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Romans
Scripture reading: Romans 8:1-11
Sermon Title: “Setting our minds on the Spirit”
Sermon Text: Romans 8:1-11 PowerPoint verse: Romans 8:1
MAIN IDEA: God’s work of grace obligates those who are in Christ to live according to the Spirit
Answering Three Important Questions
Question One: Who is “in Christ”? Those who are justified by faith; who stand in grace; who consider themselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ; and who were made to die to the Law in order to be joined to Christ.
Question Two: What does “living according to the Spirit” look like?
A person living according to the Spirit walks according to the Sprit and not the flesh (v.8:4) A person living according to the Spirit …sets their mind on things of the Sprit and not the flesh (v.8:5-8)
Introduction: Recognize the mind is a spiritual battlefield Four applications
Set your mind upon the glory of God Set your mind upon unity
Set your mind upon truth
Set your mind upon practicing godliness
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MAIN IDEA: God’s work of grace obligates those who are in Christ to live according to the Spirit
How will we know it when we see it?
A person living according to the Spirit walks according to the Sprit and not the flesh (v.4)
To walk according to something means to do so in harmony with it, agreeing with it. Walking is a euphemism for obedience to a specific way of living. The Lord tells the Israelites often of how they should “walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you.”
When we walk according to the Spirit, we allow the Holy Spirit to control our heart. Our
purpose, motivations, value judgments, priorities, and all we say and do are under control of the Holy Spirit.
Those who walk by the Spirit do not walk according to the flesh. Those who walk according to the flesh engage in carnal, ungodly behavior.
Those who walk according to the flesh may also be recognized because they seek to be holy by works. They are religious and self-righteous; lacking in love and humility.
Those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit live a life of humble, obedience, loving God and loving others. The love of Christ compels them. Their hearts are filled with love because the Love of God has been poured out into their hearts through the Holy Spirit.
A person living according to the Spirit walks according to the Sprit and not the flesh.
because …
A person living according to the Spirit sets their mind on things of the Sprit and not the flesh (v.5-8)
Romans 8:5-8 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Setting our minds upon the Spirit means we prefer to spend our time thinking about, dwelling upon, and enjoying Spiritual matters.
Those who have their minds set on the Spirit are fixated with the things of God. They have a one tract mind.
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Introduction: The mind is a spiritual battlefield
The mind is the element of a person that processes information and experiences.
The mind is where decisions are made. In looking at the big picture, the only decisions which really matter, those with eternal consequence, are the ones relating to whether or not to obey God.
Visual, auditory, and sensory information is presented to the mind. It processes the information and draws conclusions. It is from the conclusions we decide what we are going to do. We decide what to say, what to do, where to go, who to spend time and so on. There are an incredible number of decisions our mind processes every day.
Even now, your mind is deciding whether to listen to me or to think about something more interesting. We know who you are because you will look at the person next to you and say,
“what did he just say?”
The mind has been a spiritual battlefield since the Garden of Eden. The Serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field. The battle began with the question, “Has God said?”
Deception is the greatest tool of the enemy. Ever since the Garden of Eden, the world and our flesh having been waging a disinformation campaign against the goodness and holiness of God.
Every day we are bombarded with messages opposing truth. The flesh says one thing and the Spirit says another.
The flesh tells us we are to be proud.
o The Spirit says God gives grace to the humble.
The flesh tells us to fight for our rights, stand up, every man for himself.
o The Spirit says put the needs of others first, care for the weak, provide for the widow and the orphan.
The flesh says celebrate sexuality.
o The Spirit says the sexually immoral will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
The flesh says we only live once, live large, he who dies with the most toys wins.
o The Spirit says what good is it to gain the whole world but lose your own soul.
The flesh says, question authority.
o The Spirit says Jesus is Lord. Obey Him.
The flesh says enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.
o The Spirit says at God’s right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Everywhere we go there is deception and distortion of the truth. Flesh fighting the Spirit.
Scripture warns about the philosophies in in the world, and Scripture warns against false teaching in the church!
We are to help one another by speaking against false teaching and to help each other set our minds on the things of the Spirit.
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Because the mind is such an important part of living a life pleasing to God, the weapons of our warfare described in the Armor of God have much to do with our mind.
Loins girded with truth
Breastplate of righteousness – knowing what is right
Feet shod with the Gospel – which is a message for the mind
Shield of faith – faith is believing with the mind
Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God
In establishing churches, the Apostle Paul continually talks about learning and understanding.
The Bible is an appeal to our minds.
Over and over again, the Apostle asks the question, “do you not know.”
do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death
do you not know you are a slave to the one you present yourself to?
Do you not know we will judge angels?
Do you not know you are a temple of God
Do you not know the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do you not know your bodies are members of Christ
Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
Do you not know all may run in a race, but only one receives the prize
What is his purpose in asking these questions? His purpose is to correct our thinking. Why does he ask? Because if you knew this, you would walk differently!
Look at this passage in Ephesians. Read with the purpose of noticing how often Paul appeals to the mind.
Ephesians 4:17-25 17So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. 20But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. 25Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
Don’t be fooled. God communicated to us in WORDS, in a BOOK.
Books appeal to the mind. The mind is a spiritual battlefield.
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4 Practical Applications
Setting our mind on the Spirit is perhaps the most important part of our sanctification process. It is looking at the world through the lens of the Bible.
If we are walking according to the Spirit we are setting our minds on the things of the Spirit.
When we are setting our mind on things of the Spirit we are renewing out mind.
Romans 12:2 … do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
1) Set your mind upon the glory of God
What is the glory of God? It is what God says it is …
Exodus 34:6-7 “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
We set our minds on the glory of God when we set our minds on compassion and grace.
We set our minds on the glory of God when we set our minds on being slow to anger.
We set our minds on the glory of God when we set our minds on mercy and truth.
We set our minds on the glory of God when we set our minds on forgiveness of sins and God’s judgment upon those who reject His forgiveness.
We set our minds on the glory of God when we set our minds on the Gospel.
Set your minds on the glory of God.
2) Set your mind upon unity
Jesus prayed to the Father and asked
John 17:22-24 22“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one (let these words sink in … This is an extremely profound prayer!); 23I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. 24“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Scripture implores us to walk with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Why? Because there is unity with God. There is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
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A sign of maturity in believers is we attain unity of the faith. Show maturity by showing you are members of one another.
Romans 12:15-16 16Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be proud in mind, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. (Pride is the enemy of unity – God despises pride)
Romans 15:5-6 5 … may God grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:10 10 … I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (is there a higher exhortation), that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. (no
quarrels)
(What does unity look like) Philippians 2:2 2make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4do not merely look out for your own personal
interests, but also for the interests of others. 5Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Set your mind upon unity. This is God’s will.
3) Set your mind upon truth
Again, in the garden of gethsemane, Jesus prays for us. In addition to praying for us to be in unity, Jesus prays for us to be made holy.
John 17:15-17 15“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
How does God make us holy? Being removed from the world doesn’t make us holy. Jesus lived in the world and He was holy. Holiness comes from within. And the way it grows from within is by the cleansing of God’s Word.
The Gospel is the word of truth. There is nothing more important than the truth of God’s Word.
Only the truth, the Gospel is able to purify our souls.
Romans begins by saying God’s wrath is aimed at who? It is aimed at those who suppress the truth. They reject God’s truth and God’s cleansing.
Truth is an essential part of being a Christian.
To worship God, Truth is a requirement for worship. Those who worship God must worship Him in spirit and truth.
If we are to worship God in truth, than we are to worship Jesus Christ.
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Jesus is the way the truth and the life. He said, we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free. Not only are we to worship Christ, but we are to know walking in the Spirit is walking in the truth.
How do we know this?
In promising to send us the Helper, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as, “the Spirit of truth.”
Multiple times Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of Truth will testify to us about Christ. “When the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide us into all the truth.”
We need to set our mind on the truth because the truth will cleanse us.
4) Set your mind upon practicing godliness
Philippians 4:8-9 8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Think about this.
If we are to be in unity with God, if we are to be holy, if we are to be conforming to the truth, if we are to bring glory to God, we will do so by setting our minds on godliness, setting our minds on what is true, honorable, and pure, and lovely, things that are worthy of praise and so forth.
When we set our minds upon these things, we will practice them.
It is impossible to practice these things if our mind is not set upon them.
We cannot practice truth if our mind is listening to lies.
We cannot practice unity by stirring up division. We cannot practice unity when our mind is set upon how someone has wronged us.
We cannot be forgiving if our mind is not set upon God’s forgiveness. Those who are forgiven much, forgive others.
We need to set our mind upon godliness so we may practice godliness.
Glory of God
Unity
Truth
Practicing Godliness
Summary
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the
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obedience of Christ, 6and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
Tear down the lies, cast away the speculations and lofty thing that would have us reject the truth and goodness of God.
You are in Christ, walk according to the Spirit and set your mind on the things of the Spirit.
Do it for your joy and peace and for the glory of God.
Communion is our opportunity to celebrate the glory of God.
We sit together, in unity with one another, celebrating the truth of the Gospel. God has prepared a table for us.
We bring to remembrance the LORD God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.
(A moment of reflection … ) (Men come up.)
(VISITORS) If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, if you are a Christian, you may partake of communion. If you are not a Christian, we ask that you please let these elements pass by. Our custom at CCC is to wait until everyone is served and then we will partake
together.
Pray to bless the bread and cup.
While the men are passing out the bread, lets sing the first two verses of #345 – what a wonderful savior
(sing)
1 Corinthians 11 23 … the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took
bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
(Sing)
1 Corinthians 11 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of
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Me.” 26For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Heb. 13:20-21)
