 Okay, welcome everyone to class on the book of Romans. We've gone through chapters one to seven and we are in the most exciting chapter in the Bible, one of the most exciting, encouraging, uplifting truths in the Bible. That is Romans chapter eight, which we will be studying today. And before we do that, can I ask Lubega to lead us in prayer, please? Lubega, are you there? Yes, I'm here, pastor. Can you please lead us in prayer? Oh, okay. Father in heaven, we thank you today for this wonderful moment that you've given us, Lord. We also thank you for our lecture, Lord. We thank you for the learners who are in the class and those who are planning to come. Lord, send us the Holy Spirit to teach us, to educate us, to remind us and to give us wisdom so that we can do a plus or a multiplication in your kingdom. Would you pray in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit? And everybody say amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lubega. So Romans chapter eight, just before we look at Romans chapter eight, just like to recap a few things. So in Romans chapter five and six, the apostle Paul has introduced us to the truth of identification. And in Romans chapter five, he presents to us how every human being is identified through Adam. And through Adam's sin came and also came condemnation and judgment and everything that leads to death. And we also saw that Adam was a type of the real man, Jesus Christ, through whom we received the free gift of God. We received the gift of grace, righteousness, salvation, eternal life, and the ability to rule and reign. So that was Romans chapter five. In Romans chapter six, Paul takes us into a deeper understanding of the identification where he says we have been identified with Christ's death. We identify with his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, his exaltation, and him being seated at the right hand of the Father. And all of this has meaning for us in a sense that these various steps has set us free from various aspects of the things that Adam puts us to bondage to. So he says, you know, when we are crucified, we are set free from the power of sin. When we are buried, we are set free from the old life, which means we're set free from the Adamic way of life. Being resurrected, we are given a brand new life of God. We have the Zoe life of God. Being raised up with Christ, you know, Christ took us out of the influence of the darkness of this age and being seated up with Christ. He put us in a place of dominion and authority, whereas Adam put us into a subjection to sin, sickness, Satan, and death. So the truth of identification is a complete reversal of what Adam put us in the fall. And the main theme of Romans 6 is that believers, as believers, we can live free from sin. And in Romans 7, we see that Paul states a problem. He states there's a problem of the weakness of the flesh. The word flesh in the Bible is used in different contexts. But in this context, it's talking about the evil desires of the body and the soul. So in Romans 7, Paul is talking of himself as under the law where he does not have the life of God. He has every desire to keep the law and to please God. But he finds that there is a law in his members that controls him. So even though he wants to please God and fulfill the law of God, he finds himself powerless in the struggle of sin. And hence he calls it the law of sin that is controlling his body. And he says, this is a state of every person who is unsaved and not living under God. So in verse 25 of Romans 7, Paul presents the answer. He says, what is the answer for this? He says, Jesus Christ is the answer. And then this brings us to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 is a very beautiful chapter for us as believers. It is telling us how we can live in the provision of the identification that we have received or how we can live in the provision of the truth of our identification. So we can look at identification in Romans chapter 5 and chapter 6 as God's provision where God is saying, I have done this for you and I have provided this for you through Jesus Christ. But in Romans chapter 8, he tells us how we can work in this experientially. So basically, Romans chapter 8 is talking about how we can experientially live out the truth of identification. So with this brief recap and the background to Romans chapter 8, we would look at Romans chapter 8. We will study it, it was by verse in detail. So can one of you please read Romans chapter 8 verse 1 to 11 please. Anyone can read Romans chapter 8 verse 1 to 11. Yes. Romans chapter 8 verse 1 to 11. 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 to the flesh, God dead by sending his own son in the lifeless of sinful flesh on account of sin. He can then send in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the law might be official to us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh have their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be kind with the mind it is death. But to be spiritual with the mind it is the right that peace. So we have to do slowly so that we can go with the spirit. Because the carnal mind is analytic against God for it is not subject to the law of God nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So go ahead. 1 to 8. 1 to 11. 1 to 11. 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. Amen. Thank you, Jeffrey. So in Romans chapter 7, Paul has been talking about life without Christ and under the law. Now Paul is changing his focus to speaking about the life in Christ Jesus. And he's finding it difficult to do things he wants to do. So how does he make a shift? And so that is what he is trying to talk to us or tell us in Romans chapter 8. So Romans chapter 8 verse 1, Paul says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. Okay. So in this verse Paul is talking of those who are in Christ Jesus. So it says for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation, no accusation, no charge that can be brought against them or that can be held up against them or that can be held up against us. We are totally free. Okay. The law made Paul completely condemned. And we get a sense of this when we read what he writes in Romans chapter 7. When he says, oh, wretched man that I am. So the law basically highlighted sin, not just highlighted sin, but also left the person feeling condemned. Okay. But he says when we come in Christ or when we are in Christ, you know, we are completely free from those feelings of condemnation. Life in Christ sets us free from all condemnation. So as believers, we should not live under the guilt or condemnation, but we must live as people who have been set free. Okay. So if you and I as believers, we continue to feel condemned all the time, then we have actually not understood our life in Christ. Or we have not understood where God has raised us up to be or the position that he has reinstated us to be in. And if we are continually living feeling condemned, then it means that we're not living the life in the fullness of life that God purchased for us in the new life that he has purchased for us, a new creation that we are. But, you know, we're still living life from an Old Testament perspective. We're living life under the law mentality or we're living life as if to say we are under the law or we're living life under the law mentality. So that is why, you know, we sometimes always feel condemned, accused, judged. But when we understand our life in Christ, we know that there is absolutely no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Jesus. And he says these people who are in Christ, they do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Now this phrase or these two words to walk, Paul often uses this phrase to walk. He talks about this in Galatians where he says walk in the spirit and in Corinthians he uses again this phrase. He says walk in the faith. So he's basically saying how we need to live life. Or he's basically saying, you know, to walk means he's saying how we need to live life, how we need to conduct our lives. We do not walk or live or we do not conduct ourselves, conduct our lives according to the flesh or in accordance to or in alignment with or in subjection to the flesh. We don't live like this. We are not dictated. We are not controlled by the flesh or we are not under the influence of the flesh. I'll repeat that again. So basically he's saying how we live life or how we conduct our lives is when he's talking about, you know, to walk. So we do not walk or live or we do not conduct ourselves according to the flesh or in accordance to or in alignment with or in subjection to the flesh. We do not live like this. We are not dictated or controlled by the flesh. We are not under the influence of the flesh. That is not how we live. But how do we live? This is how we need to live. You know, we need to live habitually or, you know, how life happens to us. We need to live in accordance or it means to live in alignment with or in subjection to or under the influence of or under the direction of the leading of the spirit. Okay. That is how we need to live habitually. That is how life happens for us. So in Galatians chapter five, he talks of what it means to live in the spirit. It's a beautiful chapter. In chapter five of Ephesians, he talks about living the spirit filled life. And the same thing he talks about in Colossians chapter three. So all these are parallel chapters. Galatians five, Ephesians five, Colossians three. And he's reiterating the same truth to different audiences. And he's bringing out different facets of the life in the spirit. And, you know, we need to study all of these in parallel, all of these chapters in parallel with each other. But in Romans chapter eight, he says walk according to the spirit. He says walk according to the spirit. And in verse two, he says, what happens when we walk according to the spirit? He says in verse two, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. So he says the law of the spirit of life and the law of the spirit of death. He's talking about two laws here, the law of the spirit of life and the law of sin and death. And these are terms that he has already used earlier in Romans chapter seven, verse 23. He says, but I see another law in my members, boring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. So here he's referring to the law of sin in my members, members means in my body. And he's talking about the law of sin, which does not mean the Old Testament law, but the law of sin means the influence, the control, the dominion of sin. And so he repeats this word law in verse 25 of Romans chapter seven, where he says, 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, which means he says my flesh is subject to the law of sin. So the law here means my flesh is subject to the control, the dominion, the influence of sin. The natural evil desires of my soul and body, he's saying, is controlled by this sin. And in Romans chapter eight verse two, he's saying for the law of the spirit of life, he's not referring to the Old Testament law here, but he means the control, the dominion, the influence of the spirit of life. Notice how he talks about the Holy Spirit. He says the Holy Spirit is a spirit of life. So what Paul is saying here is very intentional. The law of sin produces death, but the law of the spirit of life is giving him life. Okay, or the law of the spirit of life, which means the control, the dominion, the influence, the spirit of life is giving us life. So the control, the dominion, the influence, the spirit of life sets us free, sets you and me free from the control, the dominion and the influence of sin, which is producing death, both spiritual death and physical death. But the spirit of life, he's saying, is setting us free from the control, the dominion and the influence of sin and death. Okay, so in Romans chapter two is the answer to the struggle that he basically has presented in Romans chapter seven, where he says, you know, I am controlled by the law of sin in my body. He says, hey, I'm controlled by the law of sin in my body, but in Romans chapter eight was two, he's giving us the answer. And what is the answer he's saying? You know, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. Can we say an amen to that? Amen. Okay, so in verse two, he's basically presenting the answer. So Romans chapter eight was two is the answer. So what is the answer Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit set me free from the control of sin and death that sin was producing in me and the Holy Spirit has set us free. So for all of us who are in Christ, there is no condemnation. We are able to walk in accordance to the spirit and the Holy Spirit liberates us and sets us free. Okay, completely from the control of sin and the result of sin, which is death. Verse three, for what the law could not do in that it was weak to the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. So Paul is saying that the law couldn't help him to overcome the flesh. So the law just told him what is right and wrong, but it did not give him the power to overcome the weakness of the flesh. So what the law could not do in that it was weak to the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin and he says he condemned sin in the flesh. He says in the likeness of sinful flesh, it means that his body could have been subjected to fleshly desires just like you and I have been. But we know that you know Jesus did not submit to any of that, but he came in the same body that you and I have. And he came in the same body that you and I have and we could have been subjected to the fleshly desires. But we know that the Son of God did not submit to any of those fleshly desires and we know that he never sinned again. He condemned sin in the flesh. What does that mean? You know, condemn sin in the flesh is very powerful. It means that Jesus subdued. He overcame. He deprived sin of his power in his own flesh in his own body. So in his own body, Jesus deprived sin of its power. Sin had no power over him. And in his body, he broke the power of sin. So Jesus won the victory on the cross by which he himself deprived sin of its power in his own body. And sin had no power over him. And in his body, he broke the power of sin and he won the victory. And it's also wonderful that he shares his victory with us. So his victory is our victory. Okay. Any questions so far? Verses 1 to 3. Any doubts? Any questions? Okay. There are no doubts and questions. We'll move on towards 4. It says that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. So do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Okay. Now it says that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us. Okay. We know that Christ did the work. He completed and he won the victory on the cross. And we are walking in that victory. He condemned sin in his body so that we will be able to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. And how do we do that? We do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Okay. So Paul is saying that this is God's answer to our problem. What is God's answer to our problem? When we walk according to the spirit, we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. So Paul's struggle in Romans 7 is finding a solution. He finds a solution. He gives the answer in Romans 8. The answer is to walk according to the spirit because the spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death. Okay. But how do we walk according to the spirit? And he teaches us here. Okay. To walk according to the spirit, we need to be spiritually minded. We cannot be carnally minded. We shouldn't be carnally minded. So we need to choose whether we want to be spiritually minded or whether we want to be carnally minded. We cannot be both. We can't be spiritually minded and carnally minded. So it places before us a choice that we have to make either spiritually minded or carnally minded. Verse 5, he says, 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, the things of the spirit. Okay. So what does he mean when he says, set their minds on the things of the flesh? It means a person is seeking after or pursuing after the things of the flesh. He says, but those who live according to the spirit, they set their minds on the things of the spirit. Okay. So here is a key. How do I live and walk according to the spirit? Or how do I live my life in subjection or in alignment to the Holy Spirit? He says, set your mind, which means you're seeking, you're thinking, you're pursuing, you're affections, you're desires. All should be set on the things of the spirit. Okay. So how do I live my life in subjection to or in alignment to the Holy Spirit? He says we need to set our minds. That means, you know, aligning our minds to the Holy Spirit, you know, all of our desires and affections are pursuing, are thinking. Everything should be set on the things of the spirit and not the things of the world and the things of the flesh. And so when we make the shift from setting our minds on things of the flesh to the things of the spirit, then we are setting our mind on the things of the spirit. Okay. And in Romans chapter 12, he comes back to the same point where he says, do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So your mind needs to be changed, renewed, made new to think of spiritual things. So practically how we set our minds on the things of the spirit, we think aligned to the word of God. Every day of our lives, we think aligned to the word of God. Okay. So for example, say you're going to work and, you know, many people go to their jobs or go to their work for different reasons. Now, the basic reason is to earn money to take care of our basic necessities, to take care of our families. People also work because they want to grow professionally. They also want to enhance their skills. So if you are a kind of a minded person, you can think, you know, okay, I'm going to go to my job or I'm going to take up a job. Am I working? Because I want to climb up the ladder of success. I want to overtake others. I want to rise up faster than the others. I want to earn lots of money. So in the process, you know, we can have crap mentality where we are pulling down others, where we want to climb up the ladder of success. We want to get to the top first. We can put down others. We can cheat. We can manipulate. That is how a carnally minded person thinks. But a spiritual minded person thinks, you know, hey, I got this job. Yes, I want to earn money to take care of my family, my basic necessities. But I also want to use this job to glorify God through my work. I want to see how I can influence lives for the kingdom of God through my work. I want to see that, you know, whatever I'm doing can be meaning and food for God's kingdom. And this person is doing something, you know, as a mundane routine, a mundane job. But spiritually minded, he wants to glorify God through his job. He wants to fulfill the purposes of God through his job and what he's doing. And he also wants to pursue the kingdom of God. He wants God's kingdom to invade his job and he wants to be a witness. He wants to manifest God's glory. He wants to witness about God through his job to people. So he's seeking, thinking, pursuing, setting his affection and desires on the things of his spirit in his everyday routine or his everyday work life. And because he's doing this, he is going to live or work according to the spirit. So at his workplace, as he sees people doing different things, trying to get to the top, you know, manipulating, cheating, you know, pulling down others and back-fighting, back-stabbing, whatever. He's not hassled because he's a person who's thinking spiritually, a spiritual minded person. He's not hassled. But he knows that, you know, he has to be excellent in what he is doing. He needs to be diligent, committed, sincere, faithful. And God is the one who promotes. God is the one who gives increase, promotion. God is the one who raises up a person. And yes, he's doing his work well. He's being excellent, but his mind is not on outdoing the other person, you know, pulling down the other person. But his mind is on God. He wants to glorify God in every aspect, even in his attitudes, his mentality, his lifestyle and how he is living. So he's not affected by all the things that happens in his workplace, but he's living according to the spirit. Okay. Yes, people are doing things behind his back, but he's not retaliating, but he's walking in the love of God and the joy of God because he set his mind about and he's walking in the spirit. So to walk according to the spirit, we have to be spiritually minded. Okay. Verse six, he says, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. He's saying, he's here basically making a contrast. He's making a contrast here. He's saying, this is what he's telling the believer, if you're carnally minded, the outcome is, what is the outcome? Death. But if you're spiritually minded, what is the outcome? Life and peace. Okay. Verse seven, because the carnally minded is enmity against God, for it's not subject to the law of God, no indeed can be. So Paul is saying, believer, if you have a carnally minded, it's going to be death working in you, and you are enmity with God, and it's not subject to the law of God. Okay. And then verse 10, he says, so then, sorry, verse eight, he says, so then those who are in the flesh cannot please God. So he's just making a very strong statement here, using strong words. A parallel scripture passage that we can look at is James chapter four verse four. So can all of us please turn to James chapter four verse four and can somebody read that please? Can somebody read James chapter four verse four please for us? James chapter four verse four. Adulters and adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world enmity with God, who therefore wants to be a friend of the world, make himself an enemy of God? Amen. Thank you. So here again, James is very strong words. The same thing here, if you are walking in a carnal mind, you are an enemy of God. You cannot do what is right. You cannot be subject to the law of God, and you cannot please God with your carnal mind. It does not mean that God would disown us. Neither does he say that I don't like you. But it basically means in Christ, God is merciful, is gracious, God loves us, he accepts us. But if we are living our life, please our carnal nature, then death is at work in us, and we are enemies of God. We have gone one way and God wants us to go another way, and hence we cannot please God through our life. Then we can ask the question, why is it when God makes all the provisions for us in the truth of identification that so many believers are living such a defeated life? When God has already made provisions for us to live in the truth of our identification, why is it that so many believers are living such defeated lives? Or why is there still death at work in them? Or why is it that they are going the opposite direction from what God wants them to go? Or we can also ask the question, why is it that they are living lives that does not please God? The answer is that because they are still carnally minded. They are setting their minds on pleasing and satisfying the evil desires of the flesh of the body and the soul that is being carnally minded. And this is more important for them than setting their minds on the things of the spirit or walking according to the spirit or living our life according to the spirit. So we need to ask ourselves, what are we thinking? What are we desiring? What are we pursuing? What are we longing after? What are we running after? What are we basically really pursuing after? So if a believer's life is thinking, if it's desiring, pursuing things of the spirit, he says a believer will enjoy life and peace and joy with God. We will be friends of God and we will please God. But if my thinking, desire and pursuing is how I can desire the evil desires of my flesh as a believer, I will see death at work in me. So there is a contrast here and this contrast is just the exact opposite. One is life, one is death. So we need to get believers from being carnally minded to being spiritually minded or if we are being carnally minded, we need to move to be spiritually minded. Otherwise, all what God has done for us, all that he's purchased for us on the cross, all that he has given to us as a spiritual inheritance, his wonderful promises, his blessings. Everything will just be here in the Bible, the Word of God, and we won't be able to experience anything or we won't be able to experience everything that he has done for us. And that leaves the heart of God that breaks his heart. Before we move on to verse 9, anyone has any questions, any queries, anything you'd like to say, anything you do not understand? No? Okay, we move on to verse 9. It says, 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. So Paul is telling the believers you are not to be living according to the flesh, but you're to be living according to the Spirit. Why? Because the Spirit of God dwells in us, the Spirit of God dwells in you and me. Because the Holy Spirit dwells in you and me, you and me have no excuse to live in the flesh but to live in the Spirit. He says you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, which means this is the life of the believer. In the Spirit means living out of the Spirit. So a nice analogy is that of a fish that is living in water. Its life is in the water. Its life comes from the water as long as it's in the water it has life. But the minute you bring it out of its living environment, you bring it on to land, it's going to die. So likewise as believers, you and I need to live in the Spirit. We need to live in that environment that Christ has brought us into. What Christ has purchased for us, what Christ has done for us. So likewise as believers, you and I need to live in the Spirit. And how is this possible? It's possible because of the Spirit of God that is dwelling in us. And our life comes from Him. The life comes from the Spirit of God that is dwelling in us, that is living in us. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. In verse 9, he basically said that the Spirit of Christ is in you. That means the Holy Spirit dwelling in us gives us the life. So our life comes from the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. That is what he says in verse 9. In verse 10 he says Christ is in you. So here we see a new title for the Holy Spirit. It's called the Spirit of Christ. It's called the Spirit of Christ. It means all who Christ is to us, the Holy Spirit is to you and to me. I'll repeat that again. It means that all who Christ is to us, the Holy Spirit is to you and to me. So Holy Spirit brings Jesus to you and to me. It was then really that Christ is in you. So how is Christ in you and me? Christ is in you and me by His Spirit, a Spirit that is dwelling and living in us. So if Christ is in you, he says that the body is dead because of sin. So because Christ is in me, or the Holy Spirit is in me, my body is dead because of sin. My body because of sin has death working in me. Sin has produced death in my body. Sin has caused death to work in my body. But because the Holy Spirit lives in me, the Holy Spirit that gives life to me, that Holy Spirit whose life Himself gives life to me, my body is dead because of sin. But the Spirit of life because of righteousness. So what does he mean by saying by the Spirit of life because of righteousness? He says, in my spirit, I have received righteousness. Therefore, I have life in my spirit from the Holy Spirit. That is why when we are born again, we are born again in a spirit man. We are the life of the Holy Spirit. We have the life of God in our spirit man. And he says, in our spirit man, he says, I have received righteousness for I have been made righteous. Any questions so far? Any questions? No questions? Okay, we just have two more minutes. We are not going to look into what's living because there's quite an in-depth explanation. We will look at it on Monday. But anyone who likes to say anything, any questions, any queries, any doubts, I think you did not understand. Are all of you able to follow? Am I too fast? Are you able to understand? Okay, there's no response from any of the... Okay, thank you, Zalitha Lee. Okay, thank you, Sivashish. Okay, we'll stop here. We'll continue with verse 11 on Monday. So just as we learned today, you know, if we are living carnally minded, we are enemies with God. You know, it's producing death in our bodies. So let us learn to be spiritually minded, to walk spiritually and to know how to please and satisfy and pursue things of the spirit so that we can live the life that God has purchased for us on the cross. Thank you, everyone, for joining this lecture. Have a blessed weekend, a refreshing weekend, and I'll see you on Monday. Thank you.