Sermon: Sunday, 19th January, 2025
Speaker: Geoff Murray
Scripture: Romans 8:5-7
1. True freedom isn’t what you think
Now before we explore this point, we need to first understand what Paul means here by the ‘flesh’ because he uses it a lot here and if you’re unfamiliar with the Bible, you’ve probably never used flesh other than flesh which covers our human skeleton. Reading it that way would make no sense.
‘… those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires.’ (Romans 8:5)
So, what does Paul mean here? I think it’s something like what he is meaning in Galatians 5 where he speaks of the works of the flesh of being sinful acts and sinful ways which are in opposition to God’s ways. And I think we see that in how the way of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is being contrasted with the works of the flesh. I don’t think it’s reading too much into it to read flesh as ‘sinful nature, sinful ways, sinful desires.’ It is essentially living to please yourself.
And Paul when he speaks about life in ‘the flesh’, in other words, life following your own sinful patterns and behaviours, he speaks about it in the following terms:
‘Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.’ (Romans 8:5-7)
It’s fair to say Paul doesn’t speak in glowing terms about all of this; so let’s break these three things down.
a) Living in the flesh doesn’t set us free but enslaves us
I think when we commonly think of freedom, it’s exactly what we think of: doing what I want to do when I want to do it, how I want to do it. But does that make you truly free? Is freedom possible just by doing everything and anything you want to do?
Well actually, it’s very limiting to simply live the way you want to live, you’re limited to your desires.
If we are ‘in the flesh’ as Paul says, we can only respond as the ‘flesh’ desires. ‘The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.’ (Romans 8:7)
Those in the flesh can only set their minds upon what the flesh desires. Indeed, those who live according to the flesh are incapable of doing anything but. Those who live according to the flesh have no option, no alternative but to want what they want and often times do what they want to do.
This deep-level heart change John was speaking of last week, this inner transformation of the will and the desires cannot happen if you are ‘in the flesh’. Why? Because you might try to fight it by sheer gritted teeth and hard work, yet you will be constantly frustrated because you will still want that thing that you are denying yourself of. And so you may try to change but have no power to change your desire for it.
You might do the self-talk thing and say to yourself, ‘But this thing I want is wrong, don’t do it, it’s wrong.’ Yet we cannot be convinced not to do something just by telling ourselves it is wrong. The heart wants what the heart wants.
You might even stifle it. Perhaps you are bitter towards someone. You may be able to stifle it by not exploding at them and giving them a piece of your mind and so it appears there are no problems. Yet, what is going on in your heart at that moment? Are you a spring of cheer and goodwill towards that person? No, you hate them and that bitterness is poisoning your heart. You are happy when something doesn’t go their way and you resent when things are going well for them.
You see, there’s a social code, there are things which you can’t say or can’t do that you’d like to do. Maybe it’s telling your boss to take a hike. Perhaps it’s a family tradition that you cannot be bothered with but everyone else loves. There are ways in which we can hide and conceal, but at the deepest internal places, you can only do what your heart wants.
The reality of life ‘in the flesh’ is you cannot change. You are stuck in the same old patterns. Rules of any kind, whether man-made or whether from God have no power to change your heart, have no power to change your desires, have no power to give you a new direction and a new purpose in life.
Because the heart wants what the heart wants, those ‘in the flesh’ are unable to change allegiances to God, they are unable to follow Jesus in faith and obedience and they are unable to change at that deep heart level.
Let’s talk about anger. You know you shouldn’t be so angry, you know you’re getting way too wound up about things that don’t really matter, you know it’s affecting those around you. You know the way you’re responding isn’t helpful but harmful. You know you need to change. Yet does simply the knowledge you need to change make you change? Does the knowledge that your anger is wrong make you change? There needs to be a change of heart.
There are times we’re faced with the conflict of knowing what is the right thing to do and what we want to do. And often times our hearts give in to what our hearts want. And even if we do swallow our pride and do the right thing over the thing we really want to do, it is begrudging. Like a child saying, ‘Fine! I’ll tidy my room.’ The room is tidy, but the heart is bitter. So, even if we can change outwardly, that deeper change is hard to come by.
b) Living by the flesh sets us at loggerheads with God
‘The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.’ (Romans 8:7) You may say, ‘Hostile to God? No way! I’m not really that fussed about him? How can I be hostile?’
But putting things in their context. If God is creator of the universe which he is, if we as his creation owe him love, worship and obedience which we do, yet if we do not and cannot do that, what is that except rebellion against him? What is that except hostility towards one in authority over you? How does that hostility show?
The flesh doesn’t submit: it’s a willing choice. even the word submit perhaps make your toes curl, submit means to be under and as a society, that is an unpalatable thought. Submitting to anything or anyone is contrary to our understanding of freedom.
Those walking in line with the flesh don’t submit to God’s law; neither the letter or the spirit.
• The letter of the law – if we’ve broken one of God’s laws we’ve broken them all (James 2:10), so all of us have been unable to submit to God’s law. The typical thing would be to look to the Ten Commandments and reel them off and see how we have loved people and things more than God, how we haven’t honoured our parents like we should, how we have envied our neighbour and wanted what they had that wasn’t ours.
• The spirit of the law – Jesus summarises God’s law, not in terms of the letter but in terms of the Spirit, love God with all you are and love your neighbour as yourself. You have neither loved God with all your heart nor have you loved your neighbour as yourself. Going back to the Ten Commandments you may think, ‘Murder, that’s easy!’ But Jesus said, ‘If you are angry with a brother you have murdered him in your heart.’
And so, because the one living “in the flesh” living simply to please themselves can’t change outside of what they want, they therefore won’t and can’t submit to God which puts them at loggerheads with God and brings us to our final point.
c) Living ‘in the flesh’ is short-sighted
‘The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.’ (Romans 8:6)
Of course, it’s not implied that if you follow through with your sinful deed, boom that’s you on the spot. But what is saying is that if you continue on living in the flesh, it heads in a certain trajectory. If you head down the path of sin, it only goes in one direction and that is the path of death. (See Proverbs 1:1-5)
Of course due to the first human, Adam, we all due to sin head to a physical death. Even Christians. Yet, there is another death in view. A spiritual and eternal death. Earlier in Romans 6, we saw ‘the wages of sin is death’. The end result is not just a physical death, not just a descent into nothingness, but actually an eternity in hell separated from God forever.
And because of what we looked at before, namely, that those in the flesh can only do what they want to do, sinners are sleepwalking into a lost eternity and they couldn’t care less. Little by little as they are simultaneously charmed and disenfranchised with the world around them and themselves, they become desensitised to their need for God, they become more and more numb to eternal things.
Until eventually in a moment, they’ll know exactly what’s up. Either when Jesus comes again or they die and go to hell. It’ll hit them like a ton of bricks. And they will be separated from God forever.
And so living ‘in the flesh’ is incredibly short-sighted because when you simply live to please yourself, you aren’t thinking of the unintended consequences of what is to come, choosing to live in the moment.
And so given all of this, freedom isn’t what you think it is, it isn’t simply doing what you want to do and in fact that is no freedom at all but slavery to self which separates you from God and leads you to to an eternity apart from him.
So, perhaps you’re here as someone who isn’t a believer in Jesus yet. Can I just get you to consider for a moment that you’re not as free as you think you are. You’re at loggerheads with God, you’re living an incredibly short-sighted life because if you continue in this path it is an eternity apart from God in hell which awaits. As we’ll get to see in a moment that actually the true path to freedom is found in Jesus. May I encourage you to consider, to think that you aren’t as free as you think you are and that the only path to freedom is through Jesus Christ.
Or perhaps you’re on the fence. You’re a Christian but you’re just considering throwing in the towel, friend, please don’t. This is where it leads. It leads not to freedom but to slavery, it leads not to life but to death, it leads not to peace with God but enmity with God now and forever. Don’t go back to your old way, but press on in repentance, faith and obedience.
2. True freedom is better than you think it is
So true freedom is not what you think it is just doing your own thing and pleasing yourself, what is true freedom then? And how is it better? On the face of it, it seems equally as limited. The flesh can only set its mind on the flesh the Spirit can only set its mind on what the Holy Spirit wants. Except that’s not what it’s saying.
Before Jesus intervenes, we’re in a situation where we only please ourselves and cannot please God, we therefore cannot change at the deepest internal levels even if we can modify our behaviours. Yet when Jesus, by his Spirit, intervenes he opens up a new way to us. We’re still subject to death because of sin. (See verse 10) Sin is still a feature, it’s still a part of our life but because the entrance of the Holy Spirit into the picture and into our lives we can change with his help. It means we are directed in a new way.
But how is this freedom? If we’re still subject to something or someone, how can we be free? Well, under the Spirit of God, he is at work in us making us the people we were originally intended to be to live the lives we were meant to live. The Spirit sets us free to be who God intends us to be. Furthermore, the Spirit sets us free from the cycle of self and enables us to move towards God and others.
I said this last week in Leven but the common misconception about Christianity is that it’s a list of rules and therefore people say, ‘Ah, you’re a christian, does that mean you can’t do that? Does that mean you have to do this?’ It’s as if we’re somehow brainwashed or held against our will. The reality is when you put your faith in the Lord Jesus, are indwelt by the Spirit you are given new desires, desires to please him and honour him. (See John 14:16, 15:26, 16:14)
So all of a sudden, we have a new desire, a desire to honour God, a desire to live for him and that isn’t a coincidence. Whereas in the ‘flesh’ we have no power to change, actually in the Spirit we are freed from the same destructive patterns which repeat themselves because we have a new way opened up to us.
And it isn’t marked by the same level of frustration and wheel-spinning-but-going-nowhere because there is a new power living in us whose very role is to lead us on in worship, in faith and obedience. And when I say a new power, I mean the same power that raised Jesus is living in you right now as a believer. (See verse 11)
This isn’t about anything impressive about the you or me, this is all the Spirit’s doing. We, once unable to change ourselves, now in God’s kindness have a desire to change and a power to change and his name is the Holy Spirit.
The mark of a true believer that their life takes on this new direction and this new purpose which is Godward. If you are filled with the Spirit of God and belong to God, your following after him it’ll be imperfect, it’ll be messy, it’ll be coloured by sin but yet it will be marked with a desire to know and love and honour God.
And so that is one of the ways in which true freedom is better than you think. Life in the flesh it’s very black and white. The law simply says to those in the flesh, ‘This is what I require and you fall short, death is your end.’ Whereas life in the Spirit says, ‘This is what I require, and though you fall short, Jesus’ righteousness is what covers you and by His Spirit you are given new life.’
Christian, do you feel a bit discouraged as you come today? You want to change but you see so many areas of your life which is contrary to God’s way and what he calls you to. And you perhaps reason there isn’t sufficient change in your life. Can you really be a Christian if you still struggle with areas of pride or anger? Can you really be a Christian if you let out these swear words?
I think if there is a genuine fight and battle, a genuine desire to honour God you’re on the right track. Do you see, if we flip back to ‘life in the flesh’ the flesh doesn’t want to honour God, but those who are in the Spirit want to honour God.
Most likely there are 101 things you see that need to be sorted out and they probably do, but the fact you see that as a problem and aren’t sleepwalking into sinful patterns is crucial. Of course, feelings aren’t the be all and end all, sometimes we are unmoved by sin, sometimes we are unmoved by God. But feelings can be a strong indicator. People in the flesh don’t want to honour God only those who are in the Spirit.
And so if you feel down and out today, if you wonder if you could be a Christian because of the mess, the junk and the sin still in your life, yet that troubles you and grieves you, and you are seeking with his help to change, stop and think, ‘If I weren’t a Christian, none of this would bother me.’ The Spirit of God gives you new desire to honour and obey him, repent and ask for forgiveness for your shortcomings, but know that if your life is marked by a tender conscience which wants to honour the Holy Spirit and is grieved when you don’t – that is a healthy sign. As the text says in verse 10: ‘… though your body is dead because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.’
That is to us life and peace. (See verse 6) In the midst of our ongoing battle with sin, in the midst of our failings and imperfections that for those of us who have the Spirit of God, we are children of God, that is settled. We have new life, not to the degree of spirituality in us but to the degree to which God is life and light.
A new start, a new life that was not and is not our own doing. The life belongs to God it’s not down to our genius or our spirituality, he has given it to us. And as a result we can know peace. Our relationship with God isn’t based upon our performance.
Our relationship with God through faith in Jesus is settled and it’s final because it rests in what God has already done for us. Do you want to talk about freedom? What is more freeing than that? That God doesn’t love you more because of the good things you do and he doesn’t love you less because of the bad things you have done but in Jesus his love for you is settled.
There’s nothing more enslaving than feeling the need to prove yourself because you’re always on edge, always watching out and hoping that nobody notices when you mess up, hoping that your good is good enough. Yet in the gospel, we aren’t looking over our shoulder wondering if God is going to cut us off at any moment, we rest in the reality of God’s settled love for us in Jesus Christ.
Do you think of God as one who, is gracious to save you and rescue you but once you’re in you need to prove yourself? A kind of ‘Over to you now’ situation? It couldn’t be further from the truth, it is from beginning to end: grace.
I love how Paul describes the totality of salvation in Ephesians 1 as ‘every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’.
• He chose us before the foundation of the world
• He predestined us for adoption into his family
• We have redemption through the blood of Jesus
• He revealed his will to us
• Chief among the gifts is the Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our coming redemption and rescue when Jesus comes again.
All of it is grace. From beginning to end. This is why we are secure in his love, this is why we are freed up to serve him because its ultimately his doing.
Of course we have to exert ourselves, that comes up in verse 13 unmistakably and in so many other places but it is in the wider context of God’s power and grace at work leading us home.
To tee us up for verse 13 which will be covered next week, this is what empowers our obedience, this is what empowers our lives as Christians: the glorious freedom of the gospel. Our identity, the love lavished on us, the Fatherhood of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit isn’t ours because of how we measure up or because we’ve earned it, it’s ours because of his grace.
As you go out in service to him, you needn’t fear that God is leaving you to get on with it, go out sure that the Holy Spirit will empower you, he will strengthen you, he will enable you to live obedient lives and where you fail his grace is waiting for you to scoop you up and to set you back on your feet again. So you needn’t give up, or feel helpless, in fact you have all the reason more to keep going and to press on.
Friends true freedom is not what you think, it’s not found in doing what you want to do. True freedom is better than you think because the Spirit of God enables new life and eternal hope, he enables great change in your life and though at times you fail he walks with you.