The New Way: Freedom from Control by the Power of Sin

SUPPORTING IDEA: Though the power of sin is still present, the Holy Spirit frees the believer from being controlled by what this appetite desires.

Romans 8:5-8 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For setting the mind on the flesh is death but setting the mind on the spirit is life and peace ⁷ because setting the mind on the flesh means enmity toward God, for it is not subjected to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

8:5–8. Here, in different language, is Paul’s contrast between the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19–23. He lists the deeds and the fruit in Galatians; here he explains from whence they arise. The mind of a human being can be set upon only one thing—either the desires of the flesh or the Spirit. The new way of life in the Spirit makes it possible for the mind of the believer to be set upon what the Spirit desires. Here is what Paul states, implicitly and explicitly, about the two kinds of people he is describing:

	Those Who Live in Accordance with the Flesh	Those Who Live in Accordance with the Spirit
What they think about doing	Minds are set on the desires of the flesh	Minds are set on the desires of the Spirit
Ultimate end	Leads to death	Leads to life and peace
Attitude toward God	Hostile toward God	Receptive toward God
Attitude toward God’s standards	Does not submit to God’s law	Seeks to fulfill God’s law
Ability to keep God’s standards	Unable to submit to God’s law	Able to submit to God’s law
Ability to please God	Cannot please God	Able to please God

Paul is not defining two categories of people here: Christians versus non-Christians, or Spirit-filled Christians versus “carnal” Christians. Rather, he is using the opposite extremes of the spectrum to illustrate two ways of living life in God’s world. One way is to live it according to the desires and directives of the flesh, a way that produces hostility toward God and ultimately death. The other way is to live life according to the desires of God as revealed and empowered by his Holy Spirit, a way that leads to life and peace.

James Boice recounts a story from the life of the English abolitionist, William Wilberforce, that illustrates the vacuum of spiritual understanding manifested by those who are devoid of the Spirit. Wilberforce, a strong Christian, had tried unsuccessfully to get his friend, William Pitt the Younger, the prime minister of England, to go and hear the great British preacher Richard Cecil. Pitt was a nominal Christian only, a church member, and Wilberforce thought the preaching of Cecil might awaken saving faith in his friend’s heart.

Finally agreeing to go with Wilberforce, Pitt attended Cecil’s preaching service where the two sat under a powerful and wonderful presentation of the truths of God. Wilberforce was sure that his friend Pitt would sense the truth and embrace it wholeheartedly. But as they left the service, Pitt turned to Wilberforce and said, “You know, Wilberforce, I have not the slightest idea what that man has been talking about.” Boice concludes by saying, “Clearly, Pitt was as deaf to God as if he were a physically dead man” (Boice, 2:808–809).

This is Paul’s point. A person with his or her mind set upon the things of the flesh cannot “accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). All one has to do is look around societies and cultures to see the results of living life with the mind set on only that which the flesh desires. The result is not life and peace—it is death and destruction. But that is the easy observation to make, the one down at the far end of the spectrum. What about those who claim to be Christians who yet manifest many of the same characteristics as those who make no such claim? What are we to do with the indicators from contemporary polls that suggest the practices of “Christians” are often not much more spiritual than those who live in and of the world? Paul is about to suggest a serious implication.

Romans 8:9-11 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

⁹ However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. ¹⁰ If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life[49] because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through[50] his Spirit who dwells in you.

8:9–11. There is an “awful” (awe-inspiring) connection between the presence of the Holy Spirit in a life and the manifestation of the Spirit’s control. In essence, Paul says, if the Spirit of God lives in you, you will be controlled by the Spirit. That does not mean believers will not quench the Spirit, for they will (1 Thess. 5:19). Nor does it mean that believers will not grieve the Spirit, for they will (Eph. 4:30). Nor does it mean that one in whom the Holy Spirit dwells cannot sin, for he or she surely can. But it does mean that a person in whom the Holy Spirit dwells should be manifesting the control of the Spirit.

As in the case of William Pitt, the English prime minister, it is possible to be a sterling church member without having the presence of the Holy Spirit in one’s life. And without the Spirit of Christ, one does not belong to Christ, i.e., one is not a Christian.

Beginning in verse 10, Paul presents an amazing set of contrasts concerning the body and the spirit of the believer. First, your body is dead because of sin. But, he continues, if Christ is in you … your spirit is alive because of righteousness. Finally, if your spirit has been made alive (you have been made righteous), the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead … will also give life to your mortal bodies (which had previously died due to sin). The mortal body of the believer, in which dwells a quickened human spirit, will also be raised from the dead. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will also raise those believers from the dead in whom the Spirit now dwells (see also 1 Cor. 6:14; 2 Cor. 4:14; 1 Thess. 4:14).

The presence of the Spirit inside the believer is a critical factor. The Spirit’s presence determines whether a person is a true believer. The Spirit’s presence regenerates the human spirit. And the Spirit’s presence will one day regenerate the believer’s mortal body. Corrie ten Boom offered an insight into this marvelous truth: “I have a glove here in my hand. The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, it can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. We are gloves. It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the hand, who does the job. We have to make room for the hand so that every finger is filled” (Rowell, p. 82).

Romans 8:12-14 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, ¹³ for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

8:12–14. Perhaps the most important implication of the fact of the Spirit’s control is that we are assured of being made children of God. This idea comes as a conclusion to one thought and an introduction to the next. Paul concludes his words about freedom from control of the sin nature by saying that we have an obligation to put to death the misdeeds of the body … because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. That fact—the sonship of the believer—leads Paul into his next major section on the security of the believer in the new way of the Spirit.

Here, however, Paul begins by saying that believers are under obligation—but not to the sinful nature. Rather, our obligation is to the Spirit. The believer is indwelled by the Spirit; the believer’s spirit has been regenerated by the Spirit; and the believer’s body will be resurrected from the dead by the Spirit. That puts the believer under an obligation to put to death the misdeeds of the body. What believer, understanding the implications of the presence of the Spirit that Paul has just enumerated, could feel the slightest freedom to indulge the sinful desires of the flesh? We are under a holy obligation. And if we do not put to death the misdeeds of the body? It is a sign that no obligation to do so is felt, which is a sign of the lack of the presence of the Spirit, which is a sign that you will die.

This is not a “lose-your-salvation” verse—put to death the deeds of the flesh and you will live, indulge the deeds of the flesh and you will die. Rather, it is a “big-picture” verse, indicating what should be the natural outcome in the life of one who has the presence of the Spirit: an obligation to be holy, to manifest one’s sanctification in righteous behavior.

The obligation to practice righteousness consistent with our spiritual position is a clear call in the New Testament:

• Romans 6:13: “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin.”
• Colossians 3:5: “Put to death … whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
• Galatians 5:24: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”
• Mark 9:43–47: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.… And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.… And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.”

But the most compelling reason of all to live lives of holiness is because we have been adopted into a holy household—because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. There is a better way, Paul is saying, and that way is to enter wholeheartedly into fellowship with the Father who is holy. One senses that Paul could have been writing about many contemporary believers when he makes this transitional statement. How many Christians today—genuine believers in whom the Spirit dwells—are not putting to death the misdeeds of the body? A great many, it would appear. And how many are living on the edge of the family of God, never having taken the steps to move into close fellowship with the Father and his other sons and daughters?

If one has been living a rough and undisciplined life, and is suddenly thrust into the presence of mannered and dignified people, there is an instant obligation (for most people) to correct their behavior. It is the same when we move into intimate relations with the family of God, beginning first with the Father and then with his children. Those professing believers who fuel the polls which make the church more like the world than like Jesus Christ have missed an important obligation—the obligation to put to death the misdeeds of the body—an obligation is easy to miss on the outskirts, hard to miss at the table of fellowship.

Paul’s hint at sonship is now exploded into its full glory by the apostle in the final of his three freedoms: freedom from the fear of separation from God. When one begins to enjoy the role of heir, the insecurities which fed much of our fleshly disposition begin to disappear, and the misdeeds of the body with them.

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