, or what relationships to nurture, or what house to buy, or how we spend our social time, or what book to read, or even what to eat, we need first to have our mind set on God’s Spiritual leadership if any of these things are going to work out properly.

It is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, that sweeps into our life when we accept Jesus as ‘Saviour’, being available as our new reference point in life. The Holy Spirit is not an occasional visitor but a settled permanent presence (David Coffey). This is the same Holy Spirit which ‘descended’ upon Jesus at his baptism empowering his great ministry, and dramatically turned up on the Day of Pentecost revolutionising the life of the first disciples.

The Holy Spirit will aid our understanding of God’s Word (the Bible), so we can adequately apply it to all the dimensions of our life. More and more our instincts turn to where the Spirit of God is leading us. And when feeling challenged about necessary change or a new area of service, through the presence of God’s Spirit, we can say affirmatively – “yes ... I can do that”!

It will actually be our right living (“righteousness” – v.10) that will prove that the Spirit of God is residing in us. We will be known for who we follow through the evidence of the ‘fruit’ of our lives. This is despite continuing to make mistakes, because of the way that we actually deal with such setbacks: i.e. we don’t deny or lie about our faults, we don’t try to shift the blame or deny responsibility, we don’t seek to avoid necessary legal consequences; and in all cases we ‘own up’ and apologise to all offended parties.

And we more frequently experience inner peace, because the decisions that need to be made become so much clearer and less complex, as competing elements are brought under a basic singular focus = what does God want me to do!

3.       Family of God (v.14-17)

The closeness that God seeks in his relationship with us is seen in verses 14 to 17. The forgiveness and freedom we have, combined with the necessary focus on the leading of God’s Spirit, means that we can be termed God’s children.

In one sense all people are God’s people, because they exist through God’s original initiation of life. And God continues to love all people, despite the fact that they are often ungrateful and unresponsive. But in a very important contrary sense, we can only really be God’s children through a personal decision to identify with God and accept what Jesus has done for us.

In so doing, we are “adopted” into God’s family ... we become sons and daughters of God. Under Roman law, when an adoption took place, all the adopted child’s previous obligations were completely broken off, and that child became fully responsible to his new parents (L Richards). So again, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”; “Blessed are the merciful” etc (Matthew 5:9,7). It will be acting like children of God that will prove that we are indeed children of God.

Children of God will become more and more like Jesus, and at the same time, become more and more like each of us was designed to be. Thus we are more alive than ever before. It’s a great and wonderful thing to be chosen to join a family. As we have already said, God initiates the invitation through Jesus, and we get to accept the offer. Then we learn to appreciate the depth of God’s love for us, and respond with adoration and thankfulness.

“Abba Father” or “Daddy” is the most intimate way of responding to God. We can embrace this level of trust and intimacy with God; at the same time understanding that we are communing with the ‘Creator’ and ‘Sustainer’ of the universe. This is not a fearful relationship, like in the case of a slave and their owner. And this is not a distant hands-off relationship, like it is with an absent human father. Rather, this is a mutually loving, close-by, hands-on relationship.

We “adopted” children are deemed just as welcome and just as rightfully present as Jesus himself is in God’s home. Through this, we are recipients of all the resources we could possibly need to live life to the fullest, and then subsequently gain entry into God’s eternal home.   

4.       Future Glory (v.17-25)

Well that sounded really good, being a co-heir with Jesus of all God’s blessings; but being that joined or familiar with Jesus may also have other implications. Quickly Paul moves in verse 17 from his joyful statement of family connectivity with God to a condition statement beginning with “if”. This doesn’t sound so good ... “if, in fact, we suffer with [Christ] so that we may also be glorified with him”.

In other words ... as Jesus’ own path to glory was through suffering, so must ours (if we are to be co-heirs). To fully identify with Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and thereby receive our forgiveness, may mean copping some suffering of our own through the process of following Jesus on earth. This is certainly what happened with the early disciples. This is certainly what happened for Paul. This is certainly what is happening around the world today in various countries where Jesus followers are being persecuted because of their faith.

Apart from this, life itself, as it is lived in a fallen world, where there is much strife and feelings of hopelessness, can bring much suffering. The death of an innocent child through a drunk or speeding driver. The struggle of a beloved relative with cancer. The loss of a job. Indeed, the whole of creation is suffering because humanity has neglected its (God-given) responsibility (Genesis 1:28) to care for it; and the accumulation of humanity’s greed has done great damage to the earth. The destruction of forests. Animal cruelty. Pollution.

Yet all this suffering will not last. We just have to endure; not denying God, but continuing to point to the hope that is found in God. God loves us and is available to us and will hold us in his arms. This is the hope that is so evident to us, but not generally seen by others. It will be our endurance and patience through hard times that will help to prepare for the revealing of God’s glory. And such suffering will provide the context through which God’s Spirit will reform us into the image of Jesus.

In time, according to Paul, God, in his own wise way, will bring all of his re-creative love to bear on his earth, and liberate it from all the evil that has been imposed on it; and then we will rejoice with all our hearts. In the meantime, we will rightly remain dissatisfied and incomplete (C H Dodd), and thus work and pray for better outcomes. Richard B Hays suggests that God’s children will stand in solidarity with the pain of an unredeemed creation.

So, we have to take every opportunity to put right some of the wrongs and injustices we meet – things that have oppressed people and destroyed living environments. It is patiently and creatively living through hard times, together with taking action against unjust practices, that will share God’s glory in a suffering world. The transformation of people into true children of God through God’s Spirit will no doubt have a positive effect on the total human environment.