Sermon 22

What You Owe God

Romans 8:12-13

Without a doubt the eighth chapter of Romans is one of the great chapters of the New Testament. "If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans its precious stone, chapter 8 would be the sparkling point of the jewel."

We gain a clue to the importance of this chapter simply by contrasting the conclusion of chapter 7 with that of chapter 8. Chapter 7 ends in agony, with the apostle describing the constant struggle going on within as he attempts to live a life which is pleasing to God in the power of the flesh. The conclusion of chapter 8 is victory, a victorious shout of praise and confidence. What an exhilarating chapter this is. It begins with the words, "no condemnation" and it concludes with "no separation." The victory of the Christian is absolutely certain, for the matter is in God’s hands.

Only God can save us. Only He can redeem us. Only God can change and transform us. Only God can put a new song in our heart. Therefore, we owe Him a tremendous debt. Our text speaks of that debt (read).

Last time we learned that the theme of Romans 8 is the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that frees us from sin and death, vs. 2-3; that enables us to fulfill God's law, v. 4; that changes our nature, vs. 5-11. The Holy Spirit also empowers us for victory over the flesh. In our text, God calls upon us to deal with sin in our life. We are to "mortify the deeds of the body". God never calls upon us to do something without enabling us to do it.

These verses tells us how to be victorious over sin.

The Power For Victory, v. 13.

Of course, when we speak of victory, we are using an analogy of warfare. The Christian life is not a playground. It is a battlefield. Every morning, when you get up, you have to put on armor, Ephesians 6:10ff. The enemy that Paul has in mind for us to overcome is sin. Verse 13 tells us that if we are to achieve victory over sin it will be in the power of the Spirit. Without the Spirit's power we cannot overcome sin (7:18). The warfare that we are engaged in necessitates spiritual weapons (II Corinthians 10:1-5; Romans 7:24-25) or what Galatians says is walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:17,24-25) and what Ephesians says is being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).

The power, the means of victory over sin, over this body of sin, over the flesh, over all old carnal nature is not willpower. It is only "through the Spirit", v. 13. You have been empowered and enabled by God through the Spirit to overcome sin.

The People Of Victory, v. 12a.

"brethren, we"

Can an unbeliever have victory over the flesh? Can he conquer the flesh by religious activity or good morals? The answer is, "No!" Religion may make you a pious person. Morality may make you a nicer person, more tolerable to yourself and those who know you. But apart from the Spirit of God there is no ultimate victory over sin and the flesh. It is "we" who are victorious. It is "the brethren" who alone are capable of conquering the flesh. We are the people of victory.

The Privilege Of Victory

"therefore"

Once again, this thought is preceded by the word 'therefore". This word connects the command in verses 12-13 to what has just been said. What has just been said is that we are no longer under any condemnation, v. 1. that the Holy Spirit indwells us, v. 9, that we are free from sin and death, vs. 2-3, that we are promised ultimately the resurrection, ... therefore ...

The exhortation to mortify sin is based on the privileges of being a Christian. In fact, New Testament exhortations are almost always based on privileges - see Romans 12:1; Ephesians 4:1; Galatians 5:1.

The Pattern For Victory, v. 13.

The pattern is very simple and straight forward.

Don't live according to the flesh, v. 12. The believer is not "in the flesh" (v. 9). However, it is possible for him to ignore the privilege, the presence, and the power of the Holy spirit and to live after the flesh. The result of this is death, v. 13. "There is a sin unto death!" The scripture warns us not to live according to the flesh.

Live According To The Spirit, v. 13. We are told to "kill sin by the power of the Spirit". Live on the basis of your privileges, your power, the indwelling Spirit. He will enable you to resist the temptation to sin. This does not mean that we will ever achieve sinless perfection in this life, I John 1:8.

The Passion For Victory

" we are debtors"

Because we are victorious, because of God's enpowerment for victory in the person of the Spirit, we are forever indebted to the Lord, not to live after the flesh, but to live after the Spirit. There should be in us a passion against sin in our life!

Paul informs us that we have absolutely no obligation to relapse into a walk according to the flesh; rather our obligation is to walk in the Spirit. Walking in the flesh produces death; walking in the Spirit, life (v. 13). Every Christian is spirit in-dwelt and Spirit-led. It is inconceivable for the Christian to continue to live willingly and persistently according to the flesh.