Creation Is Groaning — John Piper

The Law Weakened by the Flesh and the Need for Christ

Think the reason for the bad news in verses 5 through 8 was to make clear why the law weakened by the flesh could not do what had to be done. And so he gets down to 5 through 8 he says. Here's what I meant by weakened by the flesh the law couldn't do those things because the mind of the flesh is so insubordinate to God when it meets the law it produces law-breaking not law-keeping.

Therefore the only hope in the universe was that the Son of God would be sent into the world. Verse 3. I think that's how it all hangs together. It's all meant to give you tremendous confidence that there's no condemnation for you in spite of the fact that there's war going on between spirit and flesh in your life because Christ has done the decisive work of taking our sin upon him in his flesh.

The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ

So here we are at verse 9. Our goal is to get through verse 25 in this session. You however are not in the flesh but in the spirit. So all that horrible stuff that was spoken about inability in verses 5 to 8 is not true of you in Christ.

You are not in the flesh. You are in the spirit if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. So it's difference between being it in you and you in it. My understanding of that would be a paraphrase like this.

You however are not in the sway and control of the flesh. You are in the sway in the current of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. If he's in you. So if he's in you you're in his control. That's my paraphrase to make sense out of the in you and in him.

Anyone who does not have to have is like in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ. Whoa. Shift Spirit of God to Spirit of Christ. Interesting. Why. Why would he do that does not have the Spirit of Christ.

Clearly the logic demands that they be the same spirit. Right. You however are not in the flesh. You are in the spirit. If the Spirit dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the same Spirit Spirit of God but he says Spirit of Christ.

Which is just chock-full of implications. Trinitarian wise. But why would he do it. What. Why the shift. He's free to the Spirit of God in the Spirit of Christ are the one Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ.

Maybe anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. So instead of saying is not in him and belong to him. When I think belong to him I think how did I come to belong to him. How did you become his possession.

Which triggers in your mind. First Corinthians 619. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your bodies. In Paul's mind to belong to Jesus is to be bought out of slavery out of the flesh into Christ.

So this language of belonging to him is Jesus language in Paul's mind. Maybe that's why he shifted to Spirit of Christ. That's a guess. I don't know. He's I'm just happy to to say Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ are one Spirit.

And anyone who has the Spirit of God is in the Spirit and his sway. So the walking according to the Spirit. And anyone who has that spirit call it Christ. Call it God belongs to Jesus. But if Christ. Oh third second surprise shifts from Spirit of God to Spirit of Christ to Christ.

Amazing. This is just full of hmm. Why would he do that. Follow the logic. I mean you can just hear these are all the same being. If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong in.

But if Christ they all have to be the same. The flow of thought doesn't work unless they're the same. And that triggers is shifting to Christ here triggers a John. I don't know if I wrote it down here at any rate John 14 something where he says I he is with you now he will be in you.

I will come to you. I will not leave you orphan. So he says I'm the father will send to you a comforter. The Spirit of truth I will come to you. I will not leave you as orphans. So it's a Jesus himself taught the Apostles the Spirit that's coming is me when he's there I'm there.

Otherwise what would the promise at the end of Matthew mean I will be with you. I will be with you to the end of the age. But I'm gonna send you another comforter to be with you and in you. That's me.

That's the way Paul's talking here right. Spirit of God Spirit of Christ Christ. But if Christ is in you and now he introduces death which which kind of sends up a little warning. It's going to get bleak in this chapter.

Death, Resurrection, and the Imputation of Righteousness

It's gonna get really bleak and glorious. There's no naivete in this chapter about how well it's gonna go for Christians. It is not going to go well in this life for Christians. So we start now suddenly on the agenda is a warning lest you think because you are redeemed because your sins are paid for because you're delivered from the power of the law of sin because the Holy Spirit is in you.

You skip death. You don't skip it which means we are saved in stages. You got that category in your mind like your sins right now couldn't be more forgiven than they are. Your righteous standing before God could not be more perfect than it is.

But you're gonna die which was a consequence of sin and the fall. So that part of the consequence has not been overcome by the cross. So let's read it. But if if Christ is in you though your your body is dead because of sin the Spirit is life because of righteousness you you could say well you took care of the sin problem on the cross.

And his answer would be I did. But you will benefit from it in due time. Your sins are gone righteousness is provided wrath is removed. Everything decisive to secure your future is done. It is finished.

But the last enemy will be death. And we'll do that later. You're going through it. It's a sobering and he means for it to be sobering. But the Spirit is life with me. The Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Big big question again whose righteousness I got. Zero problem saying Christians are really practically righteous and need to be. If you don't put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit you go to hell.

We'll get to that at verse 13 real righteousness happens. We do walk by the spirit. We do bear the fruits of love joy peace patience goodness kindness. If we don't we don't have the spirit. This could be my righteousness in principle.

Is it. Or it could be God's righteousness in Christ counted as mine which is part of the teaching of Paul in Philippians 3 and 2nd Corinthians 521 and early parts of chapter 4 and 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 the glorious doctrine of Christ's finished work counted as mine.

Both his atoning death and his perfect life counted as mine could be that which is it. And again the way you answer something like that is by trying to follow the thought because one of the answers I don't think will work here.

It says the spirit is life. I think that is a good translation. By the way the old translations used to say our spirits are alive because of righteousness that's not theologically false. But the main argument is that this word is not alive.

It's life. It's just a little awkward to say our spirits are life. It's not awkward to say the spirit is life because we already said he's the spirit of life back in verse 2. So I think this is a good translation.

The spirit is life because of righteousness. Now that means if you take righteousness to be my righteousness lived out that the argument goes. The reason the Holy Spirit is at work in you with life-giving power is that you have become righteous.

That's just totally doesn't work. It doesn't work on Paul's terms. You might make it work. It just doesn't work because he said the Holy Spirit was poured out because Christ died for us so that we would be righteous.

That's verse three and four and the logic between them. So my answer here is this is God's righteousness is not. This is not my lived out righteousness. This really is justification. This is imputation here if verse 11 if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through the spirit who dwells in you.

So take heart you must die. And you will live again. And your body will not be thrown away. We are not Platonists who want to be set free from the body. We don't want to be naked. We want our bodies. And we want them glorious.

And you're gonna get it. I want it to be covered with hair on top not so much saggy right here. And fewer wrinkles and better eyesight. And don't want my wife complaining about my hearing anymore. And I'd like to just be so amazing that you would be tempted to worship me because it says in Matthew 13 43 that we will shine like the Sun in the kingdom of our Father.

You can't look at the Sun. You can't look at the Sun until your body is glorified. So you you've got to have glorified eyes to see me. That's chapter 8 verses 18 to 25. So I shouldn't be talking about it.

But it's here. This is resurrection. And so he introduces death in verse 10 right there. And then he lifts that burden from us in part by saying he'll raise you. So take heart. You can see what I'm skipping here.

The Warning of Mortification and Perseverance

So then brothers after all that amazing work of Christ on the cross and the work of the Spirit in our lives and the promise of resurrection. So then brothers we are debtors. Not not to the flesh. He don't owe the flesh anything.

It has done nothing but ruin you defeat you prepare you for everlasting torture. Don't live to the flesh. Why would you live to your murderer. You don't owe it anything. Don't get up in the morning and yield to your killer.

We are debtors. And you would expect him to finish the sentence. So then brothers we are debtors not to the flesh but to the Spirit. And he never gets around to that. This is Paul does this several times kind of breaks off doesn't finish his parallel.

Which which would cause you to ask why. And the why is pretty significant. Here he something comes to his mind. And I believe divine inspiration works that incarnationally that God doesn't cause Paul never to have rabbit trails in his thinking just guards the rabbit trails so that they're always true.

So then brothers we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh break off instead of saying but to the Spirit to live according to the Spirit which is what you would expect. Instead of that he just stops that and feels the need to say something shocking and urgent about why you better be vigilant against your flesh.

Because how easy it would be for you to say he died for me. I'm perfect in Christ. My resurrection is guaranteed. Those of me justified. He glorified home. Free no fight no danger. Be easy to go. There is a nice Protestant lover of the doctrine of imputation like me.

And he won't let me go there. I can remember taking Romans in seminary and being shocked by verse 13. Shocked. I just had been so oblivious to the flow of thought up till then. Up till I was 22 I thought of the Bible as a string of pearls.

I loved them. Pearls served me. Well I never noticed there were chains. It's a chain. So a string of pearls. The chain with links of brass steel. And it's pretty shocking a lot of times. So there I was staring at this.

The reason for the reason you better not live according to the flesh is if you live according to the flesh you die. What does that mean. It doesn't mean physically die. Because everybody physically dies.

And he just said you're gonna physically die and then be raised. It doesn't mean physically die. Well it doesn't mean it means forever. It means hell. It means judgment means wrath. Brothers. And everything you know in your theological body or mind rises up and says you didn't talk that way to brothers.

The whole point of this chapter is security. Those of me justified he glorified. You are rock-solid safe elect she are. It is the point of the chapter. Bonus. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

But if you don't kill the deeds of the body you're going to hell. Brother. That's true. I preached that way. I believe every pastor should look that look out on his congregation and warn them they could go to hell because Paul does.

Pastors you don't create a sense of urgency in their people about what their lives mean what's at stake in their lives are doing their job. If you. Well how can that work. I mean verse 30 of chapter 8.

Make another little attempt here to jump around which I shouldn't do those I'm in verse 30 at the bottom. Those whom he predestined he called. And those whom he called he also justified. And those whom he justified he glorified.

Nobody falls out. No predestined person fails to be called. No called person fails to be justified. No justified person to be glorified. You are absolutely secure. And if you live according to the flesh you will go to hell.

Now one of the ways people do theology is that they see things that look intention. And they throw on my way. They throw one of them away to make it work. That's bad idea. The problem with you is with your brain not the word.

And until you take three four or five years to work on that I'm not going to. I'm not going to encourage you that you've done your job when you throw one of them away. If you can't figure that out just preach.

Preach it. Teach it. Teach to your kids. Here's the way I put the two together. So you got absolute certainty for God's elect. Over here all the predestined called all the call justified all the justified will be glorified.

No dropouts. And here's a warning to the brothers if you live according to flesh you will go to hell. Not contradictory. Because if you live according to flesh you show you have the mind of the flesh.

And you are not in the spirit. And we're never born again and are not among the elect. Which turns Sunday morning into a pretty serious moment. I really believe that I used to say to people every one of my sermons is a salvation sermon.

I'm keeping people saved. My preaching is an instrument of God to preserve the elect. And one of the ways you preserve the elect is to talk like Paul talks. You tell them you live according to flesh. You go to hell.

If you are elect and you full of the Holy Spirit you hear that you tremble and with fear and trembling you work out your salvation and go to heaven. That's the way he keeps you. It's not automatic. It's vital.

It's living the Word of God. That was the point of last night. The Word of God is used by God to keep you. And one of the ways he keeps you is with warnings. And if pastors say I can't give warnings to my people like this because they'll they'll start being afraid of falling short.

They're supposed to be afraid of falling short. And the fear sends them flying to the gospel and to Jesus. So if you live according to the flesh you will die. But what's the alternative. I don't want to die if by the Spirit.

This may be among the most important things we'll see. If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you won't die. You'll live forever. Yes you will. Which means we need to come to terms with what in the world that means what is putting to death the deeds of the body.

Putting Sin to Death by the Spirit

First of all what. What are the deeds of the body. Everything is a deal. My mind. Right. No. Well you wouldn't like use my body to take soup to a neighbor. Don't put that one to death. What is he talking about.

Back in chapter 6 he says. Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Sin is the real culprit here not body. Sin is the real culprit. And what does sin do in us. What is the old remnants of the flesh in the old man the old nature that's trying to war against the Spirit.

What does it do. It takes my hand it takes my eyes it takes my sexual inclinations. It takes my body and tries to make it an instrument of sinning in the world. Kill those. Kill those. And the way you kill them is by going for the root.

Which is why John Owen who wrote a whole book on this verse called mortification of sin. Whole book on verse 13 said be killing sin or it will be killing you. Perfect paraphrase be killing sin or it will be killing you.

And he said be killing sin not the deeds of the body. Because he knew the root of the body's problem. The putty's not bodies just fled. The body's just flesh. It's skin. It has no moral quality. Like that's not a moral thing.

There's bone and there's blood and there's skin. That's not moral. Moral is my sin. Making this punch you. That's moral. Therefore you're gonna fight that deed. You go for sin or you don't go for anything.

So how do you do that. He tells us how he says by the Spirit. Oh how precious and important is life in the Spirit by the Spirit. How would you do that. I'm gonna take you a little quick sequence of thought this this is one of the most important little sequences of thought in my life.

This is how I live. I try to live my life. First clue. Ephesians 6 17. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith with with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

Now why do I go there. Because it said put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. Okay. Kill something in the armor of Ephesians 6. There's only one weapon for killing usually. Don't kill people with this with a shield like helmet you.

You kill people with a sword in this war. Kill the devil with a sword. And the sword is the sword of a spirit and it is the Word of God. So that's my first clue. Okay. Paul is saying put to death. Kill sin.

Kill the temptations to be selfish. Kill the temptation to be greedy. Kill the temptations to be covetous. Kill the temptation to be lustful. Kill the temptations to be violent. Kill him. Kill him by the Spirit.

He's God. I don't wield him. What do you mean by the spirit. Like spirit. Bang. I he's God. I he picks me up. I don't pick him up. That's that's that's the way I struggle with these verses. No you don't pick him up but you pick his sword up.

When you pick up his sword he's at work mightily. So that's first clue. Here's second clue. Galatians 3 5. Okay there's the sword right there in front of you. It's the Word of God. What do you do with it.

Galatians 3 5. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you. That's crucial. I need that. Because he said by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you. It works. Miracles among you.

Do so by works of the law. Answer. No. How with the hearing of faith. So now I've got the hearing which is the Word. And I got faith. Aha. So what do you do with the Word you got to you got the Spirit.

He's got a sword. It's the Word. Use it. How trust it. So it says by hearing with faith the Holy Spirit is supplied. Hudson. That that verse is just about as important as it gets in the Bible as far as living.

Okay I want the supply of the Holy Spirit this afternoon in dealing with some tough issues so that I don't sin but rather be used by the Spirit to bear fruit the just requirement of the law fulfilled love this afternoon.

Not selfishness and anger and greed and mean spiritedness and fear and self-pity. I want all that stuff dead. So Holy Spirit how'd I get you. It's right there. He who supplies the Spirit. How does he do it.

He does it by hearing with faith. Hearing with faith. Hearing with faith. Hear what. Word word of promise word of God word of gospel word word word. Hear it. But when you hear it the way you wield it to kill Satan and sin is I trust you trust you.

Sanctification Through Faith in the Word

Next clue. 2nd Thessalonians 2 13. We ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers beloved by the Lord because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification is. Pause. That is a paraphrase of what I was trying to say about how security and warnings relate.

We are saved through being changed. Sure. I grew up in a tradition where eternal security was as mechanical as it could be prayed to receive Jesus. When you're six you're going to heaven live like the devil.

Not through sanctification. That never. I never saw that in 25 years nobody's saved except through sanctification. Nobody there is a holiness without which you will not see the Lord. Hebrews 12 14. Never saw it.

That's what we're talking about right now. The sanctification of putting to death sin so that you don't die but live be saved happens. How. By the Spirit. It's all there. The Spirit has a sword. You wield the sword.

By trusting it you will know the truth. Truth will set you free sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth only if you believe it trust it. Illustration. This is Hebrews. So what I'm going to do now with Hebrews is just give you a glimpse of how does that work.

We're just illustrating how does verse 13 of Romans 8 happen. If you put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit you will go to heaven. If you live by the flesh you will go to hell. That's urgent.

We need to know this. We need to live this. Or we perish. We're not mechanical. Don't care. If you prayed a prayer when you were six you can perish. If you give all the evidences by living according to the flesh.

You're not his. You don't belong to him. This is urgent. People need to feel urgent about this most important things in the world. And most people live their lives as though nothing were big and horribly real unbelievably important.

Day by day hour by hour it is. So here is how you do it with the temptation to steal because you love money all right. I want to kill the deed of the body called stealing. And I need to do it by killing covetousness which is the sin underneath stealing.

Okay here's how it happens. Keep your life free from the love of money. So keep your life free from the love of money and be content. Oh yes that would free me from so many sins. Be content with what you have instead of being greedy and covetous.

And I just gotta have that new iPhone. For he has said said said said said. He has said I will never leave you or forsake you. Do you. Does he who supplies the spirit to you right now to free you from the love of money.

Does he who supplies the spirit to you do so by the works of the law I can do this. Or by hearing that no doubt what the answer is. I will never leave you. So we can confidently say the Lord is my helper.

I will not fear. What command do to me. I am free from the craving love of money. To have more security. Because I've got a promise. I've got a word from God. I've got a sword with which to slay covetousness if I believe it.

That's how you live your life. So what's. What's the temptation you face in this afternoon tomorrow or when you go home. What temptation. To sin. To greed. To anger. To covetousness. To lust. What. What are your besetting temptations.

This is. You got to kill them. Got perfection. We've made that clear in the first hour. We're talking about perfection. We're talking a bona fide new direction of warfare by which you are getting victory over sin.

Not perfectly but significantly enough that you see I've been dwelt by the Holy Spirit who enables me to put sin to death. How you gonna do it. This I commend to you is how you kill sin. So we've been on verse 13 and he could have skipped it and just said we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.

But we are debtors to the Spirit to live according to the Spirit. And he didn't say that he introduced one of the most troubling shocking important warnings in the Bible. It's worth a book. John Owen.

Adoption as Children and Heirs of God

Thank you for why is it that if you put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit you will live. Why is that. Because all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. That logic work. Oh it works.

Do you see it. Sons of God don't die. They get glorified heirs of God. Children are heirs of God. Sons are heirs of God fellow heirs with Christ. Provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him.

We don't die eternally. We die physically. We don't die eternally. And sons of God don't die. All who are dead by the Holy Spirit are sons of God. Therefore I'll give you an exam. That would be my question.

Finish that. Therefore everyone who puts the deeds of the body by the Spirit don't die. Here's the here's the necessary premise that needs to be stated. Led by the Spirit is the evidence that you're a son of God.

Sons of God don't die. Therefore if you are led by the Holy Spirit you won't die. Because you're a son of God. Therefore if you put to death to these the body you will live. Therefore I conclude led here means led in to war with sin doesn't mean marry the right person.

There's nothing. That's not what's going on here. Like if you're led by the Spirit to have the right job and led by the Spirit to go to the right ministry and led by the Spirit marry the right person on and on and on.

This is not the point this the connection between verse 13 and 14. Demand this logic. Let me paraphrase it. If you by the Spirit put to death sin you will live because everybody led to put to death seeing is a child of God.

And they don't die. That's the logic. So implication. If you have the Holy Spirit you hate sin. It's one of the marks of the witness. Verse 15. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery. Got another four here.

I just cannot emphasize enough what I discovered when I was 22. And you may discover here that biblical writers argue they don't string verses together. They argue verses argue for verses. Propositions argue for propositions.

And under the inspiration of God. That means it matters to see it. God ordained that we would think about these force for and this. So here for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.

This is how you know that those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. Because you didn't receive the spirit of slavery. God doesn't make slaves but sons. You don't see the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.

But you have received the spirit of adoption of sons adoption of sons not slavery by whom we cry. Abba father you know you might wish I would wish that the very reality of slavery didn't exist pre-civil war slavery sexual slavery today histories of slavery of horrible horrible abuses of people through chattel slavery.

You would wish that didn't exist. But it does exist. And one of the reasons is so that God could say I don't make slaves. I make sense. I don't. I'm I'm creating a family not a slave force that he created the universe to create a family for himself and his son is the older brother.

And the spirit that he's given us cries out Abba father. And that is named that reality is named in verse 16. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

What does that mean. What does that refer to at least two things in this passage. I think it refers to the witness of the Spirit with your spirit that you are a child of God is number one the awakening of a cry daddy.

And I think the word cry is important. You can program a computer to say Abba father. Abba father. That's no proof that the computer is a child of God. See the issue. And humans can say Abba father. And on the last day hear him say I never knew you.

That's why I think he used the word cry. He could have said say said cry Karadzo because he meant it's gonna be real. And the word Abba as you know is a term of endearment and intimacy and preciousness.

And father is a massively strong and helpful supplying protecting term. So you got a cry and you got a little daddy word here. And then just get this massive I care for my children got all that. And when the Holy Spirit produces that in you it's a witness.

You're mine. You are mine. My child here's another way say it. Jesus said unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of God. So behind this word cry here is a genuine spiritual change from self-sufficiency to childlikeness.

I need a daddy. If you if you from your heart feel like I don't I'm not insubordinate to God anymore. I don't have a spine of steel. My neck is no longer stiff my brass is my forehead is no longer brass.

I just a little needy baby. I need somebody to take care of me. I don't have any pretensions anymore being smart or strong. I just need God as my father. That is the Holy Spirit's witness. That's the first thing it means an authentic humble childlike dependent cry to God to be your father.

You are my father I need you. The second meaning I think is to realize that what a witness does is give evidence. That's the first evidence we saw in the awakening of that cry this witness here. And the evidence secondly that I see in this text is what I mentioned earlier in verse 13.

Well 14 and 13 those who are led by the Spirit of God put to death the deeds of the body. If the Holy Spirit is in you he bears witness to his his being there. And you're being a child of adoption by virtue of creating hatred for sin.

So you get these two. You get these two very different emotions that are created in the born-again heart. One is a little child a little tender meek helpless. I need my daddy and the others a lion. I hate you sin.

You dare to kill you all day long. I look for that in people. I look for that combination. I don't like namby-pamby people and I don't like people who are only kill kill kill kill with no tenderness about them at all.

Because the Holy Spirit's witness in you does both. It's one of the reasons is so powerfully evident that you're a child of God. Is that just like Christ puts together diverse excellencies to use the words of Jonathan Edwards human beings led by the Spirit produce diverse.

We are warriors. And we hate sin our sins our sin. And to bend out of shape about the world sin. I expect the world to do wicked things. This born-again man you raise that you raise that up cutting your head off.

At least I'm trying to lean on the Spirit that much and do some erasing here just so we can see these last verses. The Spirit himself bears witness with. I'm at verse 16 the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.

And if children then heirs heirs of God. Fellow heirs with Christ provided we provided we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him. Take a deep breath and be amazed. You really do need to pray as you read the Bible that God would give you the capacities to be amazed.

It's what the psalmist does. Right. Open my eyes that I may behold wonders not just facts wonders out of your law. I see facts and black marks every time I open my Bible. I don't see wonders every time I open my Bible because I'm blind much at the time.