January 2, 2011
Romans 7  closed  with these words: Romans 7  24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death   (this body of death)  ?  25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.  We will  struggle  in this life: the  inner man , born of God's Spirit, against the  flesh man , born of our mama and daddy. But we  will be delivered  from this body of death.
Romans 8  1  There is therefore  now  no condemn-ation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  Believers may be  chastened  of the Lord, but will  not be condemned  with the world. By their  (our)  union with Christ through faith, they  (we)  are thus secured.  Matthew Henry Concise Bible Commentary.
John 5  24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me,  hath  everlasting life, and  shall not  come into condemnation; but  is passed  from death unto life. Every believer  is already  passed from death unto life, and will  never be condemned . Condemnation = judgment; damnation.
"who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" This is  not  a conditional phrase  as in If   we walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. We are  in Jesus Christ  and He is in us, In the Person of  His Holy Spirit . As we  submit  to the Power of God's Holy Spirit,  our way of life  will be, more and more, Spiritual .
We will at times  stray  or  wander  from the  straight path  of Righteousness. Hebrews 12  6-8  For whom the Lord  loveth  He chast-eneth, and scourgeth  every son  whom He receiveth.  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with  sons ; for what son is he whom  the father chasteneth not?  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof  all  are partakers, then are  ye bastards, and  not sons. Instead  of condemnation, we receive  discipline  to bring us  back  into fellowship.
2  For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  Sin   produces death ;  the Holy Spirit gives  life . Eternal Life Abundant Life By  grace  through  faith  in our Lord, Jesus Christ. Eternal  and  abundant life  is ours; we only have to  receive it  and  enjoy it .
1 John 2  1-2  My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous:  And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for  the sins of  the whole world. Because we are  two men , the new  inner man   who is born of God, And the  carnal man  who is born of the flesh, We  will sin , but will  never  be condemned.
3-4  For what the law could not do, in that it was  weak through the flesh , God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, con-demned sin in the flesh:  That the Righteousness  of the Law might be fulfilled  in us , who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  The Law  was not weak, it was perfect. Human nature  is weak , and prone to sin. God loved us  so much that He sent Jesus, Who was not weak, and  in Him Fulfilled  the Righteousness of the Law  in us .
Jesus did it, and we get credit for it! That would make a mummy shout!
5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  (NIV)  5  Those who live according to the sinful nature have their  minds set on  what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have  their minds set on  what the  Spirit  desires. This is the  difference  between the children of the devil and the children of God.
It's all about  mindset  and  desire . The unsaved  crave  the things of the flesh. Their  minds are set  on having those  things  and fulfilling those  desires . God's children desire,  with great desire ,  the things of God . Certainly our minds  may wander  at times, but we  always  come back to our  first love .
6-8  For to be carnally minded  is  death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  9a  But  ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the  Spirit of God dwell in you .  9b  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ  (Holy Spirit),  he is none of His.
Many people  struggl e with these Scriptures, thinking that they are  contradictory : Are we spiritually minded, or  are we carnally minded? First we have to understand the difference in  unbelievers  and  believers . Believers  love God, and our minds are set on  Him and His Way . Unbelievers love themselves, and have a  self-centered mindset .
Then we have to understand that a believer still  struggles  with a sin nature that is contrary to his innermost desire -- to please God. John 3  6-7  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Romans 7  22  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man  ( born of the Spirit) :  23  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members  (born of the flesh) .
An unbeliever  doesn't struggle , because he has  no conflict ; he has only one nature. He can sin and  enjoy it . He  seeks  opportunity to sin. He doesn't even see sin  as sinful .
But when a believer sins, we are  convicted  by the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in us. We know that sin is  sinful  and  destructive . We have only  one desire : Draw nigh  to God through repentance.
Friday, January 7, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. God's Idea of a Good Time. All styles of Gospel Music: country, blues, western swing, rock, bluegrass, jazz,  Plus  -- comedy , and  The Word .