No Obligation to the Flesh: Living as Children of God

Romans 8:10–14 NLT

¹⁰ And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. ¹¹ The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

¹² Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. ¹³ For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Message

I. The Spirit’s Control as the Mark of True Believers (Romans 8:1-9)

Let us recap what we studied last week:

Through Christ’s sacrifice, God fulfilled the law’s righteous requirement by punishing sin on our behalf so that we could be forgiven, enabling us to follow the Holy Spirit. Those who are dominated by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. Letting the Spirit control our minds leads to life and peace. Being dominated by the sinful nature leads to sinful thoughts, followed by hostility toward God and death. (Romans 8:1-8 NLT)
If you have the Spirit of God living in you, you are not controlled by your sinful nature, but controlled by the Spirit. Those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all. (Romans 8:9 NLT)

II. The Indwelling Christ and the Spirit’s Life-Giving Power (10-11)

Today Paul continues after his above discussion. See verse 10.

¹⁰ And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.

How do we know whether Christ lives within you or not? Based on Romans 8:9 NLT, it depends on whether you are not controlled by your sinful nature but by the Spirit or not.

You can know whether you are controlled by your sinful nature by looking at your having sinful thoughts, or hostility toward God (Romans 8:5-8 NLT).

Then, why our body will still die? It is because our sinful nature is still in our body as long as our body is alive. This fact is shown in Paul’s confession in Romans 7:14-24 NLT. Let us read Romans 7:24 NLT:

²⁴ Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

Because Christ lives within you, our spirit will live (10^b) and our body also will be transformed and raised into a new heavenly body (1 Corinthians 15:51-53, 42-44 NLT, 10^b).

See verse 11:

¹¹ The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Amen.

III. Freedom From the Flesh and the Call to Put Sin to Death (12-13)

See verse 12:

¹² Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.

Sin’s urges can make us feel as if we are obligated to respond to them. So, Paul says that we have “no obligation” to do so. Verse 12 helps us not to sin. Further Paul warns in verse 13a:

^13a For if you live by its dictates, you will die.

This verse reminds us of Galatians 6:7–8^a NLT:

⁷ Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. ^8a Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature.

What we must do instead is written in verse 13^b:

^13b But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.

Galatians 6:8^b NLT also says,

^8b But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

IV. Spirit-Led Living as the Evidence of God’s Children (14)

Paul encourages us in verse 14:

¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Amen.