Lesson 6
“Will you trust Me?”
The Challenge of living
the FAITH-REST LIFE
Review:
Ø
Romans 8:13;
8:12-13
We are under obligation
- So then [intros a
logical conclusion from the preceding paragraph]
- What
happens when you have people who try to fulfill obligations in their life
without BD; Therefore W/O any
foundation for what they're attempting to do??
- Paul tells
us here very emphatically we have absolutely no obligation to the flesh, to the
Sin nature.
- Structure
Summary vs:12-13:
We
are under obligation - NOT to the flesh
we
are debtors - not to live according to the flesh
[last of vs:13] BUT to the Spirit
to live
according to the Spirit
- With verse
13 Paul states the consequences of the choices made;
- if according to the
flesh you must die!
- if according to the
Spirit you will live!
- As
Believers, our obligation, our duty in living the CWOL is based on 3 great
truths of BD:
#1. The
Sacrifice of Christ;
Ch. 3-6, look almost any where!
#2. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 8:9
#3. The
initiation of the Father, its His plan, 8:3
- Our
conclusion then: for the basis of obligation!
This
is the experience of grace in the life of the believer.
#1. God/F gave
His Son for me and accomplished what I could not do!
#2. God/Son
died for me, as I understand what He did, it motivates me! 2 Cor
#3. God the H/S
who gave me life indwells me, & empowers me.
* As you look closely at these 2 vs's
[12-13] do they not clearly support the reality that the Sin nature is still
there, Still present in you?
vs:13 provides a further explanation of vs:12
Its
a warning, a strong warning to them; recognizes that we as believers have
to make choices.
If you choose to live under the flesh, know this
"you must die"
What
are the options here:
- Could this refer to spiritual death?
- Could this be referring to temporal death?
-
So this you are about to die = physical
death!
Ø Contrast to the one living
under the flesh
but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the
body, you will live.
Having died =
provision being put to death =
application
- emph. finished work
- His work applied to our life
- what has been done - what we are to do, our duty
- source of pwr =
cross - use of that power
- Why do you
think the focus here is on the deeds/activity/practices of the body, sw/ma, and not the flesh, the sin
nature??
- If you
think about it, as a believer, since the Holy Spirit through
regeneration is the source of our new life in Christ and since He indwells each
of us why should we look elsewhere for animation in our life, for empowering of
our life, we are to serve in newness of the Spirit (7:6) He is the dynamic for
living the CWOL.
Ø
2 Peter 1:5-8;
Ø
1 Timothy 4:7-10
Each of these contexts we've
examined contain commands which are to
be accomplished in the Spirit by faith in God's strength and provision, but we
still have a vital part, we are responsible to make right choices based on the
Word illuminated by the Holy
Spirit.
Point
is God does not walk in the Spirit for us.
Understanding the balance
between dependence on God's resources and expending human energy while
depending on God's enablement protects a believer from two serious errors.
It protects him from:
(1)
the
error that there is some sort of a switch which he can activate in order to
turn off the current of temptation and keep it from coursing through his being;
instant solution; must make good decision based on truth. Think truth!
(2)
the idea that
the Christian life is a passive one in which all the believer
does is “yield.”