Post by Micheal on Jul 28, 2007 18:12:31 GMT -6
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
Yesterday, we discussed the differences between the sin nature and the Spirit and what the different results are when we let them control us. Today we're going to go more into just who the Spirit is.
Let's start with verse nine. It says that those who are really Christians have the Spirit of God living in them. This Spirit is commonly referred to as the Holy Spirit, just in case you didn't know. And if you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you have to let it control you. Just a quick side track here. When you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior you need to know what that really means. A Lord is someone who has complete control over your life. They say whether you live or die. And as Christians, Christ is supposed to be our Lord.
Verse ten further explains what I said yesterday. Even though our human bodies will die because of sin, the fact that we have the Holy Spirit living in us means that we receive eternal life. Make no mistake, these human bodies will perish. But they are just shells that hold the real us, our souls. And they only house our souls for a short while. James compares life to a vapor, here one minute then gone the next.
Verse eleven says that the Spirit that lives in us is the same one that raised Christ from the dead. And since it is the same Spirit, then the Spirit will surely give life to our mortal bodies. At first glance this verse seems contrary to the last one. I just said that our bodies will die and now it says they'll receive life? But, you have to understand the meaning of this verse. In first Thessalonians 4:16, the rapture is mentioned and it says the very first thing to happen after Christ shouts is that the dead bodies of Christians will rise. So even though these bodies will die, they will rise again.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
Verse twelve tells us that we as Christians with the Holy Spirit living in us have no obligation to obey our sinful nature. Since it is contrary to the Spirit living in us, we should actually try to do the opposite of what our sinful nature urges us to do.
Verse thirteen tells us the results of still obeying the urges of our sinful nature. Death. However, if we will put our sinful nature to death then we will live. It's important to realize that we can never do this. We have to let the Holy Spirit give us the power to do it. For without God's Spirit we can do nothing.
Verse fourteen tells us the reward for accepting the Spirit as the controlling force in our life. We become children of God. Talking about Jesus, it says in the New Testament that "To those who accepted the Spirit he gave the rights to become children of God."
Verse fifteen goes further into this. It says that the Spirit we have should not make us like fearful slaves, afraid that God is just waiting for us to mess up so He can strike us dead. Instead the Spirit is one of love and we can call God, Abba Father. Abba is a term of affection for ones father. It's a loving term for a loving father. He loves us. He is not trying to get us to mess up.
Verse sixteen tells us that the Holy Spirit confirms that we are children of God. That Spirit talks to our spirit and comforts us.
Yesterday, we discussed the differences between the sin nature and the Spirit and what the different results are when we let them control us. Today we're going to go more into just who the Spirit is.
Let's start with verse nine. It says that those who are really Christians have the Spirit of God living in them. This Spirit is commonly referred to as the Holy Spirit, just in case you didn't know. And if you have the Holy Spirit living in you, you have to let it control you. Just a quick side track here. When you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior you need to know what that really means. A Lord is someone who has complete control over your life. They say whether you live or die. And as Christians, Christ is supposed to be our Lord.
Verse ten further explains what I said yesterday. Even though our human bodies will die because of sin, the fact that we have the Holy Spirit living in us means that we receive eternal life. Make no mistake, these human bodies will perish. But they are just shells that hold the real us, our souls. And they only house our souls for a short while. James compares life to a vapor, here one minute then gone the next.
Verse eleven says that the Spirit that lives in us is the same one that raised Christ from the dead. And since it is the same Spirit, then the Spirit will surely give life to our mortal bodies. At first glance this verse seems contrary to the last one. I just said that our bodies will die and now it says they'll receive life? But, you have to understand the meaning of this verse. In first Thessalonians 4:16, the rapture is mentioned and it says the very first thing to happen after Christ shouts is that the dead bodies of Christians will rise. So even though these bodies will die, they will rise again.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
Verse twelve tells us that we as Christians with the Holy Spirit living in us have no obligation to obey our sinful nature. Since it is contrary to the Spirit living in us, we should actually try to do the opposite of what our sinful nature urges us to do.
Verse thirteen tells us the results of still obeying the urges of our sinful nature. Death. However, if we will put our sinful nature to death then we will live. It's important to realize that we can never do this. We have to let the Holy Spirit give us the power to do it. For without God's Spirit we can do nothing.
Verse fourteen tells us the reward for accepting the Spirit as the controlling force in our life. We become children of God. Talking about Jesus, it says in the New Testament that "To those who accepted the Spirit he gave the rights to become children of God."
Verse fifteen goes further into this. It says that the Spirit we have should not make us like fearful slaves, afraid that God is just waiting for us to mess up so He can strike us dead. Instead the Spirit is one of love and we can call God, Abba Father. Abba is a term of affection for ones father. It's a loving term for a loving father. He loves us. He is not trying to get us to mess up.
Verse sixteen tells us that the Holy Spirit confirms that we are children of God. That Spirit talks to our spirit and comforts us.