In Romans chapter 8, and I'll be reading verses 1 through 8. 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. I'd like to stop right there and have a word of prayer. Loving Father, that you would bless our time as we consider the word of God and look to you, Lord, that you would minister it to our hearts and that we might be much encouraged in the things of the word of God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, as we look at this passage this morning, I want to consider what it means to have the mind of Jesus Christ in our life. It may be considered to be somewhat of a thought to have the mind of Christ in everything that we do. But we find that, you know, being in this world, that there are many things that come into our mind, and so we find that we're in conflict many times with those things that come toward us, the things that we think about, the things that are brought to our attention. But we find that the Spirit delivers us from that old nature which is trying to get us to follow the things of the world. If you will, the flesh or those sinful thoughts which lead to sinful practices. So we want to consider how the Spirit brings the life of Christ to us. And so we'd like to consider several areas this morning. First of all, the Spirit's power of sanctification. If we understand what sanctification means, it really just means that God is working in our lives to some way bring us into a right relationship to Him that we might live a life which is more like the life of Christ. You might call it progressive sanctification. We're not perfect as we are except in Christ. We're perfect in Christ. But while we're here on this earth, we suffer some setbacks, we might say. There are some things that trouble us at times, some temptations that we sometimes fall prey to. And so we know we need the work of God in us if we are to be fully set apart unto Him. And sanctification is within the power of the Spirit of God. Do we have to live defeated lives? Well, no, we don't. We don't have to live defeated lives. We may have some things that are going on. For instance, you may have one of those little thorns in the flesh that keep cropping up again. And you may say, well, I somehow can't seem to get rid of this thing that seems to be bothering me, this little thorn in the flesh that I have. But we find that Those things, though they happen, we do not have to live defeated lives because of that. we can truly live victorious in Christ. And that doesn't mean that we live sinless. That isn't what it means. It means to live victorious in Christ is that we are relying upon the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. And how do we do that? Well, we do it by the Spirit of God. That is, God's working in us. And remember, the Spirit of God is available to every one of you, because the Spirit of God, if you're a believer, is in you. The Spirit of God isn't someplace else, in the sense that the Spirit of God isn't available. What know you not, that your body is a temple? of the Spirit of God. And ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which belong to God. So the Spirit of God is in you. That's why you can walk in the Spirit. That's why you can live in the Spirit of Christ, and that's why you can be victorious over sin. That seems to trouble you at times, or me. So we have this ability to live to God, to live to Christ, and it is the Spirit's power of sanctification in us. How do we get from the valley of the shadow of death to the celestial city? Well, if you've ever read Pilgrim's Progress, you know it's a steady, onward walk with God, isn't it? That's how we get from the valley of the shadow of death or the city of destruction to the celestial city. And of course, we're all looking to go to the celestial city. And though our feet are planted here on the earth, Our hearts are planted in heaven. You see, and if someone were to ask you, another believer especially, would ask you if you want to go to be with the Lord today, you probably would immediately say, yeah, let's just do that. Let's do that. Let's go to be with the Lord today because I want to be with Jesus. You see, now that is the spirit of the life of Christ in you which desires to be with the Lord. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. You see, the Spirit of God is greater in you because of the power of the Spirit of the life of Christ in you. And Christ is in you, by the way. In Colossians 127, it says that the mystery is that Christ is in you, the hope of glory. Christ is in you. And so Christ dwells within us. So we have God the Holy Spirit and Christ is with us because the spirit of the life of Christ is in us because of the Spirit of God. And so there is this element here that there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Verse one, okay? That's where we are, verse one. There is therefore now condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. And conditionally, we might say, yet at the same time, we would say that We can't quibble about this. "...who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Well, if the Spirit of the life of Christ is in you, the Spirit of God is dwelling in you, and we've already said that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you, then we must walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Now, at times we find ourselves perhaps stumbling along the way a little bit. But that doesn't mean that we are under the condemnation of God because of it. No, it only means that, well, you're human and I'm human. And we all suffer from the same problem of the old nature. So we have this sense that God no longer condemns us because of sin, because Christ himself is that life within us. We have this sense also that we are to walk in the spirit. And so those who would not be condemned in the flesh are those who walk after the spirit of God. Well, sometimes the Bible has to tell us exactly how it is that we might not think that it is otherwise. You see, we kind of dump on ourselves a little bit at times. We kind of put layer of guilt over guilt on us from time to time just because we know our own weaknesses. And so the Bible tells us, you know, the Spirit of God is in us. The Bible tells us we're no longer under the condemnation of the law because the Spirit of Christ is in us. The Bible tells us that because of this and that we would be walking after the Spirit, then God means to sanctify us and make us holy unto Him. In verse two, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. See, this is the judicial aspect. The Book of Romans is a doctrinal book, and so these are the kinds of things that are told to us because we tell ourselves something different. We tell ourselves that we're not good enough. Well, of course, we're not in ourselves. But in Christ, we are worthy of the blood of Christ. Only because of Christ we're worthy of his blood, not because of ourselves, you see. So the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. You see, the law of sin and death just condemns us. Every time you look at the law, perhaps in a kind of a cultural way, we see the policeman sitting beside the road, and he's monitoring our speed. And when we approach, we're afraid that we're going one mile over, and he's going to turn on the blue lights. That kind of thing. When it comes to the law, we are fearful of what it's going to do to us. It's going to condemn us. put us down and step on us real hard. But you see, once Christ has come into our life, that kind of condemnation is not there. Rather, we find that the spirit of the life of Christ Jesus have made me free from the law of sin and death. And so when we think about the law of sin and death, perhaps you might think about Adam in the book of Genesis. Well, Adam kind of made a big boo-boo, you might say. He made a big mistake. He disobeyed the law of God. There was only one law. He disobeyed it. But that condemned him in his sin. And so, what did the Bible say? The Bible said, if you partake of that tree, then you will surely die. You will surely die. And so Adam did, right along with his wife Eve. they fell into sin. Now, that's called the federal headship of our sin. We look back to Adam and say, oh, that's where it all started from. We blame Adam and Eve. But, you know, the fact of the matter is, if you and I had been there, we would have done the same thing, probably. No doubt, we would have done the same thing. Because the human nature wanting to exercise its own will gets in the way of doing the will of God. And I'm sure you've run across that before. After the fact, you might have said, why didn't I follow the Lord's leading in that thing? Why didn't I follow the Lord's leading? So we do that. Sometimes we make those judgments and we don't end up following the Lord and what He wants us to do. We kind of do what we want to do. And so we sin against the Lord. But the characteristic principle of the Holy Spirit is to enable us to live for Christ, free from the law of sin and its penalty. And of course we know that we can do that because Christ has set us free. Verse three, 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 for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Well, the key to this verse is the last part of it here. God sending his own son in likeness of sinful flesh. for sin. Now, you see, Jesus did not have, didn't have sin. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. What is that? Well, he looked just like I did. I mean, as a man, as a person. He had the same body, he had the same characteristics of wanting to eat and sleep and wanting to do the kinds of things that we do. I mean, He was like us in that. But in the area of sin, no, He was not like us in sin. Because He is the incarnate Christ. Because He came as the Son of God into the world, born of a virgin. Not of a human father, but of a human mother. and was conceived of the Holy Spirit of God, and so he did not have the fallen human nature. There were some that believed that Christ could sin. It's quite impossible. If he could have sinned, he would have sinned. That's really the upshot of it, right there. If Jesus could have sinned, he would have sinned. Just the same as if you could sin, you would sin, because you have a sinful nature, you see. You couldn't not sin. You have a sinful nature. Christ did not have a sinful nature. He rather is the Son of God. And He was not born with a sinful nature. He was born with a divine nature. A divine nature. Well, if we turn to the book of Philippians, just for a moment, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. Well, if we turn to Philippians, just for a moment, we'll find that in chapter 2, we could read some verses concerning Christ. In chapter 2, verse 5, it says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. who being in the form of God thought it not something to be held on to or grasped. King James uses the word robbery as a robber would grasp something, right? He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. What did he do? He made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of a servant, you and me, and was made in the likeness of men. You see, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess. that in heaven, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Well, we find that Christ was then quite different than we are. He had a divine nature. And that divine nature allowed Him to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, to die for our sins upon the cross, and to take our sin penalty upon Himself. And so this characteristic principle of the Holy Spirit, which was in Christ, enabled Him to do for us what we could not do for Himself, for ourselves. And so this is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. In verse 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. And so the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of the law rather, is something that we were not capable of ourselves, but it is something which God has worked out because Christ himself became that for us. The righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And so because of verse three, because of Christ being sent in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that we, because of the Spirit of the life of Christ in us, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. In verse five, 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. Well, I guess we might say secondly here, we know that we need the spirit of the life of Christ in us, but the second thing that we need to take particular note of is that we need to have the right mindset. Oh, we need to have the mind of Christ. Well, we spoke about that in Philippians chapter two. So I'll ask you the question, what mindset do you have? What mindset do you have? Now, that's important because of what he begins to say now. 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. So there's a contrast here being given in verse five. What is the contrast? Whether your mind is set on the flesh or whether your mind is set on the spirit of the life of Christ. Those are the two things. Someone just said to me recently, actually it was yesterday, I was talking to Marie Hanson and we were talking about something else, not about this subject at all. We were talking about something else. And she said, well, all you have to do is set your mind on the thing that you really want to do and keep going in that direction and eventually you'll be able to achieve that goal. Well, it's not the power of positive thinking exactly that I'm trying to tell you about. She was really trying to express that if we walk in a certain direction for the Lord and keep trying to achieve it, eventually God will bless us in that endeavor. God will bless us in that endeavor. And I would agree with that. For instance, if we have some particular problem in our life and we want to overcome it, then if we set our mind and thinking upon the Lord and upon what he would have us to do, we should be able to change circumstances enough so that we can accomplish what God wants us to do. It isn't easy. But we find that if we are really serious-minded about our walk with Christ and set our mind on the things of Christ, then we can do that. We can achieve that goal of following in the footsteps of Christ, of living the life of Christ in a fuller and more abundant way. way. And that's what verse 5 is saying. Is your mind set on the things of the flesh or is your mind set on the things of the spirit? You see, there is a conflict between the two. And we know that. There is a conflict. And this conflict, of course, is something that doesn't just go away. And I would have to say that we probably will have that conflict throughout our walk with the Lord. As long as we're here and our feet are planted on this earth, we're going to have some conflict between the flesh and the spirit. Sometimes we get in such a mind that we don't fully walk with God as we should. But if we will walk after the Spirit, God will reward us with blessings that He will give to us. In verse 6, He goes on to say, or fleshly-minded or worldly-minded. To be carnally-minded is death, but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace." And really this goes back to the whole idea of whether or not we are in Christ. A person who's carnally-minded and worldly-minded, they're probably not saved. unless they happen to have just come to faith in Christ and they're very early, very young in faith and haven't learned to trust Christ. But a carnally minded person is usually considered to be a very worldly and fleshly person. To be carnally minded is death, that is a spiritual death. and physical death, as far as we know, because Adam was pronounced to... he would die if he partook of that fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He was going to physically die. He was going to enter into spiritual death as well. And we know that that is true. That the world without Christ is in physical death and spiritual death. They're in both, physical and spiritual death. But the believer who is in Christ and walks after the Spirit is no longer in spiritual death. We're in physical death to a certain degree, but then even after we die, we will be resurrected unto spiritual and eternal life. Whereas the person who is outside of Christ, when they die, they will be resurrected, but it will be resurrected to judgment, not to eternal life, but to eternal damnation. Whatever that might entail, as God has designed the idea of judgment for the lost. And we know that the Bible talks about hell and of the various torments of it. But to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Now see, that's where the believer is supposed to be living. In verse four, we are to walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And so we find that we have to be spiritually minded and have life and peace in Christ. In verse 6. Verse 7, because the carnal mind is enmity against God and it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And so he talks about the carnal mind again. In verse six, he talks about the carnal mind again. In verse seven, because the carnal mind, that worldly mind, that fleshly mind, is at enmity with God. Now, you know somebody right now who is not yet a believer. You know someone. Just as I know someone who is not yet a believer. And they're living their life out the best that they can. They're living in a very natural life of trying to satisfy the desires of the flesh, trying to satisfy themselves in a worldly sense with the things of the world. But the other part is true, because of that, they are at enmity with God. They are enemies of God. Now, they might not come out and say that. They might not say, oh, I'm an enemy of God. They don't say that. No more than you or I did before we came to faith in Christ. They don't say that I'm an enemy of God. But spiritually, that's what is going on in their life. Because they haven't turned to Christ. Because they know not Christ as their Lord and Savior. They resist. They continue to resist the truth of the Word of God. If you told them that they needed Christ, they would say, well, I'm getting along okay, just the way I am. If you told them that they're not saved, they would say, well, what do you mean by that? I have a good job. I have a good family. I'm going out this weekend and have a good time. I enjoy the things that I do. They probably wouldn't say they were lost. They would just say, well, I'm not perfect, but then nobody else is either. They would just make some excuses for themselves, you see. That's what they would do. See, the carnal mind is at enmity against God. It does not desire to know God the same way that you do, because you now have the spirit of the life of Christ in you. And so sometimes we ask people to live the life of Christ when they cannot do it. Maybe you've heard the illustration of somebody who was dead. It would be like having a corpse in front of you. You've all been to a funeral home before. You know what a corpse looks like. It's just a person laying in a casket. But there's no way you could go up to that casket and tell that person to live. I mean, they're dead. They're spiritually dead. They're physically dead. They're spiritually dead. They're completely dead. And there's no way that you can just tell them, oh, well, you have to live now. And you can't live unless you just start living for Christ right now. But they're dead. They're completely dead, spiritually and physically. How are they going to do that? They cannot do it unless Christ comes into their life. And how is Christ going to do that? Well, he has to come in the same way he did with you and me. It's by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God has to bring life into a dead person, a person who is spiritually dead. And that can only happen through the preaching of the gospel of Christ. And you know that to be true, and I know that to be true. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Well, why isn't it subject to the law of God? Because it doesn't recognize the law of God. It doesn't recognize it. The worldly person Well, you know, they completely disregard the Ten Commandments. They're disregarding the Bible. And perhaps in our generation, we probably see that much more than we've ever seen it before. I mean, it seems like there's a great amount of lawlessness around. They don't want to even obey the law of natural government, say nothing about the law of God. I mean, you know, so there is a great disregard to the law of God. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. It cannot be subject to it. It cannot obey it. It is still in sin and in death, spiritual death. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. And so the next thing is true too. The unsaved person cannot please God. No matter what they do, they cannot please God. They cannot do enough good works to pacify God, to say that I'm good enough. They cannot do that. There's no amount of good deeds that anybody can do to please God who are unsaved. No amount, period. You see, and to live in a true sense of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of life in Christ, we must know Christ and we can only know Christ through the Spirit of God. only as the Spirit of God is in us. So if we want to truly please God, we must have a mind set toward God. Our mind must be set on the things of Christ. You see, for they that are after the flesh, verse 5, do not mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. So that's what we have to, we have to have our mind set right there. That's where we have to have our mind, our hearts set. But what's the difference between the mind and the heart? Well, someone said it's about 18 inches, but it's kind of a dual, type. When you talk about the mind and you talk about the heart, we're really trying to say the same thing. We're trying to say, well, where is your emotion, intellect, and will? Where is that focusing? Are you focusing it on Jesus and on what he wants you to do? Or are you focusing it on the world and the flesh? Of course we could throw in the double there, but most people don't know they're serving Him anyway. But if you get my gist here, they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh. Where is our mind? It should be on the things of the Spirit of God. Things of the Spirit of God. Verse 8, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. It just cannot be. They cannot please God. Those who are unsaved are at enmity with God, they're enemies of God, even though they don't know it. Those that are in the flesh, they cannot please God. That's why you cannot be saved by works. not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saves us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit." Titus 3, 5, and 6, you see. We need to be truly washed. by the blood of Christ and renewed by the Spirit of God. And you see, that is where we are as believers. That's why we don't have any condemnation against us. For there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Why? Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. We are to walk after the Spirit of God. we have to walk after the Spirit of God. Verse 4, walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Again, in verse 5, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit, that's what we are to mind, those things that are after the Spirit of God. And so we find that we how to have our mind set on Christ, that we might be fully sanctified unto Him. As all of you, I know you want to be, you want to be. And that is the reason why we need to set our mind on the Christ, on the things of Christ. And it is, sometimes we find ourselves struggling to do that. But that's why you come on Sunday morning to worship, because you know this is the place where you have true fellowship in Christ, where you have fellowship with other believers, where you come to hear the Word of God. That's why you go to prayer meeting, that's why you go to Bible study, that's why you are living your lives in such a way that you want to be known as a Christian, as a believer in Christ. That's why you're doing all these things. And because you are doing all these things, you are seeking to walk, walk, not after the flesh, but you're seeking to walk after the Spirit of Christ, after the Spirit of the life of Christ. And so that is where we are this morning, isn't it? That we really want to do that. And so I would encourage you to do that. Put all your effort into it. Not that you will have some difficulty. But you see, to do that is to recognize that is what Christ has done for me. You see, that's where we are. We don't do it because we're trying to just do it on our own. We do it because that is what Christ has done for us. And we want to live true to it. Shall we pray? Loving Father, we do thank you for your word to us and ask for your blessing upon your word. Pray for each one here, Lord. Encourage us much in the things of Christ that we might walk after the spirit of the life of Christ in us, that our minds and heart might be set on the things of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.