Romans 8:14-16 Led by the Spirit, Notes

Led by the Spirit

Text: Romans 8:14-16                                                7/2/2017

Main Point: The Holy Spirit leads Christians.

There is unfortunately a great deal of confusion in the church regarding the Holy Spirit. There is also a great deal of false teaching regarding the Holy Spirit and these errors often cause great personal turmoil. What is speaking in tongues? Should I speak in tongues? Am I less than Christian because I don’t speak in tongues? That one is easy, 1 Corinthians 12:30 tells us that not everyone speaks in tongues. The difficult passage is our passage today, Romans 8:16, and the promise that the Spirit will testify with our spirit that we are children of God. This is a universal witness and if you don’t have it then you are not a Christian. Let’s stop worrying about tongues and start worrying about the witness of the Spirit.

Romans 8:12-17

I. To be led by the Spirit means you are a Christian

1. Who are the sons of God?
   1. The sons of God are the redeemed people of God
   2. Sons of God is another way of referring to Israel God’s people
   3. Deuteronomy 14:1-2, sons of the Lord your God, people holy to the Lord, chosen people, treasured possession
   4. Isaiah 1:2-4, my people, my children
   5. Hoshea 1:10, new covenant, children of the living God
   6. John 1:12, he gave the right to become children of God
   7. Sons of God is another way of referring to Christians, God’s people. Christians are sons of God. Christians are children of God
2. The sons of God are those who have been given the Spirit of God
   1. Galatians 3:14, “in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham has come to the Gentiles, we receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith.”
   2. The mark of the people of God is no longer circumcision, the Promised Land, or the temple. The mark is not preeminently baptism. The mark of the people of God is having received and being led by the Spirit of God. The seal of the Spirit is confessed in baptism (Acts 2:16-18, 33, 41).
3. The sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God
   1. Romans 8:14
   2. Led by is a present passive verb- all those who are being led by the Spirit of God are sons of God
4. The sons of God are disciples who make disciples
   1. Biblically speaking, discipleship is fundamental and universal in the Christian life. In our day we have made discipleship unnecessary and inconsequential. Jesus said, “Go make disciples and teach them how to obey everything Jesus commands.” This most certainly includes the command to be led by the Holy Spirit.
   2. We are meant to learn how to follow the Spirit according to the Word and with the help of other believers
   3. Since it is the case that Christians are those people who are led by the Spirit it is crucial to understand what it looks like to be led by the Spirit.

II. Evidence of the Spirit’s leadership

1. The Spirit leads us to believe, confess, and depend on Christ for life (John 6:63; 1 Cor 12:3)
2. The Spirit leads us to put to death the deeds of the body (Rom 8:13)
3. The Spirit leads us away from a fear of punishment (Rom 8:15; 2 Tim 1:7)
   1. What is the spirit of slavery?
   2. Fear God and fear the future
   3. Fear God- I don’t measure up, I’m not good enough, God doesn’t love me, God couldn’t love me, I am doomed to hell
   4. Fear of the future- what is going to happen?
   5. Rom 5:5, hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us
4. The Spirit leads us to cry out to God as Father (Rom 8:15)
   1. Spirit of adoption- sealed with the Spirit
   2. Eph 1:3-6
   3. Know the care and trustworthiness of God such that you pray to Him
   4. One evidence that God is your Father is when you are actively concerned about and practically doing helpful things for your brothers and sisters.
5. The Spirit leads us to love the church (1 John 3:10; 1 Cor 12:7)
   1. 1 John 3:10, “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil, whoever does not practices righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”
   2. We serve in the new way of the Spirit (Rom 7:6). We don’t serve in order to gain something from God. We serve because we have been made sons and daughters of God. We do not sit like parasites on the church. Led by the Spirit, gifted by the Spirit, we encourage, build up, correct, and exhort our brothers and sisters. If you have an active and practical concern for these people in this room, that is good evidence of the Spirit dwelling in you. If you have no active or practical concern for your fellow members that should cause serious concerns in your mind about your salvation. You may indeed not have the Holy Spirit. The Spirit leads us to love the church.
6. The Spirit assures us of our reconciliation to God (Rom 8:16)
   1. See in the text that this is not a verbal witness to our ears. We are promised a witness alongside of our own spirits. You should not sit in silence waiting for this inner testimony of the Spirit. Instead, of waiting in silence we are to act upon our rights as children of God.
   2. We confess, “we are children of God.” The Spirit comes alongside and gives a corroborating witness, “these are children of God.”
   3. A corroborating witness is a witness who supports or confirms testimony already given[1]
   4. Deuteronomy 19:15, “only on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses shall a charge be established.”
   5. John 15:26 the disciples bear witness to Jesus and the Holy Spirit bears witness about Jesus. This also is corroborating evidence.
   6. What is happening here? To whom are the children of God and the Spirit of God testifying? Are the children of God and the Spirit of God trying to convince God of their rights? No, Ephesians 1:5 tells us it is the Father who predestined these children for adoption.
   7. Zechariah’s vision of Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3
   8. Is the witness to Satan then? Are we testifying to Satan and the Spirit is testifying with us to Satan that we are children of God. Maybe, but I think that falls short of the context of Romans 8:14-16.
   9. More specifically, it seems to me, in the context of the struggle of Romans 7 with remaining sin and the blessing of sonship in Romans 8 that the witness is given by the Holy Spirit to us to continue crying out to the Father in light of our weakness, struggle, and sin.
   10. We confess Christ as our Savior, our justification, and our righteousness. We are sons and daughters. We so desperately want to come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace in our time of need. But we are often divided between pursuing the things of God and the things of the world. Our affections are very weak. We don’t feel like sons and daughters. Why should we think God would hear our cry to him as Father? As we pray depending on the Son and asking for the Father’s help, it is the Spirit who testifies alongside of us. We sheepishly and shyly go to the Father overwhelmed by His holiness and our sinfulness. Satan accuses us, “You have sin, your affections are weak, you don’t belong here. Don’t cry out to God, He’s not your Father.” But our spirits testify, our regenerated spirits testify that we have been adopted and justified children of God. It is the Spirit who comes alongside of us and testifies in response to our weakness and Satan’s accusations, “This one is a child of God.” It is as if the Spirit puts his arm around us to hold us up. To the children of God the Spirit says, “Keep praying, Keep crying out.” Against Satan’s accusations the Spirit says, “This one is a child of God!” The Spirit leads us, because of our weakness and sin, to keep crying out to God.

III. What do we do with all of this?

Stop sitting in silence playing some spiritualized form of duck, duck, goose. Maybe today the Spirit will tap me on the head, say goose, and then I’ll get to run around like a Christian. Romans 8:16 does not promise an internal warm fuzzy. Instead, because of adoption and justification, expect the Spirit to convict you of remaining sin while also encouraging you to cry out to your heavenly Father who loves you.

Expect the Spirit to lead you to put sin to death because you are a child of God.

Expect the Spirit to lead you to see and savor the great work of Jesus Christ securing righteousness and forgiveness so you can be a child of God.

Do not look for some second blessing. Instead, read and pray, expecting an ever deepening and satisfying appreciation for Christ’s righteous life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection. The testimony of the Spirit can only be heard beneath the cross.

[1] https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/corroborating-witness/

Fulfilling the Great Commission

Text: Gal 2:20; 2 Cor 5:14-15; Mt 28:18-20                           2/3/2013

Main Point: The fruitful fulfillment of the Great Commission starts with your own joyful crucifixion.

The promises of God for us are simply breath taking. For almost two months now in our Wednesday bible study we have been celebrating and unpacking what it means that every Christian has already received in Christ everything that is needed for life and godliness. Everything that you need to be joyful and fruitful in every relationship has already been given to you in Christ Jesus. The Father has graciously given you His Holy Spirit. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. You have become a partaker of the divine nature. Christian is it simply breath taking that God is not just for you but is with you and in you.

God is for you and dwells in you for a twofold purpose: your redemption and the redemption of others.

Our focus today is on the Great Commission. Before Jesus returned to heaven he made it clear that Jesus has authority over every person, place, and thing. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He then told the disciples to make disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As security for this mission Jesus promised that he would be with his disciples always, to the end of the age (Mt 28:18-20).

As I was preparing for our time together today I realized that most of us are familiar with the Great Commission. We understand that Jesus has told us to make disciples in our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and out in the nations. The question is why are we not doing it? Why are you and I not reading the bible evangelistically with our lost family member, neighbors, and coworkers? Why are we not encouraging and equipping one another with the word of God everyday according to Hebrews 3:13 and 10:24-25?

I do not want to guilt you into fulfilling the Great Commission. I want to help you understand and gladly embrace the truth that all those who have been crucified with Christ live life like Christ. Obedience to the Great Commission is not a matter of education but of crucifixion. The Great Commission is not a source of shame but of fruitfulness for all of life. The fruitful fulfillment of the Great Commission starts with your own joyful crucifixion.

Read Galatians 2:20

I. The necessity of death

• Christ came deliberately to die (Mark 10:45)

In the course of daily life there are things we end up doing unintentionally. When I arrive at the checkout in Wal-Mart I wonder how in the world all that stuff got into my cart. I didn’t set out to get those things but it happened incidentally, along the way.

The death of Christ on the cross did not happen unintentionally, accidentally, or incidentally. Christ came deliberately to die. Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “The Son of Man (that’s what Jesus called himself) did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Judge’s sentence has been handed down to each one of us. You must die for your sin. But then One comes who willingly died in your place paying your penalty for your sins. This is the gospel: the good news of Christ’s atoning death for you.

Now you must think clearly and biblically concerning Christ’s crucifixion for you. Christ did not die in your place so that you can go free. Christ died in your place and rose again so that you can die with him and live through him.

It is true that Christ has lived a righteous life, died an atoning death, and rose victorious over sin and the grave for you. He willingly died in your place as your substitute. But it is equally true that the benefits of Christ are not enjoyed by all but only by those who are joined to him.

• You must be crucified with him (Galatians 2:20)

The Apostle Paul understood and enjoyed life with Christ precisely because the Apostle Paul had died and rose again with Christ. Look with me at Galatians 2:20, “For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live.” Now 2 Corinthians 5:14, “One has died for all, therefore all have died.”

We live in a day when the majority of church-goers want the benefits of Christ without joining in the crucifixion of Christ. We want Jesus to grant our wishes, fulfill our missions, and ice our cakes. For too many Jesus is nothing more than a turbo chip in the self-centered engine of life. Jesus helps me get where I want to go with greater speed. This is a gross misunderstanding of Christ and Christianity.

Jesus didn’t come to be the icing on our sin infested cakes. He came so that we could come to his party and have a piece of his cake. Jesus didn’t come to fulfill our doomed missions but to equip us and send us as ambassadors with the good news that Jesus’ mission is complete. Righteousness, eternal life, power for a life of obedience, and more are had only by joining in his crucifixion. We join Christ through faith. So what does it mean to be crucified with Christ by faith?

There are two ways to look at Christ’s death on the cross. One way to look at the cross is to say that Jesus died for me and for my sins. The cross is a historical event that Jesus completed for my benefit but I wasn’t there. God looks at Jesus then and considers my sins committed 2000 years later forgiven. My sins weren’t there, Jesus just banked some forgiveness for me. This view of the cross brings the cross from the past into the present. Jesus joins me. This way of understanding the cross is only partially correct.

There is a better, glorious, more biblical way to understand the cross. The Christian says “I have been crucified with Christ” and Colossians 3:3, “I have died and my life is hidden with Christ.” When the Christian says this it is the truth. When you believe in Christ you are joined to Christ. You join him so that his life, death, and resurrection become your own. The moment faith begins you are transferred from the domain of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col 1:13). You actually go from being overpowered by sin to being empowered in Christ to defeat sin. From the moment of faith, your life is bound up in Christ. Romans 6 is powerful on this exact point. Spend some time this afternoon in Romans 6. For now I’ll give you just a taste of the richness that is there.

If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him (Romans 6:5-9).

Faith is more than a decision to agree with some historical facts about Jesus. Acknowledging facts about Jesus doesn’t change anything. Satan knows what Jesus has done but he isn’t changed by that knowledge.

Faith is an actual joining of yourself to Jesus. Jesus really died to pay for my sins and by faith I joined in his death. The old me, dominated by sin and following after selfishness, died with Christ. Because I joined Christ in his crucifixion my slavery to sin has been broken.

So, a Christian doesn’t just believe Jesus died for sins. By faith a Christian joins in Christ’s death for sins. You don’t add to what Jesus has done or improve on it in any way. You become a beneficiary. You are there with him so your payment has been made. In Christ you have been set free from sin for a joyful life of obedience. You don’t have to give in to sin like you did before you were joined to Christ. Sin isn’t your boss anymore. Christ is your King. You died with him so that now you can live life in Him.

Saving faith is a real severing of the power of sin over a believer because you actually join in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We really died with Christ so now we can truly live. His victory over sin becomes my own.

II. Life is lived in Christ by the Spirit

Christ did not come just so that your sin debt would be paid and your sin nature decapitated. Jesus came so that you could join in his death and join in his life. We died with Christ so that we can live with Christ.

• Christians live life in Christ

Listen to Romans 6:10-14. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Because he has been joined to Christ the Christian lives out of the truth that he has died to sin and is alive to God. Because she is in Christ each Christian understands that she has died with Christ and risen with Christ. Sin’s dominion has been broken so that I can joyfully obey. I don’t have to let sin rule over me. I don’t have to let anger or lust or bitterness or jealousy or fear reign in my mortal body. I have been crucified with Christ and I have been raised with Christ. I am alive to God. I have the mind of Christ. I have been given everything I need for life and godliness in Him. For the first time the Christian is free to not sin but truly obey. Every day is another opportunity for worship. I will be a living sacrifice presenting all that I am to God for his good purposes.

In Christ you live a new life. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you have done. Christ is greater still. Christians live life in Christ.

• Christians live life by the Spirit

Think about this for a moment. The disciples had been with Jesus for three years. They had heard Jesus, seen Jesus, asked questions of Jesus, and lived life with Jesus. They were witnesses to his death and resurrection. But after these three amazing years with Jesus the disciples were not capable of the task of making disciples of all the nations. After all that, they were not equipped for life. Seeing Jesus work miracles and hearing Jesus teach are not enough to change anyone. The disciples needed the Spirit just like you and I need the Spirit.

We all need to be Spirit filled and Spirit led.

To be Spirit filled can mean two things in Scripture: filled at faith or filled for a task. We’re looking today at what it the filling given to every Christian. To be filled with the Spirit is to be given the life of Christ. The Christian has the life of Christ because the Christian is inhabited by the Spirit of Christ. If you don’t have the Spirit you are not a Christian.

Let’s go to Romans 8 for this one. “You…are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact that Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 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 dwells in you” (Rom 8:9-11).

The Spirit of Christ is the One who picks us up and points us to Christ. The Spirit of Christ is the One who infuses the righteous life of Christ into us. The Spirit leads, corrects, teaches, and gifts. Jesus said because the Father is a good gift giver we should ask for the Spirit (Luke 11:13). When you ask for the Spirit you are asking for the ability to live life with Christ.

My girls are really big on wanting to walk on my feet. They love it because it is completely different than anything they can do on their own. If you need a more manly illustration how about a person getting into an Army tank? All of a sudden you are capable of doing something that on your own you were incapable of doing. It is the Spirit that enables and empowers us to live for Christ and no longer for ourselves.

And the Spirit is more than power to help us say no to sin. The Spirit is a person who indwells every believer so that we are enabled to live the life of Christ. We live like Jesus because we are animated by the life of Jesus.

The ability to love the unloveable, forgive the unforgivable, and make disciples of all nations come through the Spirit of Christ. We don’t need fresh commitments. We need the Spirit; the Spirit that produces the obedience of faith.

• Christians obey Christ

One of the best definitions of a Christian is a Christ-follower. You can talk about prayers you have prayed, tears you have cried, multiple trips to the baptistery, and great Bible studies but if you are not following Christ in your home with your heart then you probably are not a Christian.

When Jesus the Good Shepherd called your name and you believed in him he did not give you license to go do whatever you want until you die or he comes back. When Jesus called your name he was calling you to follow him. Because he has given you his life you are to follow his lead in all of life. Being a Christian means driving, eating, working, spending, loving, forgiving, and serving according to Jesus’ leadership.

In John 10:27 Jesus said his sheep hear his voice, he knows them, and they follow him. The joyful fulfilling of the Great Commission depends on you and I joining in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Since we died with him we are empowered to live like him.

In your notes there are 7 ways for you to fulfill the Great Commission. We’ll cover one this morning and the remaining 6 tonight.

III. How to fulfill the Great Commission

Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. There Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  ‎19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  ‎20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

  In order to fulfill the Great Commission you must first

• Be born again

You have to die with Jesus and rise again with Jesus. If you are not spiritual then your commitment will not last. You might toy with spiritual things for a time but when the shiny wears off of Jesus you’ll be gone looking for the next shiny thing.

It is crucial that you come to the point where you understand what it means to be biblically alive in Christ, to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. Are you alive with Christ and led by the Spirit? You must repent of your sins, put your faith in Jesus Christ and be born again. You must be spiritual.

Are you spiritual? What would your spouse say? Your children? Your coworkers? Do you know Jesus’ voice and do you follow him? Does the Spirit convict you of sin? Do you have an increasing love for Christ? When you think of turning away from Christ do you say like all disciples, “where else could we go? You have the words of life. We have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).

You must be born again to fulfill the Great Commission

• Start where you are

Jesus said in Mattew 28:19, “As you are going make disciples.” Do you have a spouse? Make a disciple. Do you have children or grandchildren? Make disciples. Do you have neighbors? Make disciples. Do you have coworkers or clients? Make disciples. We need to be reaching out but we also need to reach across the dining table, across the street, or to the person next to us at work. Start where you are and

• Be genuine and intentional with the Word and the Gospel

Your story doesn’t make disciples because you’re not supposed to be making disciples of you. Without being fake use the Word of God to share the Gospel of Christ. Can you imagine what this church would look like if everyone was reading the bible evangelistically with a lost person? What if each one of us was reading the bible in order to help a fellow Christian grow in Christ and put sin to death?

I have printed up reading plans if you want to be intentional to read the bible evangelistically with a Non-believer or if you want to encourage someone who is struggling or if you want to open your life up and grow alongside another believer. Be genuine and intentional with the Word and Gospel for evangelism, encouragement, and growth. I’ll put these Bible reading plans on the church website also. In order to fulfill the Great Commisions you must be diligent with the word and you must

• Set your sights on obedience not just content

You’ve probably heard it at least once from me, it is not enough just to teach someone the concepts of the gospel and faith and prayer and service. Sunday school and sermons and reading the bible with one another were never meant to be the everything of spiritual growth. We are expected to do what we are told. And our King has told us to teach people to obey all that he has commanded.

Each Christian is to follow Christ and each Christian is to teach others to follow Christ. So, one of the reasons you might not be investing in someone else teaching them to be a Christ follower is probably because you are not a Christ follower yourself. Christians labor to make other Christians. Non-Christians are content with everyone being non-Christians. Are you laboring or are you content?

In order to fulfill the Great Commission you must set your sights on obedience not just content and you must  

• Be open to short term and long term mission opportunities

I’m not saying you must go I’m saying you must be open to going. It might be a trip to work with Johnny and Sissie Huffman at Fairhaven ministries in Louisiana. You might want to go work among the Fulani people in Niger, Africa. You might be called to work alongside missionaries in China. God might be calling you not just two give a couple of weeks a year put to give your life for a people to know and follow Christ. Is God calling you to go for a week, or two weeks, or the rest of your life? I want to help you with that. Let me know what God is working in you as you seek to fulfill the Great Commission.

We should be going and we should be praying

• Pray for missionaries

1. Use the perforated tab in the bulletin

2. Get missionary prayer calendars and use them

We should be praying and we should be giving

• Give in support of missionaries

1. Make supporting missionaries an important part of your budget

2. Lottie Moon Christmas offering

3. Annie Armstrong Easter offering

4. Direct support of missionaries

Don’t just stand there defending the truth. Advance the gospel in your family, on your street, at your work, and out to the nations. Go and make disciples.