Who or What is Controlling You?

 

Romans 8 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life[d] because you have been made right with God. 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.

There are so many verses we could talk about in Romans 8, such as verses 18, 28, and verse 38; but today we are going to focus on verses 8-17.  Since we ended yesterday by talking about how enslaved we are to our sinful nature, today we get to here about where we find the freedom and power to lead a new life.  Though we can still be controlled by our old nature Paul states emphatically, "But you are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you!" 

Paul further describes the Spirit as, "the Spirit of Christ living in you."  That's right, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ.  Christ lives in you and is your hope of glory.  Though we still live in a body that is decaying and will eventually die, we are constantly being renewed by the Spirit who lives in us.  Finally, Paul gives us an incredible promise.  When we die, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will give us eternal life.  Why?  Because God is eternal.  Jesus is eternal. The Holy Spirit is eternal and he lives in you and will raise you from the dead! God can't die!

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.

Paul goes on to describe the critical way in which the Holy Spirit guides us in our new life as a Christian. We can still live according to the sinful nature, but it leads to death. Death in our relationships, death in our sense of self, and eventually physical death.  But the Good News is that we are no longer slaves to sin.  The Holy Spirit has freed us from the power of sin so we can live a new life.  Paul says in Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ set you free, make sure you stay free and don't get tied up back up in slavery" Finally, those who are led by the Spirit are children of God.  We are born again through the Holy Spirit as John tells us in John 3. By being born again, we are made members of the family of God.  As we live by the Spirit. we live according to our new family values. 

15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.[h] Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”[i] 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. 

Paul continues this theme of freedom in the Spirit.  And he also uses the language of "adoption".  In adoption a family chooses the child to make them part of their family.  In the same way God adopted and chose us to be part of his family.  Because God is our Father we can say "Abba Father", which means "daddy".  We used to shrink in fear in going to God and now we can go in confidence to our Father who loves us so much He sent His only Son to save us.  And just like any child who shares in an inheritance with their earthly family, as God's children we share in the inheritance of God's glory one day when it is revealed.  

What do you think of when you think of the Holy Spirit?  Most people have a hard time grasping the nature and relationship they have with the Holy Spirit.  How can you more intentionally live by the Spirit's control in your life?  What would that look like?  How might you enact the Spirit's power in your life?   If the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, how can that help you realize if we are truly living the life God called us to as His children?

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