Picture a caged hamster spinning frantically on his wheel. running tirelessly, yet getting absolutely nowhere.
Sound familiar? That's the perfect image of countless Christians today exhausting themselves trying to earn God's approval through endless effort and good works. Today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl unveils the far better method spelled out in Romans 8. God's counterintuitive plan has nothing to do with our frantic spinning. It's about surrender.
releasing our white-knuckled grip and letting the Holy Spirit take over. Isn't it time to quit trying so hard? Chuck called his message, Cultivating a Spirit-Controlled Life. We're in a section of scripture in Romans 8 that is one of those all-important. Places in our Bibles.
And if we're not careful, we'll just Let it pass by. and not realize that this is in fact If not thee, One of the major secrets Of living the life God designed for us to live. He doesn't yell, he doesn't shout, he doesn't scream, he doesn't put it in bold font. He doesn't double-size the letters. He just puts it here and says now.
Read it and then do it. By my power. Romans 8.12.
So then, brethren, we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you are living according to the flesh, You must die. But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, You will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. You have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear.
Again, but you have received a spirit of adoption. as sons by which we cry out, Abba. Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our Spirit that we are children of God. And if Children, heirs also.
Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified. With him. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook by going to insight.org slash offer.
Chuck titled today's message, Cultivating a Spirit-Controlled Life. Ever have the feeling that you have been wrongly programmed? Uh Most of your life, you have thought a certain way about something only to realize that you were way off. Just a long ways off. And as a result, it's made you different than what you could otherwise have been.
Like the man who took the eagle's egg and secretly placed it in the nest of a prairie chicken. alongside her other eggs. And it's no Hen set on the eggs and warmed them up and Stayed there long enough for all of them to hatch. and along with her little chicks, A little iglet popped out. And he looked around.
And he watched and listened and scratched around the dirt and ate stuff from the ground like prairie chickens and Uh Try to learn to cluck. And just uh Every once in a while would Fly low to the ground to get to the other place so he wouldn't be afraid, along with the other chickens. hung around just Being a little prairie chicken, even though he grew up to be a bald eagle. And one day, one bright sunny day, cloudless sky, he looks up. And who?
There is this inimitable sight of an eagle soaring. as only eagles can do in flight. He saw those white feathers and saw that beak and Those eyes. Clause. Wingspan, he said, hey.
Says to his buddy. Let's try that. The chicken said, you kidding, get a life. You're a chicken. That's for eagles.
They soar.
So he just spent the rest of his days. Scratching in the dirt and eating from the ground, and every once in a while, sort of fluttering. Here and there. never soared. Fanciful though that little story is.
It does illustrate a point I want to make as we get started. When God has something better for us, It's a shame. that we never realize it. Or it's a shame that we spend so long not knowing it. And then we look back thinking, Why?
Why? Haven't I been soaring all this time? I've been just S grubbing for worms and clucking. when I could have been soaring. It's like uh When people convince us of the program they want us to believe, they often bolster it by saying that's what the Bible teaches.
This is what the Bible says. For example, God helps those who help themselves. I mean, it's in the Bible. Where? It isn't in the Bible.
That's humanism. It's what someone wants us to believe.
So we'll work really hard to do really good things. Because God helps those who helped him. No, he doesn't. When we get our grubby little hands in the middle of his plan, we mess it up. We foul it up.
We make it more complicated. You know who God helps? The helpless. You know when he comes to your rescue when you can't rescue yourself? You know, when he proves himself God, when you realize you're just a woman, just a man.
God helps the helpless. Here's another one. Just think real positively and everything will turn out right. You know, it's kind of like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Just get a better view.
You're somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly. What a crock. There are no blue birds over a rainbow. I know, I've looked for them. They're not there.
Think all you want to, things don't turn out right. Life's destined toward wrong. and it'll get even worse. and you'll be disillusioned. If you try to, oh, there's your own bootstraps trying to.
Think positively and get it going. Here's another one. The main thing is be sincere. Just believe whatever you wish, and whoever you wish to believe in. Just be sincere.
That's the cult's message. Every cultist today is sincerely following a lie. A lie. Dayton. They don't know it's a lie.
They're programmed to think it's truth. But they're sincere. Never dawned on him that Proverbs teaches there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it are the ways of death. It looks right. I mean, this is the map.
This looks like where we ought to be going. But the map's flawed. It's skewed. Sincerity doesn't correct a bad map. Sincerity doesn't make a false God true.
Sincerity doesn't get anybody to heaven.
Now, so far we're safe. Here's another one. A wife must submit to her husband regardless of what he tells her to do. Right now, you don't know whether to spit or wind your watch, do you? It's a little uneasy moment.
Husband tells a wife to do a wrong thing. She's supposed to do that? Where is that found in the scriptures? And so guys grabbing hold of that submission thing and they just go nuts with it. Boy, I got a wife now.
Just get in line, Tuts. I got the plan for you. That's nonsense. There's a Greek word for it, it's called hog wash. And all the women said, See, we haven't even rehearsed this.
Be careful, man, what you require of your wife, what you ask of her. Don't require anything. Uh what you ask of her. Be careful. She wants to do.
What is right? That's why she walks with God as carefully as she does. When she does, she's still a lot better than you are.
So careful. Here's another one. The ministry. Is the most spiritual of all callings. Bible says that.
No, it never says that. All callings are equally spiritual. My work is not more sacred than yours as an attorney.
Well, as an attorney, I. Just kidding. I'm just kidding. just flashed through my mind. You're called to be a lawyer, you're called.
You're called to be a physician, it's a calling. You're called to be a nurse, it's a calling, no less than my calling to be a minister. You're called to be a homemaker, it's a calling. It's a sacred calling, it's a significant calling. It's the most uh Powerful of all things in your life.
It is your passion, your giftedness, your drive, your interest. It's your calling. My calling is important because it's my calling. But we're all called to do various things, and the variety is just as broad as it can be. I was involved in a camp at Mount Hermon Conference Center years ago and The conference was all about our being called, no matter what, our calling.
And we knew we got the message across when on the last day we had testimonies. And one of the men stood up and we asked him what he did for a living. He said, I'm an ordained plumber. We thought, hot dog, he's got it. All the statements that seem familiar to you, if they don't square with a serious and intelligent and accurate examination of the scriptures, are spurious.
One theologian put it this way: the distinctive mark of theology today is its dreadful ambiguity. The chaos of American theology can be traced back to its roots in the rejection of biblical infallibility. Preaching is not the act of unfolding one's personal convictions. It is the duty of informing men and women of all that God has spoken. To move off from the pages of Scripture is to enter into the wastelands of one's own subjectivity.
Great statement. Scripture plays an important role in the salvation of others. The Bible is a divinely provided map of the spiritual order. It contains the directions and markings to guide a person into reconciliation with God. How good is that statement?
The man who wrote it today doesn't believe it. Which goes to show you that you can know truth and drift from it. After being taught or having taught the true. It's a weird world in which we're living, folks. You gotta be really discerning.
You have to cut through all the pizzaz, all the jazz, all the stuff. that you get from the media. From books you read, from stuff you see on the tube, from things you hear, from the majority opinion, from folks around the office, you got to be discerning. Listen. Pay close attention and then square it with the scriptures.
And if what you heard doesn't, it's wrong. Otherwise, you're going to be terribly confused. You're going to be wrongly programmed. All that to say. When it comes to the Christian life, it can happen there as well.
For example, we believe that when we come to the cross, Jesus paid it all. We trust him as our eternal Savior. He paid the complete penalty for my sins and the sins of others, and I don't have to bring a thing to the cross. I come with empty hands and an open heart, and I trust Christ's death to be a payment for my sin. End of transaction.
I believe in Him, I trust Him, I am saved by the gift of eternal life. by faith alone, in Christ alone, because of His grace alone. No argument. Everybody's got that.
Now, beyond the cross and living the Christian life, whose responsibility is that? Don't answer too quickly, lest you be embarrassed. If Jesus Christ picked up the complete payment for our sin and paid for it all at the cross, doesn't it make sense that He's going to now enable us, empower us to live the life He would have us live, knowing that the only thing we bring to it is an old nature? We bring an adamic, fallen nature to the cross and we say, Lord, I can't pull it off by myself. I need your help.
Thank you for coming into my life and I believe in your Son, Jesus. I trust Him with my eternal salvation. Thank you for giving me the confidence of that assurance and the destiny when I die of home with you.
Now that I've come to Christ. I'm going to trust you to empower me to live a life that you've planned for me, an abundant life. And I can't live that life. All I've got is an old nature.
So the Lord God gives us Places in residence within us the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to live inside our lives. Our lives become His address. Our mind becomes His mind. Our will can become His will. Our purposes, or his purposes.
unless we rely on the old nature.
So, if I look at the very basis of it and I ask, whose responsibility is it? It's God's responsibility to empower me, and He does. I cooperate with him in choosing to do as he directs. Let me show you, for example, over in Ephesians chapter 2. Go past the Corinthian letters.
Pass the Galatian letter, get to Ephesians, and find chapter 2, and you know where I'm going to have you turn. 2, 8, and 9. Very familiar verses. Many Christians have known the Lord so long their lips move when you read Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. Very familiar verses.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. That is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Hallelujah. How good is that?
Is that all there is to it? Look at the next verse. It starts with four.
Now I feel sorry for verse 10. Everybody has memorized Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. Very few can quote verse 10, but look at what it says about the Christian life. Four.
Now that we're in Christ, we're not boasting, we're just grateful for salvation. For we are His workmanship, we're His handiwork, we're His project. We're created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared beforehand.
so that we would walk in then. How good is that? He prepared my salvation beforehand. He prepared my sanctification beforehand. He is ready to empower it start to finish.
I just got to keep the old nature out of the picture. Keep it out of the way.
Now, go to Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. Go to the next letter. Just says it even more clearly. 1:6, I am confident of this very thing. That he who began a good work in you That's the Lord God.
will perfect it. It means bring it to completion. Until the day of Christ Jesus. That's the plan God has for His children, every one of us. We've come to Him and to His Son by faith, and now the Lord says, Now I have a plan.
It will unfold. You walk with me, I'll give you all the strength, all the power, all the patience, all the will needed to pull it off. It's going to be Until the day of Christ Jesus. There's one more I want you to look at: 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. This letter comes just before 2 Thessalonians, in case you hadn't.
Found it yet? I wanted to help you out. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:14. where he starts with an urgent request or command. I urge you, brethren.
And we would add cisterns. I urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the unruly, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Those are commands directed to us. I mean, that's a lifetime right there. Look at 15.
See that no one repays another with evil for evil. Look at 16. Rejoice always. Try to pull that off in the flesh. 17.
Pray without ceasing. You've never done that. in the flesh. You get tired after five minutes. I used to think if I kept my eyes closed any longer than five minutes, they'd stick.
So, I can't pray that long. I'm not able to do that. But he says, pray without ceasing. It's the idea of with the fervency of a hacking cough. Praying regularly, continually, continually.
In everything give thanks. Verse 19. Don't quench the spirit. Verse 21, examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good.
22, abstain from every form of evil. That's the way we like to begin our day. That's exactly what we plan to do, and we're going to do it in the energy of the flesh, and we fail. We don't get two hours into the day before all of our great hopes sitting on the side of the bed are dashed. Why?
Because we didn't read 23 and 24.
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you. Entirely. Don't miss it. May your spirit, soul, and body be preserved complete without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he who calls you.
He also We'll bring it to pass. Is that good? He has called you to be his own. His Spirit resides in you, back to Romans 8, and now He is engaged in bringing it to pass. He is giving you the fuel for the engine to run its course as you carry out His will.
And you say to Him regularly and faithfully, not my sin, my sin, my sin, but Christ, Christ. Christ, you're my all in all. Christ today is yours. Lord Jesus Christ, I place myself at your disposal. Christ, you live your life through me, and my response is going to be of the flesh.
Stop it before it gets started. Guard my voice box so I say what I ought to say. My lips so that they utter the right words. Guard my eyes so I look at what I ought to be looking at. Guarding my feet so I walk where I ought to walk.
Guard my will so I obey what I ought to obey. I'm yours, Christ. In fact, my old nature is dead, and I'm alive in Christ, and it's yours, Lord, to live out through me. And this means even when dealing with difficult people. This means even when handling difficult situations.
He wants to do it entirely through us. And so we consciously say, Lord, it's yours. You see, the way we were programmed is like this. I haven't known Christ 10 minutes, this is not an exaggeration. I was a little boy in a church, and after being baptized, the pastor of that church said to me, Now, little Charles, I want to explain something to you.
You are still a sinner. I thought he's telling me. And so he assures me, I'm still a sinner. I'm not now suddenly, you know, super duper. He says, you're still going to have sin, and it's going to come.
So as soon as it comes, confess it to him. I said, okay, yes, sir. He said, now remember, every night, Go back over your day and remember. Remember the sins and confess your sins.
Well, I rolled up my sleeves and got ready to send. He never once said, you know what, little Charles? You now have living within you the presence of the living God. You have the Lord Jesus Christ. You have the Holy Spirit living inside your life.
Sin is no longer to conquer you. You can live beyond that drag.
Now, there will be times when you blow it. When you do, bring it to him and he'll forgive you. But your focus is not on at the end of every day, okay, today, Lord, I was close to road rage. I drove too fast. I almost ran that, I did run that light.
And Help him not to have taken a picture of me when I ran that light. And uh Lord. I responded in a wrong way, and I bring that to you. Let's see, something else. I didn't pray before lunch, and Lord, I'm bringing that sin to you.
And on and on and on and on and on. Nonsense! That's not the Christian life. That was never meant to be the Christian life. But we, because we are so sin conscious, turn this whole thing around and it becomes the tail that wags the dog.
We're a bunch of prairie chickens, but in fact we're made to soar like eagles. God gave us His Spirit.
So we don't have to live like we lived before the cross. We couldn't help it then.
Now there's an energy, there's a power, there's a fuel, there's a full tank that never goes even half empty. He's called the Holy Spirit.
Now, all of that is introduction. Verse 12 of Romans chapter 8.
Okay, we're going to get into this, and it won't take a lot of time because you're already tracking with me.
So then, brethren and sisters, we are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. See the word obligation, that's a very important word. It means restricted to a particular mode of life. We are not restricted to a mode of life of the flesh. We are not bound legally to the flesh.
We were before Christ. We are not now. We were freed from that binding, that bond that once glued us to it. We couldn't help but lust. We couldn't help but feel greedy.
We couldn't help but compete. We couldn't help but focus on ourselves. We couldn't help but be selfish. But Christ has made a difference. Christ has come in, and with Christ has come the whole package, including the Holy Spirit, all the empowerment needed to live a life that's different from what we once lived.
As Christians, we're not obligated to live according to the flesh. Instead, we're empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in victory. The key is to let God lead by consciously yielding control to the Holy Spirit each day. trusting him to provide the wisdom, patience, and strength needed for every situation. This is Insight for Living.
There's much more that Chuck Swindahl wants to teach us on this topic. He titled today's message Cultivating a Spirit-Controlled Life. Here at Insight for Living, we don't know what kind of issues you might bring to this program each day. Maybe your thoughts are consumed with a bad habit that you can't seem to control. Perhaps your mind goes into a loop, rehearsing disappointments and resentment.
Whatever the case, we invite you to go all in on your study of Romans. By doing so, you'll begin drawing strength from the wellspring of wisdom that's offered in passages like Romans chapter 8. To guide your personal study, the Insight Mobile app provides Chuck's sermons on the Roman series for free. This allows you to access the sermons at your own pace and convenience. Just download the Insight mobile app from your favorite app store and start listening today.
We're also pleased to offer a special PDF download that features the fifth chapter of Chuck's biography of Abraham, the patriarch of the faith. In this highly personal chapter, Chuck describes how Abraham cultivated his friendship with God. and the benefits that followed. Chuck wrote, The Lord has your future blessings all planned out, ready to be released when your spirit is mature enough to receive them. This time-limited offer is available to our current monthly companions and anyone who decides to become a monthly companion today.
A monthly companion agrees to give an automated contribution every month. You set the amount that's best for you. And you can set this up right now by calling us at 800-772-8888. or go to insight.org slash monthly companion. I'm Bill Meyer.
Join us when Chuck Swindahl continues to describe how to deploy the life-changing power of the Holy Spirit. Thursday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Cultivating a Spirit-Controlled Life, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl Incorporated.
All rights are reserved worldwide. duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
