Life in the flesh, and life in the Spirit

I have always been a fan of Romans 8.  Much of the terminology from scripture, dealing with the blessing of knowing God, in the form of His Spirit, resides within us, comforting, leading, supplying, and directing His power in and through us.  

You are encouraged to read aloud, the entire chapter, but for the sake of our blog lesson today, I want to give you just several things which "jump out" of the written Word, while showing you a major part of your identity in Christ.  All verses are taken from Romans 8, the writings of the Apostle Paul. 

Verse 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."

Even for the Christian, there is the constant battle between the flesh and the Spirit.  It's true, the death of Jesus on the cross brings our victory, but while in this life, Paul is letting us know that we make the choice of being led by our fleshly nature, or by the power of God's Spirit.  The way we can check is to look at our own personal life to see if we set our minds on doing the things of the flesh, or the things the Spirit desires. 

Verse 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."

Paul is making sure you understand this.  Your body will die because of sin, but in spite of that, the Spirit gives you life.  This makes it all the more important for us to live our lives motivated by the Spirit. 

Verse 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."

Inviting God into your life does not make you like a slave living in fear.  He is in us to bring an end to fear, because it is the Spirit that brings about the life of the Christian belonging in God's family. 

Verses 18-21  -  "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."

Your belonging to Jesus could lead to sufferings.  Paul would have us to know those sufferings fade into oblivion when compared to the glory that will be revealed.  The freedom we will be knowing in Jesus is going to be applying itself to all creation, which waits for the children of God to be revealed. 

This is a sampling of the blessing that awaits those who choose to be led by the Spirit.  You will be blessed by regular reading and application of Romans 8.

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