Romans 8:1-4
THE DELIVERANCE OF THE SPIRIT LIFE
Intro: Have you ever noticed that there is a difference
in a person who has trusted Jesus as their personal
Savor? Have you noticed that they think different, they
act different, they walk and talk different? The reason
this is true is that they have been invaded by a Being
from another place. At the very instant of salvation, the
child of God is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:13.
When He comes in, He does so to abide with that new
believer forever, John 14:16-18. When the Spirit of
God comes into a life, that life is forever changed! This
the essence of our being made a new creature, 2 Cor.
5:17. It is this life in the Spirit that is the focus of this
eighth chapter of Romans.
Up until now, Paul has been reminding us that in our
natural self we are sinners and that we are under the
wrath of God. He has told us that we cannot save
ourselves by our goodness, or by our religious works.
He has told us the great truth that salvation is the
product of God's grace alone. Now, after describing the
life of sin, the life of religious works and life lived under
the Law, and after showing us how each of these falls
far short of being able to save the soul, he turns his
attention to the new life in the Spirit of God.
This whole chapter, which is one of the greatest in
the Bible, is all about Experiencing New Life In The
Spirit. In these first four verses, he tells us about The
Deliverance Of The Spirit Life. He tells us that we
have been delivered from three elements of the
influence of sin in our lives. It is those three areas from
which we have been delivered that is our focus this
evening. Join me in these verses as we see for
ourselves The Deliverance Of The Spirit Life.
I. V. 1 DELIVERED FROM THE
SENTENCE OF SIN
A. A Promise - This verse reminds us that when we
are saved, we are saved from the wrath of God.
No longer are we lost sinners living under His
condemnation and doomed to an eternity in Hell,
John 3:36; Eph. 2:1-3; Psalm 9:17. When we
come to Jesus by faith, we are delivered from
the threat of divine retribution and are delivered
from the specter of Hell, John 5:25.
B. A Place - Note the words "In Christ". Jesus is
the One Who makes all the difference. You can
be in the church and die lost. You can be a
good neighbor and die lost. But, when you are
in Jesus, you are saved to the uttermost and fully
secured from an eternity in Hell, Heb. 7:25;
John 10:28; 1 Pet. 1:5. Jesus is the ONLY
refuge for the soul of man! He is the only safe
harbor where we can find salvation, forgiveness,
hope and everlasting life. To know Him is to be
a partaker of life eternal, 1 John 5:12.
C. A Proof - Some people tell us that this last
phrase shouldn't be in our Bibles. They say it is
a translation error and that it is not found in the
"best Greek manuscripts." Well, it is found in the
best English manuscript and we must deal with
it!
Some see this as a conditional statement. In
other words, we face no condemnation only so
long as we are walking in the Spirit and not the
flesh. The people would have us believe that the
moment we fail to live a perfect life, we fall from
grace and have lost our salvation. However, I do
not this that is the thrust of this verse at all!
In stead of this being a conditional statement,
I believe that it is a statement of fact! I think
Paul is telling us that those who have trusted
Jesus will walk under the leadership of the Holy
Spirit and will not be controlled by the will of the
flesh. This does not suggest that we are to be
perfect after salvation, only that the Lord will be
in the process of perfecting us in this world, and
that we will be in cooperation with Him as He
works in us!
I. Delivered From The Sentence Of Sin
II. V. 2 DELIVERED FROM THE
SLAVERY OF SIN
A. The Law Of The Sin Life - The lost sinner is
under the control of three masters. They are:
the flesh, the world and the devil, Eph. 2:1-3.
Any person who has never trusted Jesus as his
Savior is not in control of his own life, but is
being controlled by these three evil influences.
Of course, lives are affected in different
ways. Some lost sinners are led into lives of
unspeakable wickedness and evil. Others are
church members and good, upstanding citizens.
Yet, they are all lost and headed to the same
hell! This is a wretched existence! Yet, it is an
existence shared by billions around the world!
B. The Law Of The Spirit Life - When Jesus
comes into a life, He changes everything! Now,
in Him, and by the power of His Spirit, we are
given the ability to stand against those three
terrible enemies of the soul! We are delivered
from their bondage and are allowed to live a new
life in Jesus Christ. This is the lesson we
learned from Paul in Romans 6:6-7; 11-14; 17-18. It is a glorious truth, but one that few
believe, we have indeed been delivered from the
slavery of sin. We have, in Jesus, been given
the tools we need to life a holy life for His glory!
For us, the secret lies in using the tools He has
given us and in learning to say no to sin, but yes
to the Spirit!
I. Delivered From The Sentence Of Sin
II. Delivered From The Slavery Of Sin
III. V. 3-4 DELIVERED FROM THE SICKNESS OF SIN
A. The Weakness Of The Law - The Bible makes
it clear that every person who has not trusted
Jesus as Lord and Savior is sick. In fact, they
are terminally ill! When a person is sick, they will
often try any remedy they think will work to make
themselves better. Sometimes, those radical
remedies work magic in the lives of the
physically ill. However, for those who are
afflicted with spiritual illness, only one remedy
will effect a cure.
Verse 3 makes it clear that where the Law
failed, Christ prevailed! The Law could not make
men righteous. In fact, all the Law could do was
to point out how sinful men really were Rom.
7:7. Jesus, on the other hand, was born in a
human body that He might die for sin, Phil. 2:5-8. When He did this, He provided a cure for the
sickness of sin, Isa. 53:5.
Now, all those who trust Him by faith are
forever delivered from their spiritual sickness and
are made whole. But, it gets better than that!
B. The Work Of The Lord - Verse 4 moves on to
tell us that when we are in Jesus, that is, when
we are saved, the whole righteousness of the
Law is fulfilled in us. According to the Word of
God, when a lost sinner trusts Jesus Christ as
Savior, that lost sinner is made right with God.
They are declared righteous by God Himself. It
is as if they had never sinned and would never
sin again. They are justified, Rom. 5:1.
What this says is that people like you and
me, people who aren't even as right as a
stopped clock that is at least right twice a day,
are declared to be perfect in the eyes of God.
Not by our works, but by the work of Jesus on
the cross and by the work of the Spirit of God in
our hearts. In Jesus, we are made exactly as we
should be to be pleasing to the Lord. When He
sees you that are saved this evening, He sees
you like as being just as righteous as He is! That
is enough to make a Baptist come unglued!
Conc: Such is the life of deliverance in the Spirit of
God. It is a new life. It is a better life. It Is a glorious
life! It is a life like no other and it belongs to every
person who will trust Jesus for salvation.
Have these things described you this evening? Are
you "in Christ Jesus"? Are you trusting Him for your
soul's salvation? If so, rejoice, for your standing before
the Lord is special and blessed. If not, then you can be
saved if He is calling you to Himself. Let's search our
hearts this evening and see whether ours is a life lived
in the flesh, or a life lived in the Spirit. Then, let's do as
He would have us to do!
