Victory Over Sin & Death

I'm going to open to Romans chapter 8, and really I would like to start with verse 24, because the chapter 7 leads on into chapter 8.

! And you then will remember what we said about verse 24, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

And then comes the answer, 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.

And then I want to get on into chapter 8, verse 1, and I'm going to read all the way through to verse 13. Okay? There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did.

I love that. God did. And how did he do it? By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Not that he was sinful flesh, by the way, but in the likeness of sinful flesh.

On account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. For those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God.

For it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin.

But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.

Through his Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, but to live according to the flesh.

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.

Now, that's a pretty lengthy passage and a lot to cover in one night. And I'm going to have to skip a few things that I would love to dwell on. But getting into chapter 8, one of my favorite chapters in the book of Romans.

Though, by the way, we do live in chapter 7 too. All right. We deal with sin and the temptations of sin and the flesh and these things.

But we also, praise God, live in chapter 8. And someone has said this about Romans chapter 8. That it is the high water mark in the letter to the Romans.

The high water mark. That comes close to the middle. But that's not why it's called that. It's called that because when you enter into chapter 8, you come into it with this declaration.

No condemnation from God. That's what we have in verse 1. Then when you get to the close of chapter 8, you have no separation from God. And that's verse 35.

And in between, I guess we could sum it up with verse 28. All things work together for good. So it's a great chapter in God's Word. And really, when you think about it, how could we have it any better than that?

Now, tonight, we're going to be looking at, again, the first 13 verses of this chapter. And the subject is, I guess we could sum it up this way. It is victory over sin and death.

It's the victory. And so I want us to see two things tonight. And then the next time we get together, which will probably not be next Sunday. At least for me.

You'll be here. And Brother Ralph Dersham, Lord willing. And he gives us the day he's going to be preaching. And I wish I could be here to hear him. But the next time we get together, I'll give you a third thing out of this chapter.

But the two that we're going to look at tonight, I would put it this way. Through faith in Jesus Christ, there is now a new law at work in our lives.

I use the word law because it starts with L and that will become apparent when I give you the second point. But law, we might call it a new principle. All right.

A new principle operating in our lives as believers. A new law. And then two, through faith in Jesus Christ, we have a new Lord. Or we might use the word master.

Master. And then next time we get together and get back into Romans, we'll talk about a new life. All right. So a new law, a new Lord. And so let's look at these two tonight. First of all, the new or a new law or principle that's at work, that's operating in our lives.

And we learn about that in the first four verses of chapter eight. I read it a moment ago, but I'm going to read it again. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

And by the way, that's the second time in those verses we have in Christ. We'll get back to that here in just a minute. The law of the spirit of life. That's this new law, this new principle operating in our lives.

It's the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do that do in that it was weak through the flesh.

And we'll talk about that here in a minute. God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin. He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

Now, this is this new law, this new principle, this new thing that's working now, effectively working in our lives. As believers, we operate under this new law.

And according to this new law, there's freedom. Freedom. A new freedom. A complete, in a sense, a complete freedom. Now, what are the elements of this new law according to these four verses?

Well, there are several of them described here. The first one is this. There is no condemnation for sin under this new law. This new principle.

No condemnation for sin. And that, you know, favorite, you know, famous verse there in verse one. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Now, we need to talk about that, that those two words or that expression in Christ. By the way, in Christ, or that expression is one of Paul's favorites.

You find it so many times throughout his epistles. But what does it mean? I mean, what does it really mean? I mean, we know to a point, but maybe we've not really considered it in its fullest or the fullest meaning of this expression in Christ.

It means that the believer, upon his or her conversion, is then brought into a new sphere of existence.

And that sounds almost kind of new agey, doesn't it? You know, kind of mystical. It's not. We're brought into a new sphere of existence.

It's not something that you see. You know, you're not looking around and saying, hey, there's something new around me now. It's not really something you feel or sense. I mean, you sense it in the sense of your relationship with Christ.

But it's not an experiential thing. It is a position, a standing before God. We are now, as believers, as born-again believers, we are now in Christ.

Actually in him. That is, in the sphere of Christ. And this sphere is Christ. And we are in him. Let me give you an Old Testament illustration that goes right along with something we were looking at this morning in 1 Peter 3.

And the illustration comes from Noah, and specifically the ark. Perfect example. Perfect illustration. In fact, it's meant to be an illustration, or really the stronger word would be an antitype.

Or it prefigured this truth, this reality of which Paul is speaking here in chapter 8. And so when Noah and his sons finished the ark there, it provided, obviously, and we know this to be true, it provided the one and only way of escape from the flood.

Which, by the way, of course, you know, was the divine wrath of God upon sinful mankind. The flood. The ark was the only way of escape. The only way. And when they were finished with the ark, God issued an invitation.

And we find it in Genesis 7, 1. You don't need to turn to it. You probably know it. As soon as I start to say it, you'll say, oh, yeah, remember, here's the invitation. God said, come into the ark. You and all your household.

Come into it. In fact, I think there is all right to make much of the idea that God said, come in. Now, there's some translations that that say go or enter, but the word really is come in.

The idea is come into the ark, meaning God's already in there. But he says, come into. But the point I want to emphasize tonight is not the word come, but the word in into.

He said, come into the ark, you, Noah, and your entire household. And so the ark then would protect them and deliver them from the wrath of God.

Simple. That's how we understand the story, don't we? And it prefigured Christ, of course. Now, you may not have known that the ark. Well, you know this if you've read the account, but, you know, the ark was sealed with a certain substance.

You remember? I heard it pitch. And that's what it says. It says, in fact, that comes pretty much from the language. And it's translated that way in nearly every version of the Bible that I have consulted.

It's pitch. Genesis 6, 14. These were God's instructions to Noah. He says, cover it. Inside and outside.

It is covering the outside of the ark. The construction of it. Cover it inside and outside with pitch. That's what he was told to do. And that's what he did. The word pitch is an interesting word.

It has a dual usage. I mean, it's used certainly to refer to a substance, a tarry substance. We're not really exactly sure what it was made of.

But obviously, from the pure material side or practical side, it was a substance that would seal the ark so that the water could not get in. All right.

The word pitch is a Hebrew word that also means and is used elsewhere in the Bible and is translated atonement.

Now, how do we get pitch, this messy, tardy stuff? How does that also mean in another place, in another usage, atonement?

That's just what the name means. It's, by the way, the Hebrew word kafir. And it means the price of a life. Isn't that interesting?

That God said, take the pitch and cover the ark inside and outside with this pitch. And it means, the word means the price of a life or a ransom.

A ransom. Or atonement. And so I think here's the idea. And I think God chose that word to be used here in its dual meaning.

Because here's the idea. And it's very clear, especially when you consider that the ark is to prefigure an antitype of Christ our salvation. Between, in between, standing between God's beloved inside the ark.

And the waters of judgment on the outside of the ark. In between those two was the pitch. The atonement. The price of a life.

And so now, once Noah and his family were safely inside the ark, the Bible then says in Genesis 7, 16, the Lord shut him in.

Shut him in. And so, Noah and his family are completely safe and secure inside the ark.

See? Secure and safe from what? The waters on the outside. The waters signifying and being the instrument of God to judge the world.

And the pitch was between them and that judgment. And they were safe, secure inside the ark. Now, what it meant...

Here's what we need to get, and I think you already got it. What it meant for Noah and his family to be in the ark, it means for us to be in Christ. To be in him.

You see? And so, the moment we, you, me, the moment, through faith, we place our trust in Jesus Christ as our only Lord and Savior, God places us in the ark.

Of course, it's in Christ. In the sphere of Christ, where the wrath, the righteous and holy wrath of God towards sin cannot reach us.

It cannot reach us because of the atonement. Christ's sacrifice, his blood sacrifice upon that cross. His ransom paid for a price.

Or for a life. And so, we're secure in Christ. The sphere is Christ. And so, there is therefore now no more condemnation to those who are in Christ. In Christ.

In Christ. See? Peter said, I think it was Peter. Peter said, in Christ, the hope of glory. Now, notice something else.

There's no more condemnation. We're talking about this new principle that's operating now in our lives as believers. There's no more condemnation for sin. Second, there need be no more control by sin.

And in a sense, in a very real sense, there is no more control, mastery of sin, unless you make the choice to allow that in your life.

But there's no more control in the sense of slavery to sin under this new law. Verse 2. Where am I?

Over here. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Made me free from the law of sin and death.

No more control over me. No more control of sin. It's been said that when a lost person or lost people sin, they are doing what comes natural.

But when a born-again believer or born-again believers sin, they're doing what comes unnatural. And that is true. And so there need to be no more control of sin.

And why is that? Because the new law, this new law active in our life now, the law of the spirit of God, of the Lord, this new law has set us free from the old law.

Now, the old law is the power of sin and death. Or sin resulting to death. That's the power of the old law. The old covenant.

The old law. It has the power of sin and death. The new law is the law of the spirit. And it sets us free from the power of the old law. Now, please understand, it's not because the law is sinful.

It's not because the law is sin itself or death itself. The problem is not the law. The problem is our sinful flesh. Our fallen nature.

And therefore, because of that, the power of the law is only death. Because why? Because we can't be perfect. We can't keep the law.

And so its power over us is death. And so then in Christ, because we've now been freed from that under this new law, you can now say no to sin.

Did you know that? Did you know that you had no power before that? But you have now the power to say no to sin. In Christ, you do not need to be controlled by your flesh.

In Christ, you can say, like I heard one man say, I sin all I want to. You can say that. But he also said, I just don't want to.

Just don't want to. All right. So now notice quickly something else. No more condemnation. No more control. And third, under this new principle, this new law, there should be no more continuing in sin.

No more continuing in sin. Verses 3 and 4. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin.

He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Now, deliverance from the condemnation and control of sin could never come through our own efforts.

Not something we could just, you know, muster up the strength to do. Our own efforts in the sense of our own efforts toward keeping the law, the Old Testament law.

No condemnation could not come that way because the law was weak through the flesh. The law could not accomplish that. So you could try all you want to, to keep the law, but it would never justify you.

It would never take away the condemnation, the control of sin, because the law was weak through the flesh. And so we simply cannot live up to the demands of God's holy law.

And why is that? Because, again, of our flesh. I'm being redundant and we need to be, we need to understand how this works. It works. Our flesh, it's weak and it's helpless.

I'll give you an illustration. In fact, it's an illustration from J. Vernon McGee. And I've always liked J. Vernon McGee. I don't know if you have his commentaries, but you probably have heard his radio program over the years.

Of course, he's been dead for a number of years now, but he's still preaching through the Bible. Isn't that amazing? But he gave an illustration. And I'll have to apologize to you women here in advance. But he said it's kind of like this.

He said it's like the woman who went home and she got out of the refrigerator a roast and she's going to cook this roast. She puts it in the pan and puts it in the oven, sets the temperature, and then she gets a phone call.

And she answers the phone and it's so-and-so and she has something to tell her. Something she didn't know before. And so she pulled up a chair, sat down and talked with this lady on the phone.

Translation, there was gossip coming through on the phone. All right, that's what he's getting at. In fact, he said someone has defined a woman as one who pulls up a chair when the phone rings. Okay, ladies, I'm sorry.

All of you are looking really mad now. But J. Vernon McGee said that I didn't. All right. Guys also pull up the chair when they talk on the phone, too. All right. And so she's talking and listening and listening and forgets about the time.

And her roast is cooking. And pretty soon it's almost burned. A little bit overdone. And so she said, oh, I've got to go check on the roast. And she runs to the oven and she opens the door.

Indeed, it's cooked a little bit too long. And so she pulls out the pan and she's going to get it out. So she grabs the fork and she sticks that in there and pulls up and the fork just comes right through the meat.

She can't pick the meat up with the fork. Why? Because the flesh is weak. That's his words. And so she gets out a spatula, puts it under the meat and picks up the roast with the spatula.

All right. Now you're wondering how in the world does this illustrate? Well, that was kind of my question when I first read this of Dr. McGee. But here's how he applied it.

He said the law is like that fork. Weak. Through the flesh. No, no. He's not trying to be funny. I mean, he's making the analogy of the illustration.

It won't lift us up. It can't lift us up because the flesh is weak. Now, there's nothing wrong with the fork. All right. It operates just like fork does.

Likewise, nothing wrong with the law. Something is wrong with the flesh. See. But a new law is introduced. The spirit of Christ.

And what the old law, the fork, could not do. The new law, the spatula. And it's a very, very crude illustration. The spatula can.

And so what our flesh could never, ever, ever accomplish. Christ accomplished for us through his flesh on the cross.

And so how do we apply that? Don't continue in sin. Just don't continue there. Walk not after the flesh. Leave that behind.

And not just once and for all. It's something you must do every single day. Do not walk in the flesh because the flesh is weak. The new law, the law of the spirit of life in Christ, has provided a better way.

Walk after the spirit. Now that leads us naturally into verse 5. Maybe not real naturally, but we're going there anyway. And there we have a second thing.

Not only a new law, but also a new lord. Or master. And that new lord or master is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit indwelling us. Now, you're going to find, if you count it up, and I did, you're going to find out that the Holy Spirit, the mention of the Holy Spirit in chapter 8 occurs 19 times.

The Holy Spirit is a very important part of what Paul is trying to teach us here about this. And so the new lord or master in the believer's life is the Holy Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit is to be in control of the believer's life. The Holy Spirit, as you yield to him, he is in control.

The Holy Spirit is to be in control, first of all, according to Paul here, to be in control of the mind. The mind of the believer. Verse 5.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit, and you can insert minds or set their minds, because the idea is there, set their minds on what?

The things of the Spirit. All right, so the word mind appears here. And let me just go on. Therefore, to be carnally minded, there's the word mind again, is death.

But to be spiritually minded is what? Life. Life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be.

All right, so we have the word mind appearing there in a number of places. Now, there are two uses of this word mind. I think both are implied here.

Really, really fit here. In one sense, Paul's talking about obedience. Talking about obedience. If it's not what he's saying explicitly, it's certainly implied.

Obedience. I mean, like the mother who's upset with her son because he does not, quote, mind me. He's not obeying me. That's what she says. You know, I call him and he won't come until I call him three or four times.

I know none of your kids have ever been like that. Jonathan, of course, has never been like that. He always comes the first time. You're welcome, son.

But, you know, sometimes we say that we say, my son, my daughter just won't mind me. Or we say you mind your father or your mother.

And what we mean is obedience. Obey. Now, Paul says that the Holy Spirit, then, if we use that sense or that definition of the word mind, then he's saying that the Holy Spirit is to be obeyed.

We're to obey him. We're to mind the things of the Holy Spirit. At least that's what he says second. That's what he's saying we are to do. But now, in the greater sense, the mind, the word mind is a reference to, guess what, thought processes.

That would be the clearest understanding of the word mind. The way our mind thinks, our thought processes, and more specifically, our desires. And in the first sense, it's the desires of our flesh.

Or to put it simply, Paul is talking about, and he uses these words, the carnal mind. The carnal mind. Or the flesh with its desires and its cravings and so forth.

And so verse 5, again, says, for those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh. And this refers to a couple of things at least.

It first is referring to how the carnal mind works. Or the exercising of the carnal mind. That is, the mind that sets itself to obey and to desire the things of the flesh.

The exercise of the carnal mind. That's what he's talking about here in verse 5. First part of it, anyway. That is, minding the things of the flesh. Or feeding the desires of our flesh.

And what are those things, by the way? Well, Paul, matter of fact, gives us a list of them. In Galatians chapter 5 and verse 19, just listen to this terrible, awful list.

He says, now the works of the flesh are. They're evident. They're evident. You see them every day. Which are adultery. I hope you don't see that one every day.

Fornication. Uncleanness. Lewdness. Idolatry. Sorcery. Hatred. Contentions. Jealousies.

Outbursts of wrath. Selfish ambitions. Dissensions. Heresies. He just keeps going on and on. Envy. Murderers.

Drunkenness. Revelries. And the like. That is, he did list everything there. And the like. Just as I told you in the time past. Alright?

So here, these are the things of the flesh. The desires and cravings of the flesh. Or at least some of them. And some of these are obviously categories. And there are a number of things that fall under each category there.

And so the flesh, you see, is our Lord. Or used to be our Lord. And still, though today, we can submit to him again.

Or her. The flesh as Lord. But the flesh must be dethroned. And now, because of our salvation. Because of our new life in Christ.

We have a new Lord. A new Master. It's the Holy Spirit. And Paul says here in verse 5. But those who live according to the Spirit. What do they do?

They mind the things of the Spirit. The exercise of the carnal mind. And then he goes on to deal with the, not only the exercise of the carnal mind. But the error of the carnal mind.

Verse 6. To be carnally minded is death. It's death. I want to tell you something. Minding the desires of the flesh.

Always leads to death of some kind. The flesh desires alcohol. Or drugs. And you feed it.

And you will most likely die. If not totally. Part of you will. The flesh desires, say, extramarital relationships.

Marital affairs. Feed it. And your family will die. The flesh desires self-rule. In your life.

And the indulgence. Into all kinds of sin. You feed it. And your fellowship with God. Will die. He may take you out of this world too.

So you see. Listen. Our old Lord. Our flesh. Is self-destructive. And we have a new Lord now though. The Holy Spirit. And he brings.

According to Paul. He brings life. Not death. It brings life. And peace. So the exercise of the carnal mind. The error of the carnal mind. And then. He mentions.

Comes right out of the text. The enmity of the carnal mind. Verse 7. The carnal mind. Is enmity against God.

Enmity against him. At odds with him. Enemies of God. And you know. You can find in the Bible. Numerous examples of this.

How about Abraham marrying Hagar. How'd that work out for him? How'd it work out for our world today? As a matter of fact.

Or. Lot choosing. To go live in Sodom. Great idea. How'd that work out for him? Not too good.

Or Moses. And all these are examples. Of the flesh. Guiding. Now certainly you could find. Clearly in scripture. How God. Worked his grace.

And his redemption. Through even. Man's fleshly. Decisions. But each of these. People suffered. How about Moses. Killing the Egyptian.

Did that work out for him? No. It did. Only worked out great. For God's plan. But God used it. King Saul. How about King Saul.

Sparing. The. Amalekite king. When God had commanded him. To destroy all of the Amalekites. Not save any of them. And yet. Saul.

Spared the king. And also. Some of his choice. Livestock. And. How'd that work out for. Saul. Kingdom was ripped out. From him.

And he was no longer king. Given to. Another. Jonah. Fleeing. To Tarshish. To get away from God. That didn't turn out. Too well for him.

Got swallowed by a whale. And. You know. So. See. Listen. The only way. To avoid. This. Inmity. Between the flesh. And the spirit.

Is to have. The mind of Christ. That's. Paul's point here. And the only way. To have the mind of Christ. Is to allow the spirit of Christ. To control your mind. And so.

We have. A new Lord. The Holy Spirit. First. The Holy Spirit. Controls the mind. Of the believer. Second. Now. The Holy Spirit. Controls. The motives. This is.

Number two. The main outline. The Holy Spirit. Controls. The motives. Of the believer. Verses eight and nine. So then.

Those who are in the flesh. Cannot please God. Just can't do it. But you're not in the flesh. But in the spirit. If indeed. The spirit of God. Dwells in you. Now. If anyone.

Does not have the spirit of Christ. He is not. He is. And by the way. Just a side note. That. That. Really goes against. Some. Theologies.

That. The Holy Spirit. Coming. Into the life. Is a second blessing. That happens. Subsequent. To your salvation. But here.

It says. If you don't have the spirit. You're not even saved. All right. So. When you're saved. The Holy Spirit. Comes to dwell in you. At that very moment. And then. From there. There on out.

All right. That's not the point. Of this. Necessarily. The idea is. Is to be in the flesh. Is to be motivated. By the desires. Of the flesh.

And so. Complete. Surrender. Yielding. To the Holy Spirit. Is the only way. To bring our motives. In check.

With God's word. And to make sure. That our motives. And the actions. That result. Are pleasing to God. And how do we do that? The way we do that. Is to put everything. In our lives.

Everything. Our thoughts. Our. Our motives. Our. Desires. Our actions. Bring everything. In our lives. And place it.

Under. The light. Of God's. Word. So. The light. Of God's. Word. Shines. On everything. In me.

To check. My motives. As well. As my actions. I. Found this poem. Some years ago. And I. Don't even know. Who wrote it. But. Here's how it goes.

It really is a prayer. Search me. Oh God. My actions. Try. Try. That is.

Try them. Test them. And let. My. Life. Appear. As. Seen. By. Thine. All. Searching. Eye. To mine.

My ways. Make clear. Search all my senses. And know my heart. Who only canst. Make. Make known.

That is. You can only make these known. And let the deep. The hidden part. To me. Be fully shown. Throw light. Into the darkened.

Cells. Not. Skin cells. Or body cells. But. Places that have been. Set aside. And. Held private. And locked. The empty cells.

Where passion. Reigns. Within. Quicken. My. Conscience. Till it feels. The. Loath. Them. Loath. Loath.

Someness. Of sin. Search. All my thoughts. And secret springs. The motives. That control. The chambers. Where polluted things.

Hold empire. Or. The soul. That's a tremendous. Poem. It probably takes. Number of reading. Before we get it. Such old English. That's the idea. And.

Do. Do we dare do that. As believers. We'd better. Make ourselves so vulnerable. Before God. To open. Our. Our lives.

So that they're open books to God. Not that. Not that he does not already know. What's there. The point is. So that we will see. What he sees. And to. In that sense.

Ask God to turn on that searchlight. And it's the searchlight of his word. It's like a spotlight. In the word of God. It searches. Our heart.

Our minds. Our motives. Our desires. Our ambitions. Our cravings. All of these things. To control. To control. The motives.

Of the believer. And then third. And finally. We have a new Lord. The Holy Spirit. And the purpose is to control. The members. Of the believer. Control.

The members. Of the believer. And I'm talking about the body. Our body. Our flesh. See. Listen. Because of sin. The body. Is subject to death.

It is. Not just in a spiritual sense. But it's subject to death. In the ordinary course of things. All right. We're mortal. And so. We're living.

In a dying world. Aren't we? Death is all around us. And our bodies. Are slowly dying. That's where we're headed. Physically. And that's because of sin.

That our bodies. See corruption. We're mortals. But the spirit. Of the believer. Is made alive. Made alive.

By the Holy Spirit. And that happens. At regeneration. And in that sense. We're mortal. One day. At the resurrection.

Of Christ. Or our resurrection. Resurrection rather. Our bodies. Then will be raised. And will be raised. Immortal. And.

Sinless. But until then. The Holy Spirit. Can give. Us. Victory. Over our. Members.

Our bodies. Our flesh. Right now. Until the resurrection. We can still. Yield. And submit. Ourselves. To the control.

Of the Holy Spirit. So that every. Member. Of our body. Our. Hands. And arms. And feet. And ears. And mouth. Especially. And our eyes.

And our minds. And all these things. Can come under. The control. Of the Holy Spirit. And we can see. Victory. Every day. Even. Even. Over the flesh.

Later. Paul is going to tell us. In Romans 12. One. That famous passage. To present. He's going to tell us. To present. Our bodies. As living sacrifices. Our bodies. The members.

Of our body. We're to submit them. Present them. Lay them on the altar. As living sacrifices. Holy. And acceptable. And to God. Paul tells us.

In 1 Corinthians. Chapter 3. And verse 16. That our members. That is our body again. Our members. Our body. Is the temple. Of God. And that the spirit.

Of God. Dwells. In us. Now the Holy Spirit. Indwells. His holy temple. And therefore. He desires. Complete sovereignty. Over that temple.

Over. His temple. That is our body. And so. When he is in control. Then we can have. Victory. Over sins. Especially those sins.

Specifically those sins. That pertain to the way. We use our bodies. Alright. So. In Christ. We have a new. Law. It is. The freedom. From the law. Of sin and death.

In Christ. We have a new. Lord. New master. The Holy Spirit. Of God. Submit to him. Submit to him. Mind him. Call upon him.

Paul says. In Colossians 3. One. If you then. Are risen with Christ. Seek those things. Which are above. Set your affection. On things.

Above. Thank you.