Slides: The Spirit of Freedom

The Spirit of Freedom
Romans 8:1-4

Who will deliver me?

²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

^8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

Key doctrines

• Trinity: “God… his own Son… the Spirit”
• Incarnation: “sent in likeness of sinful flesh”
• Atonement: “for sin” [“to be a sin offering”]
• New covenant, new creation: “now”
• Grace: “God did what the law could not do”
• Justification: “no condemnation”
• Sanctification: “righteous requirement fulfilled”
• Indwelling: “Spirit of life in Christ Jesus… walk according to the Spirit”

Spirit in focus

• Spirit of freedom (8:1-4)
• Spirit of life (8:5-13)
• Spirit of adoption (8:14-17)
• Spirit of expectation (8:18-25)
• Spirit of prayer (8:26-27)

Set Free

^8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Law of gravity vs. law of wind

The water of the Red Sea obeyed the law of gravity and trapped Moses and the Israelites, blocking their escape from Pharaoh’s armies of death. But God’s east wind brought another law into effect. It blew the water into walls and dried the floor of the sea, so that the Israelites walked to freedom on dry ground. Likewise, the wind of the Spirit overcomes the power of sin and death. However, the Egyptian armies were not protected by the wind of God, and they perished in the waters.

How can humans fly?

Attaching wings to human arms could not enable us to fly. Many attempts at flying focused on using human power to overcome the law of gravity. But we needed an entirely different law to overcome the law of gravity before we would be able to fly. Airplanes use other laws, such as laws of combustion and aerodynamics, to enable humans to fly. Air enables us to fly, even though air is invisible. Combustion requires air/oxygen; lift requires air flow. Jesus compared the Spirit to the power of wind/air. The upward pull of the law of the Spirit of life is stronger than the downward pull of the law of sin and death.

Law weakened by flesh

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones compares this to a spade with a strong steel blade but a weak wooden handle. Strong pressure snaps the handle. The shovel blade is still strong and good, but it’s no good to us if our handle is weak. Likewise, the Law is good, but the flesh is weak, dooming any effort to rely on the law after we’ve already snapped the handle and continue to rely on weak flesh to dig our way out of the evil in our lives.

Son pays penalty, Spirit gives power

³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, the condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Spirit of freedom

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free… You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:1, 13-14)

Dealing with the flesh

• Self-indulgence: Surrender to the flesh and try to enjoy being immoral (lawless).
• Self-improvement: Fight the flesh by trying harder to become moral (law).
• Spirit-indwelling: Trust God’s grace in Christ to forgive you and depend on the Spirit’s power to defeat the flesh.

Spirit of freedom

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:17-18)