For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.—Romans 8:14 MEV
THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IS WITHIN US
God’s grace has released the Holy Spirit into our lives to indwell us and to empower us. How amazing is it that God Himself wants to take up residence within us, permanently! When the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, He comes as our Divine Helper, Comforter, Teacher, Guide, Remembrancer, and Revealer of all that Jesus has for us. But He also comes to empower us. The Holy Spirit is not a second or third class member of the Trinity! He is all God, a living dynamo of God’s power, ready to work miracles right from His home in our hearts! As we learn to follow and yield to Him He generates the power within to overcome sin and the flesh, walk in the spirit, and carry out God’s purposes. The Spirit of God in and through us enables us to live for Jesus and fulfill God’s royal law of love!
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.—Romans 8:1-3 NLT
Here we can see the phrase: “those who belong to Christ Jesus”, or in the KJV, “them which are in Christ Jesus”. We will see this phrase through all of Paul’s epistles. The phrase “IN CHRIST” is speaking of those who have been born again and have the Holy Spirit living in them. That means our new life originates with the spirit not the flesh. Paul says we are IN the Spirit and not the flesh. We actually possess the life of God! Your spirit is alive because of the righteousness He has imparted to you. If we yield to the Holy Spirit and His control we will experience His power, authority, and freedom in our lives!
So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 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.)—Romans 8:6-9 NLT
The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is a down payment of what is to come, that is a future resurrected and glorified body!
We know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. Not only that, but we also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves while eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.—Romans 8:22-23 MEV
FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT OF GOD WITHIN
The Spirit empowers us to overcome our sinful nature. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Life. And the way He works within us sets us free from the way sin and death work.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.—Romans 8:2 MEV
What Jesus did on the cross has literally cancelled out what sin and death have done. And the Holy Spirit brings the power to enforce that freedom from sin and death right into our own hearts and lives. We can say no to sin! We can say no to the flesh! We owe nothing to the flesh!
Therefore, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if through the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.— Romans 8:12,13 MEV
The Holy Spirit brings us the light we need inside. Your spirit is an unlit candle until the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within! But now we can learn to cooperate with Him moment by moment. We can learn to recognize His light and leading.
The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the heart.—Proverbs 20:27 MEV
For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.—Psalm 18:28 KJV
As we mature we are no longer driven by the flesh but we are led by the Spirit. We learn to recognize that sense of agreement within between the Holy Spirit and our own spirit, the peace that is the hallmark of the Spirit’s leading. That is His witness with our spirits concerning who we are and what inheritance is ours in Christ. As we trust Him, yield to him, and follow His lead we begin to build our spiritual rewards for eternity!
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.— Romans 8:16-18 MEV
Let the peace of God, to which also you are called in one body, rule in your hearts. And be thankful.—Colossians 3:15 MEV
And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].—Colossians 3:15 AMP
RELYING ON THE SPIRIT IN PRAYER
The Holy Spirit helps us in our human inabilities and shortcomings when we pray in the Spirit. When we pray in the Spirit the Holy Spirit will come to our aid and support. We will supernaturally pray the will of God into our lives.
Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings too deep for words. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.—Romans 8:26,27 MEV
When we cooperate with the Holy Spirit in prayer, our heavenly Father will cause all things to work together for our good. He is a master orchestrator and can change our lives for the better. He will ensure that we fulfill the call and destiny that is upon our lives.
For those whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.—Romans 8:29-30 MEV
GOD IS FOR US
Our Father has truly provided everything we need to walk in victory and live as overcomers. With the Father on our side who is there to condemn us?
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?—Romans 8:31-32
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.— Romans 8:37-39 MEV
SURRENDERING YOUR MIND TO GOD
Our heart_ response to God’s grace is to surrender our lives for God’s purpose, yield to the Spirit, deny our flesh and become a blessing to others.
I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.—Romans 12:1,2 MEV
Serving God in all that we do and renewing our mind doesn’t happen overnight! But as we fill our minds with His Word and yield to the Spirit’s leading, refusing to give into the flesh or to sin, we find a growing confidence in His will and way. We learn to reject the thoughts and desires of the flesh. We work on filling our minds with the Word and the Spirit, and instantly acting on His leadings to obey them.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh. —Romans 13:14
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.— Romans 8:5,6 MEV
Summary:
When God gave us the Holy Spirit He gave us Himself, to indwell us and empower us! As we follow and yield to Him He generates the power of God within us to overcome the flesh, walk in the spirit, and carry out God’s purposes for our lives.
Discussion Points:
- What kinds of help can the Holy Spirit give us from within? Which kinds of help are you in need of right now?
- Why should we pay close attention to the phrase “in Christ” whenever we see it in Scripture ?What does it tell us?
- What does it mean that we are no longer debtors to the flesh because the Spirit lives within us? What areas of the flesh need the overcoming power of the Spirit?
- Have you been able to recognize the witness of the Spirit within your own spirit? What “markers” can help us to identify the leadings of the Spirit within?
- In what practical ways can we yield our mind and our way of thinking to the Holy Spirit?
- How can we grow in setting our minds on the things of the spirit rather than the flesh?
Next Step:
Read the 8th chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans.
Prayer:
Thank you Holy Spirit for coming to live within me. I rely upon You as my Divine Helper, Comforter, Teacher, Guide, Remembrancer, and Revealer. You are my power generator and I am learning daily to overcome sin and the flesh. I recognize Your witness with my own heart, and I let Your peace be the umpire, deciding all issues that arise for me. I pray in the Spirit throughout the day, trusting you to pray beyond my own understanding, and work all things to the good. I surrender myself to Your leadings and set my mind on the things of the Spirit. You are leading me into greater victories all the time! I am more than a conqueror in Christ, in Jesus name!
Finish Strong! 