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Romans 8:1-4
8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set youfree from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-2 (week 1 review)
- Paul is facing the battle between pleasing self and pleasing God
- Ultimately Paul cannot win this battle on his own, but because of Christ we have been set free and we are no longer condemned
Romans: 3-4 (week 2 review)
- The law alone could not save us. We couldn’t be good enough, moral enough, or religious enough to save ourselves.
- We understand the failure of the law, but also the success of Christ.
Romans 8:5-8
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
- There is a person whose mind is focused on flesh (on self)
- I ultimately pursue what I want
- I take what I want when I want
- Whatever makes me feel good
- There is a life whose mind is focused on the spirit
- In step with what God desires
- In step with how God leads and directs
- While there is nothing wrong with hard work and determination, our flesh alone has never had the power to transform us. The flesh cannot do what the Spirit alone can.
- This section of Romans 8:1-8 is the “so what” section.
- (Part 1) IF there is now no condemnation for those in Christ……so what?
- (Part 2) IF Jesus freed you, doing what the law couldn’t do……so what?
- What do you do about that today?
- The answer to that question is found in your mind
- What you think about
- Your response to your emotions
- What compels you, what role you allow the Holy Spirit to play in driving you
- The answer to that question is found in your mind
- What do you do about that today?
Romans 12:1-2
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Bottom Line:
The change God wants to make in you starts in your mind
What would it look like to take an inventory of your mind….
- What do you spend your time looking at or listening to?
- What do you read and study?
- How do you manage your thought and feeling life? (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
- How do you respond to hardship or suffering?
- How would others describe you? (Faithful? Patient? Joyful?) (Galatians 5:22-23)
The Hope of Holiness is that holiness is not something we do, but something God does in us. We believe it is a focus on our outward actions, cleaning up the outside. But God wants to transform us from the inside out.
Other Texts for Reflection:
2 Corinthians 10:4-5
Galatians 5:22-23