Romans 6-8
Lesson 6:
#THE CONCEPT: Rom: 6:1-10: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2: God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3: Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7: For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8: Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10: For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
(This is God’s plan of salvation. If the gospel that is going around does not include this concept it is not “The gospel”.
THE REALITY: God planned for mankind to be RECONCILED back to Him as His children through the sacrifice of His Son. Jesus’ innocent blood cleanses the receiver from sin and guilt.
THE DELIVERANCE from sin comes through entering into Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection as described above.)
11-14: Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13: Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
(HOW TO RESIST TEMPTATION: Knowing – reckon – let not – neither yield. To be under the law was to be under pressure – one strike and you were out. But under grace, the pressure is release – you fight until you win.)
15-16: What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
(ADDED STRENGH in the battle beside, knowing, reckoning, letting not, and not yielding is knowing that if you yield to sin, you are a servant of sin. You have given it your power. That’s what Adam and Eve did. They yielded their power of choice to Satan and their carnal nature. Jesus, on the other hand, did not yield. He maintained His power over sin, flesh, and the devil. He did it the way that is describe here. So if you reckon yourself to be His servant instead of sin’s servant, He will be your way, your truth, and your life and you will end up triumphant.)
THE GAME PLAN: 17-20: But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18: Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 19: I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20: For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21-23: What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22: But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(REMEMBER: The WAGES paid for sin is eternal death. The FRUIT of becoming servants of God is holiness, the end being eternal life.)
Romans 7 talks about the law of sin and death – it lays out the “born again” person’s dilemma. They want to and plan to do what is right, but often find themselves doing the opposite. The chapter ends with the question: 24: O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25: I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Remember that the original text was not separated into chapters. We are about to discover the deliverance for the chapter 7 dilemma.)
Rom: 8:1: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
(How does the believer overcome the weakness described in chapter 7? By walking after his born again spirit and not after his fallen carnal nature. There is a choice to be made each time a challenge comes. Will you follow your regenerated heart or will you follow your lower nature?
REMEMBER THIS: Life is about choices. And God is about goodness.)
2-7: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3: For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
(Did you get that? THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE has set you free from the law of sin and death. Notice Vs 5 – are you following the flesh? If you are “born again” stop! God has enabled you to be spiritually-minded – you do not have to please your lower nature, you can please God now. The repentance and turning experience was to make the way smooth and straight for the King. It gives God the opportunity to give the receiver a new heart – a heart to please Him.)
8-14: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10: And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12: Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
(This is part of the gospel. This is the part where God saves you from sin and death. This is as true as any of the rest of it. Born again people are not to be in the flesh, but in the Spirit. What does Vs 13 say? It also is part of the gospel. If you live after the flesh, you shall die. MORTIFY the deeds of the body. Who are the sons of God that all creation is waiting, with groanings, to have manifest? Those that are led by the Spirit of God.)
15-17: For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
(This is one place many people get tripped up. They feel a relationship and affection for God and think, therefore, that this scripture confirms their salvation. They think they have a spirit that cries, Abba Father! But if they are not being led by the Spirit, they do not have this relationship with God for the sprit that cries, Abba Father is a spirit of reverence and submission as well as a spirit of relationship and affection.
Somehow the whole chapter does not convince them of their error because the church has belabored the love and grace side and neglected the necessity of living a life of obedience to the Father. Yet it is that life of obedience that God wanted to give to us for our sake that we may live and not die.)
18: For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
(This is the suffering of the Saints: to resist the devil, draw nigh unto God. It is to walk by the Spirit and deny our carnal nature. It calls for long-suffering, patience, and endurance.)
19-22: For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20: For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21: Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22: For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
(This talks about God putting spiritual man in an earthen body. His intent was not so much humbling man, but His intent was for spiritual man to bring the carnal nature into submission to the spirit. These are the sons who will rule with Jesus – those who have subdued their carnal nature. God wanted His sons who rule the earth to be part of it – hence the earthen body. He also wanted His sons who rule to be one spirit with Him – hence the putting the flesh under.
When this happens and Jesus comes to rule – nature will be restored, including the extinct animals. Jesus’ resurrection guarantees this. All of God’s creation – every species – will be resurrected and the sons of God – those who suffer with Him – will rule with Him.)
© Sylvia HuffnagleBr>
The High Life
Lesson 7:
Mt:10:34-39: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35: For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36: And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37: He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38: And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39: He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
Mk:8:34-38: And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37: Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38: Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Lk:9:23-26: And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25: For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26: For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.
Lk:17:30-33: Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. 31: In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. 32: Remember Lot's wife. 33: Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Jn:12:24-26: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25: He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26: If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
In these passages, Jesus is talking about the high life. As long as one embraces their carnal life or holds on to it, they cannot experience spiritual life. It’s a higher realm. You must let go of carnal life to live a spiritual life. When your relationship with God becomes more important to you than your present life here on earth, you will be able to go.
A spiritual man has submitted control of his/her life to God. A spiritual man is daily learning to submit to the written Word and the leading of the Spirit.
Jesus said you have to give up your temporal life in order to have eternal life. This means that you must stop thinking temporal and begin to see things from an eternal prospective. This will enable you to give up things you need to and put on what you need to put on and take off what you need to take off, etc. and live a life of daily denying your own wants and feeling in favor of ministering to others and promoting the gospel.
The carnal mind is ruled by the concept of the temporary. It is concerned with not missing out here and now. The spiritual mind is ruled by the concept of the eternal believing the promises of God.
2Cor: 4:16-18: For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18: While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
© Sylvia Huffnagle
The Law of the Spirit of Life
Lesson 8:
Oh, that I could live--walk by God’s Spirit every moment of every day for it would be life, joy, and peace for me. It would be deliverance from every bondage. It would be freedom to do things right and the guarantee of victory.
God’s Spirit always desires to do right, so in His Spirit I would delight in doing righteousness 24/7. There would be no bondage, no just dutifully obeying laws. I’d simply be always motivated by what is best for all concerned and act accordingly.
Mankind was created to live by this Spirit of life, light, and love, therefore they operate at top notch when this Spirit is the motivator of their life.
Jesus went through all that He went through to give mankind this Sprit--His Spirit. One cannot receive this Spirit by submitting to the law. One receives this Spirit by submitting to the owner of this Spirit--God.
The law describes how the Spirit acts in certain situations, but it is not the Spirit. But if one receives the Spirit, he/she will be able to obey the law.
I am not preaching the law, nor am I preaching disobedience to the law. I preach that ye must be born again of the Spirit of God.
The church must show the world Jesus--His life, His Spirit, His faith, His mind, and His victory over death, hell, and the grave. And this mission cannot be done until the church receives and submits to His Spirit.
The church must receive God’s Spirit, not just as a high ideal, but as the living, reigning power of their lives. God packaged everything mankind needs in one package, His name is Jesus.
What will the church be famous for when they receive this Spirit and walk by Him? They will be famous for their love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. They will be famous for solving problems and healing the sick too, because the Spirit is super-natural--a higher power.
Can you picture the attraction the church would be to the world, not to mention that their own health, marriages, children, and lives would be top of the line.
© Sylvia Huffnagle
Walking By the Spirit
Lesson 9:
Gal: 5:1-6: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2: Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3: For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4: Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5: For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6: For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
(From the above passages we learn that for someone to insist upon a male being circumcised in order to receive salvation is erroneous because it is just an outward sign that a person is under the law. And we learn that a person is justified by faith in Christ and no other way.)
7-15: Ye did run well;[1Corinthians 9:24] who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8: This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9: A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10: I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 11: And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased. 12: I would they were even cut off which trouble you. 13: For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14: For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15: But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
(This section mentions that we are in a race and must run it according to the rules. Paul also points out that erroneous teaching works as leaven and should be immediately purged. He reminds the Galatians that Christ has given us liberty from a legal written code and our rule of thumb is the summary of the law which is to love our neighbor as ourselves which does not include biting and devouring one another. Now he is going to tell us how to distinguish between the works of the flesh and the works of the spirit.)
5:16: This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
5:17-21: For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18: But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20: Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21: Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
(Notice--take heed--when anyone does these things, he is operating out of his soul area and not out of his born again spirit.)
22-26: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23: Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24: And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26: Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
(Paul is saying that if you are walking by your born again spirit these fruits will manifest. One problem we have is that if we see a large amount of one or another of these fruits operating in one person, we have a tendency to expect all Christians to have the same amount and that is not necessarily true.
Each one who walks by the Spirit will manifest some fruits better than others because of our personal bents. One person may be very good at manifesting joy, another at manifesting love or caring, another at showing great meekness and so on. Some fruits will be immature in one Christian and fully matured in another. But all those walking by the Spirit will be exercising these qualities--the degree depends upon the person’s personality, spiritual growth, and opportunities.)
Gal: 6:1: Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
(Notice, there is such a thing as one Christian being more spiritual than another. The amplified Bible says to be defined as spiritual, one must be responsive to and controlled by the Spirit.)
6:2-6: Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3: For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4: But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5: For every man shall bear his own burden. 6: Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
(Paul is saying we all have faults, but we should be striving to overcome them. He says we should try to help one another in this matter. Notice, he did not say, ignore the faults and he did not say excuse them, he said, let us help one another to overcome and let us give others space to grow. He says we should not compare our progress with other people’s progress, but we should compare our fruits with the word of God. Verse 5 is not contradicting verse 2. Verse 5 is talking about our own personal striving to overcome our faults and he said it in context to verses 3 and 4.)
6:7-8: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8: For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
(All that Paul has admonished the church about in this article has to do with sowing and reaping. To walk by the Spirit and manifest the fruits of the Spirit one must be cultivating their heart. Preparing the ground is accomplished by repenting of erroneous and sinful thinking. Planting involves reading and meditating on God’s Word. Keeping the weeds out consist of protecting your heart from the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust for other things.)
6:9-10: And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10: As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
(If you do these things in Galatians you will be able to resist fainting and can look forward to reaping a good harvest.)
© Sylvia Huffnagle
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