Romans 8:1-30
Fear & Freedom
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Welcome to God's Word for You, a Ministry of Sharon RP Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.Sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life.
You may be seated. Well, as we mentioned before, we're going to go to a different passage today, breaking with our Ephesians series and we're gonna go to Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. And we'll be looking this morning at verses one through thirty. Romans chapter eight verses one through thirty. You can find that on page 1004 of the provided Pew Bibles. Romans chapter eight, beginning at verse one:
“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. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is alive 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.
“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
Thus ends this portion of the reading of God's Word. The grass withers and flower fades, but the Word of Our God endures forever.
I have just read to you from one of the most powerful books that's ever been written in the history of mankind, from one of the most important books that has ever been written in the Bible, from one of the most popular passages of all Christians of all times in the Bible. Romans, chapter eight is the heart of the Gospel. And this week it has something very important that presses down on us. A real life situation that God has for us this morning. How do we think and feel and respond to all the fear that's going on this week?
Just a few days ago, on March 4th, I was listening to a news report, and something really fearful happened, I don't know what got into this guy's brain. Apparently, he's a Christian, but for the first time, a guy walked a tightrope across an active volcano. I don't know about you, but that's something to be fearful of. And I don't know about you, but nope not for me, right? I'm not gonna purposely put myself in that type of danger. But we find ourselves in a type of tightrope walk today, don't we? Each one of you got a call about walking that tightrope this week. Do you come to church, do not come to church? Each of you have been bombarded with media and news reports and culture telling you what you should and should not do. And it seems like everywhere you go and everything you do, you have to balance yourself. Am I being cautious or am I being just flippant? Am I being careless or am I being paranoid? I mean, there's entire memes on Facebook, and an entire section of videos of people either freaking out or being morons. And just to let you know, there's plenty of toilet paper downstairs.
But how do we respond? How do we keep that tension? What do the Scriptures say to us to speak into our life today? And the reality is, we need to walk by the Spirit. We need to live by the Spirit. And where that starts is verses one through 11. We need to live in the Spirit. Romans 8:1-11 summarizes what God tells us about His law. Romans chapter eight is a giant summary of Romans chapter one through seven. Paul has through the entire book been talking about in Romans chapter one how we are given over to idoloty, that God has displayed his greatness in the creation. And what does a man do with creation? We make idols. And then in Romans, chapter three, he talks about how none of us are righteous, no not one. Not one seeks after the Lord; all have sinned and fallen from the glory of God. Right? And then he keeps going just in case you thought that this wasn't that bad for everyone, Romans chapter five tells us just how sinful the law is that we are those who are condemned because we're Children of Adam. And he gets all the way through this law and all the way through about everything that the law condemns us with and how in Romans, chapter six, you are not a slave to the law anymore, but you are free to grace. But still in chapter seven, we deal with, “but yet I see this war within me.” Right? The things which I, and if you've been a Christian for more than five minutes, you know this is true, the things which I want to do yet I do not do, and the things which I do not want to do, yet I do. Oh wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me from this body of death. And the answer at the very end of Romans chapter seven, is thanks be to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it is in light of that of what the law teaches that Paul tells us in Romans 8:1-11 that we must be those who live by the Spirit. We must be those in verses three and four, “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.”
God condemned the law in Jesus Christ, all the righteous requirements of the law were satisfied in Jesus Christ’s flesh. And then we see there's a distinction between two types of people. Look with me first at verse five. First group of people: “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh.” And then it goes on in verse six through eight, describing those carnal minded people. Verse six, “For to be carnally minded is death, because the carnal mind,” verse seven, “is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Without Jesus Christ, if we're still trying to earn our own favor with God, if we think that we're gonna be able to go before the Holy and Righteous God and say, “But God! Look at all the good things I've done!” He's going to slam you with the law. None are righteous, no not one. The carnal mind is given over the carnal desires. And this is an idea of it is continually happening.
The mind of the Spirit, the spiritually minded, verses nine and eleven, “But you,” speaking of any of you who know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If He is in you and you are in Jesus, this talking about you. Verse nine, “But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Verse 11, “But of 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.”
Let me ask you. Where is Jesus right now? The Spirit of Christ is in us. But where is Jesus right now? Physically, Jesus has a real body right now. Where is Jesus? He's in Heaven. That's the whole point of the Easter story is that He rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven and there He sat at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. And if God rose Jesus up from the dead, how much more will he raise you up in your mortal bodies? The spiritual mind walks according to Spirit, not according to the flesh. This is what the first part of Romans eight tells us is we need to live by the Spirit, but it goes more than that.
See, there are practical implications of this. Practical implications start in the next verse, verse 12, and that's live with freedom from fear. Our second point. Live with freedom from fear. Look with me at verse 13, “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die.” If you live according to the flesh, you will die. That word “live”. Notice it doesn’t say “lived” or “have lived” or “will live”. No, if you are presently living an active life of unrepentant, “I don't care,” “I just want to sin because I love my sin,” “I just want to do whatever I want to do, and nobody's going to tell me otherwise, I don't care what God says,” take heed of verse 13. “For if you live according to flesh, you will die.”
But then it keeps going. “But if you live by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Again, this idea, you might say, “But, Pastor, I'm not perfect. But Bryan, I just yelled at my kids. I just got upset with my wife. If you knew what I thought about my husband yesterday... I still got sin. Last week, I mean, I tried not to get extra desserts and I still fell into gluttony.”
It's important again what verse 13 says; how it says it. “But if by the Spirit you put to death,” not “have put” not “did put”. If you are actively putting to death the desires of the flesh, it is a sign that God’s Spirit is in you. If you're one of those who says, “Lord, I know your law and I'm trying, Lord, I just can't keep it. I know that you are righteous. I know that I'm not righteous and Father, please, please look to Jesus Christ and by your Spirit, teach me to hate the sinful desires of the flesh. Please help me to put to death those sinful things.” That shows that the Spirit is in you. Because that is not something that the natural person does.
There's a practical implication of this in verse 15, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” ”
This is primarily talking not about fear in the sense of this world, but fear before the judgment seat of God. That at your very last day, when the trumpets are blown and the judgment is called, and you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, if you are one who has lived according the Spirit, if the Spirit is in you, you need not have any fear. You are not a slave in bondage to fear anymore, but you're given a Spirit of adoption. Crying out, “Abba, father.”
Okay, great. That’s spiritual stuff. There's a real pandemic happening today. This is great spiritual stuff. You said this was gonna have practical implications. What about here and now? All right. Okay, I get it. I'm not going to hell. The Spirit is in me. But how do I walk now? I don't want you to over-spiritualize this, okay? What does the text tell us? Verse 15, we were given a Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, what? “Abba, Father.”
Just think of the rich implications of that. What does Jesus himself in Matthew chapter six tell us? We spent a whole five week series just on the Lord's Prayer this last summer. And one of the petitions that Jesus tells us, “Our Father who is in Heaven,” and it starts with that, with our eyes lifted up to Heaven, but by the time we get down to a lower petition, it gets really nitty gritty. “Give us this day our daily bread.” Your Father cares about every need you have. It is not just that God cares about your soul, but doesn't care about your body. That's not true. It's not somehow that God cares about your eternal wellbeing, but he doesn't care at all about what you eat for breakfast this morning. That's not true.
Jesus showed that that was true, right afterwards in Matthew, chapter seven, when he says, “Do not be anxious about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear. Your Father knows that you need all these things.” He knows that you need all these things. You need not fear where your next meal is going to come from. Now, this doesn't mean you get to be a lazy bum and not work, right? First Timothy tells us about that, that we need to be diligent in our work. But the point is that when the stock market is crashing, oh boy, here's something real real serious today, we're not given to a spirit of fear, because we know that we have a heavenly Father and we cry out to him daily, “Father, give us this day our daily bread.” He cares for us. He loves us.
It goes on beyond that, right? Because people might say, “Ok, well, that's fine. Does that mean I don't need to quarantine myself? Okay, okay, I get it. I don't need to fear. God is going to care for me, so I don't need to quarantine. That means I can go wherever I want, right? Does that mean I get to ignore what the CDC, what the government, says to me? Does that mean it's just my way or the highway and I'm a totally American free person?” Well, no, that's not what this is saying.
We read from Exodus, chapter 20 verse 13, where God commanded us what? Do not murder. And then we read just before worship the Westminster Shorter Catechism, right? The Westminster Shorter Catechism: What is the sixth commandment? This sixth commandment is thou shalt not kill. What is required in the Sixth Commandment? The sixth commandment requires the preservation of our own life and the lives of others. It is a requirement of the sixth commandment that we preserve our own life and the lives of others.
So I'm gonna give you a little example here of how this plays out. I'm not allowed to go skydiving. Oh, I really want to go skydiving. I wanted to go skydiving since I was seven years old. And my wife thinks I'm nuts for it and so she had to bring me statistics. And she said, “Bryan, look how many skydiving accidents there were last year. You have kids, you need to preserve your life.” I thought, “Man! Why did they publish stuff like that?”
But we have a requirement to preserve our lives and the lives of others. We do need to take precautions. But just because we take precautions, do you see the tightrope that you have to walk here? Yes, you need to preserve life, but you're not given over to a bondage of fear. You walk in the full liberality of being able to say that I do not need to be fearful about what's going to happen to my life if I somehow contract coronavirus, because God cares for my body and my soul. And even if I die, I know that I have no fear before His judgment throne because Christ is in me.
You see, when we walk without fear, we can also do the cautious things, but not be given over to a heart of paranoia and being seized where we don't even know what we're supposed to do. These have been things that, just to let you know, at 3:30 this morning, when I woke up, I was polishing up the sermon I was supposed to preach this morning. And then by praying and thinking through this morning, I came in as Olivia woke up and I said, “I think there's a different sermon I've been thinking about all week.”
Because these are questions that people in our congregation and in other churches, in our society are asking for, and the culture is trying to pull you one way or another way. They're trying to either make you completely panic or they're just saying, “No, this is just dumb. Go travel, take advantage of cheap airline tickets and then go see your grandma in the nursing home.” Neither of them are right. We're not given to the bondage of fear. But yet we are called to preserve life. We need to realize that this is part of the fallen reality of the world we live in.
And so our third point is hope. Hope in the midst of groaning. Hope in the midst of groaning. Verses 18 through 25 give us this idea, “For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of creation eagerly awaits the revealing of the Sons of God.” Verse 20, “For the creation was subjected to futility,” verse 21, “because the creation itself also will be delivered from bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the Children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”
And then God made his promise, right in the in the garden, he told Adam and Eve, “the day you eat of it, you shall surely,” what? “Die.” And we have been reaping the benefits ever since then. Thanks Adam and Eve. We would have done the exact same thing in that situation. But the reality is that all creation was changed. I mean, think about the world. Thorns and thistles will rise up now. Even the creation is groaning. We shouldn't act like, “Okay, yeah, we're Christians and we can just walk around with puppy dogs and rainbows and everything's gonna be perfectly okay and Coronavirus is killing people and the flu season is killing people and everything is going to be okay.” No, it's not. No, this isn't the way it was supposed to be. This is what that part is saying is that is that there's groaning. The whole creation longs for it. We long for the day of Jesus Christ when he'll return and finally everything will be made right. Finally, death will be done away with. Finally pain will be done away with. Finally, God will reach His hand upon your cheek and wipe away your tear and say “Cry no more child, all is well.”
We long for that day. The creation groans for it, Christians groan for it, but we do not groan as those without hope. We hope in things yet unseen. And it defines it in this passage that if it was something that we could see that it wouldn't be hope. But yet we hope that someday, and this is not a hope like, “Oh, I hope to get pizza on Friday.” This is hope as in, “I'm going to stake my eternity on it.” Like this impacts everything that I do in life. We hope in resurrection glory. We hope in the reality that the Spirit is in us and that that hope is going to be with us at that last great day when He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” This is our hope. This is the Christian joy, that even though we groan for that final day, yet we have hope that we know that someday this is going to end. And so what do we do in response to that?
We need to pray. We need to pray. There's a whole lot of anxiety and a whole lot less prayer. I was shocked that President Trump announced the public day of prayer today. I think that's good advice. I don't know what he said when he announced the public day prayer, so I'm not endorsing everything he said. Well, all I'm saying is anybody who wants to proclaim any day as a day for prayer, right on it. Good. We need to pray more.
That's what verses 26-27 tell us. “Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” There are times that people have talked to me in these last few weeks, and they’ve said, “I don't even know how to pray about this.”
There are times in our lives where things are so confusing and so painful, where you just need to cry out to God, “God give me wisdom.” Where you don't even know the words that need to come out of your heart. Brothers and sisters, let me give you some comfort from God's Word that His Spirit knows your mind, and His Spirit knows your heart. And just turn off the TV. Just turn off the radio and just spend some time in silence and just let Him know, “Lord, I don't know how to pray for this. Lord, I don't know. I don't know how to pray about what I'm supposed to do. I mean, there are cases right in Iowa City and Father, we’re only an hour south of here. What should I do, Lord?”
And sometimes you just need let the Holy Spirit work on your heart. This is exactly what Philippians chapter four verses six and seven says, “Be anxious or be worried about nothing, but in all things by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving in your heart, make your requests made known to God. And the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,” here's the promise, “will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.”
See, when we pray, we’re able to say, “Ok, Lord, this is the reality. This is the honest situation of what's going on here. But, Father, I can't control what's going to happen. So, Lord, please, Father, please care for me. Father, I can't provide for the food that's going to come in. I don't know what's going to happen to my 401k, Lord, only you know what's going to happen. Father, I know that you've never let me go hungry before.”
And this is what it's saying. There are times when you get your retirement account, you just go, “Where did it all go?” Where it's time to go shut out the media and go into our prayer closet. And go let our Father know what's in our hearts. We need to be those who are praying.
Lastly, we need to savor. We need to savor. I mean, like taste it, like know it. Savor God's care for you. I taste and see that the Lord is good. This is what verses 28 through 30 tell us. I mean, this is one of the most often pulled out of context and wrongly applied passages of all of Scripture, but brothers and sisters, Christians, this is the heart of the Christian gospel. “For we know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and been called according to His purposes.”
Do you believe that? Something that you don't see, but is it something that you hope in? Is it something that you're willing to stake eternity on? Is it something that the Holy Spirit has applied to your heart that you know that, “I know that no matter what happens, God is going to care for me. I know that I'm in that demographic of the society that if I get this virus, I might die.”? Do you know that all things work together for your good? Even if your bank account you find shrinking and shrinking, do you know that all things are working together for your good? If He who has not spared his own son but offered him up upon the cross for you, will He not also give you all good things?
Yeah, we might lose things in this world, but brothers and sisters, there is a contentment and a richness in Jesus Christ that cannot be bought with money or comfort in this world. I want to give you a few stories as we close. Christianity has seen epidemics again and again and again. It's nothing new. All creation groans. And yet in the 160s, there is a pastor named Dionysius who wrote about his congregation and one of the plagues that had struck Rome during the 160s. And here's part of what he said, “Most of our brother Christians, showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves or thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending their every need and ministering to them in Christ and with them departed this life serenely happy.”
When the plague during this time was wiping out 1/3 of the European population, it was the Christians who latched onto Romans chapter eight. They said, “For me to live is Christ. But to die is gain. I have Jesus Christ and I need to love my neighbor as myself.” And so those physicians, those doctors and those family members cared for their sick relatives, even though they might know it would cost them their very own life.
And it wasn't just an isolated incident in the 100s. In the 250s, there was a pastor named Cyprian who also wrote of his congregation, who happily cared for those Romans. Isolation isn't a new thing. Cyprian talks about he walked through the city, and as he walked through the city, there were carcasses of people dead around the city of Carthage. And yet, the people realized that the sick people needed to just be out of the house, so sick people would roam the streets and just die. I literally just saw a video of someone in Tehran in Iran who's laying on the ground dying and people just walking away from him. Nobody helping him. And Cyprian said that the Christians were those who would go, even knowing that they might contract the disease themselves to go and try to help the other people.
Now I'm not saying again that every single one of you is called to go do these things. But there are Christian doctors and Christian nurses and people in nursing homes who other people's lives depend on them. And the Christian tradition and what we read in Romans chapter eight, and what Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter seven is that if we would want someone to do that for us, we better be ready to do it for them. Because if God did it for us, then our spirit should want to go and do it for others.
Recently, this happened in 2014. A man named Brantly was a doctor, in Liberia, and he was caring for Ebola patients. And he himself contracted Ebola and almost died. In June or July of this past year after much time of prayer and fasting, he and his wife, he's a doctor and his wife is a nurse, decided again to join Samaritan Purse and to go back to Africa to continue to fight the diseases there. Because God had called him to go do that work. Brothers and sisters, he is not walking that tightrope throwing caution to the wind. Nor is he being shackled by a spirit of fear. Brothers and sisters, do not throw caution to the wind, but yet do not be bound by fear. But walk in the joy and in the love of Jesus Christ, knowing that your heavenly Father cares for every single step of your day.
Let's pray. “Lord, we do pray, Father, that these would not just be good words to hear. Father, please, by your indwelling Holy Spirit, apply these words to our lives that we would live them out. Father, unleash, unlock the shackles of fear that would be bound upon our hands and our feet and let us walk with confidence in your love for us, Father. And we pray that we would be confidently loving others around us. Lord we pray that you would let us see those needs of others around us, Lord, and that we would, with wisdom, care for those who need that help. Father, please hear our prayers in Jesus’s name. Amen.”
Let's go ahead and stand and sing in response Psalm 67 Selection C. Psalm 67 Selection C.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon RP church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website. Sharonrpc.org. We’d love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.