The power of the spirit
RUMC 7/10/11
How many of you were here last week?
Do you remember last week we started with you reading nine promises-?
· I am going on a diet,
· quit smoking,
· resist temptation,
· Not get angry and others?
I spent the rest of the teaching time pointing out to you that you have no power on your own to fulfill those promises. No matter how well intentioned you are, no matter how strong you are, no matter how good you think you are… you have no power to be good in God’s eyes!
Paul said, “The Evil I hate, I do. And the good I would do, I do not do.”
We know better, but we are no better!
I hope you felt the impossibility, and frustration and the powerlessness this week. We need to understand that we are literally and completely incapable of doing good or being good under our own power. Our batteries are dead, our tires are flat, our blocks are cracked, and we are out of gas in the wilderness of sin. We are completely and hopelessly powerless to overcome sin on our own.
Now, how many of you read the upper room?
Did you see the story about the little boy who was playing in the yard and trying to cross the briar patch? It made me think of the sand burrs that grew in our yard in Muscatine.
(Slide) He writes, One day, I attempted to cross one of the briar patches. I tiptoed and hopped around, trying to avoid the thorns and thistles. After a few moments, I realized that I had made it only to the middle of the briar patch. My tender toes and I were surrounded. I felt trapped and afraid. When I read that this week, I thought, “That’s exactly what I was talking about in the sermon! Stuck in the middle of the painful thorniness of sin, trapped and afraid!” The devotion continued,
Then I did the only thing I knew to do. I cried out, "Daddy!” Soon, I saw my father running through the backyard toward me. He picked me up and set my feet back on the soft grass.
We find ourselves today standing in the middle of the briar patch, or sand bur patch, or poison ivy, or if you’re Indiana Jones a snake pit. There we stand anxiously with no ability, no strength, no hope--- except to cry out, “Daddy help me."
That’s where Paul comes in today in this 8th chapter of Romans He starts out saying, don’t worry- “There is no condemnation.”
Actually, it is stronger than that. The Greek sentence starts out with the word NO!
NO, don’t worry.
NO, don’t be afraid.
NO, don’t give up.
NO, don’t give in.
NO there is no condemnation. Don’t worry; God in Jesus Christ will pluck you right out the middle of that briar patch. Don’t worry God is in the business of saving people who have gotten themselves in trouble. “There is no condemnation” because (click slide) the cross of Christ is the answer to the thorny problem of sin
Does he say there is NO sin? NO
Does he say there is NO guilt? NO
Does he say there is NO hurt? NO
Does he say there is NO accusation? NO
Does he say there is NOthing that deserves condemnation NO! because there is sin and sin deserves to be condemned.
But that is an important distinction. . . Paul says Jesus condemned sin in sinful man- but for us there is no condemnation! For us there is no condemnation because Jesus came to set us free from sin and free from condemnation.
Sounds good, but how long do we have to wait? I don’t know about you but I have kind of tender feet. The thistles hurt my feet- the guilt is eating away at me. I’m not sure I can stand in sin much longer. Paul answers that too. In the same sentence he says’ “There is therefore, (CLICK slide) NOW, no there is condemnation.”
Do we have to wait until we are perfect? NO.
Do we have to wait until we are able to manage our sinful behaviors? NO
Do we have to wait until we die and go to heaven? NO
Salvation and new life are ours NOW. There is therefore, NOW, no condemnation, no punishment, no need to die in sin. No need to be locked into the power of sin. No need at all. Because there is, NOW no condemnation and that is a victory over sin. That is a great victory over the terrible imprisoning power of sin in our lives.
Finally, there is one more thing in this sentence that we need to unpack. “There is therefore, (CLICK slide) now… no condemnation . . . . NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS.
· Being delivered from the power of sin—being picked up out of that briar patch of sin and guilt and hate and fear is a great thing.
· Being delivered from the power of sin NOW—being picked up out of that briar patch of sin and guilt and hate and fear NOW is even better.
But what do we have to do. Nothing of ourselves. It comes to those who are in Christ Jesus.
It comes to those who are “In Christ Jesus”
So what does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus?” After saying in Christ Jesus once, Paul starts describing it as “living in the spirit.” There is disagreement as to whether these are the same thing. In this passage, I think Paul is using them synonymously.
Paul’s description of “life in the spirit” sounds pretty complicated. Actually, the sentence structure is complicated- but the truth is very simple.
Look at it this way. (CLICK slide) There was a time when people believed that the earth stood still and all the universe revolved around the earth including the sun and the moon. This geo-centric view of the universe is akin to living by the flesh. .(CLICK slide) To make it simple it is having a world view that makes you and your body the center of the universe and the rest of us are merely here to serve or entertain you. We all know people like that.
To be in Christ, however, is to have an entirely different worldview. Just as Copernicus (and Galileo after him) straightened out the scientific community, taking the earth out of the center of the universe, Christ straightens us out teaching that we are not the center of creation.
Strangely enough, the law places sinful human beings at the center of creation. It depends on the goodness of sinners, the ability of the powerless. That’s a little like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.
(CLICK slide) To live in Christ is to get ourselves out of the center of the universe and put Christ there. It is a transformation of our worldview. It is a conversion from me-centered living to Christ centered living.
· Instead of living for you, you live for Christ.
· Instead of satisfying you, you aim to satisfy Jesus.
· Instead of putting your needs first, you first ask, what would Jesus have me do?
· Instead of working for yourself- you work for Jesus.
· Instead of loving the best you can, you love with the love of Jesus.
· It’s just not about you- it’s not about you at all- it’s all about Jesus.
· Get it- Everything revolves not around your petty needs, but around the kingdom of God.
To be in the flesh is to depend on the flesh
To be in Christ is to depend on the invisible love of God that became visible in Jesus Christ. To be in Christ is to depend on the undefinable grace of God that was defined by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
To be in Christ is to have faith in the unknowable depths of God’s heart that was made knowable by the depths to which God was willing to go on the cross.
To be in Christ is to place our lives in the hands of the one who is life itself.
To be in Christ means not just to claim him, or believe in him, but also to live for him and walk every step of our lives with him.
(Slide) And when we live in Christ- Live for Christ- Walk with Christ --- There is NOW NO CONDEMNATION --- NOT ONLY IS THERE NO CONDEMNATION, but
· Where there was condemnation is grace.
· where there was powerlessness- there is now Christ’s power
· where there was sin- there is righteousness-- and
· Where there were thorns, there is now grace.
· And where there was death there is life.
There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who walk with Jesus.
There is therefore, now no condemnation for those whose path is the path that Jesus walked.
There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who want more than anything to have a closer walk with Christ.
Let us walk together- toward Christ- with Christ – in Christ.
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