How do we live life through the Spirit?
John 4:23-24 (AMP)
23 But a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [from the heart, the inner self] and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
In this article my aim is to highlight to you, my dear Readers, the importance of every born again Christian to live his/her life in or, if you prefer, through the Spirit. I will do this mainly by examining Romans 8 with you.
But before we do this though, I would like to highlight some of the scriptures about God that would confirm what the Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 8 about the importance of living life in the Spirit.
Our first verses are the two above, John 4:23-24. In these two verses John tells us that God seeks people or true worshippers that will worship him in the Spirit and in truth. We will be unable to worship God in this way, the way he wants us to, unless we are living life in the Spirit!
Our next two verses come through the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians. In both the below verses we are told that the Lord is spirit. In verse 17 we are told that when we are in the Spirit, we have true freedom from the bondage of the world or the flesh and in verse 18 we are told that it is because of the Spirit we are progressively being transformed into the Lord’s image – His character and attributes! It stands to common sense reason that these things won’t be manifest in us and through us unless we are living life in the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (AMP)
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom]. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
These are amazing scriptures that we need to cling to and pray into our lives continually as we walk the path that God has willed for us, and we continually try to put to death ‘self’ as we walk the kingdom road to maturity in Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit!
Now, what does Jesus say about how important it is for us, His Church, to live life in the Spirit?
Just before the Lord’s ascension into heaven He tells the disciples, us included, that He is not leaving us alone as orphans but that He will send the Holy Spirit to us to help us in everything!
In the below four verses, Jesus talking, He tells us that if we love Him, we must keep His commands, be obedient to Him and His teachings in the Bible and be conformed to His image! He then goes on to say He will ask the Father on our behalf to send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, to help us just as He (the Holy Spirit) helped Jesus in His ministry. Those who do not know Jesus as Lord and Saviour do not know the Holy Spirit but we as believers do know Him, for He lives within us and in each one of us!
John 14:15-17 (NIV)
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
Matthew 3:16-17 (NIV) (brackets is the verse are mine)
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him (being filled with the Holy Spirit as a man). 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Matthew 4:1 (NIV)
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
The above verses confirm that Jesus when He walked the earth and ministered to us as a man, was filled with and led by the Holy Spirit! We know that Jesus overcame the temptation of Satan by quoting scripture. “It is written”, He did this in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Devil has no answer to the Holy Spirit and the truth of God’s Word, he is rendered ineffective when we are living life in the Spirit!
In the below four verses Jesus tells us that there is much more He has to say to us and to tell us, but He can only reveal these different things to us when the time is right, or they will be too much for us to bear. But when we are led by the Holy Spirit, He will guide us in all truth in the different stages of our Christian walk. When we are living life in this way, we will bring glory to the name of Jesus!
John 16:12-15 (NIV)
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Right, now that we have laid a sure foundation for ourselves to live life in the Spirit as we follow the Lord’s example, let’s now examine Romans 8!
We will do this by eating and digesting the chapter in small chunks.
In Romans 8 the NIV version of the Bible gives the chapter the heading of, “Life Through the Spirit”, the NLT versions heads it, “Life in the Spirit” and the Amplified version heads it quite differently from the other two versions with, “Escape from Bondage”. All these headings are relevant to us as we study the chapter.
Ok, let’s start ‘chunking away’ at this chapter using the NIV bible.
Romans 8:1-4
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
In verse 1 Paul assures us that when we are born again or saved as many say (when we are in Christ Jesus), our sins are forgiven and therefore we are set free from any condemnation. We suffer no guilt and no punishment for our sin because Jesus paid for our sins when he went to the Cross and died for our sin. Those that have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and have not repented from their sin suffer condemnation! On Judgement Day, the saved will go to heaven for eternity and the unsaved will go to hell for eternity where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!
In verse 2 we are told that God sent His Son to earth in the likeness of sinful man as a sin offering for all human beings. That means that because Jesus died for us the law of the Spirit who gives us life has set us free from sin and death. Here Paul is talking about spiritual death which is eternal separation from God and the life that the Spirit gives us when we are born again is eternal life in Christ Jesus and therefore eternal life with God!
In verse 3 Paul explains that the law (the law of Moses) was unable to save us because it is weakened by the flesh of man. Here the Greek word used for flesh is ‘sarx’ and refers to the sinful state and nature of human beings and is presented as a power that is always in opposition to the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit!
In verse 4 Paul tells us that because God sent Jesus to die for our sin (he was our sacrificial sin offering sent by God), He condemned sin (for those of us who are born again in Christ Jesus) in the flesh so the righteous requirement would be fully met in us through Christ Jesus. As born again Christians we no longer live according to the flesh (sin) but according to the Spirit as we belong to Jesus and are therefore children of God.
John 1:12 (AMP) (words between asterisks are mine)
But to as many as did receive and welcome Him *Jesus*, He *Jesus* gave the right [the authority, the privilege] to become children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name *the name of Jesus*
Romans 8:5-8 (NIV) – Those living in the flesh.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
In the above four verses there is no mistaking what Paul is telling us! he gives us the distinctions between those with minds that live according to the flesh and those with minds that live according to the Spirit:
Romans 8:9-11
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
In verse 9 above we learn that we as born again Christians are in the realm of the spirit (if we are Spirit filled – See Acts 2:3 below) then God lives in us because He has given us of His Spirit in Christ Jesus and if we do not have the Spirit of Christ we do not belong to Jesus!
The below verses in Acts 2 & 8 are perfect illustrations of the Church at the time being filled with the Holy Spirit. These are examples that we today, both as individual and corporate believers need to be emulating!
Acts 2:3 (AMP)
There appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were being distributed [among them], and they rested on each one of them [as each person received the Holy Spirit]. 4 And they were all filled [that is, diffused throughout their being] with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues (different languages), as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out [clearly and appropriately].
Acts 8:14-17 (NIV)
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
In Romans 8 verse 10 Paul makes it abundantly clear that when we are born again, we have Christ in us and we have life by the Holy Spirit as it is the Spirit that gives life because we receive the righteousness of Christ when we are born again. And it is because we receive the righteousness of Christ that we are reconciled to God and God can look upon us as sinless – we receive Christ’s imputed righteousness.
And in verse 11 we are assured that because it was the Holy Spirit that resurrected the body of Christ, He will do the same for us as the Holy Spirit (The Spirit of Jesus) lives in us!
Romans 8:12-13 (NIV)
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
In the above two verses Paul tells us that as born again Christians we are obligated to live according to the Spirit and not the flesh because if we live according to the flesh we will die (eternal separation from God in Hell) but if we live according to the Spirit and overcome the flesh (the misdeeds of the body and soul) we will live forever in eternity with Christ in heaven!
Romans 8:14-17 (NIV)
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
In the above four verses we see that when we receive the Holy Spirit and are led by Him alone, we:
- Become children of God.
- We are no longer slaves to sin and become adopted sons and daughters of God.
- The Holy Spirit Himself testifies that we are God’s children – we can call Him Father.
- We become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ and will receive what He has.
- We will share in Christ’s sufferings in order that we can share in His eternal glory!
John 16:33 (NIV)
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Romans 8:18-21 (NIV)
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
In the verse 18 above Paul gives us a futuristic glimpse or hint of what is waiting for us when the Lord returns and he assures us that our present sufferings, whatever they may be, will pale into insignificance with the glory of Christ that will be revealed in us when Christ returns for His Church.
In verse 19 Paul tells us that the whole of creation is waiting eagerly for Christ’s Church to be revealed – the children of God! All creation suffers because of the ravages of sin at the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and the curse that God placed on it because of sin.
Genesis 3:14-19 (NIV)
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
In verses 20 and 21 we are told that the earth itself groans as if experiencing labour pains in anticipation and hope of the return of Jesus, it is waiting for the new heaven and new earth to be birthed when the Church is revealed at the second coming of Christ. All of ‘born again’ creation will be set free from sin and death. But unrepentant man, those whose names are not written in the book of life, will be cast into Hell with the devil and his fallen angels.
Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV)
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 20:11-15 (NIV)
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Romans 8:22-25
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
In verse 22 and 23 above Paul says that the whole of creation has been groaning as if in birth pains and we are still doing so today as we are the firstfruits of the Spirit – those of as that are born again and have Jesus as our Lord and Saviour!
The Greek word for groan or groaning in these two verses is ‘sustenazó (soos-ten-ad'-zo)’ and means: to groan together, the earth for the new heaven and new earth and the Church as we as we wait for or adoption to sonship and our new, imperishable bodies!
In verses 24 and 25 we are reminded that our hope is in Christ Jesus and Him alone. It is through Him that we are saved and Him alone and we patiently wait in our hope of our own resurrection which is yet to come. But it will come when Jesus comes!
Romans 8:26-27
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
In the above two verses, Paul gives us a beautiful picture of how the Holy Spirit is working tirelessly to strengthen us in our we weaknesses. He guides us in our prayer lives especially when we do not know what to pray and like Jesus (Romans 8:34), he intercedes for us with the Father as we pray in the spirit in accordance with God’s will. It is only through the leading of the Holy Spirit that we His children and His Church can remain in God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives!
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 8:28-30
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
In verse 28 – 30 above we are assured that God, for those that love Him, works for our good at all times and for all things and that we, those who are His, have been called for His good purpose even before He placed us in our mothers’ wombs. We were predestined to be His from times long ago. God knows us and because we have His calling on our lives he also justifies us in Christ Jesus and we too will be glorified with new, resurrected bodies! We are glorified in this way so that our Lord Jesus will be even more glorified!
Ephesians 1:3-14 (NIV)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Romans 8:31-34
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
As Paul draws to the end of this chapter in the above four verses he issues us with these life changing realities for those of us who are born-again and living life in the Spirit:
- If God is for us – nobody can be against us – this includes the devil and his minions!
- God will graciously (through His grace alone) along with Jesus give us all things!
- Nobody will be able to bring any charge against us because God has chosen us who are in Christ Jesus and live according to the Spirit. It is God who justifies.
- Nobody can condemn us because we are His!
- Jesus himself is seated at God’s right hand interceding on our behalf. There is nothing more awesome than this!
Romans 8:35-39 (NIV)
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[Psalm 44:22]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- And finally, dear Readers, in the last five verses (above) of the chapter we are reassured of God’s endless and abounding agapé love for us.
- Nothing can separate us from Christ’s love!
- In Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors in all things!
- And just as reinforcement for our souls – NOTHING will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
WHEN WE ARE LIVING LIFE IN THE SPIRIT, WE ARE SET FREE FROM ALL BONDAGE!
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father
In the name of Jesus, I pray that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live my life in accordance with your will and always being led by your Holy Spirit. Lord, help me to live and walk on the path that you have willed for my life in every way and help me to serve you Lord by serving others in accordance with your Word in true love and humility, putting the needs of others before my own! Help me Lord to be worthy of my salvation in you! Amen.
To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!
Jesus the Name above all names!
Remember: Reading this article is no substitute for reading and studying the Bible for yourself! I am flawed the Bible is not!
