If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Romans chapter 8. We will be considering verses 12 and 13, just a couple verses, but I would like to read the context. We're going to read the first, we will read the first 13 verses, so we'll start in verse 1. But this is important to get the context of these verses because 12 and 13 really form the conclusion of the first 11 verses. So, these are the implications because of everything that's gone before. So, it's important to read the context. Beginning in verse 1, Romans chapter 8, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 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, 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. 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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him, But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. live, as far as the reading of God's Word. Well, I wonder if you're familiar with the movie that came out in the early 2000s known as The Bourne Identity. In the opening scene of that movie, there's a man, Jason Bourne, stranded at sea, and actually he's unconscious, floating on a piece of driftwood. And these sailors see this unconscious man, pull him to the boat, and begin to resuscitate him and revive him, and he starts to choke up the water that was in his lungs and begins to regain his own consciousness. And when he does, he's realized that he has a severe case of amnesia, that he has no idea who he is. He has no identification. He doesn't remember anything that happened to him beforehand. All he knows about himself is that he has two gunshot wounds in his back and a chip in his side that gives a serial number to some bank account in Germany where he can figure out his identity, who he is. And so in this endeavor, in his endeavor to try and find out who he is, he begins to realize that he has possessed and obtained these abilities that he did not previously possess. For instance, he can engage in hand-to-hand combat at the highest intensity, which he was not able to do beforehand. He's able to speak fluently in languages that he's never studied before. In some sense, he's woken up and he's a new creation. Something drastically has happened to him. Something has changed in his life and he cannot quite figure it out, but he's able to do things that he was not previously able to do. In some sense, I think that captures very well for us the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. Whenever you are born again, when God changes your heart and gives you the Holy Spirit, you are enabled to live the Christian life. Before you became a Christian, before you were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, you were not able to live the Christian life. You were dead in your trespasses and sins. But now that the Holy Spirit lives and dwells and remains and abides in you, you can obey God and you can walk in newness of life. You are enabled to do so by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And I think that is the background that we have to have as we approach these two verses in 12 and 13, especially the very conditional verse of 13. We are, and if we're going to divide our time up tonight, I want to do it under two headings. The first one being that in Christ, we are no longer debtors to the flesh. No longer debtors to the flesh. Secondly, in Christ, we are indebted and enabled to walk according to the Spirit. So on the one hand, we are no longer debtors to the flesh. On the other hand, we are indebted and enabled to walk according to the Spirit. And so this language of we are no longer debtors precisely comes out in verse 12. So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. This implies the fact that we are no longer debtors implies that at one point we were debtors to the flesh. We did live in some kind of obligation towards the flesh, towards this present evil age. The flesh is really capturing this idea of the world in which we live. This sinful, unregenerate, unrepentant world in which we live. Just like what John talked about in 1 John 2.15, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but it's from the world. Those things characterize the world in which we live in and we used to be debtors to this world. We used to live according to this world, according to this age. We were like so many going down the lazy river, just going along, floating along with no sort of resistance to go in the opposite direction. This world and all its sinfulness and all its unregenerate and disobedience towards God is going in a particular direction. And we used to be on that lazy river going in the same direction of the world. And the world that we live in is plagued and corrupted by sin. It's polluted by sinfulness. And that's really seen especially in the Garden of Eden. God made the world good. All of it was very good. Everything was pure and clean and right. And then when sin entered into the world, the world around us became polluted and corrupted by sin. Just like what Paul talked about in Romans 5. That when sin came, death and sin spread to all men. spread to all men, all the world around us, death spread. It's almost like if you remember the explosion of the oil rig just 40 some miles off of the coast of Louisiana, I think it was in 2010, the ocean water was clean and pure and pristine, and whenever the ocean, whenever the oil rig exploded, then you had all this oil infiltrating and corrupting and polluting the ocean water all around the Gulf. Likewise, when sin entered into this world, it polluted and corrupted everything around us it has tarnished that which was pure and that which was good and now the sinful age that we live in is polluted and corrupted by sin and it's in every avenue around us it's in the commercials and the media on the tv it's in the radio it's it's everywhere around us. It's in our own hearts, this rebellion towards God. And we all at one point were rebels towards God, living in this world, going along the lazy river, and not only in a world that is dominated by sin, but a world that is governed by the prince of darkness, governed by the prince of darkness, who exercises his rule, reign, and regime in this world. 2 Corinthians 4.4, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of God. And just like what Paul says in Ephesians 6, 12, we as Christians wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers and authorities of this present age, against the principalities and the spiritual forces of evil in this present darkness. So we live in a world that is polluted by sin and governed by the evil one. And the message of the gospel, particularly this evening, is that we have been delivered from this age. We have been bought and redeemed out of this age. We were in a spiral going downward and God has brought us out and bought us and purchased us for himself. We have been delivered so that we are no longer debtors. We are no longer obligated to live for this age. We are no longer obligated to bend the knee to the demands and the solicitations of this present world. The world demands our allegiance. The world demands your worship. But as the Christian, we are no longer obligated to pin the knee to the idols of this world. We have been redeemed and bought and purchased out of those so that we no longer have to submit to them. We are no longer debtors. All of our obligations to this world have been nullified, terminated, abrogated because we belong to God, not to this present world. It's almost similar in some way if you think about the living as an Israelite under the rule and reign of Pharaoh. An Israelite under the rule and reign of Pharaoh. You had no options. You were a debtor to Pharaoh. You were a slave in Egypt, but Moses came and delivered you out of that age. He delivered you out of that realm so that you are no longer obligated to submit and worship the gods of Egypt. You've been purchased. You've been bought. You no longer live for this world. You live for an entirely different world, and you belong to an entirely different master, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. You belong to another, and because you belong to another, that completely changes your life. Completely changes your life in so many different respects. Namely, in verse one, you have a new status. You have a new status. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You are not guilty. Rather, the judge of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, will look upon you and declare you innocent because you are in Christ Jesus. Not only do you have a new status, you walk in a new direction. The world is going this particular direction, but because you've been bought, because you've been redeemed, you are going in the opposite direction. Verse 4, in order that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. We, as believers, are walking according to the Spirit. We're no longer walking in the direction of the flesh. We, as Christians, are going upstream in a downstream world. And not only do we have a new walk and behavior in this life, but we have a new mindset. Verse 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. Our mind, now that we've been redeemed and regenerated, is on things above, not on the things of this world. We're not consumed with the world around us. Rather, we long and we hope for the world that is to come. And so we take Paul's advice seriously in Philippians 4.8. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is pure, whatever is commendable, think about these things. Our mindset is not on things below. Rather, it is on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father. And not only as sinners bought by Christ do we have a new mindset, we also have a new relationship with God. Verse 7 and 8, 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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. We used to be at enmity with God. Now, because of the work of Christ, we are at peace with God. We have a new relationship with God, but the point that Paul gets to here in verse 12 and 13 is that we have a new relationship with sin. We have an entirely new relationship with sin now. Christ has delivered us from this age. He has bought us to be His own, and now in light of that, we respond by dealing with our sin. Christ has dealt with our sin on the cross. However, We as Christians continue to put the remaining and indwelling sin to death in our lives. Verse 13, if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So Paul moves from the great deliverance that Christ has purchased for us in the gospel to a strong and stern warning. Strong and stern warning in verse 13. This is a warning to those who live according to the flesh. A warning to those who live for this age, not the age to come. He's not saying that you'll lose your salvation. He's not saying that if you sin, you don't have an advocate with the Father. No, that's not what he's saying at all. He's saying here that if you remain in your sins, if you continue in unrepentance, if you are the stiff-necked hypocrite who refuses to repent of your sins, those people will die. If you live according to the flesh, you will die. if you live for this age, if you live for your sin, if you love your sin, if you're unwilling to repent of your sin, there are consequences for those things. Namely, eternal death, eternal separation from the Father. This is descriptive of those whose lifestyle is patterned after this world, not those who are living repentant lives. This is a warning to those who want to hold on to Christ in one hand and want to hold on to their sin in another hand. These are those who refuse to let go of their sin and want to have both and want to bring both into heaven. But Christ tells us, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me daily. So this is a warning specifically to the unrepentant, and it's a real warning. It's a true warning. We have to continue to capture the validity of this warning. There's certainty here. God will not be mocked. Galatians 6-7, whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. Some versions, namely the NAS and the ASV, actually say you must die. If you live according to the flesh, you must die. There's certainty here because God will not be mocked. He's a just judge and He does punish sin and he will punish the unrepentant. I think Lloyd-Jones, the 20th century minister in England, captures this really well. He says, to think that you can live in the flesh and not experience the final death on judgment day is like putting your hand in the fire, thinking that it will not get burned. Likewise, those who live according to the flesh will die. God will not be mocked. However, the point of this passage is that's not you. You've been delivered. You are no longer a debtor. You've been bought. You belong to Christ, and now you don't have to live for the flesh anymore. You don't have to live for this present evil age. You have the freedom to choose now. Because you're indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, you are able for the first time to not bend the knee to the idols of this world, and rather to serve and worship the Lord Jesus Christ as the only true God. And so we are indebted. Secondly, we are indebted to God for this deliverance that he's purchased for us. We are indebted to God for what he has done for us. And how is this indebtedness expressed? Mortification. Verse 13, if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. It is a putting to death the deeds of the body because of the great salvation that Christ has accomplished for me. Now I have an indebtedness out of gratitude to put to death the remaining and indwelling and residual sin that is in my heart and in my life. We need not make the mistake that when we experience this great deliverance, when you become a Christian and there is therefore now no condemnation for the one who is in Christ Jesus, we need not make the mistake that that means that the presence of sin is entirely eradicated. Sin does remain. Sin remains in our hearts, even though we are pardoned of all of our sin. Sin remains and resides in our hearts. It does not reign in our hearts, but it does remain in our hearts. Robert Murray McShane put it this way, the seeds of every known sin reside in my heart. Every known sin out there, the seeds of them remain in my own heart. This is what Paul said in just the chapter earlier, 721. I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Sin dwells in our members and we as Christians to express our indebtedness to God certainly must put those things to death. Sin remains in our hearts. We have enemies within our hearts, spies, traitors, those who would wish to trip us up, those who would wish to deceive us. Our heart continually deceives us. We have sin that remains in our hearts, but sin not only just remains in our hearts and sits peacefully and quietly in our hearts. No, rather sin is extremely discontent. The very heart and nature of sin is discontentment. Sin will take you farther than you want to go, cost you more than you want to pay, and keep you longer than you want to stay. The sin that remains in your heart is ever acting, rebelling, troubling, striving. It wants to take you in a particular direction. It's not content to stay still. It wants to take you farther than you want to go. John Owen put it this way. He said, sin aims at the utmost. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could. Every burst of anger would be murder if it could. Every thought of unbelief would be atheism. if it could. If sin was left unrestrained, it would go to the uttermost degree. And so because sin remains and because sin is acting in our hearts, we must in response put these things to death. This is the language of mortification and it's life and death language. This is what Jesus talked about when he said, if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. Paul said the same words in Colossians 3, 5, put to death therefore what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, evil desires, all of these things must be put to death in our hearts. That is the response that we must give to God because of the great salvation that he's accomplished for us. And that has wide implications for how we think of our sin. This means that we don't make peace treaties with our sin. We don't say to ourselves, oh, it's for a good purpose, it's for a good end, there's a good outcome to this. It's not that big of a deal. We can't minimize sin and say everybody at school's doing it. It's not that big of a deal if everyone around me is engaged in it. Mortification means that we can't either justify our sin. We cannot say that we identify with our sin and identify with Christ. We cannot justify our sin and say that our sin is acceptable in God's eyes because it's not, nor can we underestimate sin and say to ourselves that I've got this under control. No mortification in putting sin to death requires that we make siege warfare against all of our sins, starve it out, cut off all supplies, refuse any reinforcements from our sin gaining strength we must put all these things to death this is a very hard charge to sinners it's very it's a lifelong warfare with our sin but the most important and encouraging and hopeful part of this text is that God has not left you alone he has not thrown you back on your own resources and says now it's up to you to put all these things to death and to do so by yourself no he has given you the third person of the Trinity, the powerful Holy Spirit to live and dwell and reside within you and to enable you to put sin to death. Everything about mortification would be of no avail apart from the Holy Spirit. He is the indispensable instrument to our mortification. Human regulations, Colossians 2.20, have the appearance of wisdom but of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. We may engage in a number of activities to minimize our own sinfulness, but we cannot make any progress in sanctification without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the indispensable means of putting our sin to death. These things have their place. Exercise has their place. Busyness has their place. Accountability has its place. All of these things are wonderful things, but they cannot replace the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit is the indispensable means of accomplishing our mortification. And that is because all energy, all power, all efficacy of mortification comes from God the Holy Spirit. It does not reside within us. It's not because we're super powerful and we're super strong. No, it's because God the Holy Spirit is strong and God has promised the Holy Spirit for this work. Ezekiel 36, 26, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my ways and be careful to obey my statutes. God has promised your sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it. God will accomplish this. God is engaged. God is more powerful at accomplishing your sanctification and your mortification that you are. Indeed, we are weak, just like Jesus said in Philippians, not Philippians, Matthew 26, to his disciples when he said, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And that's so true. Our flesh is weak. We are so weak and impotent. We cannot accomplish the duty and task of mortification about the Holy Spirit. And honestly, I think we tend to get these a little flipped. I think we think we are willing, but the spirit is a little dormant, and I really want to be rid of my sin, but I don't feel like God's helping me out that much. It's almost like those times when you have to be in an appointment, or you have to be somewhere soon, and you hop in your car, and you realize your car battery's dead, and you can't get to where you need to go, and you think, I really want to go here, but this battery is preventing me from getting this. Battery's slowing me down. I think we think that way sometimes about the Holy Spirit. I really want to be freed and delivered from my sin, but the Holy Spirit isn't really helping me out right now he seems sleepy and dormant no we serve a God who neither slumbers nor sleeps he is more engaged in your sanctification that you are and he is more willing and ready and able to put to death the deeds of the body than you are we are weak the spirit is strong now God the Holy Spirit enables you to mortify but he does not mortify for you this is a very important point I'll read verse 13 again if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live the spirit is absolutely necessary and quite indispensable to the work of our mortification but it is you who must put to death the deeds of the body it is you it's not the Holy Spirit will mortify. It's not that the Holy Spirit will come in and I can say, oh, let go and let God and he'll do all the work for me. No, he engages you. He applies you. He uses your efforts so that we can say with Paul in Philippians 2.14, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it's God who works in you both to will and to work for your good pleasure. Spurgeon put it this way, we must move, but God must move us. We are commanded to put to death the deeds of the body, but it all sources from God the Holy Spirit. We can make no progress apart from the Holy Spirit. He enables us to do so, but He's not going to do the work for us. He is the instrument of our mortification. And there is a promise attached to this as well. You're not only obligated to mortify, but moreover, you are enabled to mortify. And if you do, God promises that you will live. This conditional statement is speaking of eternal life. You will live eternally. Those who live by the Spirit, walk by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, will live eternally. But he's certainly not saying that you are meriting eternal life by your mortification. By no means. Rather, he's saying that if you're engaged in the act of mortification, if you are living with the Holy Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, then you have confidence that God the Spirit dwells in you, who is the guarantee of your inheritance, the pledge of your inheritance. You have assurance. So he's not saying that you will earn eternal life, but you have assurance of your eternal life. The Spirit is the down payment. he's the guarantee of our inheritance Ephesians 1 14 and he's he's not just talking about eternal life of course we will live eternally but he's also talking about even life in this present age that the more we grow in holiness really the happier we will be happiness and holiness go together we tend to think of those things as diametrically opposite that the holier I am the less happy I'm going to be the Bible says no it's not true the happiest people are the holiest people and the holiest people are the ones who are in heaven and they truly are the happiest people so there is life here we put sin to death and it's a struggle it's hard it's difficult it's dying however as we die we will live and God will give us life and joy in this task and labor of putting sin to death. Jason Bourne realized he had all of these abilities and capabilities when he was revived that he did not previously possess. He realized that he could engage in hand-to-hand combat, that he could speak languages that he never studied before. Brothers and sisters in Christ, now that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, now that we are bought by the Lord Jesus Christ. We are no longer to live for this present evil age. We don't have to. We've been redeemed from it. We can choose to say no. And now that we're indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we can walk in newness of life. It is a privilege. Sanctification is a mighty privilege that God has given us. He has given us the third person of the Trinity to live and dwell within us in order that we may put sin to death without him we could make no progress in the Christian life but now now for the first time in our lives we can live in obedience and gratitude to God for what he's done let us pray and give thanks to him Heavenly Father we praise you and thank you for the deliverance and salvation that you have accomplished for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you for his work on our behalf in his life and in his death and even now seated at your right hand interceding for us. We praise you that he has delivered us from the domain and realm of this present evil and rebellious world and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. We thank you that you have not only given us your son to accomplish our redemption but you have given us your spirit to enable us to live a sanctified life. Father we pray that you would aid and help us and continue to grow us in Christ-likeness. Help us by the power and ministry of your Spirit, and we ask it in Christ's name. Amen.