13.3 What God Does: The Spirit Makes Us Fully Alive

Table of Contents

The Text

Romans 7:22–25 (CSB)
22 For in my inner self I delight in God’s law,

23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.

The Chapter

In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part does overcome; and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after an heavenly life, in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as Head and King, in his Word has prescribed to them.

The Confession

In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail

Romans 7:23 (CSB) but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body.

The Evangelical church is careful to preach both against sin and for living in right holiness unto the Lord. This is right and correct. But where doubt of one's salvation (either for self or upon others) is when one continues to struggles with ongoing sin. It is because the Evangelical church will slip into preaching to looking inside of yourself to see whether or not you are saved.

But my dear brother and sister, have you actually taking a good look in you. Have you noticed that you and I will skip over indwelling ongoing sins within our minds and hearts and excuse them away because we are not doing sins against other. But the Christ explicitly preached that our evil thoughts are sin against God.

You and I may have not murdered anyone. Have we hated someone? That is murder.

You and I may not have committed adultery. But have we ever looked lustfully on someone else? That is adultery.

Did we dwell upon that thought or didn't we? Is just lust is pertaining to adultery or anything else like covetousness.

Have we dug deep enough? No, our born sin prevents us from seeing just how evil we really are.

So then how can we be right judge of our own hearts? How is this possible when our sight, even opened by God himself, can see all of us?

Mark 8:23-24 (CSB) He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting on his eyes and laying his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything? ” He looked up and said, “I see people — they look like trees walking.”

yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part does overcome

Romans 6:14 (CSB) For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.

Ephesians 6:10 (CSB) Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.

1 John 5:4 (CSB) because whatever has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.

You and I in Christ will not be able to overcome sin in us apart from God. We cannot justify ourselves. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot call ourselves. We cannot glorify ourselves.

Why on earth could we think we can sanctify ourselves?

"But, should we not be obeying God?" Right! But remember what the law demands! Does the law demand 90% obedience or absolute perfect obedience from the moment you were born?

James 2:10 (CSB) For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

You and I have already broken the law of God. For that, the wrath of God is justly and rightly upon us.

and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after an heavenly life, in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ as Head and King, in his Word has prescribed to them

John 3:36 (CSB) The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

Ephesians 4:15–16 (CSB) But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (CSB) We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 7:1 (CSB) So then, dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

You and I need to stop looking upon ourselves to see if we are in God. Because the moment we try to peer into our souls, into the eternity that is set in our hearts, and into our wills, we are turned towards outselves, checking to see if we are right with God. That is idolatry--to look upon ourselves for the righteousness that is only found in Christ.

My beloved, look upon the Christ! He is the Rock of our Salvation. He alone is exalted far above all of our idols--including the grandest of all idols, me.

Christ is the righteousness you seek. Our righteousness is trash--dirty rags before the site of God. Our righteousness sends us straight to the eternal wrath of God that is hell! Look upon the Christ who is God alone who alone can save you from his own wrath and destruction.

God is the one who loved you first. God is the one who will bring you home. Christ is the author and finisher of your faith. Christ is the one who sanctifies you. Christ is the not just beginning and the end of your faith but he alone is the means of your faith because your faith was his gift to you so that you would believe and trust in him for eternal life.

Sanctification seems slow. Sin keeps creeping up. You are drowning in addiction and compulsion and passion. Look upon the Christ and be saved!

John 3:14-17 (CSB) “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.