For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after 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, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye hav not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Some people have a critical spirit. One salesman got so fed up he quit and joined the police. When asked about his new job, he said: “I like it: the pay is good, the hours aren't bad, and best of all, the customer is always wrong!”
There are many different spirits alive in this world today: the spirit of this world, the spirit of evil, and the Spirit of God. We, of course, need to live by the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity who is God's presence on the earth today. He guides us, empowers us and directs us. In our text today, we learn that we may ignore the Holy Spirit, but we do so to our detriment.
LET'S LOOK AT LIFE WITHOUT THE SPIRIT:
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after 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, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (V.V. 5-8)
The world has been categorized in many ways: Jews and Gentiles; Muslims and Infidels; developed countries and developing countries, rich people and poor people.
In these verses, Paul gives us a new way to view the world. For him there are just two types of people:
- There are Christians with the in-filling of the Holy Spirit.
- There are non-Christians without the Holy Spirit.
In verses 5-8, Paul contrasts these two types of people: some are in the flesh, and some are in the Spirit (V.5). Some are dead, while others are alive (V.6). Some are at war with God and some are at peace with God (V.V. 6 & 7). Some are self pleasing while some are God pleasing (V. 8).
Paul gives us a digital choice here: you are either alive with God’s Spirit or dead without Him. Zombie Christians who are saved but who don’t possess the Spirit of God cannot exist. To be a Christian means you have the the Spirit of God. If you don’t have the Spirit you are not alive in Christ. It is that simple and also that profound!
LET'S LOOK AT LIFE WITH THE SPIRIT:
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (V.V. 9-13)
Jesus gave us some crucial promises before he ascended. He said He would never leave us (Matthew 28:20) and that He'd send us the Comforter. The wording here is very specific, and Paul could not have made it more clear: if you are in the Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in your life. That should be very comforting to us, because that is exactly what God had in mind all along.
When my son was young and we lived in a two-story house, when it came time to put him to bed we would go back downstairs and continue resting and relaxing for the evening. One thing that we always did however, was to assure him that we were just downstairs and if he ever needed us all he had to do was call to us. The same thing is true for us in the Holy Spirit when we have a need we can call upon Him and He will be there with us because He's never left us and he will never forsake us.
So, what does the Holy Spirit do for us? First, He allows us to please God via imputed righteousness. We know that without outside help our lives are spiritually bankrupt. We bring nothing but our sin to our relationship to God, but the Holy Spirit brings us life through the righteousness of God given to us.
Second, He also gives us power over our mortal bodies. We know that the “spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” and so we need help to exert self-control and to subdue our flesh. The desires of the flesh are good and natural, but like the rest of God’s creation, our natural desires no longer work the way God intended them to work. We need to access God’s power to keep them in balance and the Holy Spirit helps us maintain that balance.
We all know that life can be hard to handle. One wag said that, “Life is like jello; if you grab it on one side, it oozes out the other.” Another person, a young mother, said, “Babies are like life; it would really help if both had a handle to grab.” The Holy Spirit gives us a handle on life!
LET'S LOOK AT LIFE POSSESSED BY THE SPIRIT:
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye hav not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (V.V. 14-17)
The Holy Spirit is a gentleman; He offers great power and success and He will try to persuade us, but He will not force us! God wants us to willingly allow the Spirit to empower us to be what we cannot be in our own power, but He will not make us. He will not take away our ability to decide. Like the Internet, the Holy Spirit offers us great resources but we must access those resources to benefit from them. Pastoral counselors have learned that, as much as they want to help their clients and as many resources as they may offer them, their clients must have a desire to change before any progress can be made in the counseling process.
Many people are experiencing defeat in their lives; Jesus is their Savior, but He is not their Lord. They have discovered that their flesh is weak and they have caught the “I can’t do it” mentality. They are correct; we can't, but God can!
When we are in Christ we are the adopted Children of God. God has no grandchildren, nor any step children, which means that we are fellow heirs along with Christ! It is true that we may suffer with Christ, but it is also true that we will be blessed like Him. To realize this, however, we must allow the Holy Spirit to possess us: mind, body, and soul!
CONCLUSION:
If a person needs a heart transplant and they refuse to have it, then they cannot benefit from a new heart! Likewise, a heart transplant does little good if we continue to abuse our body. In spiritual terms then, for Christians, we must give ourselves over to the Lordship of Christ, and allow the Holy Spirit to have His own way! If we do that we then can experience the power and blessing in our lives that the Lord wants to give us
In this passage we've seen life without the Spirit, life with the Spirit, and life possessed by the Spirit. Where is your life today? Where would you like it to be? It can be there if you only bow your knee and accept the Grace proffered by God!
Every blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
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