Sermon Video
Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
January 23, 2022
Study Audio
Opening Prayer
Prolegomena
I will be teaching the 611 class February 20 through May 1.
Romans 8:9-11
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in
fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not
have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But
if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is
life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit
of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ
Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through
his Spirit who dwells in you.
v. 9
You, you are not in flesh …
- Greek verbs do not need pronouns to indicate their person or number.
- Second Person Plural, and this is the subject of the sentence.
- The repetition is for emphasis.
o
The Christians of Rome are not in the flesh, and
therefore what was said of those who are in the flesh does not apply to them.
… but in the Spirit, if, indeed, the Spirit of God dwells in you.
- This is not to cast doubt. It is an affirmation.
- Paul is saying that the believers are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, because God’s Spirit dwells in them.
o
The word dwell is related to the word “house.”
o
John 1:14 – The Word became flesh and “dwelled”
in/among us …
§
This word is related to the word “tent” or
“tabernacle”
o
Jesus’ time among us was limited – he “tented.”
o
The Spirit’s time is more permanent – he
“houses.”
§
“To have one is to have all.”
And if anyone does not have does not the Spirit of Christ, this
one is not His.
- Why would it be that without the having the Spirit, we cannot belong to Jesus?
- [N]o human wisdom can understand the Creed. It must be taught by the Holy Spirit alone. – Luther’s Large Catechism, Pt. II, Art. III, line 67
o
When Luther says that people cannot understand
the Creed, he is referring to more than just the words of the Creed, but the
substance and summary of the whole Christian faith.
- 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 –
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
- What does this passage (1 Cor. 2) tell us about the Holy Spirit’s work?
- Without the Spirit, we do not have Christ.
v.10
But if Christ is in you, on the one hand the body is dead
because of sin, and on the other hand the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
- Body/flesh – Paul uses a similar idea here.
o
This body will die – guaranteed.
- The Spirit is life
o
NIV – “your spirit is alive because of
righteousness.”
o
Is this referring to your spirit, or the Holy
Spirit?
§
Debatable.
§
What is not debatable is that “life” is a noun
and not a verb “alive.”
o
I lean toward the Spirit here being the Holy
Spirit.
§
Every other time the “spirit” is used in this
section it refers to the Holy Spirit.
§
I think my interpretation also fits with the end
of the statement, “because of righteousness.”
·
How does one become “righteous”?
·
I am inclined to preserve the gift/dependence
sense of what God is doing in our salvation.
§
If you feel like it should be this refers to the
human spirit, does that make you “wrong”?
§
The death of the body and the life of the Spirit is at the
heart of every funeral.
o
Body proclaims sin and death.
§
I like to have a body/remains at a funeral.
o
The pall and service proclaim.
o
Resist the temptation to talk over much about
the deceased.
§
Their life is the context in which a much
greater and more important story played out.
§
Focus is on what God did in their life.
v. 11
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make alive
your mortal bodies because of the one indwelling of His Spirit in you (plural).
- Acts 2:24
- Acts 3:15
- Acts 4:10
- Acts 5:30
- Acts 10:40
- Acts 13:30 & 34
Notice that the resurrection of Jesus is the source of our
resurrection, too, and the Spirit is deep in this work.
The Apostles’ Creed – I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Christian church, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of
sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
The Nicene Creed – And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the
Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who
with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by
the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I
acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the
resurrection of the dead and life of the world to come.
All along Paul has spoken of sin in the flesh and life in
the Spirit – not life invades the flesh – the body.
Notice though – this life in the body is because of the
indwelling of the Spirit.
- Eternally alive now.
- Flesh redeemed and renewed now.
- But these bodies are still going to die.
- Sin still clings to our flesh.
The dichotomy has become a paradox because God is at work in
us.
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