The Spirit: The Greatest Chapter in the Bible

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. You understand the Spirit of God is not merely trying to curb your behavior. The Spirit of God didn't show up and say, stop it, cut it out. The Spirit of God changes your heart so that you begin to desire God's will.

God is not just after obedience, Paul tells us. He's after a whole new kind of obedience, a Spirit-fueled obedience that comes from the Spirit-fighting sin in your life. Welcome back to Summit Life with Pastor J.D. Greer.

As always, I'm your host, Molly Vidovitch. Have you ever been confused by the role of the Holy Spirit? You know, many Christians repeat familiar phrases about the Spirit, but they still don't know exactly what they mean.

And there seems to be so much confusion about what the Spirit actually does for us. Today, Pastor J.D. teaches why the Holy Spirit is necessary, where He leads us, and how He gives us assurance that we are not slaves who need to be afraid, but rather we are sons and daughters who stand secure in God's love. So grab your pen and your Bible and let's listen in as we return to Romans chapter 8.

Here's Pastor J.D. Romans chapter 8, the greatest chapter in the Bible. This is a precious chapter of the Bible.

Believers in the worst conditions imaginable throughout history in every different continent on earth from all different cultures have found this to be maybe the most encouraging text of Scripture that we find in all of the Bible. Romans chapter 8, Bible scholar N.T. Wright calls Romans 8 a veritable feast of Pauline themes that carries the power of the gospel in every verse. He says if the church would just hoist its sails and catch the wind of Romans 8, there is no telling what would happen in the world as a result.

For some of you that are more into the classical arts, you might know that Johann Sebastian Bach composed an entire cantata based solely off of this chapter he thought it was so powerful in its beauty and its power. All right well despite the fact that it is so beloved as a chapter, there is some difference of opinion among Bible scholars about what the theme of Romans 8 actually is. Many say it's the Spirit of God because the Spirit is mentioned 17 different times in Romans 8.

So obviously they say the Spirit is the primary theme. However, other scholars contend that it's all about assurance. I mean just think if you know anything about Romans 8. Think of the many great verses in Romans 8 about assurance. Romans 8 one there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8 verse 16 the Spirit in our heart testifies to our spirit that we are the children of God and cries out Abba Father in us. Romans 8 28 we know that he's working all things together for good. Romans 8 32 we know that nothing can separate us from the from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And they're like obviously it's about assurance. So which is it? Is Romans 8 about the Spirit or is Romans 8 about assurance?

Should we do a little vote here? Obviously the best way to understand this is to put the two together and understand that the theme of Romans 8 is about the assurance that you and I have in the Spirit. Assurance in the Christian life comes from intimacy with the Spirit. The Spirit's primary role in your life.

You want to know what it is? The primary role in your life is not to tell you what college to go to, not to tell you who to date, not to tell you various tips you need in life. The primary role of the Spirit is to give you assurance that you belong to God. So the question to ask from Romans 8 is this. How exactly does the Spirit give us assurance?

How does it give us assurance? Because that's what the rest of Romans 8 is all about. Now listen this is going to be so helpful for you because it's going to answer so many questions that some of you have about how to relate to the Spirit of God. This chapter is full of little phrases that Christians sometimes repeat but honestly, candidly, are not quite sure exactly what they mean. For example, we read a verse like Romans 8 26, the Spirit intercedes for us in groanings that cannot be uttered.

And people are like, I don't even know what that means. Does that mean if I had like spiritual ears we'd hear these whale sounds? Well you know it's coming out of my heart and that's the Spirit making groanings that cannot be uttered?

Or verse 16, the Spirit testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children. And Christians sometimes wonder, a lot of times they won't vocalize this kind of doubt, but they're like, what does that, how exactly does the Spirit testify to us? Does that mean you like hear a voice every once in a while inside of you that whispers, hey you're really a true Christian?

Because some of you would say, I'm not sure I've ever actually heard that voice. In fact, if there is a voice, and this is me JD talking now, if there is a voice inside me talking like that, I feel like half the time it's telling me you're not really a Christian. And I feel like that voice is whispering, hey you got everybody else fooled, maybe even have yourself fooled, you talk a big game and you act the part really well, but I know what's going on in your heart and you're not actually a true Christian, I don't think you're really saved.

So you're like, is that what it is? Maybe I'm not a Christian or is Paul talking about like a peaceful, easy feeling that you know just won't let you down, that just comes over you out of nowhere. And you're like, I'm not sure if that's a Bible verse or the lyrics to an Eagle song, I really genuinely can't remember, but I don't have peaceful, easy feelings that come over me. In fact, usually the feelings that come over me are unpeaceful, worried feelings that tell me that everybody's letting me down.

And so, is that what it's talking about? Is it the serene feeling? How do you know the Spirit of God is inside of you? What does it feel like for him to testify to you?

What does the movement of the Spirit in you feel like? I've told you, so many Christians are confused by this and listen, the Spirit of God does a lot of things and I'm not trying to define or contain everything he does, but you know, I told you of a guy I knew of in college who was a friend of a friend who, he owned this recording studio. And as part of his recording studio, he would give time for free to aspiring startup Christian artists.

It was just his way of serving the kingdom. And so, he said he had this one lady come in and he said, man, he said, she came in, she asked for two or three hours and I gave it to her. And he said, she brought a little prayer posse with her. And he said, I thought that was great. He said, you know, I hit record, she gets all set up, puts the headphones on, she starts singing. He says, man, I'm gonna take it.

She was actually really good. It was sounding really good. He said, about two minutes in though, she suddenly rips the headphones off and she says, it's no use. He's not here, he's not here. And he says, I was looking around like, who's not here?

I'm here. And she's like, the Spirit of God is not here. I need my prayer team to come in. And so, the prayer team came in and they started to pray around the room and lay their hands on stuff. He said, then they pulled out this bottle of oil and started to anoint things with oil. And he says, I was kind of nervous because that's oil and this is really expensive equipment. He said, but I just sort of let it go. He said, after five or 10 minutes, she put the headphones back on, she started again, second time.

Said, she sounded awesome. But same thing, after two minutes, he's not here. He brought the prayer posse back in. He said, we went through this five times. He said, we consumed about an hour and I was starting to get a little irritated because we were wasting all this time, it seemed like. And he said, on her fifth time through, as she starts to sing, she gets about 10 seconds into the song. And I looked down and realized that in her monitor, what's coming through her headphones, the reverb was not on.

Now, I don't know if you know anything about recording, but reverb is basically what makes it sound full. And he said, I just reached out and turned it up and all of a sudden her hands go up and she's like, hallelujah, he is here, he is here, he is here. He said, I just didn't have the heart to tell her, man, I don't think that was the Spirit, I think that was the reverb. So, I'm not poking, I'm not making fun of people who have these sensations, but you're like, what does it feel like? I mean, do you get emotional?

Is that what it is? That's how you know the Spirit of God is near? Is it that you get like misty-eyed or you get a tingly feeling or the hair on your back of your neck stands up or somehow it always corresponds with the pastor getting on an alliterated roll or a crescendo in the music? What does the Spirit of God, what does him testifying to you actually feel like?

The point is, many are confused. And so the next seven verses of chapter eight are gonna show you, number one, the necessity of the Spirit of God for the Christian life. Then number two, Paul's gonna show you the trajectory of the Spirit of God in your life. And number three, he's gonna show you the assurance from the Spirit.

That's how we're gonna break this down. Number one, number one, the necessity of the Spirit of God. In verses 12 and 13, Paul explains that only in the Spirit, only in the Spirit can we escape the power of sin. Verse 12, so then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh. So then, so then points back to the point that Paul made in the previous 11 verses.

And what was that main point? The main point was there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Paul is saying because, because Jesus put an end to sin through his death on the cross, you are no longer obligated to it. You have been released from it. Not obligated means no longer bound to it.

We are no longer captive. It no longer owns us to insist that we obey its dictates. Through Jesus' death, he released us from the penalty of sin, but Jesus also resurrected and that life imparted to us by his Spirit releases us from the power of sin. Make sure you get that straight because many Christians only have a half gospel. They know that Jesus' death releases them from the penalty of sin, but Jesus didn't stay dead. He also raised from the dead and his life releases you from the power of sin. You are released from the penalty of sin by his blood. You are released from the power of sin by his Spirit. Verse 13, because, because, he says, if you live according to the flesh, you're going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, then you will live. Listen, let me give you one last warning on this because this is the last time Paul is going to bring this up. And there's so many Christians that don't live with the reality of what I'm about to say.

So listen one more time. Even if you're saved and Spirit-filled, sin is very much still alive in you. And you should never forget that because sin is a predator and that predator is always on the prowl to destroy you.

And that is true no matter how far you've gone, no matter how much you know, how long it has been, how much you have accomplished. I was talking one time with a Christian counselor named Paul David Trebb. You may recognize his name.

He's actually spoken here at the church, authored a number of books, and he's one of probably our country's most famous Christian counselors. And he and I were backstage at a conference we were both speaking at, and it was right after news had come out about another one of these pastors of one of these churches who was about my age had been discovered that, I don't know, he was living some kind of double life and had just fallen into sin and been disqualified for ministry. And I'll be totally honest with you, it was a little overwhelming to me because I knew this guy and it seemed like there was a whole string of them. And I asked him, I said, what happens to these guys?

How do I know it's not happening to me? Do they all have some common thread through them? And he said, well, he thought for a minute, he said, there's two things. There's two things I see in these guys' lives. He said, number one is the absence of peer community. I don't mean they don't know anybody or they're isolated, because he said, usually they're extroverts, so they're always around people. He said, but I mean peer community, people that can look into their eyes and tell them that what they're doing is wrong. He said, number two plays into that, and this is the more deadly of the two, he said, is he says, these guys forget the power of indwelling sin. They think that because they've accomplished so much in ministry and because they know so much now, that they get past the stage where they've got to be on the lookout for what sin is trying to do to them.

And that is the surefire way to set up that predator to absolutely destroy you. So I want you to hear this again. I don't care how long it's been. I don't care how much you know.

I don't care how much you've accomplished. Sin is still in there. That is, until you go to be with Jesus, sin is still in there and it is looking for opportunity to destroy you. That's why the Puritan John Owen says, you gotta be killing sin or it's going to be killing you. There is no neutral spot with sin. You're either actively killing it or it is actively killing you. Most of us, however, what we do is we flirt with sin.

And what we try to do is tame sin rather than kill it. But I've told you that that's as silly as those people who try to make a pet out of a predatory animal. People make these predatory animals and they make them pets because that's an exotic pet.

Oh, isn't that awesome? And then everybody's shocked when Fluffy the cougar flips a switch and all of a sudden eats somebody and hurts them. One of our staff members showed me an article this week from his hometown newspaper with this headline, Pet Bear Kills Pennsylvania Woman.

This came from his hometown. You read the article, the pet bear's name was Teddy, right? He was a black bear. She'd had him for nine years, right?

And then all of a sudden, you know, just the bear switches one day and mauls her and kills her. They did all these interviews with these people, you know, in her neighborhood and they were all like surprised. The one woman was like, she was such a good person. We just thought she had a strange hobby.

Listen, I don't doubt that she was a good person. I really don't. But keeping a bear in your house is not a strange hobby, like scrapbooking or collecting stamps.

I don't care if you name it Teddy. My kids are not coming over to hang out at your house. Okay. All right.

We're going to do play dates at my house because sooner or later, sooner or later, bears are always going to do what bears do. Just like sin will always do what sin does. You cannot tame it.

You have to be killing it or it will be killing you. Thanks for joining us today on Summit Life with Pastor JD Greer. Before we get back to today's teaching, I wanted to tell you a little bit more about this month's featured resource. It's the first part of a two-part study through the Book of Romans written by Pastor Tim Keller. This study walks through the first seven chapters of the Book of Romans. And whether you're studying alone with a friend or in a small group, we know that you'll enjoy Pastor Tim's fresh insights from the Book of Romans.

Each of the seven studies includes an overview of key terms and words in the passage, along with investigation and application questions to help the truth of these chapters really sink in. The second part of the study will be available later this year, so don't miss this opportunity to get a hold of that first volume. We'll send you a copy to show our appreciation for your generous gift of $35 or more to this ministry.

You can give right now by calling 866-335-5220 or visiting jdgreer.com. Now let's get back to Pastor JD's teaching here on Summit Life. The point is, as a Christian, you've always got to be fighting sin in the Spirit and make sure that you know.

Let's make sure we state the obvious here. Make sure you know that Paul says it's only by the Spirit that you can hope to do this. If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, it is then that you will live. My friend Matt Chandler says fighting sin without the Spirit is like open hand slapping a bear. It's just not going to go well for you.

It might feel good when you do it once, but it's not going to go well after that. I know that many of us feel defeated by sin because, many of you feel defeated by sin because you've been trying to fight the impulses of sin through the powers of the flesh. You've got to learn to fight sin in the power of the Spirit. Now, this is one of those moments where everybody goes like this, mm-hmm, that's right, Pastor. And if I ask you, what does that mean?

You'd be like, mm, I don't know, right? What does it mean to fight sin by the power of the Spirit? People are like, is that like the force? Is it like something like Star Wars where Luke is like, you know, like use the force, Luke. Or, you know, is that evangelism of the power of the Spirit?

Is that like, you know, these are not the droids that you were looking for? What? How do you summon up the power of the Spirit in your life?

Right? And be honest, do you really know how to do that? Like, what switch do you flip to go from the flesh to the Spirit? So let me give you a little five-step, quick five-step process that fighting in the Spirit always entails.

Okay, number one. The first is humble confession. Humble confession. The opposite of this is what your instinct tells you to do, and that is to hide your faults and keep your faults to yourself. Because that way you can maintain the illusion that you've got everything together, and nobody sees the mess that you actually are.

But that is a mistake. Because there are certain things that God can only heal that God will only heal when you bring them into the light. There are certain kinds of moral mildew on the soul that you can only get rid of by exposing it to the light of God's presence. That's why James 5 says, confess your faults one to another and then you will be healed. By the way, this doesn't mean you've got to tell everybody everything. Nobody wants you to go home today and put on Facebook every dark secret that you've ever had. We don't want to read that, okay? But you don't tell everybody everything, but you need to tell some people that are close to you. You need to let them see what's going on in your heart.

Maybe it's a trusted friend, it's a counselor, it's your small group, but there are certain things that the Spirit of God only does when you bring them into the light of day. Number two. Number two, it always involves total surrender. Total surrender. And I mean this in contrast to a negotiated settlement with God, which is what most people want, right?

Right? I mean, you know, they come to church thinking, I need God to add a little bit of religion back into my life. I need God to give me a stable family, right? What do I got to do to be a good Christian? But that won't work because God, the Holy Spirit is not a force you can't employ. You don't grow stronger in the Spirit, so to speak. The Holy Spirit is a person that you surrender to. And when you say no to the Holy Spirit, even about a small thing, you cut yourself off from fellowship with Him. And when you cut yourself off from fellowship with Him, not only do you lose His presence, you also lose His power.

Number three. After total surrender, you've got reassurance in the Gospel. The Holy Spirit, the primary things He does, and by the way, I'm not saying He doesn't guide you, I'm not saying He doesn't speak in all these ways, but the primary thing He does is He reassures you in the Gospel. The Spirit breaks sin's hold on you by reminding you of your full acceptance with the Father. Because the power of new life flows only from assurance in the Gospel, which is a little counterintuitive for most people, right? Because when Jesus would release people from the power of sin, remember?

He would start with acceptance and use that to move them toward change. So when He's dealing with a woman caught in adultery, He says, neither do I condemn you, acceptance. Now, therefore, go and sin no more. He put acceptance, neither do I condemn you, before change, go and sin no more, because He knew she would never have the power to change until she had felt the power of acceptance. So the Spirit of God, His role is to remind you in whatever mess you're in, you belong to God. And I've told you that that's the irony of the Christian life, is that the only ones who ever get better are those who understand that their acceptance with God is not conditioned on their getting better.

And that's what the Spirit does. Number three. Number four. Number four, memorizing specific Scripture. When Jesus fought Satan in the wilderness and resisted his temptations, what did He use? Specific Scripture that dealt with the temptation. Paul calls the Word of God in Ephesians 6, the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit uses Scripture as His weapon. Trying to battle temptation and sin without a thorough knowledge of Scripture is like going into a gunfight without a gun. Y'all, not even Jesus would do that. And you understand that Jesus' character was stronger than yours?

You get that, right? He was the Son of God, you're not. But if even Jesus, the Son of God, thought that He needed Scripture to fight temptation, how much more should you? Which means you ought to be memorizing Scripture. Start with Romans 8, that I've given to you. Y'all, listen, if this right here, this moment, if this is the only Scripture intake that you get week by week, you are never going to be able to resist the temptations and the confusion of Satan. Satan's attacks on you are daily, which means that your Scripture intake must be daily as well.

Number five, last one. Don't just avoid sin. Don't just avoid sin.

Pursue wisdom. Most Christians walk through life trying to see like how close they can get to the borders of sin without actually crossing it, right? That's God's rules, like don't cross these lines, but how close can I get and I'll still be okay? That's not the way to walk with the Spirit. When you're walking with the Spirit, you're not trying to avoid sin, you're trying to be in fellowship with Him. And that means the question is not what is not sinful that I can get away with, the question is what does the Spirit of God want me to do in this situation? And that changes your calculus from what is not sin to what is the wisest thing to do here. Because what the Spirit wants you to do is always what the wisest thing to do is. Paul tells us there are many things that are lawful.

They're not sinful, but they're not helpful. That means certain choices may not be sinful per se, but they don't align you with the Spirit's will. And so you get the power of the Spirit by being in fellowship with Him. And when you're in fellowship with Him, then you have His presence and with His presence comes His power. So those are five ways that you can fight sin in the Spirit. Listen, you understand the Spirit of God is not merely trying to curb your behavior, right? The Spirit of God didn't show up and say stop it, cut it out. That's my job.

That's what I do. I tell you stop it, cut it out. The Spirit of God changes your heart so that you begin to desire God's will, where you begin to seek righteousness because you love righteousness. God is not just after obedience, Paul tells us. He's after a whole new kind of obedience, a Spirit-fueled obedience that comes from the Spirit fighting sin in your life. So that's the necessity of the Spirit, okay? So number two, let's go from there to the trajectory of the Spirit. The trajectory of the Spirit. Where is He taking you? Verse 14, for all those led by God's Spirit are God's sons.

The question you should ask here is, led by God, where? Is He talking about people who get messages from the Spirit spelled out in their Cheerios, or their alphabet soup each day, or who have things whispered to them about other people? Is He talking about when the Spirit shows up and gives you clarity about some decisions? Because some of you say, I just don't know how much that happens to me, and how do I know I'm actually being led by God's Spirit? Y'all look at the context.

What does the context say? When Paul says led by God's Spirit, he means led by the Spirit into Christ's likeness. We cannot fight the impulses of sin on our own. We need the Holy Spirit's guidance and power every day. God isn't after your changed behavior. He's after your changed heart. You were listening to Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. J.D., we've been blown away by the generosity of our gospel partners. We mentioned them often here on the program, but what exactly is a gospel partner? Yeah, you know, Miley, you and I often say that gospel partners are part of our team here at Summit Life. These are listeners who have made themselves integral to us boldly proclaiming the gospel through our radio and our podcast ministry. Anybody can join this exclusive group. Can we say that?

Yes. With an ongoing gift of $35 or more each month. That makes you a gospel partner, and that money is not coming in to line our pockets. It's going to create new opportunities on the radio in new areas where the gospel is not preached, maybe as much as it is in your area.

It helps us get on the air and then stay on the air, and that's what you're giving goes for. We would love, as we grow, we'd love to have you join us and to be able to know that you're a part, your faith and your generosity are a part of other people hearing the gospel and having their lives transformed. And the way that you can do that is by becoming a gospel partner. This month's featured resource is the first part of a two volume study through the book of Romans written by Pastor Tim Keller.

It'll take you through the first half of Romans, including seven studies with key verses, prayer points and application questions to help you understand the rich theology of Romans more than ever. You can become a gospel partner right now by giving us a call at 866-335-5220. Or you can head over to jdcareer.com right now to partner with us. We are so grateful for our gospel partners who make this ministry possible.

And these resources are one of the ways that we say thank you. I'm Molly Vidovitch inviting you to join us tomorrow when we'll conclude the message on the Holy Spirit. See you Friday on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.