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3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom 8:3–8

These are my favorite verses in the entire Bible! Not only is this the gospel and news that frees and lifts you up but it is telling you how to apply the gospel directly to your life! With clear guide lines and obvious signs to watch and know if you’re doing and thinking about the things you should. Ways to test yourself. If I could only memorize this scripture for the rest of my life it is enough to encourage and drive me in the right direction. So many times in the middle of a struggle I will soon realize I’m completely focused on my flesh and the worldly circumstance that I am facing. As I take my focus off my problems and it shifts to the Lord everything just starts to get lighter. The weight and pressure slowly disappear and once my eyes return to being fixed on Jesus my problem I was so involved with just seems to melt away. Focus on Jesus and what He has done and all of a sudden nothing else matters!

There is a great reminder at the end. Those who are in the flesh CANNOT please God. A stark reminder that my flesh is hostile to God and I will have to battle it daily to remain focused on the Spirit. Nothing good comes from focusing on myself and the flesh! But the rewards are the Spirit are so evident! I want life and I want peace! True lasting peace that can only come from Him! And I know because I have tried to find it every place I could. Nothing fulfills like the comfort and peace that comes from having a right and honoring relationship with your Heavenly Father!

⁶ Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever]; Rom 8:6

Keeping an eternal view as you go through your day and it will start to change everything! Be focused on the Spirit and spreading the love and kindness of Jesus to everyone as you go through your day! Each day is important and can be used by God. Focus on the Spirit so you can see God working and be used by Him to reach others!

APPLICATION:

Keep my head up. Don’t look at myself or the problem I’m facing. Focus on the Spirit and keep my mind full of the Truth! Don’t believe the lies of the enemy! Christ has set me free! Live that freedom with His strength! Preach the Gospel to my family daily!

IN HIS NAME!

Sermon notes.   Pastor Dustin S.

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. Col 2:16–23

We are called to resist any effort to change the gospel of Christ! Followers of Christ are called to resist legalism. Legalism- conforming to a certain set of rules so you will experience God’s acceptance. Eph 2:8-9 We are saved by grace alone! Gal 5:1 Stand firm in Christ where there is freedom. Don’t trade God’s grace for the bondage of a bunch of rules! 3 SIGNS OF LEGALISM: Checking spiritual boxes instead of a relationship with Jesus. You’re hyper critical of other believers who don’t measure up to your standards. You’re constantly trying to chase after God’s approval. ROM 8:1 You didn’t deserve it then and you don’t deserve it now!

Followers of Christ must resist false teachers! Don’t be scammed by unbelievers! Acts 20:29-30 Do not trade God’s grace for a yoke and a bondage of sin. God’s word feeds us and keeps us healthy! Jesus is the only way! False teaching takes Jesus off of the throne and out of power. TEST: Does the teaching exalt Jesus and His gospel? Salvation is by Christ alone! Does the teaching promote Christ like living? Does it lower God’s standard and make sin more comfortable? Does the teaching align with what faithful believers have understood throughout history. 1 John 4:1 Anytime you hear a new teaching it needs to be tested! Identify false teaching. Take personal responsibility to protect yourself and your family from false teaching! You’re responsible for knowing God’s word! IN NEVER CHANGES! The Gospel is worth fighting for! Stand Strong and fight!

APPLICATION:

Protect the Gospel. Fill my mind with truth! Don’t believe the lies! Stay close to Godly men I can trust. Thank You Jesus!

IN HIS NAME

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Rom 8:1–2

No means no! This is the place where the enemy can get into my mind and really do damage. Like a Rolodex of the past my mind can throw up thought after thought of my mistakes and the horrible things that I did from my past just pound my mind and show me reason after reason of why I deserve condemnation and why I definitely couldn’t and wouldn’t get a gift of grace like this from anyone let alone the creator of the universe… How fast my mind can fill with real things that I have to face everyday in direct results to my horrible mistakes. Real consequences my whole family has to endure because I chose to be disobedient. But Thank you Lord for this promise. For lifting the heavy weight of sin off of my chest. Giving me a path to you and the freedom that comes from your grace and mercy and love!

No condemnation means no condemnation! I can now fight without all the wight of the past weighing me down. I have freedom to fight! Freedom that comes from knowing that Christ has already won the battle! He has done all the hard work and now I can fight along with Him. I don’t have to worry about all my mistakes and make choices out of fear but I can be confident knowing my savior loves me and He is for me no matter what I do! That love ignites a passion for wanting to be obedient out of thankfulness! It tells me that I do not have to earn my place in His family! I have already been called His child so that gives me the freedom to keep going even when I screw up. I know my Father is there and He loves me! That pushes me to want to be better every day!

APPLICATION:

Today I will not let the weight of my mistakes weigh me down. Christ nailed ALL of my sins to the cross so I don’t have the right to keep bringing them up. Lord give me mercy and the freedom and strength to never go back to the old passions of my flesh! Help me to serve you in my mind and thoughts and allow you to continue to destroy my flesh! Thank you for everything!

IN HIS NAME!!

²¹ So I find it to be the law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully delight in the law of God in my inner self [with my new nature], ²³ but I see a different law and rule of action in the members of my body [in its appetites and desires], waging war against the law of my mind and subduing me and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is within my members. ROM 7 amp

It is kind of scary how much this scripture fits into my life. I battle everyday with dying to my old self and trying to remove all the things that don’t glorify God. I want to do good and follow Christ but I can see the desires of the flesh and there are times when I fail and I give in. Is it because I’m not good enough or I love my sin more than I love God? I know that statement is not true! Thanks to God’s word I know what to do! I will serve God with my mind and my thoughts! And pray God gives me grace and helps me remove all the rest!

 ²⁴ Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will [rescue me and] set me free from this body of death [this corrupt, mortal existence]? ²⁵ Thanks be to God [for my deliverance] through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind serve the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness, my sinful capacity—I serve] the law of sin. ROM 7 amp

Thank you God for knowing I was going to need you! For knowing everything I need before I even do. Thank you for reaching me! Thank you for delivering me from my corrupt immoral existence. You are the answer! I pray you have mercy on me for I am a wretched man that needs your grace and forgiveness!

APPLICATION:

Read the bible every single day! No excuses! I need to stay connected to the source! Keep my mind and my thoughts completely flooded with God’s Word! He is the answer. He is the way to true happiness and freedom from the corruption of sin and the flesh! Read and pray! Stay humble! I don’t deserve anything!

IN HIS NAME!

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. Rom 7:14–20

I have been stuck here for way too long but I cannot read this without feeling a ton of emotion. I live this battle everyday and I find it very interesting that Paul, one of the pioneers of our faith, battled with the same things! Also kind overwhelming at the same time! As a believer I hoped that I can get over that hurdle in my walk with Christ and never have to look back… I hate the fact that I continue to do things that I hate and that my love and my appreciation for what Christ has done sometimes isn’t enough to stop me from making a selfish sinful decision. Lord please give me mercy! On one side I’m trying to stop doing things that don’t honor God and then on the other I’m just supposed to be OK with this flesh inside me making decisions that I don’t really want… How do I go on like that?? I want to destroy my flesh. Let it stay dead and nailed to the cross! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Without Him I would be completely lost. Thank you Lord for saving me when I didn’t deserve it! For making a path for lost souls like me to find you and get to experience life with you today! Lord please remove the sin that dwells inside of me and help me to follow You! I am not OK with allowing sin to live inside me and I pray You give me the strength and courage to remove it!

APPLICATION:

Stay in the Word. I need to keep God’s Word at the front of my mind when I’m going through my day. Believe with faith all the truths of God! Don’t listen to any lies in my head! Stay humble! I don’t deserve anything!!! Pray more and serve others!! Put my family first! Have mercy on me Lord!

Sermon notes Pastor Kobe Orr

10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Col 2:10–15

In baptism we testify to the transformational power of the gospel. WE WERE DEAD IN YOUR SIN! vs.13 You can’t change the dead. Dead people cannot think for themselves or help themselves. We have never been good, and especially not good enough to merit a rescue from God with Jesus Christ. We were spiritually dead and without hope.

GOD RAISED US TO LIFE! vs.12-13 The same power “The Holy Spirit” that raised Jesus also raised us to life. Our salvation was birthed in the heart of God! We could not and do not contribute anything! GRACE ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE! Eph 2:8 Even the faith we have to believe any of this truth is a gift of grace from God! God loved us from the beginning!

GOD FORGAVE OUR SINS! vs.13-14 All our debt is cancelled. NAILED TO THE CROSS! All sin is ultimately committed against God. Ps 51:4 Penalty for ALL sin is death. Jesus did it all. Took our criminals death in our place. Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that was meant for us. God cancelled all the written records of all our sins and because of Christ it was nailed to the cross. In Christ our sin has been put to death! My new life will be lived for Him out of thanks for all that He has done! Don’t conceal your past. Your testimony screams of God’s grace. God’s grace should be shouted from the mountain tops! In Christ your testimony no longer belongs to you. It’s not about your old life but about your new life lived with God!

GOD CONQUERED SIN AND DEATH FOR US! vs.15 Death no longer has the final word! 1Cor 15:55 Death is now a reward and life is now made to serve and glorify Him! Life will be hard but the battle is over and our hope is secure and our salvation is eternal! How will you respond?

APPLICATION:

Give God my testimony. My life no longer belongs to me! Shout Gods grace from the mountain tops! Stop relying on my old ways of thinking! Live a life of obedience and service for Jesus out of love and thanks for all that He has done for me!

IN HIS NAME

19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. Rom 6:19

John MacArthur compares our members to a vicious animal when it comes to our appetite for lawlessness and sin. And that it will continue to grow if you feed it… Like your body can just go on auto sin mode and just start spinning out of control… Might seem like a funny analogy but it is really close to what happens. One sin leads to another. One little lie leads to a little bit bigger lie and then before you know it your stuck under a huge story and has been untrue since the very first words… Sometimes things happen so fast and sin happens so easily and naturally that you can end up in some pretty scary situations and It can be a place that you really don’t want to be. Stop what your doing, find the truth and start using your members to honor God and not yourself! Remember Christ broke that bondage to sin. We don’t have to be slaves to ourselves anymore!

I think about all the unrighteous things I did growing up and all the shame that comes along with those choices. But now I can live differently. Live for Christ! Put all the guilt and shame of my past away and live free for Him today! When you’re not living for yourself and not doing unrighteous things you have freedom and your actions bring life pleasure and comfort like seeing your family happy and taken care of… A way better way to live! So inspect your members like you would inspect your own house. All it takes is one leaky window to let enough water in to destroy the whole foundation! Protect the truth at all times and enjoy the fruit that only sanctification from the Lord can bring! Lord please have mercy on me!

APPLICATION:

Inspect myself more often. Make sure my life is matching my words. Help me to remove the things in my life that don’t bring You glory! Fill me with your spirit! Please help me to be better! Continue to fill me with Your Word so that it controls and guides my thinking! Stay humble. I don’t deserve anything! Thank you for everything I have!!

IN HIS NAME!