Thank you, Andrew, for leading us. Surely appreciate that. It's a difficult thing sometimes to get up here in front of everybody, and especially for me to sing. So I really appreciate that, Andrew. Appreciate you leading us in good words and text as well.

We are studying the Book of Romans in our communion service each month. I was studying for this text yesterday, and I was sitting there thinking to myself, what more could you ask out of life than to be preaching through the Book of Romans? Really, that's as good as it gets. So I'm enjoying this text. 

We've been in Romans 5 to 8. We come back to that study of the Book of Romans for our communion service this morning, working through this text for quite some time, where Paul lays the foundation for the Christian life, for sanctification. And it's a section that teaches us why it is that we can live a new life as believers in Jesus Christ. 

It's formed in its structure, as we've been noticing, primarily by contrast: the contrast between two types of people, those in Christ, those in Adam. We've seen Paul construct this contrast in many different ways. In the latter part of chapter 5, we see the contrast between Adam and Christ. And this is really the basis for all of the contrasts Paul will lay out to describe the man in Adam or the man in Christ, what is true of each. 

In chapter 6, we see the great truth of the believer's union with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection, and the implication of this death with Christ concerning indwelling sin. The man who is in Christ is dead to sin. His old man was crucified with Christ. For the express purpose, Paul says, that the body of sin, this physical body controlled by sin, would be rendered powerless in order that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 

And I'd really like for you this morning to focus in on this language that Paul uses concerning the body here in verse 6, the body of sin, the body controlled by sin. This becomes a ground for understanding and a theme throughout these chapters, the members of our physical body as a means of expression of sin dwelling in us or an expression of holiness by the power of the Spirit. We see this over and over again. And we see it again in our text this morning in Romans 8. 

So in chapter 6, there's the contrast of the one dead to sin, no longer controlled and dominated by indwelling sin, and the one who is dead in sin and trespasses, wholly separated from the life of God. That is the man in Adam, or as Paul calls it, the old man. We also see introduced in chapter 6, beginning at verse 14, the truth of our death to the law and a contrast between those who are under law and those who are under grace. And Paul develops the implications of this contrast in chapter 7. 

So we see Adam and Christ. We see dead or alive to indwelling sin. We see law and grace. And last, we see in Romans 8, a contrast between flesh and spirit. Paul, of course, introduced this idea in Romans 7, 6, stating that the believer is no longer to live by the letter but by the Spirit because we are no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit. And he picks this up again in Romans 8. 

And we've studied in depth this truth in Romans 8, 1 to 4 in particular. Well, Paul extends this contrast in our text today in verses 5 to 17 and brings us to the truth that we who are in Christ, who are dead to sin, dead to the law, dead to the flesh, who now have the Holy Spirit living in us, who live by the power of the Spirit, who walk in the Spirit, we are the sons of God. God is our Abba, Father, our Papa. This is the great truth that we're going to explore in our study this morning. 

Let's look at Romans 8, 5 together. Paul writes, "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 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 life 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. 

I've given you four points on your outline. First, spiritually minded. Second, new life. Third, debtors to the Spirit. And fourth, sons of God. 

As we begin our study, I would point out to you again, and please keep this at the forefront of your mind, that in our text and in the previous chapters, we do not find commands to follow, imperatives to obey. By and large, this section is not giving us commands to obey but truths to believe. These chapters are filled with indicatives, truths for us to take for ourselves, to believe, to guard and hold, and to live in light of. The purpose of all of these truths, these doctrines, is to give us a solid foundation, a solid understanding of why we must now live a new life as believers in Jesus Christ. Paul will get to application in chapter 12, and he will exhort us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God, based on all of these great truths we're studying now on what he calls the mercies of God, the doctrines of these great chapters. 

Let's see what Paul says about those in Adam and those in Christ in regard to flesh and spirit. Again, a contrast between believer and unbeliever. First, we see spiritually minded. In verse five, he says, "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." He says, "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 be." 

Verse eight, "So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God." And then verse nine, "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you. And if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not his." 

These are truths concerning the man in Adam, the man in the flesh, versus the man in Christ, the man in the spirit. The man in Adam, the man in the flesh, who lives according to the flesh, he sets his mind on the things of the flesh. This is evident in our world all around us. Unbelievers set their minds on the things of the flesh to fulfill their desires. They are consumed with the carnal, the fleshly, satisfying their physical needs. 

Carnal men do not understand nor set their minds towards spiritual things. They suppress the truth of God, the evidence that is all around them. They may be religious, but they do not set their minds towards truth, toward eternal things, towards spiritual things. They are carnal through and through. And Paul says, they cannot please God. 

But the man in the spirit, who has the spirit of God in him, he sets his mind on spiritual things, is consumed with eternity, with the spiritual state of those around him, with living by the spirit and walking in the power of the spirit in order to bring glory to God. The man who has come to the end of himself has come to understand his sin and his need for a savior from the wrath of God to come. This man who turns in faith to Jesus alone and what He accomplished on the cross on my behalf and my stead for my sins, this is a man who believes, who has died, and who has been raised to a new kind of life, a new kind of mindset, and that geared toward, set on the spirit. 

Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5 with me. Paul explains this here as well. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14. Pay close attention to what Paul says here in conjunction with what we're studying in Romans 8. He says, "For the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died, and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again." 

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now, all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 

That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

The man in the flesh cannot please God. He's at enmity with God, and this separation from God is a state of deadness, of domination by indwelling sin, of a continual setting of the mind and heart on the flesh and the things of the flesh, so that he cannot please God. The end of this is death. It's eternal death. It's eternal separation from God. 

But notice what Paul says in verse nine of our text. He says, "But you, 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. Notice that everyone who believes Jesus, at the moment he believes Jesus, receives the Holy Spirit, a permanent indwelling, a fullness of the spirit of God living in him. There's no such thing as a believer without the spirit or some second work of the spirit. If you believe, you have the Holy Spirit in fullness. If you do not have the spirit of Christ, you are not His. 

So those who believe, Paul states emphatically, are not in the flesh. You are not in the spirit and in the flesh. The two are diametrically opposed. They are mutually exclusive. You are either in Adam, in the flesh, carnal, dead in trespasses and sins, or you are in Christ, in the spirit, alive to God, a new creation with the spirit of Christ dwelling in you. You're not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed you have believed Jesus and are in Him. 

So we see spiritually minded, the contrast with the fleshly minded man in Adam. Next, we see new life. Look at verse 10 with me. "And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life 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." 

There is a truth taught clearly throughout the scriptures in John 14, 1 Thessalonians 4, Philippians 3, 1 Corinthians 15, many places, that we shall be raised incorruptible, that these bodies will be transformed at the resurrection. This is a clear truth, but I don't believe that's what Paul's talking about in verse 11. Perhaps it's there, but the broader context is not discussing future resurrection. 

He'll get to that coming up, and maybe this is a lead into that. But the previous verses are a discussion about the one who lives, who walks, either in the flesh or in the spirit. It's about walking. It is about living. It is about our life today. And notice the language at the end of verse 11. It says, "through His spirit who dwells in you." The point is that the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer now giving him life, empowering him to live a holy life out through his physical body, his members. 

This has been the theme of chapters six, seven, and eight. The emphasis here is on the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the power that raised Jesus from the dead that works in you as a believer to give life to your mortal body. And verse 12 follows saying, "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh." 

Turn over to Ephesians one with me, please. Ephesians one at verse 15. Paul's praying for the believers in Ephesus here. He says, "Therefore, I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of Him and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. 

He says, "Therefore, I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, to heavenly places, the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, the very power that raised Jesus from the dead." What is that power toward us? The Holy Spirit living in us. Paul says the exceeding great power of God works in us and those who believe. He wants for us to understand this great truth. He wants our eyes to be opened that we may know. 

If you go over to Ephesians 3, verse 14, we see a second prayer in the book of Ephesians. Paul says, "For this reason I...chapter 3, verse 14, for this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Look at verse 16, "that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." 

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. It's the Holy Spirit that imparts strength to our inner man. It is Jesus who lives in us and works out through us, as Andrew quoted this morning in Colossians, same thing here in Ephesians 3, the words mean that Jesus would be settled down and at home in us, living His life out through us as we abide in Him. 

He works out through us, producing fruit through the members of our physical bodies. It is He who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. This is the focus of Paul in Romans 8, 5 to 11, the power of the Holy Spirit that works in us to give life to our mortal bodies, to have the outward behavior expressed through our physical bodies come into consistency with the inward reality of who we are in our spirits, new, regenerate men. 

Look back at the context, starting in verse 4, Romans 8, 4. He's talking about how we've been made free from the law of sin and death, how Jesus has dealt with indwelling sin, building on what He taught in Romans 6, Romans 7. Verse 4, he says, "in order 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." Verse 5, "Those who live." Verse 6, "life and peace." Verse 7, "not subject to the law of God." Verse 8, "cannot please God." 

These verses are all talking about how we walk, how we live, either in the flesh or in the Spirit. Eternity is not in view here so much as is daily living, walking in this body either by the Spirit or by the flesh. The promise of verse 11 for the believer is that the Holy Spirit will give life empowerment to live in holiness through our physical bodies, expressing the new and alive Spirit within us, our Spirit, quickened, regenerate in communion with Christ, with the Holy Spirit. 

Have you ever been taught or have you ever thought that God is asking you to do something contrary to who you are, that somehow your spirit is not in agreement with the Holy Spirit, that you're a sinner and you're vile and wretched and God's asking you to be holy and your spirit's fighting against the Holy Spirit? This kind of teaching, it's an error, it's an undermining of all these great truths. I want you to look at verse 16, it says the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit. Our new man, our regenerate spirit, the me, the I, is in sweet communion with the Holy Spirit who lives in us. We are in agreement, we are with the Spirit of God. 

It is the manifestation through our bodies, our members, by our thoughts and actions that must come into conformity with who we are on the inside. This is biblical sanctification. And it comes, holiness outwardly comes, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us as we abide in Christ, as we reckon these great truths to be so, as we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. So Paul is explaining that the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer will empower, as we saw in Ephesians 1, as we saw in Ephesians 3, will give strength to our inner man by the very power that raised Jesus from the dead in order to live a holy life in consistency with who we now are in Christ. 

I want to just take a little time here to develop this idea of outward confirmation to the inward reality of who we are as believers in Jesus Christ. My brothers and sisters, this is the whole enchilada. This is the salient point of Romans 5 to 8, understanding who we are in Christ so that we might live in light of this great truth by His power and life in us through faith. 

I want to go back to Romans 6, 6 where this truth is introduced and we're going to follow through the text up to Romans 8, 11 to see how Paul explains God's plan and purpose for us to live holy lives out through our physical bodies. Romans 6, 6 says, "Knowing this, so first we have to know, and Paul's going to give us ten things to know in these first several verses. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin." 

Again, the body of sin here is the physical body controlled by indwelling sin. So when we were in the flesh, the sin that dwelled in us was working to produce death out through our physical bodies, the members of our body, our minds, our tongue, our hands, our eyes. Romans 7, 5 says when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 

So Romans 6, 6 is teaching us that the old man, the man controlled and dominated by indwelling sin, the body controlled by sin, was crucified. He died. He was buried with Christ for the express purpose, this is God's intent, this is why God did this, for the express purpose that this body controlled by indwelling sin, this body of sin, might be rendered powerless. And the result of that is that we would no longer be slaves to sin. 

Now look at 6, 10. It says, "For the death that He died, Jesus, He died to sin once for all, but the life that He lives, He lives to God." Look at these words in verse 11, "Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Therefore, based on this truth, based on this reckoning, this counting up the facts, logizomata, the logic is in there, count it up, look at the facts, think of this, believe this. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in its lusts. 

Again the body, it's expressed through the body, the members. Verse 13, "Do not present your members as instruments in this warfare, as weapons of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead." Are you alive from the dead? Then present yourself to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments, as weapons of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. 

The life that He lives, He lives to God, likewise you also. Verse 12, "Therefore, based on these great truths, do not let sin reign in your mortal body." Rather present your members as instruments of righteousness, present your bodies, yourselves to God as being alive from the dead. Live in consistency with who you are. 

Verse 16, chapter 6, "Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves, slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. But God be thanked that though you were, do you love that word, were? You were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart. Such means you believed, that form of doctrine, that's the gospel, to which you were delivered. 

The words mean to be poured into a new mold, you're recreated. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. The believer presents his members, his physical body, to righteousness because we have been set free from indwelling sin and are now slaves to righteousness. You're not free; you're a slave. Are you a slave to sin or are you a slave to God? I'm a bond slave, I'm a willing servant, by choice, I want to serve Him. The love of Christ compels us, why? Because He died for us. 

Because He gave Himself, we love Him because He first loved us. Look at Romans 6, 22, "But now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness. And the end is everlasting life." Romans 7, 5, we see contrast again, "For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now, we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." 

You see, when we were in Adam, the sin that dwelled in and dominated us controlled us completely and was manifest out through our members. You know people like that? Do you remember you like that? Just talking to an old youper yesterday. Use the Lord's name in vain with proficiency that you can't imagine. The tongue, right? The member of the body manifesting who He is on the inside. 

You see, when we were in Adam, the sin that dwelled in us dominated us, controlled us completely, and it was manifest out through our members. This is what we see in 721. Look at 721. "I find then a law that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, the Pharisee, the religious Jew; the law was his life, his delight was in the law, he was going to obtain his salvation through the law. I delight in the law of God according to the inward man, but I see another law in my members, incurring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." 

This is indwelling sin. This man has a force, he has a law, a principle in his members, sin which dominates and controls him, brings him into captivity and manifests sin continually out through his members. That's why he says present tense in the Greek, "I never ever ever do what I want to do and what I hate, I always continually perpetually do." Why? Because there's a law in his members, indwelling sin, taking him captive and manifesting out through his body, sin. 

But there's good news in chapter 8, look at verse 2. "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 and that it was weak through the flesh, God did, grace, God did it. How did He do it? By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, He condemned sin in the flesh in order 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." 

This man has been made free from the law of sin and death. And now love is manifest out through his members, the righteous requirement of the law, Romans 13, 8 is love, it's fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. And you see, that's why Romans 8, 11 is a promise, not a future resurrection but a present holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, giving life to our mortal bodies, producing fruit out through our members. 

That's the flow. That's the context. That's the theme Paul uses and he picks it up again in application of these great truths in Romans 12. Turn over to Romans 12 with me, verse 1. This is where Paul sort of ends his doctrinal section and begins the application of that. In verse 1 he says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, your physical bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." 

And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The mercies of God here refer to these great doctrines we've been studying, and Paul says, in light of these truths, present your bodies, your members, the mortal physical body, as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. 

Note, this is your reasonable service. The word translated reasonable, logica...I don't know how to say that word...logi...L-O-G-I-K-O-S. It has the word logic in it, I know that. The idea is logical or reasonable. He says rational, agreeable to reason. I want you to grasp what Paul's saying here. Take it for yourself, believe it, guard it, and let this truth cast out all of the error that you've heard or been taught or thought in your own mind. 

Because of your death, burial, and resurrection with Christ, because of your death to sin, to the law, to flesh, because you're now a new man, a new creation in Christ with a new spirit, the Holy Spirit, the very life of Christ living in you, it is reasonable, it is logical, it is rational for you to live a new and holy life out through your members. It is consistent with who you are, it's not contrary to who you are; God is not asking you to do something that He Himself has not created and empowered for you to do. 

Peter says He's given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness. It is reasonable, it's rational for you to live a new life out through your members because you are a new man on the inside. And that's what Paul goes on to define as biblical sanctification in the next verse, at verse 2, "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." 

He's laid out all of the groundwork in chapters 5 to 8, the great truths, the doctrines, the mercies of God, who we are in Christ, all of these great contrasts with the man in Adam. Now he says in light of all these things, it's reasonable, it's rational for you to present your members to holiness, to righteousness. Therefore we must stop being conformed by the outward forces of this world and Satan's system and we must be being transformed by the renewing of our minds in order that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 

What is the will of God? Paul says in Thessalonians, your sanctification. Stop being conformed. The word according to Wiest refers to the act of an individual assuming an outward expression that does not come from within him nor is it representative of his inner heart life. So many times we're assuming an outward expression that is completely irrational, completely contrary to who we are in our inner heart life. It's an outer force shaping, molding us into the likeness of the world. 

But the word transform speaks of a metamorphosis. It speaks of a person changing his outward expression from that which he has to a different one, listen to this, an expression which comes from and is representative of his inner being. It's used of Christ when he was transfigured on the mount, pulling back his flesh as it were and showing the essence of who he is. This is the question, my friend. Who are you? Who are you? 

And Paul emphatically says you are dead to sin, you're dead to the law, you're dead to the flesh, you are in Christ. You have the Holy Spirit in you giving life to your mortal bodies. Now you must renew your mind to these truths continually. It's a battle. It's a discipline to renew our minds to the word of God, to go to the word. Sometimes, you know I get confused, get in difficult situations, people are really struggling, they're really hurting, things are going on and I'm thinking, man, I don't know what to do with that and I get a little bit confused sometimes. 

And then I go back to the word of God. And when I read the word of God, I'm not confused anymore. It's clear. It’s clear what God says about X, Y, or Z and what we should do and how we should live and why we can do that. Look at the Corinthians. They were just into the most heinous kind of sexual sin. And Paul says, "What? You need to buck up, this is bad, you know, there's a law and keep the law and quit doing this." What's he saying? 

He says, "This is who you were, that you've been washed, you've been justified, you've been sanctified, you've been regenerated, you are new men, now live like new men." That's the message of the New Testament, the new covenant life. We must renew our mind to these truths continually, we must reckon them to be so, we must choose to believe God and trust Him, believe Jesus, abide in Him so that His life might be manifest out through our physical bodies, through our members, presenting them as weapons of righteousness, holiness, our bodies a living sacrifice to God. 

Remember my friends, we are sons of God. We are co-heirs with Christ. God is our Abba, our Papa, we can crawl up into His lap to find grace and help in time of need. Can you believe that? If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, and who's that for? Every believer, every believer has the Holy Spirit. If you don't have Him, you're not His. He who raised Christ from the dead will 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. Notice the context again, to live, this is now how we live, how we walk. 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 the sons of God. 

You know, as I was preparing this, I kept thinking, can I say that? Is that right? I mean, we are sons of God, it sounds like I'm going too far, but that's what Paul says. You're led by the Spirit, you're a son of God. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, we were adopted, we were grafted in, 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 we are heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

We've seen in our text this morning, spiritually minded, we've seen new life, we've seen debtors to the Spirit, and that we are sons of God. What's the application of all these great truths? It's logical, rational, it's a clear conclusion. If we are in Christ, dead to sin, dead to the law, dead to the flesh, if we walk in the Spirit and the Spirit is giving life to our mortal bodies by the very power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, if all of this is a grace gift of God, a full salvation because of the person and work of Jesus Christ given to us freely by grace through faith, then my brother, my sister in Christ, we are debtors, our obligation is not to the flesh but to the Spirit to live according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh, for we are the sons of God. 

This is who we are and we must live in consistency with who we are outwardly through our members. We have the promise of glorification, of a complete and final salvation because of Jesus. We have that promise. But we also have the promise of life today, abundant life, of fruit and holiness as a witness to this world for the glory of God. We are the sons of God and it's high time that we live out who we are, that we choose to abide, to reckon, to take every thought captive to the truth of the words of God, that we choose to love each other, love one another. 

Don't believe the sin that still dwells in you; you're dead to it. Don't place yourself under the yoke of bondage, the letter, the law; you're dead to it. Don't walk according to the flesh because you're dead to it. Walk according to the Spirit. Trust that the Spirit will give life to your mortal body as you choose moment by moment to believe these truths, to renew your mind to them and yield to the life of Christ in you living out through you that He might be at home. 

Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. My friends, this is the new covenant life. This is God's way. It's His plan for holiness and a life of fruit, having the reality of who we are on the inside expressed outwardly through our members in righteousness and holiness. You are new men, live like new men. You are the sons of God. And all of this because of the cross, because of what Jesus did in our union with Him by faith in His death, burial, and resurrection. He did it all. It's by His grace. And all we can say is thank you. Thank you with our mouth, thank you with our life, to His praise and glory.