Life & Peace

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... But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God 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.

Victory over sin is not reserved for eternity—it is offered to you today, by the power of the Spirit who already dwells within you.

The Cry of Defeat in Romans 7

Romans 7:14 reveals that we are carnal, sold under sin, and that our flesh has no power to overcome its own sinful desires. Apart from the Spirit, we are continually consumed by that in us which desires the things contrary to God and of this world. Paul describes this so clearly that each of us can identify with it:

For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; and what I hate, that I do.

He continues: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for the will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find" (v. 18). "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice" (v. 19). None of us can relate to that, can we?

This is the experience of many who call themselves Christians. But it should not be the lifelong experience of the person who has the Spirit of God. As we'll see in Romans 8:5–13, if anyone is a Christian, then the Spirit of God dwells in them. Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came to give life, and that more abundantly. But the thief in that same passage comes to steal, kill, and destroy—robbing us of joy and of victory. The Christian devastated by sin is the one walking in the Romans 7 experience, crying with Paul, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?"

Victory Now, Not Only Later

Some Christians speak of victory as something to be had only after they physically die: "Life is rough now, but someday we'll be resurrected and removed from sin's presence forever, where in His presence is fullness of joy." The Scriptures do speak of that great victory in God's presence. But the Bible also describes a victory that is now, available to us today as followers of Jesus.

Paul's teaching is clear. We are promised eternal life and assured we will be with Him forever, separated from sin's power. But we are also assured of victory right now in Christ—that we can live as "more than conquerors through Him who loved us." So the question is: how do we experience that victory now?

Let me be clear: many people within the church are walking in this victory. The way I frame this can make it sound as though everyone is in defeat, but that's not the reality. Many know this abundant life and walk in great joy. Yet some in a gathering this size know exactly what I'm describing and can relate at this very moment to Paul's cry in Romans 7.

Stirring the World to Jealousy

When we reach Romans 9 and speak of Israel—the vessel through whom God brought the Messiah—we'll see that Christians are to stir up the children of Abraham to jealousy. People should look at the life of Christians and say, "I want what they have. I want that victory, that joy, that peace I do not know."

We should live in such a way that those who are not followers of Jesus look at us and say, "They clearly have something I don't have." The unfortunate reality is that many who bear the title Christian sometimes look more sour than those in the world. But we are to walk in great victory. It is not unattainable. Romans 7 is Paul's cry of defeat in the weakness of the flesh; Romans 8 is his declaration of triumph: "We are more than conquerors through Him" (v. 37).

Victory Found Only in Him

This victory is always found in Him—it is never attainable apart from Him. We are more than conquerors "through Him who loved us," not by our own strength. We were unable to overcome sin in our own power, just as we were unable to save ourselves.

This is what the law was given for. When God revealed Himself at Sinai and gave Moses the law, it was not so the people would keep it perfectly and be made righteous by it, but that through the law they would recognize they have no hope in the law. The law's purpose is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). In Romans 7 Paul said, "I would not have known sin if the law had not said, 'You shall not covet.'" The law brings us to the conclusion that we are wholly, desperately lost.

Many of you came to that conclusion in your own life. That is when Jesus finds us—why we sing, "Amazing grace, I once was lost, but now I'm found." You must come to the place of knowing you're lost in order to be found. The law brings us to utter helplessness, and then, at just the right time (Romans 5), we are confronted with the glorious grace of Christ in the gospel.

The Continual Need for the Gospel

Justification comes only by Jesus Christ. But even after being justified by grace through faith, we find we are still unable, in our own might, to maintain righteousness or bring about continued victory in our daily walk. If we think we'll maintain that path by our own strength, we are continually frustrated and always fail.

The gospel is not only needful to bring us to salvation; it is necessary for every step we take in Christ, every day. We need the gospel continually—reminded both of our need and of His all-sufficiency. This is why presenting the gospel to those who do not know Christ also reminds us of our own daily need. We can never reach a "holier than thou" place where we think we've figured it out and can take the training wheels off. Just when the training wheels come off, how many of you have experienced the fall?

Paul warned the Corinthians, "Take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall." No temptation has overtaken us that is not common to humanity. We face the same things others face, but they may not recognize the need to resist them, while we do—because the Spirit has given us insight into His grace. So we need His power for justification, and we continually need His power for our ongoing sanctification.

The Law Is Perfect; We Are Not

Sanctification simply means cleansing and transforming—being made more like Jesus. An honest look at the character of Christ shows that none of us measure up. That's why we are not to measure ourselves by ourselves, which Paul says is unwise: you can always find someone worse off than you. Even at the local penitentiary you'll find someone doing worse. But the reality is we have all fallen and continually come short of His glory, which is the standard.

The law could not bring our justification, for it is weak through our flesh. The law itself is perfect (Psalm 19), holy, just, and good (Romans 7). There is nothing wrong with God's law—but we are none of those things, and so we make the law weak, because we cannot do what it requires.

So what did God do? He fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law by sending His Son to be the payment for our sin. That is what Jesus does on the cross, declaring, "Tetelestai"—"It is finished." The debt for sin is paid in full. And not only is the debt paid, but He destroyed sin's power in His flesh. He became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and destroyed sin's power in His body on the cross, so that by His Spirit in us He can overcome the power of sin resident in us. He accomplished victory for us so we can walk in it—"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" (v. 4).

The Tale of Two Natures

The key to victory, given in verse 4 and expanded in the verses that follow, is walking not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. The power to overcome sin is in Christ, and therefore the continued power to overcome sin is also found in Him.

After becoming a Christian, we have two natures. God gave life to our spirit, which was dead—"dead in trespasses and sins" (Ephesians 2)—but Christ made us alive. Now we have the Spirit, but we still have our old flesh. The flesh desires what is against God; the Spirit desires what is in line with His nature. These two are contrary, so that you do not do the things you desire. This was clear teaching in the early church—Paul speaks of it in 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and here in Romans.

As a Christian you have new desires, but the flesh is powerful. We often say, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." The reality is that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is strong to overcome the spirit. So when we try to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law by our own might, we always fail. That was Romans 7: the sincere desire of the Christian's heart is to do what God desires, because God gives us a new desire.

A New Heart Was Always the Plan

As we saw in Philippians 2:13, "God works in you to will [or desire] and to do His good pleasure." One of the first indications you've been changed at the heart level is a new desire—to honor God, to glorify Him, to exalt Him for who He is. That desire comes with the new heart given at conversion.

Yet when we try to make it happen by working harder, we become frustrated and cry with Paul, "O wretched man that I am!" There is only one answer: Jesus alone can deliver us from the body of this death—our mortal body in which sin's power resides. Romans 6:12 says, "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its lusts." Don't allow it to govern you toward what it desires.

This work of the Spirit is not new in the Bible. Five hundred years before Paul, Ezekiel prophesied: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). And the very next verse: "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes... and you will keep My judgments and do them."

God's plan of redemption was not Plan B. He didn't give the law at Sinai hoping it would work, only to be stunned forty days later when Israel transgressed it, then spend two thousand years trying alternatives until Jesus volunteered to fix it. That is not the case. God's plan, seen from Genesis to Revelation, was only revealed when Jesus came. As Paul told Timothy, "Christ Jesus brings to light life and immortality through the gospel." Old Testament saints looked forward to resurrection power; Jesus brings it to light. He says to Martha in John 11, "I am the resurrection and the life," bringing us resurrection power so we can walk in the Spirit by His strength, not our own.

The Engine and the Fuel

This does not remove our responsibility. Philippians 2:12 says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you." We see God's work and our work together. But the source and strength against the power of our flesh is not found in our flesh.

Here's an imperfect illustration—every illustration breaks down. Not long ago my parents knocked on my door, told me to come outside, and there in the driveway was my dad's BMW Z3 convertible. He handed me the keys and the pink slip. "It's yours." Wow! That car has an engine built to go fast—my wife doesn't like the way I drive it now. But no matter how powerful that engine is, without fuel it is inactive, just a 2,000-pound paperweight. Put fuel in, and it has the power to go.

In the same way, God created us to be vessels of honor, instruments of worship to glorify Him with this body—but because of sin it is inactive, dead. Then the Holy Spirit comes and resides in us, like fuel, so that this body can now do what honors Him. We have the components; the Spirit gives the enabling power.

Why the Carnal Mind Brings Death

So why is the power in the Spirit and not the flesh? Look at verse 5: "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." I kept wishing it read, "Those who set their minds on the flesh live according to the flesh"—as if it begins in the mind. But it doesn't.

Here's what's being said: if you have a heart-desire to glorify God and then try to accomplish it by your own strength, in your flesh, you will live with your mind set on the things of the flesh—because you're trying to do it in the flesh. And when your mind is set on the flesh, you will fail. Why? "For to be carnally minded is death" (v. 6).

To be carnally minded is to be earthly minded, and John says, "For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). If you try to live out Christ's righteousness in your own strength, you'll be consumed with these things, and consumed with death—a death of the vitality you have as a Spirit-filled, blood-bought, saved Christian.

Life and Peace

But "to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (v. 6). The mind oriented toward the things of the Spirit experiences the victory of the Spirit. The death spoken of here is not eternal punishment or hell—at the end of Romans 8, Paul declares that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. This death is the very practical loss of spiritual vitality in the Christian's life. Though you have the Spirit, if you function after the flesh, you lose the vitality of the Spirit.

As one pastor said, that death shows up as fear, guilt, hostility, and emptiness. Let me read from Ray Stedman:

Fear can appear as worry, anxiety, dread, or timidity. Guilt can show up as shame, self-hatred, self-righteousness, or perfectionism. Hostility will manifest itself as hate, resentment, bitterness, revenge, or cruelty. Emptiness can show up as loneliness, depression, discouragement, despair, meaninglessness. These are all the symptoms of this death.

Stedman continues:

These symptoms of death not only have this immediate effect upon our feelings and emotions, but they can actually go on to settle in our body and affect our physical functioning... we can develop nervous twitches, tics, rashes, eczema, ulcers, stuttering, heart attacks, cancer, and many other diseases.

Medical science increasingly finds that many physical problems have psychological roots. When you are filled with guilt, hostility, fear, and emptiness, these manifest in physical reactions. Numerous studies link heart disease, high blood pressure, skin problems, diabetes, and cancer to stress, anger, fear, and anxiety.

So one of the best things you can do for your total well-being is to walk in the Spirit and experience life and peace. This doesn't mean you'll never physically die—through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin. Even if medical science extends life to 100 or 120 years, you will physically die because of sin. And let me be clear: I abominate "health and wealth" teaching. But there is a component of total health in walking in the Spirit, because it removes fear, anxiety, stress, guilt, and emptiness, replacing them with the joy and life of Christ.

The Flesh Even Desires Anxiety

The spiritually minded Christian walks in the victory of the Holy Spirit, not fulfilling the desires of the flesh. And realize this: your flesh doesn't only crave the obvious things—food, sex, power. Your flesh also desires anxiety and despair. It longs for everything against God.

So while some men in our church battle desires of the flesh like pornography, many women battle desires toward anxiousness, fear, and worry. Those desires are just as much works of the flesh, and they need to be treated just as the desire for sinful pornography—killed, put to death by the work of the Spirit. They may not carry the same stigma, but millions in our nation suffer from anxiety, a work of the flesh.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Ray Stedman again:

If death is fear, then life is trust, hope, and confidence. If death is guilt, then life is acceptance, security, and assurance. If death is hostility, then life is love, friendliness, kindness, and reaching out to others. If death is emptiness, then life is a sense of well-being, fulfillment, excitement, vitality, and the fullness of life.

That is the life of the Spirit God desires for His church—and these things are evangelistic. When the world asks how you have fulfillment, hope, and assurance they lack, you don't say, "I took a class at Palomar College." You say, "It's the work of the Spirit of God, the manifestation of His grace." These things are not home-grown; they come from the Spirit's work in us. So the Christian walking in the Spirit experiences this abundant life and peace—peace with God and the peace of God, a quiet inner calm and genuine sense of well-being.

Enmity Against God

Why? Verse 7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." The fleshly mind stands stubbornly against the work of God, not submitted to His will. In fact, the law exacerbates the sinful desires of our flesh (Romans 7:5), stirring up transgression. The fleshly mind simply cannot be subject to God's law. It is impossible to reform our flesh and make it better; therefore we must reckon it dead and choose to lay it aside in favor of the Spirit.

Verse 8: "So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God." We cannot reform the flesh to please Him. God enables us by His power to put the flesh to death so we glorify Him.

You Are in the Spirit—Because of Jesus

Verse 9: "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." Christian, you are not in the Spirit because you read your Bible this morning or came to church, or because you put something in the tithe plate. You are in the Spirit because of Jesus. It is not dependent on how well you work this Christian thing out. The Spirit dwells in you by the work of grace through salvation.

"Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." You are not a Christian if you do not have the Spirit. So by the very fact that you are a Christian, you have the Spirit—and with Him, whether you agree or not, the ability to walk in the Spirit. Peter says God "has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." We have everything we need to live godly in Jesus. Whether we're doing it or not, it's there—like an abundant bank account that can never be overdrawn.

The New Testament teaches that the abiding presence of the Spirit is an automatic benefit to every believer:

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body... and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, that God's Spirit dwells in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16; cf. 6:19)

Jesus promised in John 14 that the Spirit "is with you and shall be in you." After His resurrection, in John 20:22, He breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." They received the indwelling Spirit, and every Christian since has the Spirit of God.

Life to Your Mortal Bodies

Verse 10: "And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." You've put the flesh to death; you've been crucified with Him by grace. Verse 11: "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." The Spirit enables this mortal body—geared toward the flesh—to walk in a way that produces righteousness and pleases God.

"Therefore, brethren"—notice He's addressing the church—"we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die"—all the loss of spiritual vitality will come—"but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live" (vv. 12–13).

Present Your Bodies as a Living Sacrifice

Paul says in Romans 12:1–2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God"—by His power—"that you present your 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."

We lack nothing as it relates to the power of the Spirit to walk in victory. What we're called to do is yield to His working—to lay this body down and say, "God, You fill me, You work in and through me. I'll walk out what You tell me, but by Your strength, not mine." And this takes a continual dying to our flesh. Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Some read that and think it sounds bipolar—"I'm alive, but I'm not; I've been crucified, but I'm still living, only by the power of God's Spirit within me." This death to our flesh is a continual sacrifice. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31, "I die daily." Even the apostle Paul had to put his flesh to death every single day. The reality is the flesh wakes up first—cranky, crabby, wanting to be fed and to have its own way, with everyone else out of the way. Anybody relate? I know I do.

The flesh wakes up first, and we must reckon it crucified in Christ: "I'm no longer living by that. I'm living by the grace and power of the Son of God, who died and gave Himself for me, that the life of the Spirit would be manifested to the glory and praise of God." Amen?

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for the grace and power we have in You as new creations in Christ. We thank You that because You've given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, we can live in a way that glorifies You. Lord, help us today to reckon the old man dead, that we would live in honor and glory to You.