Sermon Romans 8:1-11 – The Spirit Dwells within You

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon Romans 8:1-11 – The Spirit Dwells within You

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

July 10, 2011
Good morning. Last week I had the great pleasure of attending the Presbyterian Big Tent in Indianapolis. Several Presbyterian groups held their annual conferences at the same place and at the same time. I saw some old friends that I haven't seen in a while. We worshiped, studied and ate together. I had breakfast with the Multicultural Church Conference and heard about their efforts to help our churches reflect the ethic diversity of their communities. I attended two sessions with the Evangelism and Growth Conference hearing from a speaker from Intervarsity, a Christian outreach into colleges and universities. And I had dinner with our Presbyterian immigrant congregations and experienced their great cultural diversity. It was a wonderful experience and I thank the church for allowing me to do this for my annual study leave.

Today we are here to listen to the Word of God. So lets pray. “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Earlier this week many people were glued to their television sets watching as a judgment was handed out to a young woman. This woman had been accused of killing her own two year old daughter and dumping the body in a swamp. She had also been accused of lying to the police. She stood up in court waiting for judgment to fall. This is what we can expect when the day comes and we stand before God making an account of what we have done with our lives. An accuser, Satan, will be their reminding God of everything we have done which we should not have been done and everything we have not done which we should have done. And God will pronounce judgment upon us. When this happens there is little we can do. We may try to point out all the good things we have done, but it won't be enough. So we will expect that a just God will judge us harshly.

As Casey Anthony stood before the judge, a jury of her peers said that there was not enough evidence to prove that she had murdered her child. The judge then adjudged her “not guilty”. She will soon be released from prison. In the same way when we stand before God waiting to be adjudged, Jesus Christ will stand up on our behalf and tell God the he has already paid the penalty for our sins. For all who believe in Jesus, trust in him with their lives, God will adjudge them not guilty, and we will be free to enter heaven. This is the bedrock foundation of our faith and the good news that we are to proclaim to a world that desperately needs to hear it.

The first seven chapters of the Book of Romans deals with this reality, but in the eighth chapter the Apostle Paul give us something new to think about. Let's listen to what he says.

Romans 8:1-11 ^NRS Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ 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 to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law-- indeed it cannot, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

We have been assured that when we die God will declare us “not guilty” and we will go to heaven. All we have to do is to believe in Jesus Christ by trustimg Jesus with our lives. It is important to understand what will happen when we die, but it is also important to understand what is happening now as we live. Salvation means that not only will we be saved from our sins after death, but we are also saved from sin while we live in this life, in this time, in this world.

Paul wants us to remember that we were created by God, in the very image of God, and that all of God's creation is good. Since we were created in the image of God it is only natural that we would listen for God's voice and respond by molding our wills around God's will. This is what God had intended when he created us. But as a result of sin the image of God that was given to us at creation has been worn away and no long exists. The image of God in our lives has been tattooed over so many times by sin that it can no long be seen. It is buried under too many coats of paint. As a result we no longer care about what God wants and we only follow our own desires. We hear that God wants us to go to church on Sunday, but some respond “why bother?”. We are told not to lie and cheat because these displease God, but some don't care what God wants and do it anyway. Sin causes us to follow our own wills and do whatever we want to do. The image of God is gone from our lives, we are slaves to sin. Paul calls this condition “flesh”. Calvin called it “total depravity”. Whatever you call it it is the same, our inability and unwillingness to listen to and follow the will of God.

But Paul says there is good news. We are not condemned to live our lives in this fallen state because God sends his Spirit to restore the image of God that God has created in us. The effects of all those years of disobedience are wiped cleaned, fixed and painted. We are made like new and the image of God is restored to it previous luster.

We are in the process of restoring the Dickerson Memorial Manse. New paint is going on the walls. A new floor is going in the kitchen. Its former beauty it coming alive with light and color as it is restored to it former glory. So too with us as the Holy Spirit comes upon us cleaning and painting and restoring the image of God we were created with. As a result of the restoring work of the Holy Spirit we can once again listen for God's voice, know what God wants, and follow God's lead. The Holy Spirit breaks through all that separates us from God. The evil powers that keep us in their grip are destroyed. Our slavery to sin is broken. We are given freedom to live. And all of this comes to us as a gift, the blessings of heaven.

The Holy Spirit is the gift that we received after Jesus' death and resurrection. We receive this Spirit in our baptism and it comforts and guides us in our new lives. The Spirit dwells within us helping us to listen to God and obey his voice. The Spirit assures us that we will receive all of God's promises, that there will be no condemnation for all who believe in Jesus Christ. So Christ's death was not only a payment for our sins leading to a not guilty verdict after we die, but it is also the victory over sin and death that allows us to now live our lives in a way pleasing to God.

And this opens for us exciting new possibilities. Once we abandon our own limited and flawed dreams and desires and embrace our destiny an exciting new world opens for us a we follow God wherever God may lead. The Spirit is offering you a new life lived in the presence and in obedience to God. Embrace this new life now and experience the abundance God has prepared for you.

In a few weeks Casey Anthony will walk out of prison. She will be free having been adjudged “not guilty” She has been given a second chance and an opportunity to live a new life. Will she continue live as a slave to sin, or will she accept Jesus Christ into her life and believe in him. Will she allow the Holy Spirit to guide her by molding her will around God's will? If she does she will enjoy the fruits of abundant life and never again have the experience of being judged with her live in the balance. Or will she return to her old life, with the image of God obscured, following her own desires and ignoring God? If she does this surely she will face God's judgment.

A lot of people were praying for justice for Casey's daughter Calee. Many are now disappointed believing that justice has been denied. It is easy to pray for justice for a two year old victim. It is much harder to pray for the transformation of a bad mother. But this is what we are called to do. We all need to pray that God will send his Spirit upon Casey Anthony, restoring what he had created, so that she will live her life not as a slave to sin as she has done, but as a child of God leading her to new life lived in the Spirit of God.

God Almighty, we pray this day that your Spirit will come upon us, restoring us and renewing your image within us. We pray this blessing on all who are slaves to sin. And we ask that your Spirit help us to listen your voice and obey your will to your glory. Amen.