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The Work of the Holy Spirit 1: Leading Us to Eternal Life
Romans 8:1-11
Mari Ikeda
We are going to enter into chapter 8 of the Book of Romans from today, and I want to read this chapter as a three-part series titled, “the Work of the Holy Spirit,” as that is the theme of this chapter. So far in Romans, it has been repeatedly emphasized that we are unable to save ourselves by our own strength, but this chapter 8 talks about the Holy Spirit, who can lead us to a right direction. A right direction is the direction of Jesus. Jesus wanted to call and draw us close to Him, and wanted us to live in the confidence of God’s love for us. The Holy Spirit is the One, who gives us that confidence and helps us remember it every time we forget it. The first part of the text we’ll read today reminds us what Jesus did for us, while the second half teaches us how the Holy Spirit helps us. Let’s read verses 1-4 first.
A. What Jesus did for us (1-4)
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
1. He died in our place
What is emphasized here is that Jesus did for us what we were unable to do by our own strength. The law, namely our morals and conscience or various human efforts, could not control our sin. In human society, we can only make new rules and laws in order to control human evils actions, but what God did for us was totally different. He reached out to our heart so that we could be transformed from within internally, instead of making new rules to bind us from outside outwardly. Let’s read verse 3 again.
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,…
What God did first was that He became a human just like us and came to this world. That was Jesus, and Jesus was the Son of God and God Himself at the same time. Jesus had a physical body as same as ours, interacted with many people, and taught us what character God has, through his words and deeds.
What God did next was that He handed over Jesus to people and made Himself a victim of sin of human beings. By doing so, He taught us that the sin we all have as human beings has the nature of making people die and making God suffer, and He put Himself in the place of many people who are victimized by our sin. It also means that He took over the suffering and death that our sin brings to this world on His body, and He suffered and died in our place.
2. He died to draw us closer to Him
The purpose for which God did this was to call us back to Him. God created us first as His partner who enjoys God’s love and rule over this world together with Him. While we have forgotten it in our sin and came far away from Him, God has always wanted us to come back near Him. For that hope of God to be realized, it was necessary for Him to pay the price of our sin by His own life on our behalf, so that He could forgive our sin and set us free from the power of sin. By doing so, He wanted to draw us back closer to Him as His own partner.
In summary, although we are unable to make ourselves worthy of becoming God’s partner by our own strength, no matter how much efforts we make, we can boldly come back to God without a fear, only because Jesus took over our mistakes on His body and invited us to come closer to Him.
Now, how does the Holy Spirit help us? Let’s move to the second half. Let’s read verses 5-8 first.
B. What the Holy Spirit does for us
1. Save us from eternal death (5-8)
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
In today’s text, the word “flesh” appears many times. When we hear this word, we may often imagine “physical body” or “lust,” I don’t think Paul means only those bodily desires here, considering his discussion so far. Instead, I believe that the word “flesh” used here means “us living as a physical being in this world ruled by our sin,” and can be paraphrased simply as sin.
When we read the text again by such paraphrase, the text teaches us what sin is. Especially verse 7 reads, “The mind governed by sin is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law.” Sin is to be hostile to God and not to submit to God’s will. Whether you believe God or not, we all are in this state as long as we are human beings. Because in this world we all make one’s own profits or the convenience of one’s own country a first priority, which is an attitude hostile to God. What such attitude leads us ultimately is eternal death, the death that goes beyond our physical death and is the state of being separated from God eternally.
However, it was for the very purpose of saving us from the eternal death that God came as Jesus and gave us His Spirit. Let’s read verses 5-6 again by paraphrasing “flesh” as “sin.”
Those who live according to (sin) have their minds set on what (sin) desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by (sin) is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
The Holy Spirit is the One, who can stop us from obeying sin and give us the heart to seek God. Because by our nature we only make ourselves the first priority, we cannot have the heart of seeking God first by our own strength. It becomes possible only by the Holy Spirit’s help for us. The Spirit can work in our heart, transform it, and restore our relationship with God. By doing so, He can save us from eternal death and lead us to eternal life. Let’s read the last text today, verses 9-11.
2. Lead us to eternal life (9-11)
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life 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 because of his Spirit who lives in you.
It is only Jesus’ love that can change our heart which is so self-centered. By knowing the great love of Jesus, we can understand the emptiness of living a self-centered life and the magnitude of our mistakes. Everything we see physically in this world, including ourselves, is a limited existence which will pass sooner or later. However, God’s love for us that Jesus taught us on the Cross will remain the same eternally. Moreover, God Himself wants us to live with Him eternally, even beyond our physical death. This is not a fantasy but a real truth; that is what the Holy Spirit teaches us.
Let’s read verse 11 again.
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 because of his Spirit who lives in you.
God will raise us from the dead and make us live eternally someday, just as He raised Jesus from the dead. In the meantime, while we still have this physical body, He has given us the role of transferring God’s infinite love to this finite world through our finite life. In order for us to pursue the role, the Holy Spirit teaches our heart repeatedly how great Jesus’ love is, gives our weary heart a new power, and strengthens us.
Let’s keep asking the Holy Spirit whenever we need, to give us the confidence in Jesus’ love and presence close to us. Although each of us has many shortcomings, let’s rely on the power of the Spirit, instead of relying on our own strength, as He can transform us and enable us to love each other. By submitting to Him, we are granted to enjoy the life of living with Jesus eternally, even in our mortality.
(Prayer) Dear our Lord Jesus, we ask you now to pour out Your Spirit abundantly to each of us. You know us no matter what state we are in, hear and answer to our cries. When we lose your presence near us, we ask the Holy Spirit to help us. Teach our heart again Jesus’ love on the Cross. Stop us from seeking after the things that are empty, and open our eyes to You instead. Teach each of us what you want us to do. Dear Jesus, we pray this in Your name, Amen.
Summary
(We will explore Romans chapter 8 in a three-part series titled, “The Work of the Holy Spirit”) In order to save us from drowning in sin, God sent Jesus into the world, had him take on our sin and die on the cross. The Holy Spirit teaches us what Jesus did for us and helps to turn our hearts toward Jesus. Through the Holy Spirit, we come to believe in God who transcends physical death and is present with us, and we find that he has already given us eternal life.
For Discussion
1) What does “flesh” refer to?
2) How does the Holy Spirit give us eternal life?