Exposition of Gospel Truths in Epistle of Paul to the Romans

Spring term 2020 Lesson Eight Epistle of Paul to the Romans Mountjoy bible school Weymouth class of 2019 Autumn term 2020

The Outline of the Book Chapters 1-8 Doctrinal How the Gospel saves the sinner Chapters 9-11 National How the gospel relates to Israel Chapters 12-16 Practical How the gospel relates to conduct

The Outline of Chapters 3-8 How the Gospel deals with our Sins is the subject of chapters 3:21-5:11 How the gospel deals with our Sin is the subject of chapters 5:12-8:39 We can summarise this with two great aspects of gospel truth What Christ has done for us What Christ is doing in us

Chapter 8 Chapter eight is the great culmination of the exposition of the gospel which began in chapter 1 We cannot be in any doubt concerning the subject of chapter eight since the Holy Spirit is mentioned nineteen times whereas He has only been mentioned twice in all the earlier chapters We are heading therefore to a grand conclusion; the life of the Christian lived by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God

A well of water Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:13 14 (AV) Notice the words, in him and , springing up

A flowing supply 37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:37 39 (AV) Notice the words, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Springing up and flowing out This is the prophetic explanation of the Lord Jesus to the woman at the well, and then to the people at the feast of Tabernacles, of the life of the Spirit in a believer The greatest teaching on the ministry and person of the Holy Spirit comes from Jesus in the Upper Room Discourse in John s gospel chapters 14-16 but we can understand a great deal of this from the scenes at the well and the feast

Chapter 8 We would press the analogy of the streams even further for chapter 8 for it is not only the chapter of the Holy Spirit but the culmination of all of the preceding argument In this surpassing chapter the several streams of the preceding argument meet and flow in one river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, until it seems to lose itself in the ocean of a blissful eternity. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1864-70). (Vol. 2, p. 239). (The Rev. D Brown was succeeded s moderator by Dr Neil Somerville)

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature; God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so, he condemned sin in sinful man,

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. From the deep, depressing and dark night of the soul recorded in the latter part of chapter 7 we burst suddenly on the glorious sunlight of life through the Spirit.

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 Straight away we should notice that there is no separate gospel of the Holy Spirit. Paul is still expounding the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and this is clear from verse 1. We are back on familiar ground that there is no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus. This phrase, in Christ Jesus assumes that we have been awakened to God s holiness, convinced of God s judgement and assured of his love and his provision in Christ.

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 We have heartily trusted in his promise just like Abraham, and we have been justified, made righteous, because we took God at his word. We leave the courtroom totally vindicated for another has taken our place and paid our debt. Furthermore, we have seen that we are so united with our Saviour that we are considered to be in him , in his death and in his resurrection and ascension. This is all clear to us and we have voluntarily surrendered our lives as happy slaves or as his dearly loved bride.

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 There is no more condemnation for us. We were once controlled by a law of sin, but God has been at work in our lives through the Holy Spirit, awakening us to our condition, showing us the Lord Jesus, bringing repentance and faith as we trusted. Giving us new life by placing us into Christ and setting us free by his indwelling power. We have been willingly cooperating with him in this process, seeing what he wanted us to see, believing in what he revealed to us, trusting with all our hearts and surrendering our lives to his control.

The true life of the Justified Chapter 8:1-11 Up until chapter 3 the epistle dealt with the Law aspect of our salvation. In chapters 4-6 we have seen in the mighty provision of Jesus the Love aspect of our salvation. Now we are concerned through chapters 7-8 with the Life aspect of our salvation. How can we please God? Only as we are controlled by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 11If 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. 12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For 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.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (NASB) Paul begins with Holiness viewed as Duty, as Debt. We are free from the law of sin and of death; but we are in eternal debt to Him who has freed us. We are not debtors to the old nature, but we are debtors to the Spirit, to the Lord, And our debt is to walk with Him.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 Now a Holy life is not reserved by God for a few rare individuals, those blessed with specially gracious temperaments God purposes the sanctification of all, this is his will even your sanctification (1 Thess 4:3) Whatever else holiness is, it is a sacred and binding "debt." It is not an ambition; it is a duty. We are bound, every one of us who names the name of Christ, to be holy, to be separate from evil, to walk by the Spirit.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 There are few conditions more miserable than debt when you cannot pay But there are few conditions more satisfying than debt when you have ample resources Do not say to your neighbour, Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it when you have it with you. Proverbs 3:28 (ESV) Once we were in debt to God and we could not pay, Now we are in debt to God and he has provided us with all the resources necessary to pay

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 We have His Son for our acceptance and our life. His very Spirit is in us. We are solvent. We have it by us Holiness is beauty. But it is first duty, practical and present, in Jesus Christ our Lord. If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him. C.T. Studd

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 A debtor to mercy alone, Of covenant mercy I sing, Nor fear, with God s righteousness on, My person and off rings to bring. The terrors of law and of God With me can have nothing to do; My Savior s obedience and blood Hide all my transgressions from view. Augustus Toplady

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 13For 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. We are not debtors to the flesh to live according to the old nature, but we are debtors to Spirit who is also our power to live according to Him The body is still there and is still a source and means of temptation and it will be all the way home But now there is a new and better purpose for it. for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20 (ESV

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 When we are indwelt by the Spirit of God we have within a divine and powerful defence against even the most cunning of our enemies; our own bodies If we constantly dwell on our position, in Christ and our possession, The Holy Spirit we can call upon the power of God which is certainly not us but just as certainly, in us . When we live like this humbly, simply and daily we become, more than conquerors. as chapter 8 will soon tell us But notice the conditional clause, "If by the Spirit you are doing them to death.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 The apostle doesn t teach here about all of the many disciplines of the Christian life, self-discipline, watching and praying, fasting, studying. But when we, put to death the deeds of the body we have to do so directly, not by discipline, nor by direct effort, but by the believing use of "the Spirit." And he said to all, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. Luke 9:23 24

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! This is the argument: if you would live a Holy life you must do sin to death by the power of the Holy Spirit This means, in effect, that you must yield yourselves to be led along by the Spirit, Knowing full well that He will always lead us away from self and into the will of God.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 We have to allow the Spirit to have His way in our lives at the deepest level of our thoughts and will The aim must be that we will be worthy of the description, sons of God This is much more than being a creature of God s creation, much more than being a model human being, if such a being exists, much more than belonging to a church family If we deal with sin through the power of the Holy Spirit if we are, led by the Holy Spirit we show ourselves nothing less than God s own sons.

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 In this glorious gospel, God has called us to no less a position, no less status than sonship To share the Father s DNA and be drawn into the Father s embrace For when He gave and you received the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of promise, who reveals Christ and joins you to Him, what does this mean? Would the Holy Spirit lead you back to your old position where God was viewed from a distance as an impossible master?

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 No, He leads us to see that, In Christ we also are nothing less than sons, welcomed into the home and hearth of eternal life and love. Now our status is clear we are close to the Father s heart, because accepted, and new-created, in His Own Beloved. And so you learnt the happy, confident call of the child, Father, O Father; Our Father, Abba."

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 If we are, in Christ we are nothing less than the dear child of God. We have, other positions as well; we are disciples of Jesus; we are followers of Jesus We are bondservants and we never cease to be bondservants although here we are expressly told that we have received no "spirit of slavery." We have received our bill of emancipation, our deed of manumission but we have turned it over and seen that we are, bought with a price and we have surrendered our lives to our Redeemer

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 In a sense however this is exterior to a greater and internal truth; we are SONS OF GOD We are dearer than we can possibly imagine to our Father. We are more welcome than we can ever realise to take our Father at His word, and lean upon His heart, and tell Him all. 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you every step of the way then listen carefully to His voice within, You are a child of God The Holy Spirit who first convicted us of our sin now convinces us of our Sonship "Doubtless you are His own child," says the Spirit. "Doubtless He is my Father," says our wondering, believing, seeing spirit in response. Bishop Moule

The Holy life by the Spirit Chapter 8:12-17 But the truth of sonship, glorious as it is leads on to even greater glories. And if children, then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.