As we prepare for our fall launch on August 15, we are seeking to add 40 new team members to make sure we’re prepared for this season. 11 of you have said “yes” so far…which means we need at least 29 more to meet this moment. But let me tell you why you should step onto a team today. Next Sunday evening, July 25, we have Team Night. This is where you get the chance to share a great meal with the rest of our team, spend time with people on your specific training to build community and be trained, and I’m going to share an inspiring talk called “The Inside of a Miracle”….because when you’re on the team, you get to see things no one else does.

When someone has a bad experience at a restaurant or with a bank or with an airline…they often say something like this: “I want to speak with the person in charge.” Why? Because they know that someone is responsible for decisions that get made. They know that the person in charge can do something about their situation. They know they need to reach the individual who has the most influence.

Today, as we continue our series on the Holy Spirit, I want to speak to the person in charge…of you. The one who’s most responsible for the life you are living. The one who’s creating your future. The one who determines how you do relationships, how you spend your time, and what you actually contribute to this world. So here’s the question:

Who’s in charge of you?

And you might say, “Ben, that’s easy. I’m in charge of me. I mean, I’m a grown man or a grown woman.” Are you sure you’re in charge? Do you always do what you want you to do?

Our text for today is Romans 8:1-13.

Before we get into chapter 8, it’s important to know what Paul has been saying in chapter 7. Chapter 7 is where we find statements from Paul that we can all relate to. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Anyone ever feel this way? At work, I want to do good but I just can’t carry it out. In your relationships – you want to bring about the good, but it just never quite happens the way you want. And in your spiritual life – you have all these things you want to do, but again, you just can’t make it happen.

Then Paul asks a question that we need to ask when we realize we can’t carry out the good that we want to:

Who will rescue me?

And he answers – “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Now chapter 8.

Romans 8:1-13 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

Do you belong to Jesus?

Are you in Jesus? Is Jesus in you? This is the starting point for all of us.

If no, then your next step is this: Get Jesus in you. Let him rescue you from sin. Let him bring freedom into your life. Let him remove all condemnation.

There’s a lot in this text about the Spirit and about the flesh. What do these things even mean? The word “flesh” can mean many different things in Scripture. It can refer to the body or parts of the body, to a person, to human existence, or as fallen sinfulness. And it’s this last meaning that Paul has in mind when he uses the word “flesh” over and over in this Romans 8 passage.

Spirit is the Greek word “pneuma” and it means wind or breath. And no surprise, but it comes to symbolize life. Let’s look at the difference between what the Spirit brings and what the flesh brings.

The life-giving Spirit has set you free from sin and death (effects of the flesh).

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires.

The mind governed by the flesh is death.

When the flesh is in charge, you are hostile to God and His ways. Life in the flesh is the “anti-God” life. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

We live in a culture where we don’t want to be governed by anyone, submit to anyone, and we love giving in to the desires of our flesh. Is that too honest?

Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. When the Holy Spirit is in charge, you submit to God and His ways.

What do you have your mind set on? What is your mind governed by?

The flesh promises life, but never delivers it.

The Spirit delivers life, even after death.

Here is a counterintuitive truth that’s woven all throughout the Christian faith: Something has to die in order for life to come.

Jesus – condemned sin in his flesh so He can say to us “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. He died to give you life.” (v.1-3)

For us – If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (v.13)

There’s a way to do marriage in the flesh and a way to do marriage in the Spirit.

There’s a way to do your sexual practices in the flesh and a way to do them in the Spirit.

There’s a way to do friendship in the flesh and a way to do friendship in the Spirit.

There’s a way to parent in the flesh and to parent in the Spirit.

There’s a way to do your work in the flesh and to do your work in the Spirit.

There’s a way to deal with conflict in the flesh and a way to deal with conflict according to the Spirit.

There’s a way to go through suffering in the flesh and a way to go through suffering in the Spirit.

There’s a way to seek justice in the flesh and a way to seek justice in the Spirit.

There’s a way to be a leader in the flesh and a way to be a Spirit-led leader.

There’s a way to do church in the flesh and a way to do church in the power of the Spirit.

Because of what Jesus did and what the Holy Spirit is doing, you no longer have to let your flesh be in charge of your life. Just start telling your flesh, “You are no longer in charge of me. I belong to Jesus and I’m going to follow Him, not you.”

Do you have Jesus? Do you have the Spirit? Do you have life? And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Responses:

Jesus, you gave your life to free me from sin and death. I put my faith in who You are and what You have done.

Set your mind on what the Holy Spirit desires. Let me give you a key Scripture on this and then I’ll give you some resources we’ve created to help you do this.

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Offer your body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Remember that life in the flesh can never please God. Do not conform to the pattern of the world. Renew your mind. How? Through what we call spiritual practices. We did a series called Practicing the Way and you can access all of the teachings and other resources here:

epicsf.com/ptw‍

We want to give time and space for the Holy Spirit to come and do His work in us now.

What activities, thoughts, addictions, habits, responses, need to be put to death in your life? They promise life, but never really deliver.

Where do you need the Spirit’s life? Where do you need the Spirit’s power? How powerful is the Holy Spirit? Same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. Where do you need the Spirit’s influence? Where do you need the Spirit to come and bring freedom in your life?