ROMANS 8:1-11 THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Romans 8:1-11 The Law Of The Spirit

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015. We are here this evening in Romans chapter 8 and we'll be looking at verses 1 through 11. And so let's begin by reading through that portion together. Romans chapter 8 verse 1 says...

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin."

He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Verse 6, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Verse 7,

Verse 10.

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

As we look at this passage this evening here in Romans chapter 8, this is kind of our third pass around here to the beginning of Romans chapter 8. We finished off chapter 7 and then did kind of a transition week looking at chapter 7 and 8. And then last week we looked at really the highlights of chapter 8, looking at the kind of the key verses and some of the important things that we'll be hitting in

Romans chapter 8. But we want to kind of go back now and start working our way a little bit more verse by verse through chapter 8. And so we'll be spending the next few weeks in Romans chapter 8 considering, as we titled the message last week, the incredible standing that we have in Christ. We'll be, you know, kind of delving in and just allowing ourselves to enjoy the greatness of the things that Paul discusses here in Romans chapter 8. And so we're going to

Well, one of the things as Paul comes to this climax here in Romans chapter 8 of who we are in Christ and what we have in Christ, it really all is based upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And so we're going to be talking this evening about the law of the Spirit. That's the title of the message. The law of the Spirit here in verses 1 through 11. Now as we talk about the law of the Spirit...

We could talk about the law. Sometimes the word law is used to refer to the law of Moses. And that's a reference to the Old Testament, specifically Leviticus or Exodus or Numbers or Deuteronomy, where Moses brings forth the law of God. And sometimes Paul uses that word law to refer to the law of Moses, the collection of laws given through Moses to the children of Israel.

The word law is a word that also could be used like we talk about laws today, you know, the laws of our nation, the laws of our state, and it's applicable to that. But as we talk about the law of the Spirit, and Paul will talk about the law of the Spirit, and he will talk about the law of sin and death,

He's using the word in a slightly different way. So it's not a reference to the law of Moses in this case. It's not a reference to a rule or something like that. But he's using the word law as a reference to a universal truth.

or a principle that is across the board. It can be defined as a force or principle of action, and it's equivalent to a law. So, for example, we would find it quite normal to talk about the law of gravity, right? The law of gravity. It's called the law of gravity because it's a universal truth. It's a universal principle that objects fall at a certain rate, right? And so you know if I let go of this...

it falls and hits the ground at a certain rate. And if I hold it there and let it go again, it's going to fall at exactly the same rate because it's the law of gravity. It doesn't fall faster one time than it does another time if it's dropped. If I throw it, you know, that's different. But the idea is it's a law. It's constant and it's across the board. And you and I live our lives based on the law of gravity, right? You are sitting there

And you're not bracing for impact with the ceiling because you're dependent on and you can trust in. It's the law of gravity. You don't have to worry about falling up.

You know, you do have to worry about falling down from time to time because of the law of gravity, but you don't have to worry about falling up. And that's the idea of this law. It's this universal truth, this universal principle. And as you understand natural laws and the way that nature works and gravity works and those kinds of things, it helps you to function in this world. Well, as we talk about the law of the spirit, we're talking about that kind of law.

those universal truths or principles that are the results of the Holy Spirit being within us. And as we understand the law of the Spirit and we look at these things this evening, it will help you to function spiritually.

Just like the natural laws, understanding them help you to function in the natural world, understanding the law of the Spirit will help you to function in the way that God intends for you to function as a believer in Jesus Christ. And so there's six points that we'll look at this evening, six kind of different aspects of the law of the Spirit that Paul addresses here in verses 1 through 11. So point number one, found in verse 1 and 2.

You are set free from sin and death. The first aspect to consider of the law of the Spirit is that you are set free from sin and death. Let me read to you again verse 1 and 2. He says,

for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. And so you can see the contrast of these two laws that Paul is talking about. The law of the spirit of life and the law of sin and death. Now we've talked a lot about the law of sin and death in

through our time in Romans. And as we talk about the law of sin and death, again, we're talking about this universal truth. And so let me summarize for you the law of sin and death. Number one, every person is subject to the law of God. Every person is subject to God's law. Nobody is excluded from God's law. We are all held accountable to God's law. And because we are all subject to the law of God, then secondly,

Every person breaks the law of God. So you're subject to the law of God and you don't keep the law of God. That's a universal truth. That applies to every human being, of course, with the exception of Jesus. So every person is subject. Every person breaks the law of God. Therefore, every person deserves death or judgment or the wrath of God. This is a universal truth. And Paul went to great detail to explain

to prove that, to declare that in the earlier chapters of Romans. Every person is deserving of God's wrath because we are subject to the law of God and we do not keep the law of God. And so that's your condition. That's my condition. That is a universal truth for us. We are deserving of death and judgment because we do not keep the law of God. But as you think about, for example, again, the law of gravity,

There is the law of gravity, right? But if there's the law of gravity, which is pulling down or holding down this object, well, is there anything that can override the law of gravity? And I could tell you quite clearly today, I am defying gravity at this moment. And that doesn't mean I'm flying, but I am keeping this duct tape from falling. I'm holding it up.

Gravity is still pulling it down, but it's not able to have its full impact because I'm counteracting. I'm holding up this duct tape. In a similar way, how can birds fly if there is the law of gravity? Well, the ability to fly partially depends on gravity, but gravity still pulls down the bird, but the bird is also engaging other forces that are greater than the force of gravity.

And the same natural laws that apply to birds are applied to airplanes. And that's how they're able to fly, following the same laws. And so although there is the law of gravity, there's other laws at work that allow birds and planes to fly. Now, I bring that up to say this. There is the law of sin and death, which means you are deserving of judgment. You are deserving of the wrath of God. But there's an overriding law.

that delivers you from the wrath of God. And that is the law of the spirit of life. That is the Holy Spirit delivering

comes upon you, or the Holy Spirit causes you to be born again, then you have this spiritual life from the Holy Spirit. And that means that you as a believer are set free from the law of sin and death. And so like the bird who, you know, kind of goes against gravity and is able to fly and to lift up instead of fall down, in the same way you, by believing in Jesus, are able to

engage forces that are greater than the law of sin and death. And that is the law of the spirit of life. And so here is the law of the spirit of life. This is true of every believer. It's a universal truth for those who believe in Jesus. Number one, every believer is given spiritual life by the Holy Spirit. This is the law of the spirit of life. There's no exception to this. Every believer is given spiritual life. Jesus said, you must be born again.

That is, by believing in Jesus, the Holy Spirit regenerates you. He gives you spiritual life. And so that is the work of the Holy Spirit. And that is true of every believer. Number two, every believer is set free from the law of sin and death. So when the Holy Spirit gives you this new life, now...

There's a change in these forces that are applied to you. And that is that you are no longer subject to the law of sin and death. Even though you still deserve death, even though you still break the law of God, you are no longer bound to it in this same way. You deserve death because you've broken God's laws. But now...

Because you've been given spiritual life by the Holy Spirit, because you've been set free from the law of sin and death, he says, now, therefore, there is no condemnation. There's no judgment. There's no wrath of God towards you because of the law of the spirit of life. And so the first thing for us to understand about the law of the spirit of life is that you are set free from sin and death. And that's why Paul is able to say there is therefore now no condemnation.

There was condemnation because you were subject to the law of sin and death. You are subject to the law of God. You break the law of God and therefore you deserve God's wrath. That's universal. But there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because you are under a new law, a higher law. And that is the law of the spirit of life. And by the spirit, you've been born again and you have been set free from the law of sin and death.

And so you are in a place of no condemnation. This is true of all believers. And you need to understand, this is not only true of mature believers. This isn't like, well, when you're brand new as a Christian, you know, then you're not quite there yet. You know, you're only partially set free or you're not quite set free yet. But if you, you know, you kind of progress in your faith and you become mature and then you'll be set free from the law of sin and death.

Now for every believer, whether it's your first day believing in Jesus or whether you've been doing it for 50 years, you are set free from the law of sin and death. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is true of all believers, not just faithful believers.

Well, you could think, well, you know, that might be true of those who, you know, are so faithful in their devotions or so faithful in their attending church, so faithful to call out to the Lord or to walk with the Lord or to pray to the Lord. But I'm not that faithful. You know, I kind of am flaky in my walk with the Lord. And so, you know, that's not really true for me that there's condemnation for me because I'm not really faithful as a believer. Right?

But that's not the case. This is a universal truth. For all believers, there is no condemnation. Whether you are faithful or unfaithful, you are set free from sin and death. This is not only for those believers who are growing or on fire or moving forward in the faith.

This is for all believers without exception. You are set free from sin and death and there is therefore now no condemnation because you are in Christ Jesus. Now you will still sin.

You and I will continue to sin as long as we are in this body. And some of that sin will be willful, intentional disobedience, and some of it will be accidental disobedience. But even so, even though you still sin, you are set free from the law of sin and death because of the law of the spirit of life. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are set free. So you cannot be condemned by God.

You cannot. You deserve to be condemned by God, but you cannot be condemned by God, and you will not be condemned by God. You will never experience the wrath of God because of the law of the Spirit. You are set free from the law of sin and death. Well, secondly, as we move on to verse 3 and 4, the second aspect of the law of the Spirit of life is that the law is fulfilled in you.

The law is fulfilled in you. Look at verse 3 and 4. He says,

Now as he talks about the law in verse 3, again, we need to make the distinction. Now he's switching back to talking about the law as in the law of Moses. So he says, So he's talking about the law of Moses.

And we've been talking about that. He's been dealing with the law of Moses throughout the book of Romans. He's established that the law of Moses is good. It's perfect. It's holy. In Romans chapter 7 verse 12, he says that the law is good. The commandment is holy and just and good. And so there's not an issue with the law of Moses. It's perfect. It's flawless. It is exactly what God intended it to be. But there was something that the law could not do.

And so he says what the law could not do, and that is that the law could not give us right relationship with God. The law couldn't deal with our sin issue. It could reveal our sin, and that was the purpose of the law, but it couldn't take away our sin. It couldn't give us right standing with God. And so now what the law could not do, Jesus says,

did on our behalf. In verse 3, that's what he says. What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son. So the law could not do it, but God wanted it done. So God did it on our behalf. God was not content to let us perish, to let us

experience his judgment and wrath. He wasn't content for us to be condemned. He wants us to have life. You know, there's the saying, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. So God said, you know, I got to do this myself. The law can't do it. Not that the law is flawed, but notice what it says. The law could not do it because of the weakness through the flesh.

The reason why the law could not give us right relationship with God was not an issue with the law, but it was the issue with us that is our weakness, our failures, our sinfulness. And so God seeing our weakness, our inability to keep the law, he accomplished what the law was intended to do.

By sending his own son. And so we have John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Because of his love for us, he sent Christ for us. And in doing so, verse 4 tells us that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. And so Jesus came to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law for us on our behalf.

It's not that we keep the righteous requirement of the law. We still sin, sometimes willfully, sometimes accidentally, but we still sin. We don't keep the law, but Jesus kept the law on our behalf. But this gospel message that we have declares that whoever believes gets the righteousness of Christ applied to their account. And so God deals with you

He looks at you as if you were as righteous as Jesus. He deals with you according to the righteousness of Christ. And so even though you still fall short of the glory of God, the righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled in you by the work of Jesus Christ. And so here's this aspect of the law of the Spirit. And that is that the law, that is the law of Moses, is fulfilled in you.

This is because the full penalty for sin has been paid. The full penalty for sin has been paid. For every sin of yours and everybody else's, past, present, and future, the full penalty has been paid. There's no more penalty that needs to be paid for your sin. But that's also because the full credit has been given to you for living a perfect life.

And so you are credited as being perfect even though you're not perfect. And so therefore, you are righteous in Christ. You're completely righteous in Christ. The penalty has been paid. You have full credit for righteous living. And so you have this state, this condition of righteousness. And so here's point number two, the law is fulfilled in you. Not that you fulfill the law, but Christ fulfills it on your behalf. And again, let me remind you, this is true of all believers, right?

The law is fulfilled in you no matter how mature you are. If you're a brand new believer, if you're an old believer, the law is fulfilled in you as a believer in Jesus. If you are faithful or if you are unfaithful as a believer, the law is fulfilled in you. It's not contingent upon your faithfulness. It's not contingent upon your passion or your fire or your obedience or whatever.

Whatever else we might think about. The law is fulfilled in you, which means you are righteous in Christ. Now, as you consider that, let me just remind you, you may not see the final results yet. We've talked about justified. You are declared righteous. You're declared not guilty. And then that's

done. That's as you believe in Jesus. You are justified. That's your standing. But then we talk about being sanctified and that's where, you know, you are being transformed to match your condition as being justified. And sanctification is a process and you may not see the final results yet. It's going to take some time, but even while the process is ongoing, you are righteous in Christ.

So you're being made into the image of God. You're being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. You're becoming more and more like Christ. But even in the meantime, you are righteous in Christ. Even when your life doesn't match up with that measurement, that standard, that work is happening in you. And in the meantime, you are righteous in Christ. The law is fulfilled in you.

Sometimes we get discouraged though because we don't get to see that. We want to see the final results. Like why am I still struggling with this? Why am I still dealing with this? Why do I still wrestle with these things? Sanctification is a process. It includes victories. It includes defeats. So don't get stuck on the present condition or, you know, just this snapshot of

It's a process. And God, over the process of time, is making you into his image. And he's going to be faithful to complete that work.

I remember watching one episode of The Biggest Loser. You guys ever watch that show? And so, you know, they do the weekly weigh-in. And so there was this one guy, it was early in the season. So, you know, it was like week two or three or something like that, I think. And, you know, early in the season, they lose all kinds of weight really fast, right? And so I think one guy, he lost like 25 pounds or something crazy like that in one week. And

And so he was all excited. And so he made a joke. He said, hi, can you see my abs? But there was no way you were going to see his abs because they were quite hidden. But he made the joke like, hey, can you see my abs? But no, you can't see his abs. But then later on in the season, after he continues on with the work, then actually you could see his abs.

It's a process, though. And sometimes we kind of get discouraged. You know, we're on week two, and it's like, I'm still fat. And what's the problem? I still sin. You know, what's the problem? How come I'm not like Christ yet? Well, you know, it's a process. You have to give it time. And God knows exactly how long you have. And He's working in your life and working in your heart through that process. It's a process.

sanctifying you and making you like Christ. But in the meantime, here's going back to the point, the law is fulfilled in you. So whether you see those final results or not, that's not so important. But the reality is, the truth is, whether you feel like it or not, whether you see it or not, the law is fulfilled in you. You are righteous in Christ. You are justified. Well, point number three, moving on to verse five and six, you have life and peace.

This is a universal truth for all believers. This is the law of the Spirit. You have life and peace. Look at verse 5 and 6. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Now, I've pointed it out for the past couple weeks, but let me point it out again. As Paul talks about living in the flesh or living according to the flesh versus living according to the Spirit, Paul is talking about unsaved versus saved conditions. You and I, we often talk about being in the flesh, and we're not talking about what Paul's talking about here. We're talking about

sin. We're talking about making bad choices. We're talking about having bad attitudes or being grumpy or, you know, those type of moment-by-moment things where we disobey God or our flesh falls short. And so we're in our weakness, not living up to the standard of God. And so we would refer to that and we'd say, well, I was in my flesh. And that's why I said the things that I said, because, you know, I wasn't walking in the spirit. And so we're talking about

And that's the way that we refer to those things. And that's appropriate. But what Paul's talking about is different than that. He's not talking about moment by moment, whether you are in the flesh or in the spirit, well, you know, then your mind is set on the things of the flesh or the spirit. Because then there would be a problem with verse six. He says,

but to be spiritually minded is life in peace. And so if Paul was talking about the way that we talk about flesh and spirit, he'd be saying, you know, well, several times throughout the day, you know, you're subject to death because you're carnally minded because you're in the flesh because you did something wrong. You did something stupid. And then other times, you know, you're in the spirit. And so then you have life and peace. Paul's not talking about this going back and forth and the struggles that we have in our daily walk. He's talking about

The general rule of your life as a believer, you do not live according to the flesh, you live according to the Spirit. That's the reality. And because that's the reality, because you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you have life and peace. To be carnally minded, that is to be unsaved, that's death because you're consumed with the things of the flesh. And so the general rule of your life is that you are engaged in the things of the flesh.

But as a believer, the general rule of your life is that you are engaged in the things of the Spirit. Yes, you will still have struggles with the flesh. It's not that you will never entertain fleshly desires, but you're born again. The Holy Spirit dwells within you, and the Holy Spirit is working in you and transforming you. And so you are spiritually minded, and you have life and peace. This is part of the law of the Spirit of life. This is a universal truth.

Your life as a believer is characterized by a mindset on the things of God. As an unbeliever, your life is characterized by a mindset on the things of the flesh, and that is death. It's death because, well, the wages of sin is death, Paul says in Romans 6.23. It's death because your flesh rebels against God, and we'll see that in the next point in verse 7.

But as a believer in Jesus Christ, you are born again. The Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. Your mind is set on the things of God. And you can fight against that. And we do fight against that. But your mind is set on the things of God and the Holy Spirit is working within you. And so you have life and peace. You have life and peace. And let me again say, this is true of all believers. This is the law. It's a universal truth. For every believer in Jesus Christ, you have life and peace.

It's not dependent upon your maturity. If you're a new believer or an old believer, you have life and peace.

It's not dependent upon your faithfulness. It's not only, well, those really faithful believers, they have life and peace, but the rest of the believers, they don't have life and peace. It's not only for growing believers or passionate believers or on fire believers. This is for every believer in Jesus Christ because of the law of the spirit, you have life and peace.

Now, I think it'd be easy for any of us at certain times in our life to say, well, wait a minute, I'm a believer, but I don't have life and peace. So how is this a law? How is this the reality? If I don't actually have life and peace, my life stinks. I wouldn't say that I have life and I don't have peace. I'm stressed out. I'm anxious. I'm terrified or whatever we might say. I don't have life and peace. Well, here's the thing that I would say.

You can live as a poor person even if you have millions of dollars in the bank. You can go out on the street and beg even if you have wealth in the bank. It's not that we don't have life and peace, but sometimes we don't access what God has given to us. And that's why this is something we need to understand. You have life and peace. And if you're not experiencing the life and peace, you're not living according to the reality that

that God has established for you. You're not living according to the law of the spirit. It's like if you were trying to walk around as if gravity didn't exist, you know? So like you are bracing for impact with the ceiling, but that's silly. Don't do that. In the same way, hey, don't walk around in death and stress and anxiety. God's given you life and peace.

That's the truth because he's given you the Holy Spirit. The commentator Thomas Constable says it this way. He says, it's possible to walk according to the flesh and not be in the flesh. That is, you are saved. It's not that you're in the flesh in the sense that you're not saved. You are saved, but you still behave as if you're unsaved. He says, it's possible to live as an unregenerate person, even though one has experienced regeneration.

You can still live as an unbeliever, even though you are a believer. That's a choice that you make. It's based on habits that you have and what you've experienced. But you have life and peace in Jesus Christ. It's the law of the Spirit. You need to know that. And so you need to lean upon the Lord for that life and peace and receive that from Him instead of trusting or resting in yourself and experiencing the opposite of life and peace.

death and turmoil and stress and anxiety. Well, now going on verse seven and eight, we have point number four, and that is you can please God. This is a cool one. I like this one. You can please God. I think sometimes we would think there's no way I could ever please God. No way God would ever be happy with me. No way God would ever enjoy me or be happy about what I'm doing.

But check out verse 7. It says, So again, he's talking about being in the flesh or in the spirit in the sense of being saved or being unsaved. And being unsaved, well, that's death. Being carnally minded is death because the carnal mind, he says in verse 7, is enmity against God.

It's death because as an unsaved person, your mind is at war with God. There's a battle going on. David Guzik says, the flesh battles against God because it does not want to be crucified and surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't like to be told what to do. We don't want to be surrendered. And so as an unbeliever, the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's at war with God saying, I will not surrender. I will not submit.

I'm not going to. No, I will not obey. I will not listen. You are not the boss of me. And so he goes on then to say, well, so because they're in that condition, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. There's no way you can please God when you're at war with God. That doesn't make sense to be at war with God, but then trying to please God. You can't do it. It doesn't work.

William McDonald says, think of that. There is nothing an unsaved person can do to please God. No good works, no religious observances, no sacrificial services, absolutely nothing. You can burn candles all day long if you want to. You can walk on your knees. You can give lots of money. You can do all kinds of things that you think might, well, I'm going to be trying to please God. But as an unsaved person,

If you will not believe in Jesus Christ, there's nothing that you can do to please God. Nothing. Because you're at war with God. And so you can't be at war with God and trying to please God at the same time. Nothing you do will be pleasing to God. Those in the flesh cannot please God. But here's the point that Paul's been making. You're not in the flesh because you're a believer in Jesus Christ. You are in the Spirit. Therefore, you can please God.

You are able to please God. You have the capacity. You have the opportunity to live a life that is pleasing to God. Again, this is true of all believers. An immature, brand new believer, or an immature believer who's been immature for a long time because they refuse to grow, can please God, and a mature believer can please God. An unfaithful believer can please God, and a faithful believer can please God.

Those who are growing and moving forward and passionate on fire can please God. And those who aren't so passionate about their walk with the Lord, they can please God because you're in the Spirit. You're a believer. The law of the Spirit applies to you. First of all, we understand God is pleased with you because you believe. That's the beginning of pleasing God.

Remember in John chapter 6 when they asked Jesus, hey, what can we do to do the works of God? And he says, here's the work of God. Believe in him whom he sent. If you believe in the one that God sent, if you believe in Jesus, that's the first step. Now you are pleasing to God because you believe in Jesus. And so God's pleased with you because you believe in Jesus.

Hebrews 11, 6 says, but without faith, it's impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. If you don't have faith, if you don't believe Jesus, it's impossible to please God. But if you believe in Jesus, if you are diligent in seeking him, he's the rewarder of those who diligently seek him. If you believe that he is, if you believe in Jesus Christ, God's pleased with you. You're his child and he's happy about it.

He's excited about it. He's pleased with you. You bring him pleasure because you believe in Jesus. That's pretty radical, right? You bring God pleasure. You bring God joy. You make him smile. You make him feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. He likes you. He doesn't just love you. He's like, well, I got to love everybody, even Richard. I got to love everybody. So I guess I'll die for them because I love them. Man, I don't like them that much, but I love them.

I don't hate him so much I want him to go to hell, but you know, so I gotta send Jesus. And no, that's not how God is at all. He's happy. He's pleased. You bring him joy. He likes you. He gets excited about you. You believe in Jesus. You believe in Jesus. And so you're pleasing to God. But in addition to that, you are also able to please God. You can please God because you're in Christ. And that's what we looked at back in chapter seven. Remember, the law is not,

Anything that can help you to put yourself in a more pleasing to God condition because you're never going to keep the law. You're never going to measure up to it. But the Holy Spirit working in you enables you to do things that are pleasing to God. And the Holy Spirit working within you enables you to turn away from sin and the things that are not pleasing to God. And so the Holy Spirit's work in you is enabling you to please God because he's accomplishing in you what the law could never accomplish.

that external law, that external force saying, hey, you must keep this, it's never going to be able to help you to put yourself in a standing before God where he's pleased with you. But the Holy Spirit does that work within you. And so you respond and you obey and you do things that God calls you to do. And he's pleased with you. He's pleased by you. Finally, I would ask you to consider that God's pleased with you because you're in Christ.

Think about what the Lord said in Matthew chapter 3 verse 17. Here Jesus is being baptized. As he comes up out of the water, the heavens are open. The Holy Spirit descends upon him as a dove and a voice comes from heaven and says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. That includes you now because you are in Christ Jesus. Just as in Christ Jesus, the

You've been crucified and resurrected. Just as in Christ Jesus, you have his righteousness. You're clothed in his righteousness. You identified with Christ by believing in him. You're justified. You are in Christ. And because you're in Christ, God's as pleased with you as he is with Christ. He's pleased with you. You're his beloved child in whom he is well pleased. You can please God because the spirit enables you.

to walk with him, to turn from sin. You can please God because you believe in Jesus and you can please God because you are in Christ and God is pleased with his beloved son. Verse nine and 10 give us point number five. And that is you have the spirit dwelling in you. You have the spirit dwelling in you. Look at verse nine.

He says, Now I've been talking about and making a distinction between the way that we talk about being in the flesh as opposed to what Paul is talking about being in the flesh. And verse 9 here makes that clear. He says, He says,

if the Spirit of God dwells in you. So there's a condition. You're in the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in you. But then notice what he says after that. If you don't have the Spirit, you're not his. You're not a believer in Jesus if you don't have the Spirit. In other words, every believer has the Spirit dwelling in them. Again, this is part of the law of the Spirit. This is a universal truth.

Every believer in Jesus has the Spirit dwelling within them. The Holy Spirit lives in you. You're a believer. You have the Spirit dwelling within you. He's not coming and going. He's not with you sometimes and not with you other times. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. It's a constant. He is always there. He is always with you, whether you're doing good or bad.

Whether you're using the way that we talk about being in the flesh or not being in the flesh, whether you're disobeying God or obeying God, whether you're at church or not at church, you have the Spirit dwelling in you as a believer in Jesus Christ. And so you are not in the flesh. You are in the Spirit. And so Paul's not talking about this moment-by-moment thing. He's talking about your status as a believer in Jesus. The Spirit dwells within you, and so you are in the Spirit and not in the flesh, right?

He says, now, if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not his. So if you believe in Jesus, you have the spirit, you are in the spirit and you are not in the flesh. And this is from the very beginning, because again, spiritual life begins by being born again. And the spirit gives you life. And then he dwells within you. Immediately, you receive Jesus Christ. You believe in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit gives you life and dwells within you.

Every believer without exception, the Spirit is dwelling in you, the Holy Spirit is working in you and transforming you. Verse 10, and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If Christ is in you, if you're a believer in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you, then he says the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Paul talked about early in Romans, I'm dead to sin, but I'm alive to God. I'm dead to sin because of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is life because of righteousness. The Holy Spirit gives you life because you're righteous in Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells within you because you're righteous in Christ. And so you have this life in Christ because the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. And so the law of the Spirit means that you have the Spirit dwelling within you.

This is true of all believers. There's no exception. It's not just for mature believers. And sometimes we look at a person and we might think, you know, wow, they really have the Spirit at work in their life. They really have the Holy Spirit. He's anointed. She's anointed. This is true of all believers. You have the Spirit dwelling within you. And you don't have to achieve anything.

You know, it's not like some, you know, you unlock the level, you know, like we do in our games, right? Achievement unlocked, right? I got the Holy Spirit badge now. I met the requirements, jumped through the hoops. I did the things I was supposed to do. I read the right number of chapters and I did it, you know, in these right number of days or whatever. And so now, boom, I have the Holy Spirit badge. I have the Holy Spirit within me, but not everybody does because not everybody does what I do. No, that is not the way that it works.

Every believer, whether immature or mature, has the Spirit dwelling within them. Every believer, even those who are engaged in sin. Think about what Paul told the Corinthians. He says, look, don't you realize you're the temple of the Holy Spirit? Now he says, look, if you engage in prostitution, if you engage in harlotry, you're uniting the temple of God with idolatry. Right?

You're the temple of the Holy Spirit. You're engaging in that, and you're the temple of the Holy Spirit. He says, look, even when you're involved in sin, you're the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. This is not a conditional thing. If, well, if you're, you know, doing really good that week or that day, then you're, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. Or if you're not doing so good, you don't have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. He doesn't come and go. This is true of all believers. Not just when we're faithful, but when we're not.

and he doesn't leave when we're unfaithful he's not there dwelling within us when we're growing and he doesn't leave when we're not growing it's not a feeling it's not based on our emotions sometimes we feel like the holy spirit's with us and sometimes we don't feel like the holy spirit's with us but that's not how the holy spirit operates he's not there from time to time he always permanently dwells in you it's the law of the spirit it's universal just as universal as gravity

You're a believer in Jesus Christ. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you all the time, every time, without exception, just as all the time, every time, without exception, I drop it and it falls because of gravity. It's universal. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. Well, finally, point number six found in verse 11. Point number six is you will be resurrected. You will be resurrected. This is the law of the Spirit. Verse 11. Verse 11.

but if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So he says, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. So if this is true, and it is, if you're a believer in Jesus. So believing in Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is there within you.

He's the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead. So the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, his spirit dwells within you. Then he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. Notice through his spirit who dwells in you. So in the same way that Christ was resurrected from the dead, your resurrection is guaranteed. You will be resurrected. You have everlasting life. You have eternal life.

Because you believe in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit dwells within you. And the Holy Spirit involved in the resurrection of Jesus will also be involved in your resurrection to give life to your mortal body. And so although you're mortal and although your physical body will die, Christ by his spirit will give you life everlasting and you will live eternally. You will be resurrected. This is true of all believers. You have a guarantee.

It's a promise. You are going to rise from the dead. You will spend eternity with God in heaven. And it doesn't matter if you're mature or immature. It's true for you. It doesn't matter how long you've been walking with the Lord or how faithful you are or whether or not you're growing. This is the law of the Spirit. A believer in Jesus Christ has the Spirit dwelling within them and they are going to be resurrected because the Spirit dwells within you.

And so this is the law of the Spirit. Number one, you are set free from sin and death. Even though you still break God's law and you're subject to God's law, you're set free. There's a higher law, the law of the Spirit. Number two, the law is fulfilled in you. Christ fulfilled the law on your behalf. And so you still fall short of the law of God. You still don't keep it perfectly, but the law is fulfilled in you because of the work of Jesus Christ.

because of the Spirit dwelling within. And so you have life and peace, number three. You may not always live accessing these resources that God has there for you, but you have life and peace. It's there for you because the Holy Spirit dwells within you. It's the law of the Spirit, and you can please God. First of all, you do please God because you believe in Jesus.

You do please God because you are included in Christ. And he says, he's my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. But also you can please God because as the Holy Spirit works in your life and prompts your heart, you're able to respond and do things that are pleasing to God. Number five, you have the Spirit dwelling within you. Always, every moment without exception, the Holy Spirit dwells within you. You have his help. You have his strength. You have his power. You have him.

Everything that you need. And number six, you will be resurrected. This is the law of the Spirit. It's a universal truth. It's true for every believer in Jesus. First day being born again or 50 years being born again. Faithful, unfaithful. On fire, not on fire. Victorious week or a failure week. This is the law of the Spirit. All of these are true or none of them are true. You might think, well...

I can accept that I have everlasting life, that I'm going to be resurrected, but I can't really accept that I'm pleasing to God. I don't think that one's true of me. All of them are true or none of them are true. You are either in the spirit or in the flesh. If you're in the flesh, you cannot please God. None of these are true. But if you're in the spirit, that is, if you believe in Jesus Christ, all of them are true for you. Every single one.

And you can live accordingly. Again, just as we live knowing and understanding the reality of gravity and the law of gravity, you can live with the reality that you are set free from sin and death. And so there's therefore now no condemnation. You have no need to worry or stress about the wrath of God. There's no condemnation for you in Christ Jesus. And you can know that you are pleasing to God. You can wake up every day and recognize and realize, God, I'm pleasing to you. Now,

Don't start being boastful about it and thinking like, I'm pleasing to you because I'm so great. But I'm pleasing to you because I believe in Jesus Christ. You're happy with me. You like me. You enjoy my company. You're excited to be with me. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. That's the truth. That's the reality. You will be resurrected. That's the guarantee. You have life and peace. All of these are true for you as a believer in Jesus Christ. So live accordingly. Enjoy.

the abundant life that the Holy Spirit provides for you. Jonathan's going to come up and lead us in a few songs. And as he does, I want to encourage you to spend this time living according to the realities that we see here. Spend this time living, relating to God, worshiping God.

according to the reality that there's no condemnation for you, according to the reality that you have life and peace. And if you don't feel like you have life and peace today, then you can use this time to call out to the Lord and rely upon Him and ask Him to help you experience the life and peace that He provides by the Spirit. Spend this time in worship knowing that you're pleasing to God. Enjoy Him as He enjoys you. Sing out to Him as you recognize that He enjoys it.

He loves the praises of his people and so on and so forth. Just whatever aspect of this is ministering to you, let's take this time of worship and enjoy that. Receive that. Celebrate.

the law of the Spirit. As always, if you feel led at any time during the worship to minister to one another, to pray for someone, or to maybe ask someone to pray for you, you have the freedom to do that, and so you can be free to move about and minister to one another as God leads as well. Let's worship the Lord together and live according to the law of the Spirit.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.