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Introduction

This is a mid-1980’s Ferrari Testarossa. If you were interested in buying one of these classic sports cars, it is fairly common to find one that has been well-cared for, sitting inside a garage, in excellent condition, with low miles for about $100,000.

This car is a replica of a mid-1980’s Ferrari Testarossa. It was carefully built to look like a Ferrari, but it is no Ferrari at all. This car is nothing but a Chevy Camaro with some new body panels and custom upholstery. What is strange to me is that this custom-made fake Ferrari also sells for about $100,000.

My question is this: If you were going to buy a Ferrari, wouldn’t you want the real thing? Why would you settle for a fake? Personally, if I spent $100,000 to buy a Ferrari, I would want to make sure that from the inside out that car is a Ferrari, and not just a dressed up Chevy. The Chevy seems inauthentic. ($100,000 already seems like a wasteful amount of money to spend on a car and spending that kind of money on a Chevy seems to be wasteful beyond measure.)

More important to me than the perceived authenticity of a car (that I will probably never buy), is the real authenticity of my faith. If I waste money on an inauthentic car, the consequences are temporary and relatively minor.

However, if I spend a lifetime investing my time in an inauthentic faith, then the consequences are real and eternal and quite severe. Even more than that, when I live my life in the flesh (instead of in the Spirit) I miss out on all the honor and blessings and riches and glory reserved for God’s Children (both now and in eternity). God gives such incredible gifts that I don’t want to miss a single thing that God wants to give to me. There is nothing more important to me that to make sure my Christianity is the real thing and not just my sinful flesh dressed up to look like the real thing.

God’s aim for us is not just to mask the ugliness of our sin. He aims to transform us into something completely different from who we were before. Authentic Christians are not just forgiven. They are totally new! Today’s passage has to do with authentic spiritual living as a new creation in Christ.

Recap

Last week we talked about how God’s law is good, but there is something it cannot do. It is very good at pointing out our sin and defining holiness and righteousness. However, it is completely unable to save us from our sins. The law is strong and powerful and good. When the law comes into contact with my weak and sinful and inadequate flesh, it exposes my sin and it shows my inadequacies… but… it is powerless to take those inadequacies away.

When the Bible talks about the flesh, it is usually not referring only to our physical bodies, but also to our natural resolve to live holy lives. It has to do with our whole being. In our own strength and in the power of ourselves (and our flesh) we are naturally unresolved to be genuinely holy. Sometime we’ll try to put on holiness (and we’ll even admire holiness in others) but it’s not who we are naturally.

Some people in their flesh love to put on an inauthentic religious show in order to make themselves look like something that they are not. But without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, our best attempts at holiness fall tragically short of God’s standards.

  • If you put new fenders on a Chevy, it will never become an authentic Ferrari.
  • If an unbeliever performs a few extra good deeds, their additional good works will never make them an authentic Christian

People who are in the flesh need more than a mere makeover. They need to be completely renewed. Some people call it being “born again.” Authentic believers aren’t relying on natural law-keeping to accomplish a task that only Christ can do supernaturally through the Spirit.

Romans 8:3 says, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,

[c] he condemned sin in the flesh…” Last week we talked about how Paul emphasized that God condemned our sin in Jesus’ flesh at the Cross. We remembered how serious the price was that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. But then we were reminded that when God was finished pouring out his wrath on Jesus for our sins, the price for sin had been completely paid. Nothing else remained. Those who are in Christ are not condemned at all.

So this week I want to answer these questions left over from last week:

  1. What exactly is the role of the law in our lives?
  2. How exactly do we “walk according to the Spirit?” How is that different from “walking in the flesh?”
  3. Most of all, what does it mean to be authentic?!

#1 Authentic Christians have both the desire and the ability to pursue holiness whole-heartedly.

Picking up in verse 4, Pauls says the God condemned sin in the flesh, “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us…”

Even though the law cannot save, it is not bad. Back in chapter 7, Paul calls the Law “holy and righteous and good.” (vs.12) God wants his children to pursue holiness, but to do so in the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside their hearts.

At the cross, we see the culmination of the promises of the new covenant beginning to work themselves out. In the Old Testament, God promised that a new kind of law was coming. A law that would not just be written on a scroll, but a law that would be written on the hearts of people. Jeremiah 31:33 predicted a time when God would, put {his} law within {His people}, and {He would} write it on their hearts. God would undertake to not just give his people rules to follow, but to actually give them new spiritual life. .

He would send His very own Spirit to dwell within their hearts so that they would simply begin doing his will spontaneously out of a love for Him and a desire to serve Him. Obedience to the Law would no longer be out of obligation, but it would spring out of a heart-felt joy in the believers relationship with God. They would not just be trying to avoid God’s wrath… But… they would find joy in God’s approval. In this new relationship with His people, the Holy Spirit would be producing the kind of righteousness found in the person of the coming Messiah.

Before Jesus came, the law called for a life of holiness in order to please God, but it was powerless to produce such a life because of the inadequacy of the human material it had to work with.

Augustine said, “Not until, by the death and resurrection of Christ, the new creation had come into being, did it become possible for God to send the Spirit of His Son into the hearts of lost and helpless men; and with the Spirit came life, freedom and power.”

“Those who live by the Spirit, as Paul says, produce fruits of the Spirit.”

An illustration might be helpful: The City of Cottonwood cannot issue a law that the vines in Page Springs produce fruit. Healthy, living grape vines produce fruit regardless of what the law says. Dead vines won’t produce fruit – even if the law tell them to. If you hang a bunch of grapes on a dead vine, you aren’t going to fool anybody.

In the same way, healthy believers living according to the Spirit will naturally produce good works. If you try to dress up the life of a non-believer with some good deeds, you aren’t going to fool anybody. Spiritually alive people bear spiritual fruit. Those who are without the Spirit, don’t naturally produce spiritual fruit.

What the law was incapable and powerless to do in our weakness, has been done by God in the person of Jesus Christ. Since a believer has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and given God’s own divine nature within them, they now long for a life of holiness.

Now a grape grower or a ‘vintner’ does not plant a row of vines in order for the field to produce weeds. The vines exist in order to produce grapes. In the same way, God does not free people from sin so that they can just go off and do whatever they want to do. God did not free us from the bondage of sin so that we could serve ourselves. God freed us from sin in order for his people to have the law fulfilled in them. Look at our text again, “[God] condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us…”

The law, we were unable to follow in our flesh, we now want to follow because the Holy Spirit is living inside of us. A genuine Christian wants to be morally and spiritually excellent because of the renewing work that the Holy Spirit did in their hearts and is continuing to do in their lives.

Nothing is more pleasing to God than the moral and spiritual excellence of those he created in His image. AND, nothing is more satisfying to the authentic believer than to please God with their lives.

God paid the ultimate price to secure our salvation in Christ, but our spiritual journey does not end at the cross…. It is just beginning there. The Cross is how we became spiritually alive. Now we have the opportunity for spiritual growth in a process called sanctification.

It is God’s great desire that believers live out righteous lives. We are constantly being challenged not to live like world but to live like Children of the King! Our new position as those who are “adopted as sons” and “co-heirs with Christ” is naturally reflected by a new commitment to righteous living. Those who are Children of God have a new desire to act like Children of God. The Holy Spirit gives us an appetite for holy living.

There is a wild misconception in the American church. Many American believers are of the impression that the gospel exists to make us happy. The Bible is very clear that the purpose of the gospel is not primarily for our happiness. God is far more concerned with our holiness.

The Bible also makes it clear that the only way of ever experiencing true happiness is through the pathway of holiness. In Matthew 5 there is a famous passage that many people refer to as the “Beatitudes.” Jesus clearly outlines in his teaching that the way to a happy or “blessed” life is through obedience to God’s will. Listen to what he says beginning in verse 3:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Bible makes it clear that the path to happiness (to blessedness) is through holiness but without holiness, happiness is fleeting at best. Hebrews 12:14 says that without holiness, we won’t even see God (much less be blessed by Him). I came across an excellent quote by William Chantry,

“When preachers speak as if God’s chief desire is for men to be happy, then multitudes with problems will flock to Jesus. Those who have ill-health, marital troubles, financial frustration, and loneliness look to our Lord for the desires of their hearts. Each conceives of joy as being found in health, peace, prosperity, or companionship. But in search of illusive happiness they are not savingly joined to Jesus Christ. Unless men will be holy, God is determined that they shall forever be miserable and [condemned] damned.”

Righteousness is at the very heart of a growing spiritual life. Paul states that our salvation was not so that we could throw out law and morality, but so that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us…” Now notice the next line. Paul clearly states what the authentic Christian life does not include. The next line says that the law is fulfilled in those, “who walk not according to the flesh…”

#2 Authentic Christian living is not lived out in the flesh.

When you and I disobey God’s command, there is always a reason. We do things our own way and disregard God because we are convinced that our way is the only way we could ever have a taste of real happiness:

  • A thief steals money because he believes that having more money will make him happier and stealing is the best way to get more money.
  • A married man has an affair because he believes that happiness is more likely to be found in that extra-marital relationship rather than following God’s commands about marriage
  • A student cheats in class because that student is convinced that better grades will make them happier and cheating is the best way to get higher grades.

But sin always deceives. It always promises to bring us life while it delivers consequences and condemnation. Those who continue to live in the flesh, are dining on sin and don’t seem to be very bothered by it. People who live in the flesh sometimes have some favorite sins that they don’t want anybody to know about, but (secretly) bring them great pleasure. Sometimes they crave the bitter taste it leaves behind. These are not the marks of a person who has the indwelling presence the Holy Spirit.

Those who are spiritually alive don’t want to walk according to the flesh any longer. They might sometimes taste the bitterness of sin in their lives, but it’s nasty to them. They try to spit it out right away. They might fall prey to one of Satan’s schemes, but they hate it and they fight to get out of it. The Spirit with them is constantly fighting to be free of the chains of sin. They are not trying to look holy in spite of their sin. The evidence of the Holy Spirit being present is a genuine desire to be holy.

#3 Authentic holiness is the direct result of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at the end of 3 and verse 4 one more time all together:

“[God] condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The Bible doesn’t deal with us as machines. When we were given the Spirit, he does not just take control as we mindlessly move through life. We still have total control of our lives. Every step we make towards holiness is a step that we consciously make. Our desires are being transformed, but our will remains ours. It is still our choice to follow the desires of the Spirit or those of the flesh. We choose which way is more appealing to us.

When we see and taste the blessing and goodness and richness of doing things God’s way, they way of our flesh begins to lose its attractiveness.

Life Application

Scripture teaches that a person’s walk in the Spirit begins the moment they believe. The word translated “walk” (in verse 4) refers to a habitual way of living. In one respect, God gets into our business at the moment of salvation and begins to redirect our steps so that our steps begin to be more in line with his. Then, at the same time, the Bible instructs us to willingly and intentionally walk according to the Spirit as we strive to live out our earthly lives under the lordship of Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. So walking in the Spirit comes first entirely by God’s sovereign work in the heart of the believer but it also involves the deliberate exercise of that believers will.

  • When Romans 8:4 speaks of how God condemned sin in the flesh so that we could walk according to the Spirit, that is referring to God’s part of the equation
  • On the other hand, Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” This verse refers to our conscious participation with the Spirit’s leading in our lives

So does God cause a walking in the Spirit or do we willfully choose to walk according to the Spirit? The answer is YES! It’s both working together (and God’s part of the equation is a little mysterious). However it is consistent with many other aspects of our spiritual lives.

Spiritual realities always lead to spiritual responsibilities. Here are a few examples:A genuine Christian will commune with God in prayer, but he also has the responsibility to take time to pray

  • A genuine Christian is taught by the Holy Spirit, but is also obligated to seek after the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit – especially through time spent in the Word!
  • The Holy Spirit will produce spiritual fruit in the lives of a genuine believer, but the believer is also commanded to bear spiritual fruit as an act of their own will.

Those are just a few examples of a seeming paradox and tension that exists between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Some of the greatest theological minds in history have not been able to reconcile these two sides. Our job is to do our part and trust that God will do His. Then every time we see God doing something in our lives that we know that we don’t have the capacity to do in our own power, we have another evidence of his grace in our lives.

We know very little about God’s relationship with Adam before there was sin in the world. We do know that God’s interaction with Adam was direct and intimate. They walked together and talked together. There was a deep fellowship in the garden that no man has experienced since. Any command that God gave to Adam was for his good, Adam easily obeyed. Obeying God’s will was a natural part of who Adam was created to be, up until that one moment when Adam questioned God’s goodness and chose his own way instead of God’s.

Once we are saved, our relationship with God is made like new again where following God’s commands is natural. Christians are often drawn back to the remnants of their life before Christ and sometimes fall back into the old way of their flesh. BUT… increasingly, following God’s command become the natural thing to do.

In that way, allowing the “requirement of the law to be fulfilled in us” is not another form of legalism. The person who is genuinely and authentically saved is tuned into God’s will. They are living by a new nature in the power of the Spirit. That person’s new desire is to fulfill God’s will in his life and to no longer taste the bitterness of sin.

Two groups

  1. You might be here today and you are saved. BUT… you are constantly choosing the bitterness of sin over the goodness of God. Let me encourage you to take a few minutes this morning to confess to God that you have taken things into your own hands. You believe there is happiness to be found in a method other than God’s method. Let’s take a moment this morning to allow the spirit to reveal those areas and help you to walk away from those destructive habits of the flesh. That’s not who you are any more. You are a child of the King
  2. There may be a group here this morning that knows nothing of the Spirit saving, filling and dwelling in your heart. You know that there is no evidence of God working in your life, but you’d like for that to change. Pastor Mark White will be over by the cross after the service and he would love to talk with you about how to begin a new life in Christ.

 

Teaching Outline

#1 Authentic Christians have both the desire and the ability to pursue holiness whole-heartedly – Romans 7:12, 8:3b-4a, Jeremiah 31:33, Matthew 5:3-12

#2 Authentic Christian living is not lived out in the flesh – Romans 8:4

#3 Authentic holiness is the direct result of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit – Romans 8:3-4

Application:

  1. Spiritual realities always lead to spiritual responsibilities
  2. The person who is genuinely and authentically saved is tuned into God’s will