We're going to be looking at verses 9 through 13 this morning, but what I wanted to do was go back and read, if we could, all the way back in verse 1, and we're going to read down through verse 13. Look at what Paul says. He says in verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 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 condemned 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. 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. 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. But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, ye shall die, but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. As we've been looking at these verses, and we summarized a little bit last week where we've been really in the book of Romans itself, but I wanted to just again lay the groundwork for the general flow of what the book of Romans has been telling us. We have to, first of all, just review our minds a little bit and remember that our righteousness, our works of righteousness could never achieve a right standing with God. Paul has made that abundantly clear throughout the book of Romans that even the Jews, the chosen people, if you will, during the Old Testament, dispensation through whom God gave the law, even they were unable to earn their righteousness through keeping the law, that, in fact, divine activity was required for justification to take place. And we looked greatly last week at the fact that justification requires faith in Christ, because Christ is, in fact, the only means through which salvation could be obtained. that in us, in our flesh, we were unable to keep the law, the Jews were unable to keep the law, and that justification was, in fact, a divine activity that brought upon us eternal life. Now, we spent all of last week highlighting the fact that we, as believers in Christ, if you know Christ as your personal Savior, that there is, verse 1 of chapter 8, no condemnation to you that are in Christ. First of all, that is telling us that we are not condemned to an eternity in hell because of our position in Christ. We have been freed from that. We do not face any eternal condemnation. But we also spent a significant amount of time talking about, very often as believers, we live life as if we are condemned. Because we live life under guilt, or shame, or regret, or we live life as if God doesn't love us as much as He loves someone else because of something that took place in my past. And we sometimes live the Christian life as if we are condemned. And Paul is reminding us that if you are in Christ, you are under no condemnation. You are now in Christ. You are his child. You do not live under the punishment of the condemnation that you were under because of your sin. Now, he makes this very clear as well in verse 8, and then we'll move on to our text this morning. So that they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Remember, he's been making this distinction. Those that are in the flesh, those that are living a lifestyle of the flesh, they are giving into, on a daily, regular basis, they are living a lifestyle that is driven by the flesh. We're going to label them unbelievers. They are unregenerate. They are non-Christians. And he says that if you are in the flesh, you cannot please God. It is impossible. He then makes the contrast in verse nine, which we'll look at in a moment, but you. And now he turns the tide and he gets very personal writing to this Christian audience. And he says, but you are different. There is something about you as a believer that sets you apart from unbelievers. You're not better than them, you are not more inherently valuable than unbelievers, but there is something about you, he says in verse 9, you are not after the flesh because you possess the spirit. I said this last week, but I think it should be repeated, and that is, Douglas Moo, a commentator on the book of Romans, highlights the fact that the Greek word pneuma, which is translated very often spirit into English, is used 21 times in Romans 8 alone. Only twice, only two out of 21 refer to something other than the Holy Spirit of God. The emphasis in these verses is because you are now justified by faith in Christ. You are no longer under condemnation. There is something about a believer that is unique and that is you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. You are now set apart. You are now set apart as a child of God to live life differently. And so now we want to get a little practical this morning. If I can get my clicker to click there. And look at the fact that in Christ, we are no longer condemned. We've already discussed that. We talked about that at length last week. But I also want us this morning to look at the fact that for those who know Christ as their personal Savior, we are no longer facing eternal damnation. We are not facing an eternity separated from God because we are, in fact, free of this condemnation. And as Paul has clearly shown us that a right standing before God, and we throw up that last statement there for you to see, that a right standing before God is not about law, it is about Christ. When one is in Christ, he is free from condemnation. We are no longer bearing the burden, the guilt, the shame of our sin. And so now we want to ask this question. That's great. And we talked a lot about theology last week. But let's get a little more practical this morning and ask this question. What does living a life that is no longer under condemnation look like? Because what we cannot say is that because I am no longer under condemnation, I am free in Christ, that now I have the freedom to go live life however I define it, by whatever morality I choose, that I am now free to go live a life that is under no kind of law at all. And my friend, that is not the idea of being free from condemnation. Being free from condemnation, I could summarize it this way. You are not under eternal damnation, but you are not under the slavery of sin. Why would you as a believer, or me as a believer, ever think that being free from condemnation would give me then the freedom to live a life of slavery to sin. That is never in Pauline's theology, Paul's theology, never. So what does it look like? What does it mean for us? What does living life that is not under condemnation look like? Well, let me say it very clearly, that a life that is free from condemnation looks different. Paul highlighted in verses 3 and 4 earlier in Romans 8, he says that by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. So what does this look like? Well, first of all, let's take a look this morning and understand that since we are free from condemnation, you must, first of all, live a Spirit-filled life. and trying to understand what this is. Here's a fear that I've had for a very, very long time. We as conservative Christians, we sometimes, I know this is gonna shock some of you, but sometimes we overreact to things. And in our overreaction, we actually, in my distorted thinking, We avoid the ditches on the left and we go into the ditches on the right. Sometimes being more right does not make you more right. You can be equally wrong out in the field somewhere on the right side of the road. Guess what? You're still in the ditch. And one of the things I fear we have overreacted to is the charismatics distortion of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes you walk into conservative churches. It's like who died It's like it's a funeral every way it's like where did where did the Holy Spirit go? Because we don't want to get too happy it might make us a little uncomfortable And we don't want to sound weird But my friend, if you are saved, you have living in you the Holy Spirit of God. If that doesn't thrill your soul, I love you, but something's wrong. Because while I am free from condemnation, I am empowered. to live a life that pleases God. That's cool. That's amazing. And sometimes in our field, we don't want to become charismatic or Pentecostal. And my friends, they have distorted, in my mind, yes, I believe they have distorted the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, but don't run from it. It's like in the Bible and stuff. It's there. God said it. And so if I am going to live a life that looks the way God wants it to look, and I am free from condemnation, I must live a spirit-filled life. And I want to highlight again, for fear of being redundant, but I want to highlight again the contrast that Paul makes in verse 9, that you, As a believer, are not in the flesh, you are in the spirit of God who dwells in you. Believers have been released from the law to live in newness of life. Paul is describing here our position before God in Christ and he is talking about where we are positionally and that walking in the Spirit is an inevitable outworking of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Our ladies have been going through a Beth Moore study on Wednesday night talking about the fruit of the Spirit. that if I am going to live a life that gives evidence of salvation, and I am going to live a life that gives the fruit of the Spirit, I have to walk in the Spirit. I have to obey God. I have to live for Him. Now, Paul uses an interesting word. It's translated dwell in King James, but the word means to dwell in, which is a very good translation. It means to dwell in, but I want to highlight for you the fact that this is an active indwelling It is an ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit of God, and the verb, oikeo, comes from the word oikos, which means house. Here's the simple illustration that works for me. We've all had visitors come to live with us. for a period of time. We had a young lady, her husband's in the Marines, and she came about a year or so ago, and she lived with us for about six weeks. She lived in our house, but we knew that at the end of the six weeks, she was gonna, when her husband got here from deployment, they were moving up to Sneeds Ferry, and all of that. It was a temporary thing. She was a guest. The picture here is, the Holy Spirit moved in, and he's not going anywhere. He has taken up residence in you. He has moved into your house, and no matter what you do, this is a permanent situation. Sometimes, those of us with little kids think that our kids are going to live there permanently. Now, that's probably not going to happen, I pray. But my life's not going anywhere. I pray. She's in for the long haul. It's permanent, isn't it? The picture's a beautiful one. The Holy Spirit of God, now you have become the temple of God. He is indwelling you. He is living in your life. I came across a great quote that I wanted to share with you. A guy named Stott said this. He said, the Christian life is essentially life in the Spirit. That is to say, a life that is animated, sustained, directed, and enriched by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, true Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, indeed impossible. My friend, it may very well be that you, while you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God and He is living in you permanently, He is dwelling in you, that you are desperately trying to do the Christian life in your own strength without utilizing the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Oh, that sounds charismatic. No, it's biblical. You cannot do the Christian life in your own strength. It does mean you have to obey, which we will come back to and clarify in just a few moments. But I want you to notice something else in verses 10 and 11. There's an interesting dynamic. By the way, look at the end of verse 9. We didn't talk about that. Now, if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. In other words, if you are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, because you have never been justified, you have never received Christ as a personal Savior in a personal way, therefore you don't have the Spirit, you do not belong to God. There is a very dangerous teaching among cults and false religions that teach we are all going to heaven and we are all God's child and by birth we are offspring of God. My friend, that is not true. The Bible says that we are born in a state of sin separated from God and that the only way I can enter into a relationship with God is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said very clearly, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me. That when I receive Christ, that is when the indwelling of the Holy Spirit happens. It is a permanent indwelling. And he is very clear. If you do not have the Spirit of God, you do not belong to God. You are not his child. Now watch in verses 10 and 11. He says, and if Christ be in you. Wait a minute. I thought the Holy Spirit was in me. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, and the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, notice what Paul does. He's talking about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He's talking about the indwelling of Christ. And he uses these words to describe the believer. The idea, friends, is simply this. Christ and the Spirit, they are not identical, but they are inseparable. that if I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit, there is a sense in which that I am also indwelt by Christ. And as we looked at last week, the antidote for your sin problem is not counseling necessarily, or it's not a pill, it's not something like that. It is Christ. And he says that if you are now indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the antidote for living in the flesh is, in fact, the Holy Spirit of God. And he makes the distinction that if you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, you are a believer. If you are not, then you are, in fact, an unbeliever. The last phrase in verse 10, he goes on and he says, we read it, but let's review it quickly. He says, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Now, I want you to understand this. At the latter part of verse 10, Paul is saying that the Spirit brings life to you to the person that he indwells, because the person, he says at the end of verse 10, has in fact, because of righteousness, it's not because you're good, it is because at the moment of justification, you were declared righteous. And because of the righteousness that you have in Christ, you now have life. And my friend, this life is eternal. Now, let's analyze this for a second, because I've met through the years lots of people who, my wife was one actually for a while, who struggle with the idea of eternal security. Now, I grew up in a theological system that teaches you could lose your salvation, and in fact, if you didn't reach a point of sinless perfection, you would not go to heaven. That's very problematic. Well, let me tell you something. Two things in this passage clearly point to eternal security. Number one, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God by the very nature of the Greek language points to the fact that this is permanent, it is ongoing, it cannot change. It is a permanent indwelling that, my friend, if you are a child of God, God will never take that from you. Secondly, We talk about eternal life and we often think about eternal life as if it begins when I die. Actually, eternal life begins the moment you got saved. And if it's not eternal life, then God's a liar because it is eternal because it's permanent. If you were saved and lost it, that's a lot of things. Eternal's not one of them. It's eternal life. And he says that if you possess the Spirit, the Spirit has given to you life. He has given to you life everlasting. And this life, this new birth, is, in fact, permanent. Now, verse 11 to me is one of those verses that is amazing. Look at what he says. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. The Holy Spirit of God did what? Was the instrument to do what? You can talk, it's okay. Raised Christ from the dead. And he says, if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit because that same Holy Spirit dwells in you. What? That's amazing. This is the right time to use the word awesome. Because the same Holy Spirit that God used to raise His Son at the moment of resurrection, as the instrument to raise Christ from the dead, dwells in me, has taken a permanent resonance in me. And look at the word. The King James Word is quicken. The idea behind this word, it literally means to cause something to live, to make it alive, to give life by spiritual power to arouse or to invigorate. That this Holy Spirit has made you alive. Quicken doesn't mean you can run faster. Okay, that'd be cool too, but this is cooler. This means you have been given life. And that life is for all eternity. I translated 811 this way. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living inside of you, the same one who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal body through his spirit who now lives in you. And this life is eternal. This life is permanent. Now, let me ask you something. If this same Holy Spirit, God used it to raise Christ from the dead, the very event that our faith hinges on, and that same Holy Spirit dwells in you, let me just ask, is that Spirit powerful enough to lead you and direct you in your life? See, when I live a faithless life and I live a life that is not trusting God, I am questioning God's character, am I not? I am questioning the fact that if he had given me the Holy Spirit of God, that the same Holy Spirit that rose Christ from the grave is somehow not big enough to meet the challenges of my life. I mean, we have all walked into situations sweating bullets because we don't know how it's going to go. And maybe it's a situation, I've been in them, you've got to confront somebody who's doing something wrong, something sinful, and you feel inadequate, you don't know what to say, you're going to stumble over your words, you have no idea how to handle this, and I think God's saying, exactly. Exactly, because now you can get out of the way and you can trust my Holy Spirit to guide you and to direct you. This has happened, right? You're witnessing to somebody and they ask you some question that you've never maybe considered before and somehow God gives you an answer for that person and you walk away saying, how did I know that? No, I wonder. Now we're not talking Twilight Zone here. But what we are talking about is the Holy Spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead is living in you and will empower you. My friend, that is something the law could never do. In the New Testament age, believers have the Holy Spirit of God to empower us. And my question is, for all of us, do we live each and every day realizing that this Holy Spirit that God used to raise Christ from the grave lives inside of me? Do I live that way? daily trusting in God and seeking his power will lead you to a life that is free of anxiety and free of worry. I love a text Monty sent out this week. I'll mess it up because I always mess up quotes. But it said basically this, worry is believing that God's going to get it wrong. But bitterness is believing that God got it wrong. And you know what, if I'm trusting in God, and I'm leaning on His Holy Spirit, I have no reason to worry. I have no reason in life to be bitter. I have no reason in life to be angry. God does not make mistakes. And God's Holy Spirit has been given to me to empower me. Let's look secondly for our last few minutes this morning. And since you have been freed from condemnation, you must secondly live an obedient life. Now look at verse 12, where he says, Therefore, brethren... By the way, he's not just talking to men. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Now let me, again, kind of give you my take on verse 12. I translate it this way. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation. But it is not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you are living according to the flesh, you will die. But if you are living by the Spirit, you are putting to death the misdeeds of the body, and you will live." Notice, he says that if I am living by the Spirit, if I am a believer, I am a debtor, but not to the flesh. Now, let me define this word translated as debtor for a moment. It means one who owes another. one who is held by some obligation, someone who is bound by duty. He says, if you are a believer, you are not a debtor in the sense you have no obligation, you are not bound to duty to live after the flesh. You don't have to live that way anymore. We are no longer obligated as if we were a slave to our fleshly desires. We are no longer to live as a slave to be dictated by the flesh. Now what is interesting to me about verse 12, and this is fascinating, is he says, Therefore, brother, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the Spirit, but we are debtors to the Spirit. He actually doesn't say that. He just says, look at the freedom that you have to no longer live under the obligation to your flesh. And then in verse 13, he gives us, in a sense, two ways to live life. And they are given to us by conditional sentences. And he is going to talk about the old regime, or the old way of life, and the new way of life, and that by God's grace, if you are a believer, you have been moved from one way of living, the old way, to now living in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let's take a look at these. If you continually live in the flesh, verse 13, if you are living after the flesh, the idea is an ongoing basis, permanent. It's a way of life. This will produce damnation. He says death. The picture is not physical death. It can't be. Believers and unbelievers alike are going to physically die. The picture is spiritual death, ultimate death. If you are living life given to the flesh, you are going to spiritually die. And so now he is going to describe then in a moment what it looks like to be living in the spirit. Let me share another quote with you, because I think this is important for us to remember. Douglas Moo, I quoted him earlier. He said this security without responsibility breeds passivity, but responsibility without security leads to anxiety. We'll understand this more in just a moment, but if I am living according to the flesh, then I am living in such a way that I have not been declared righteous. I am going to face eternal death. However, at the end of verse 13, but if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you will live. The picture here is that if the divine verdict has been given to my life of justification, I will see in my life a change. And he goes on and he describes for us at the end of verse 13 that we are to mortify the deeds of our flesh. Now, by the way, living in the flesh is one way to live, living in the spirit is the second way to live, and in this you will get life. And if I'm going to live by the spirit, he commands me to mortify the misdeeds of my life. Now, mortify, let's talk about that for a second. This comes from the word thanateo, which thanatos is the Greek word for death. He's basically saying this, rather than mortify, you could say it this way, you are to, through the power of the Holy Spirit, put to death anything that is in your flesh that is dishonoring to God. that by death you are liberated from the bond of sin. Literally, you have been made dead to the relationship that you once had with sin. Now, what is interesting about this word mortify is it is a very strong word. It tells us, I hope, that it is a warning to us that if we are going to live life as a believer, we have to kill, put to death anything that dishonors God. And my friend, this will not happen without a battle, that our sin is powerful, but the Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome. You see, putting our sinful desires to death is not the result of willpower. Obedience is brought through submitting our lives to Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit of God to strengthen us as we fight against the temptations that we face in the flesh. What we are in Christ by grace must now be lived out and expressed corporately and individually. Let me give you another quote. A guy by the name of Murray said this, the believer's once for all death to the law of sin does not free him from the necessity of mortifying sin in his members. It makes it necessary and possible for him to do. So this, living in the spirit, is not excusing us to not obey God, to not put to death the works of the flesh, It is making it necessary, and it is empowering us to do so. Now, this quote I put up a little prematurely. Security without responsibility breeds passivity. What that statement is basically saying is, once saved, only saved means I can live my life however I want. Actually, rather than passivity, you might say it this way, it leads me to the place where I'm indifferent. I'm saved, I'm going to heaven, I can now live however I want. No, security doesn't produce that. But responsibility without security leads to anxiety. In other words, if it just depends on me, I live a life of anxiousness. I live a life in which I don't know if I'm going to heaven. I don't know if I have a relationship with God. You see, friends, we must reflect A Christian life that is empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. And we talk a lot about holiness, as we should. God is holy. He has called us to be holy. But the question is, how do we do that? How do we become holy? Well, sometimes we believe holiness is the result of self-effort, moralism, or legalism. that the Spirit functioning apart from the obedience and the cooperation of God. And we use words like surrender or let go and let God. You know, just surrender it to God. I have a hard time reading verse 13 and seeing surrender there. What I see is obedience. You are called through the power of the Holy Spirit to put to death the deeds of your body. There is a divine and human interaction that cannot be separated. Yes, you are empowered by the Holy Spirit of God, but I cannot go sit under a tree somewhere and say, God, please take this sin out of my life, and you're going to be zapped, and it's going to be removed. There is a human element that is causing you and calling you to put it to death. Now, there are times that God does take things from people's lives. I've met people like that, and you probably have too. But the call here is to obedience. The call is that holy living involves God's activity, empowering us by the Holy Spirit, but it also involves human activity where obedience is necessary for the process of sanctification. I remember walking off the platform one Sunday morning, and there was a lady there who I'll tell you about her situation through the story. She's sitting there, her name is Sharon, and Sharon says to me, she says, can I talk to you about something that you said? And I said, sure. And I'm running through my mind, what did I say that, you know, usually when conversations start that way, they're upset about something or whatever. And I'm running through my mind, what did I say? And she says, you know, you said that we fall into sin. She said, I have a hard time with that statement. And I said, well, Galatians tells us, Galatians 6 says that if we are overtaken by a fault, you which are spiritual are to come alongside that person and restore them. I said, the idea is they didn't see the sin coming and it sort of crept into their life and overtook them. She said, well, I understand that, but I'm talking about the statement that they fell into sin means they were not responsible. You see, this lady had four beautiful daughters and a husband who decided to walk out on the family for an illicit relationship with another woman who is not his wife and left her with basically no money. Four kids would refuse to pay child support and left her basically destitute. And she says, you mean to tell me that happened by accident? No. Why do we really sin? I mean, really, why do we commit sin? You know why? Because we want to. Because we desire something more than we desire God. And we are willing to disobey God to get it. And in this man's case, he saw another woman who was not his wife and said, she means more to me than my family, and she means more to me than God. He didn't fall into sin, he chose it. So it does not remove personal responsibility. Instead, you are to put those desires to death as you are empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. The whole Kezwickian idea of, well, just let go and let God, is not biblical. Yes, you are empowered by the Holy Spirit, but you must choose to obey. rather than focusing on surrender. You know what we should focus on? Obedience. Obey. Obey what God has commanded you to do. Why? Because we no longer live subject to the domination of our flesh that was in rebellion against God. We should cultivate a spirit-led, spirit-filled disposition of our heart and mind, because that is necessary if we are going to live a life that pleases God. Now, let's summarize this very quickly in closing. A couple of reminders. If you are a believer, number one, remember in Christ you are free from condemnation. You are free from eternal condemnation. You are free from condemnation in that you are forgiven of your sin. In Christ, secondly, you have had your sins paid for once and for all. There's nothing you can do to add to the sacrifice that Christ made for you on the cross of Calvary. That sin has been paid for once and for all. And in Christ, you are free from the law. You're no longer bound to the law. You are now bound instead to Christ. And then where our emphasis has been this morning is in Christ, you have the power to live an obedient Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. My friends, if you are in Christ, you are free from condemnation. If you are in Christ, you have empowered by the Holy Spirit of God to live a life of obedience. As believers, you are under no condemnation. Therefore, we are empowered to obey God. And I would summarize it in one simple sentence, since you are under no condemnation in Christ, you are to live a spirit-filled life that consistently obeys God. My friends, this morning, as you analyze your own heart, and you look at your relationship with God, I wonder, do you feel defeated every day? I mean, is there just that particular sin in your life that constantly comes back at you and constantly eats at your soul and constantly is the place that you trip and the constantly the place that you face temptation? You know, we were going to look at another passage in Colossians. We don't have time this morning to do it. But Colossians three, verse five, Paul uses the same word where he says, therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead. Actually, it's a different word. It's not thanatos, it's necreo, which is where we get our word necrosis from. And he goes on, he talks about put away these things, anger, wrath, malice, slander, abuse of speech, don't lie. Then he goes on and he talks about what this renewing of ourself looks like. And as I read through the list, I was reminded that he talks about things like we are to put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, loving one another. That as you read through that list, sometimes we are convinced that if I am not committing the big sins of culture or I'm not doing something wrong publicly, that I'm okay. And yet very often God's word goes to the heart of our issues and our attitudes. How do we treat one another? You know, look, I often think about this. Jesus said, I am to love. This uses as an illustration. Jesus said, Love your enemies as yourself. You are to love your enemy. That assumes you have them. That means there are going to be people on the face of this planet who maybe not by your choice because Paul said elsewhere that is as it is possible in you live peaceably among all men. But there are times no matter how desperate you try that they will not ever like you. OK. What do I do? I love them. Now, sometimes, folks, that's a spouse. Sometimes that's a child. Sometimes that's someone you can't just get away from. How do I do it? You do it through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. It's hard, it is, in our flesh. You know, I just struggle with pride or I struggle with being difficult, or I struggle with being critical, or I struggle with whatever your struggle is. My friend, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, who can empower you to obey your Father. Are you living the Christian life empowered by you, or empowered by Him? Because if you try to do it in your own strength, defeat, frustration awaits you. But if you allow His Holy Spirit to work in your life, you can have the Christian life that you so desire. You're free of condemnation. Are you living empowered by the Holy Spirit? Let's pray. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. We've come to our invitation time. I want to just take a moment to give you, as always, an opportunity to consider what we've talked about today. First of all, this passage is abundantly clear that if you are here this morning and you are living a life apart from Christ, you have never put your faith in Christ. You are, by Paul's definition, living in the flesh. And if you are living a life in the flesh, you are facing spiritual death. Now, friend, please understand, I don't say that lightly. I say that out of love and compassion for you because that's the truth. But friend, there is hope today. that in Christ you can be taken from the realm of the flesh and live life in the Spirit where there is no condemnation. That is available to you today through Christ. So if you're here and you've never accepted Christ, the most important thing you can do today is make a decision to live for Him and in a moment we're going to give you a chance to do that. Now maybe you're here as a Christian and you have been trying desperately to live life in your own power, or you're frustrated because you want God to just take something away, take some sin away from your life, but you've not been obedient in certain areas. My friend, tonight, this morning, is the time for you to be reminded of the power that you have through Christ and through His Holy Spirit, and to live a life of empowered obedience. A life in which the Holy Spirit of God empowers you to do the right thing. Easy every time? No. But my friend, don't live the Christian life apart from the Spirit. Father, as we come to our invitation, I pray you'd work in our hearts this morning. Help us to respond today as you lead. Certainly, as we all know, there's nothing magical about walking an aisle. There's nothing inherently spiritual about that, but there are times that it's the right thing to do. There are times that we need to make a more public decision. It's a time while it's private. It's something that I'm doing publicly. Lord, I pray. Maybe there are some here today that do not know Christ, or maybe there are some here that know there's an area of their life they need to get right. I pray you'd work in their hearts today. And if you'd have him to come to pray here, have him help him to do that. Lord, we ask ultimately that we would obey you in this time of invitation. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.