The Spirit Gives Life

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

The Spirit Gives Life

Date: Apr. 28, 2023

Passage

Romans 8:9-17 (ESV)

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact 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, although 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 Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

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Daily Bread

Key Verse: 8:11

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

How can one tell if one is living by the flesh or by the Spirit? By the Spirit itself! The Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) lives in us when we are of the Spirit. To those who are of the Spirit, we have life, even though our mortal bodies will one day die. The Spirit gives our poor mortal bodies victory over sin and death. But that gives us an obligation! Because the Spirit gives us life, and the flesh brings death, our obligation is not to the flesh. It is not to pursue our sinful desires. Our obligation is to the Spirit, to live according to it. By the Spirit our sinful natures are put to death. We cannot live in sin any longer!

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. What does that mean? It means we are not slaves to fear, for we have overcome the world (1 Jn 5:4). Instead, the Spirit of God gives us a spirit of sonship. Through the Spirit, we have become sons and daughters of God, and we have the right to call God “Abba, Father!” That makes us heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ. That means we will share in Christ’s glory and share in his suffering.

Prayer: Prayer: Father, we cry out to you, Abba, Father! We have become your children through the Spirit of God. My sinful self has been put to death and I live for you.

One Word: One Word: The Spirit of God lives in us

The End of Northern Israel

2 Kings 17:1-23

Key Verse: 17:15

They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the LORD had commanded them that they should not do like them.

Today's Question

What does the tenth commandment require?

See answer and references