Killing sin with both barrels: How the Spirit and the gospel mortify sin
Part I
romans 8:1-17
We
have been taking the past couple of weeks about sin from Genesis 3. We have made a little segue from Genesis to
probe a little further into the topic of sin.
We have learned from Genesis 3 that Adam and Eve sinned against God and
introduced a corrupted disposition into humanity that has resulted in the whole
spectrum of sinful actions from the subtle to the grotesque that we see in
humanity. We spent time last week
learning from Romans 7 how sin is the “enemy within” for every person – even
the believer. We learned that it is
lawless, alive, active, deceitful and within each one of us. We have felt, I believe, the same as Paul who
said, “What a wretched man I am, who will rescue me from this body of
death!?” And we spent some time
rejoicing in Jesus Christ, who comes to rescue us from the penalty, power and
even the presence of sin. If you missed
last week I encourage you to get the CD or download it from our website –
free. This week I want to continue to
talk about sin and in particular how Jesus Christ rescues us from the presence
of sin. We will be looking at Romans 8
but before we read there, let’s pray.
There is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set
you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3
For God has done
what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in
the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in
us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 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 set their minds on the
things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but
to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7
For the mind
that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s
law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please
God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have
the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10
But if Christ is
in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to
the flesh. 13 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. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons
of God. 15 For 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!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, 17 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. Romans 8:1-17 (ESV)[1]
There is one thing I want you to remember from this message, which is in two parts – one today, one next week. In order to do that I want to leave you with an image in your mind that I hope endures for a long time. That is an image of a double barreled shotgun. In hunting many sportsmen prefer to use a double-barreled shotgun. You all have probably heard the phrase, “I let him have it with both barrels”, well that comes from the use of a double barreled shotgun. Many hunters prefer a double barreled shotgun because one barrel alone may not have the right type ammunition and equipment to adequately take down the prey. This is true in duck hunting and in more dangerous hunting as well. If you happen to be hunting grizzly bears or defending yourself against grizzly bears you might want to consider using a double barreled shotgun. I know I would. A grizzly bear can grow over 10 ft. tall and weigh over 1000 pounds and run over 30 mph. A double barreled gun means you have the firepower to stop such an animal. Well, sin, we have learned is more deadly than a grizzly and God has given us a double barreled approach to killing it. These two barrels are the Spirit of God and the Gospel of Christ. We are going to take two weeks to talk about this double barreled approach with the goal in mind that we will in our daily lives know how to let sin have it with both barrels. With this in mind, let’s take a further look at our passage.
Verse 1 says “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” What wonderful news! What incredible truth in light of the horror of indwelling sin! That is a verse worth memorizing and considering over and over again. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Say it again!
Now it is key for us to stand on that truth but we also must understand that truth – why it is true. This is where the double barreled approach comes in. What does it say after this? “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” This lack of condemnation comes because of the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus. Free from what? Free from sin – its penalty and power and even its presence. All three are affected by the Spirit and the Gospel. Look what it goes on to say, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.” This is how he can say there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He brought full condemnation for sin on his own Son. For all who belong to Christ there is a union with him whereby he takes on all our sin and in that place of bearing your sin and my sin, that enemy within and all its actions, all our jealousies, all our pride, all our impatient words, all our lustful thoughts, all our sexual perversions, all our rebellion against the law, all our hatred for God’s ways and God’s rule, all this, past, present and future, sins you are dealing with right now, sins from last night or this morning or 25 years ago, all are put on the Son and God condemns Him as our sin bearer, as our substitute, to suffer his furious and complete and just wrath. Folks, I’m here to let you know that the Son was condemned so you would receive no condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Sin has no claim on your life.
The power of this truth alone will loosen the grip of sin on your life. You are forgiven! Sin has no claim on you. You are not condemned! You are forgiven, you are accepted, you are loved. You are free to be something else besides a condemned criminal. Forgiveness is powerful stuff for breaking the hold of sin. The gospel promises us forgiveness and thereby kills sin. But there is even more.
Verse 4 continues the same thought as verse 3. For God has done what the law could not do – He provided for your forgiveness and he also provided a way through the gospel to fulfill the law, that is to kill sin by displacement with lawkeeping. Now Romans 7 makes clear lawkeeping according to the flesh, without the gospel, will only produce more sin. If you think the path to holiness is mere lawkeeping than you are doomed to either frustration and open failure or hypocrisy. You can not just do it on your own. I’ve tried, believe me, it doesn’t work. The sinful nature will see to it that you fail in some way. But God has provided for us.
He has provided that our condemnation might fall on another and through this good news, this gospel, he has provided that we might fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Do you see that in verse 4? This passage is not only talking about the penalty of sin being paid for but also the power of sin being broken and the presence of sin being eliminated. Look at what it says in verse 4. He condemned sin in His Son in order… “In order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us, that is in those who walk according to the Spirit.” Folks, this isn’t describing the fulfillment of the law by Jesus being credited to us, though that truth is essential and thoroughly biblical. It doesn’t say the law might be fulfilled for us but in us.[2] This verse is talking about those who walk according to the Spirit actually fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law through their lives. But how?
Look at verse 10 “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” This verse presents the reality of indwelling sin right beside the reality of the Spirit in believers. The flesh is dead but the Spirit is life. The flesh is dead because of sin – our sin. But the Spirit is life in us because of righteousness. That is the righteousness of another, the righteousness of Christ. Our experience of the Spirit is directly tied to the gospel. Look back to verse 2. The law of the Spirit of life has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. The principle and working of the Spirit, that is the law of the Spirit, of life has set us free from the law or principle and effect of sin working with the law to bring death as we saw described in chapter 7. How? How does the law of the Spirit do this? First, the Son bore our sin and God condemned sin in us as we have seen. Second, his righteous life was lived and his terrible death was offered that he might earn us our inheritance, his Spirit, on the basis of his righteousness. The Spirit comes to give us life, making us new creations, based on the righteousness of Christ, based on his perfect life and complete obedience ultimately shown in his death on the cross. Because we are united with him we share in his righteousness and we share in His inheritance of the Holy Spirit. So his life and death and resurrection, what we call the gospel, is the reason for our experience of the Spirit. So the gospel and the Spirit are directly tied one to the other. They are two barrels on the shotgun that kills sin. They are linked together inextricably in many ways. Too much for one message.
Let’s talk some more of how the Spirit helps us kill sin. Verses 9-11 clearly teach us that all who are believers have the Spirit. If you don’t have the Spirit in you, you do not belong to Christ. And the converse, to be a believer is to possess the Spirit or rather, to be possessed by the Spirit of God. This is fundamentally your power to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law – the Spirit of God in you. For Ezekiel 36 says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." (Ezekiel 36:25-27, ESV) [3].
Let us be sure we know that our ability to fulfill the law comes from the incredible unfathomable wonderful and awesome reality that God himself, God the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, dwells within! Yes, sin does indeed dwell within and it is like a dead man that hangs on us but that ain’t nothing compared with the Holy Spirit that dwells within us! “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you , he who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” And he must win the battle, folks!
Now, perhaps some of you are thinking all this excitement is
kinda empty. It is kinda like the confidence
of a pre 1986 super bowl New England Patriots fan. You can talk all about Squishing the Fish you
want but the reality is you are about to be crushed by the Bears 46-10 in the
second most lopsided super bowl ever, and 46-10 was merciful. Maybe you are thinking all this talk is kinda
like the talk after
But this work is not a passive work on your part. Take a look at verse 12 & 13. “So then, brothers, 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.” We are debtors folks. The NAS and NIV have “we are under obligation”. That
is, we are compelled by these truths to live by the Spirit. We are called to put to death the deeds of
the body by the Spirit. We are called to
be active in walking according to the Spirit and killing sin. Otherwise we are denying who we are and who we
profess to be. And that mustn’t be. If we continue long term in denying who we profess
to be by not killing sin than we very well may never have been who we profess
to be. To be a believer is to be killing
sin. The Spirit in us can do nothing else. We must do nothing else. So John Owen has said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”[4]
“Now wait a minute!”
didn’t we just say this ability to say no to sin and yes to God was from the
Spirit? Didn’t we just say that the
ability to fulfill the law, those good and glorious commandments from God
scattered throughout the bible, didn’t we say it came from the Spirit? What is going on here? Is it the Spirit or is it me? Yes.
It is both. The action of both is required. God never negates nor neglects the choices
and decisions of those made in his image.
And the choices of those in God’s image never negate or avoid the
sovereign work of God. Ultimately your
ability to fulfill the law of God is a work of the Spirit, a pure gift because
of Christ, all of grace. But it must come through your choice to walk according
to the Spirit and put sin to death.
Now, we will get
into the nitty gritty of how the Spirit and the gospel in light of our choices
work day to day. We will talk more about
this double-barreled approach to killing sin next time. But in conclusion, I want us to understand
and enjoy and walk according to two truths.
One, we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law because the very
Spirit of the Holy Infinite God dwells within and overcomes the inclination of
the flesh and grants us power to live a life of repentance, continually turning
from sin and turning toward our Savior as known through the gospel. This is the life of each and every
Christian. The second truth I want to
leave with you is this, we must respond.
We must choose to walk according to the Spirit. This is the life he calls us all to
today.
If you are not a
believer God calls you to repent and look to Jesus as your Savior and Lord, as
your Savior from the wrath of God towards your sin and as your Lord to lead you
in fullness of life. Do that today, do
it now, pray something like this: “God forgive me for my sins against you and
others, I’m sorry and I receive your forgiveness and thank you for Jesus’ death
for my sins. I don’t want to sin anymore,
I want to follow you. Thank you for forgiving me, help me to follow you. Amen”
I would love to talk with you after this message if that expresses what is on
your heart.
Now, if you are a believer
the call and choice and the heart cry are exactly the same, repent of sin,
repent of pride and selfishness and greed and doubt, turn from these cheap sins
and look to Jesus, who alone is worthy and worthwhile, trust him and follow him
today as your faithful Savior and our loving Lord. That is walking according to the Spirit. That is being a charismatic. That is how you kill sin in the power of the
Spirit. This is a miracle we are called
to enjoy and celebrate.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For
the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of
sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2, ESV) [5]
[1] The Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Standard Bible Society:
[2]
See John Piper, What Does It Mean to Fulfill the Law in Romans 8:3-4: Twelve
Theses,
[3] The Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Standard Bible Society:
[4]
John Owen, The Works of John Owen (16 vols., 1967 reprint;
[5] The Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Standard Bible Society: