Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: The flesh dominated our lives. The flesh was taking us to hell. But somehow God came along and he saved you, he saved me, and he brought us to that place where not only we develop and we grow because we're reading the word of God, we're reckoning the old man to be dead, we want to be obedient to God's word, and we want to be victorious over sin.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. In this series on the Holy Spirit, we're examining what it looks like to walk in the spirit and not in the flesh. Today, Raul will assure us of the blessings that come from God's presence in our lives.

As we journey through life, we'll still encounter trials and tribulations, but as children of the Lord and heirs to his kingdom, we can enjoy the power, peace, and protection of the Holy Spirit. Today's study is titled "The Spirit's Power Over the Flesh." In Romans chapter eight, beginning in verse 12, here is Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Paul the Apostle in chapter eight is so awesome. He's going to be teaching us this morning concerning the spirit's power over our flesh. Let's read chapter eight of Romans, verse 12 to verse 17, see what he says. He says, "Therefore, brethren, Christians, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if you by the spirit put to death the deeds of the body, you will live."

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together." I love that. We're all a team, all together.

Let me look at the first point here, verses 12 to 13, the reason. The reason we mortify the flesh through the Holy Spirit of God. That's important. Because as you look at verse 12, let me read it again, "Therefore," he's speaking of previous verses we already studied, going back to verse one to verse 11. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For 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 the special ministry described here is mortification. Write that down. Mortification. That means putting the sinful nature to death. We see here that the Holy Spirit gives power to do what? To mortify. To put to death our flesh, your flesh, my flesh. And with this gracious privilege of having Christ in our lives, then therefore we become obligated to become debtors of Christ Jesus.

You see, the purpose we are debtors is the presence of the Holy Spirit. I like that. The presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. That what we should not only be my attitude as a Christian, should be different from the attitude that I have toward the flesh. It's not the same. John the Beloved in 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, number one, the lust of the flesh. Number two, the lust of the eyes. Number three, the pride of life. It is not of the Father but it is of the world, and the world is passing away, and the lust of it. But he who does the will of God abides forever and ever."

Those that do the will of God, and that is what, obey the word of God. Be obedient. Secondly, we should not walk in the flesh. Romans 8:1, remember? "Therefore there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." My position is in Christ. "Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Holy Spirit." In Romans 8:4 he says that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Holy Spirit.

Notice the evaluation here, the flesh and the spirit. The spirit should be winning, not the flesh. The flesh was always winning in my life and in your life. The flesh dominated our lives. The flesh was taking us to hell. But somehow God came along and he saved you, he saved me, and he brought us to that place where not only we develop and we grow because we're reading the word of God, we're reckoning the old man to be dead, we want to be obedient to God's word, and we want to be victorious over sin.

Victorious over sin. Because thirdly here, we should not make provision for the flesh. That is what happens to so many Christians. Let me just go back one second to Romans 8:4 where it says that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Holy Spirit. Romans 13:14 says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lust or desires."

Each one of us individually, we have desires in the flesh. We're looking at the cross of Jesus Christ, and a lot of times we want to go to the left, sometimes to the right, sometimes we want to go backwards when we're supposed to not stand still, we're supposed to go forward. But the devil's always there to tempt. You have the world, you have the flesh, you have the devil that are against you. And all three things are always trying to disqualify you and disqualify me. That's just the bottom line.

If this is true according to the word of God, then what kind of people should we be? Disobedient or obedient? If I am going to be obedient to Christ, then I reckon the old man to be dead. I don't want my flesh to be king over my life. I want the Holy Spirit to rule over my life so he can convict me, he can show me things to come. He can bring comfort to my life, and he can work in my life and through my life so that I can see the power of God in my life.

Second point, verse 14. The duty of a spirit leading a believer. He says, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons and daughters of God." So to be led by the Holy Spirit is to live a normal Christian life. Not exaggerated, a normal Christian life. Get up in the morning, you pray, you put on the armor of God, you go to work, you have peace throughout the day. Yes, you have trials, you have problems, but Jesus is there to help me to fight the enemy.

When you don't have this power of the Holy Spirit in your Christian life, you don't have a normal Christian life. You have a defeated life. Always murmuring, always complaining. Always walking with your head down. It's your problem because you haven't submitted, you haven't yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. But following the Holy Spirit's leading, what do we do? We realize and prove our sonship. I am a son of God. God's purpose that the New Testament saints are the sons of God. Can you imagine? Sons of God.

I love what he says here because there is no "if" we're going to be sons of God. He says "as many," as many he says, become sons of God. How do you see in your life the Holy Spirit guiding you? How do you see it? Or do you even know that he's guiding you? There are a couple of things I wrote down, the way I see the Holy Spirit in my life. Number one, I have peace in my life. Peace in my life.

In Psalm 23, everybody should know that Psalm. In verse two he says, "He makes me to lie down," David says, "in green pastures." And look at how many times, "And he leads me beside the still waters." The keyword is "leads." Secondly, to follow the path of righteousness. He says in Psalm 23:3, "He restores my soul and he leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake." Thirdly, to have freedom. Galatians 5:18, "But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law."

And then how about to repentance? In Romans 2:4, "Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God," here it is, "leads you to repentance?" And then fifthly, to safety. Deuteronomy 8:2, "And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not." Isn't that neat?

From the old to the new. I took you to humble you, to test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep my commandments or not. So the spirit does lead the Christian. And then there is this idea of leading and guiding, but I have to follow. I have to submit. I have to obey. That is very important because the direction God wants to give in my life, I have to follow his direction so that I don't go to the left, to the right, or go backwards, but I am going forward all the time.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You radio with Raul Ries. Visit somebodylovesyou.com for resources to guide you in following the Holy Spirit's leading as you operate in the spiritual gifts he's given you. Raul's study titled "Filled, Empowered, and Equipped" is available on CD and USB, and we'll tell you how you can get your copy in just a few moments. But first, back to more with Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: This is one of the great powers of the Holy Spirit. The power to lead. The power to save. The power to convict people's lives. In John 16:13 he says, "However, when he, the spirit of truth, has come," Jesus is speaking before his crucifixion. "He will guide you into all truth. For he will not speak of his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will tell you of things to come," because he's a person.

And the most compelling reason of all this that we have is the holiness of God in my life, in your life. And we do that by adopting what? A holy household, by giving my life to Christ and saying, "For me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord." "For as many as are led by the Holy Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." So Paul is saying here that it is a better way for the child of God to submit and give himself to Jesus.

And as he is holy, I will be holy. I'll be in fellowship with him. Third point, verse 15. The benefit, spirit adopts believers. He says, "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom you cry out, 'Abba, Father.'" So the spirit delivers men from what? From a terrible spirit, the spirit of bondage. Remember the bondage you and I were in? It was a bondage that we had no really—I call it the pit. You're in the pit and you couldn't get out of the pit until Jesus reached down and pulled you out of the pit.

And there are so many people they are in bondage. When the Holy Spirit has taken us out of bondage, the bondage of fear. And yet we know that man is gripped by bondage and fear. But the fear that I have is the fear of God. Not the fear of man. Not anxiety, not tension, not dread, not alarming, not danger, not terror. Yes, those things are there, but when I look at the fear of God, when I look at Jesus, I have comfort. I have peace in my life.

Because I put on the armor of God, and I'm a warrior and I want to fight against the enemy, but I'm not going to submit to the enemy. I'm not going to give up to the enemy. No possible way. He says you did not receive the spirit of bondage and again to fear. The spirit encourages me to one thing: to pray when I'm in trouble. "By whom we cry out." We cry out. The word is used in Psalms 40 times, emphasizing urgent prayer, which is needed immediately.

The Holy Spirit delivering us from the bondage of fear. Maybe you're here this morning and you have fear in your heart. As an unbeliever, you should have fear going to hell. But coming to Christ, there is no longer any fear because now I am going to heaven. And because I am going to heaven, I've been baptized by the Holy Spirit, which has been not only the instrument God is using in my life so that I can become a warrior and to defeat Satan, and to defeat the flesh, and to defeat everything that is in this world.

Galatians 4:4 says, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." Isn't that cool? As sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, "Daddy, daddy, daddy," Abba, Father. Abba, Father. The spirit gives access into his presence. And we need to come into his presence.

We have been adopted as sons of God. It is called the spirit of adoption. It is so cool that we not only are sons of God, but guess what? We have all the privileges. I am privileged of a son of God, sonship. Ephesians 3:12 says that at that time you were without Christ, being alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But look at you now. Look at the power.

The power that God has given to you. The born-again experience by the Holy Spirit of God, baptizing you with power, bearing witness today to your family, to your friends, to the world. Verse 16, 17 says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs—heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him."

Not all men are children of God. Not all Christians. You see, the liberal teaching of the brotherhood of man or the fatherhood of God is a doctrine that is foreign to scripture. We don't understand it. We don't have it in scripture. It's a false teaching. John 8:44 says, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of all liars, Satan."

1 John 3:10 says, "In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God." Of who? The devil. "Nor is he who does not love his brother." Uh-oh. Does not love his brother. Do you have something against someone today? Maybe they haven't forgiven you and you're angry with them. You need to forgive them. You need to make things right with God if you want God's Holy Spirit to well over your life.

If you want God's peace in your life, you need to be forgiven. When you go and you're forgiving and you forgive people, which I've done many times, it's hard, but it's so cool because the Holy Spirit brings you and shows you and says, "Are you not guilty?" And I look at my life and I say, "Lord, I am guilty of so many things in my life. So why I can't forgive someone, my brother?" And the reason I say that is because the knowledge of sonship. It comes as a witness through the Holy Spirit of God.

I am a son, you are a daughter of God. The spirit shed abroad the love of God. Can you believe that? Shed the love of God in our hearts. Romans 5:5 says, "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Notice that. And then he says the spirit is earnest or the guarantee that we are the children of God. 2 Corinthians 1:22, "Who also has sealed us and given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." Mark that. As a guarantee. I love that.

Thirdly, the spirit is a seal of guarantee that we are the children of God. Ephesians 4:30, one of my favorite scriptures too, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Now you say, what grieves the Holy Spirit of God? The word "grieve" in the Greek means to bring pain to the Holy Spirit. Why? The Holy Spirit is a person. But check this out. He says again, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed." You have been sealed by the redemption of Jesus Christ.

When you go back and you go a little bit forward in chapter four, verse 30, you look at all the sins that are given there that grieve the Holy Spirit of God. When you go home, look at those sins. And then the Holy Spirit bears witness that we are heirs of God. For example, eternal life. Titus 3:7, "That having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." And then we are heirs of salvation. I like that one too. Hebrews 1:14.

He says, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation?" You bet. And then thirdly here, we are heirs of the promises made by Abraham or to Abraham, that he would become the citizen of a great, great nation. Galatians 3:29, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." You see, Abraham showed us that we were under the law. When we were under the law, it made us guilty. And because I found that I was guilty, I had to come to Christ to repent of my sins so that I could come to the light and get rid of the darkness. That is why we are here today.

Then he says, we are heirs of righteousness. Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." According to faith in each one of our lives. And then we are heirs of the grace of life. 1 Peter 3:7 says, and this is speaking to husbands, "Husbands, likewise, dwell with your wives with understanding." Wives, mark that. Understanding.

Secondly, "Giving honor to the wife." Write that one too, big time. And then this is bigger time. Notice, "As to the weaker vessel." To the weaker vessel. Women say, "Amen, amen." And then, men, listen carefully, men. If you don't do that, he says "that your prayers may not be hindered." Your prayers will be hindered if you don't love your wife, if you don't pray with your wife, if you don't understand your wife. And I know there is a lot of little macho men here. But you know what? God has ways of humbling you like a little baby. And I'm going to pray that he does that for you.

Guest (Male): We hope it's encouraging to know that you don't have to go alone through life's challenges when you look to the Lord and the strength of his Holy Spirit. You're listening to Somebody Loves You radio with Raul Ries. Our message today was titled "The Spirit's Power Over the Flesh." We've made an unedited version available to you with much more teaching for a donation of five dollars or more. To get your copy, just call us at 800-634-9165.

To equip you with an even better understanding of how the third member of the Trinity can shape your days, we'd like to tell you about Raul's seven-part series, "Filled, Empowered, and Equipped." It's available on CD or thumb drive. Illuminating the Holy Spirit's unique role in the life of the believer, this resource will deepen your faith in a God who is present and engaged. Visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165 to purchase Raul's seven-lesson series.

We'll send you "Filled, Empowered, and Equipped" on CD for twenty dollars, or if you'd like on flash drive for just eleven dollars. The number once again is 800-634-9165. Or write to Somebody Loves You radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California, 91765. Look for Somebody Loves You radio on Spotify and iTunes to download podcasts of these programs. These podcasts are also available on the Somebody Loves You worldwide YouTube channel, which is home of Raul's Straight Talk program streaming every Tuesday at 10:00 AM Pacific.

We're a listener-supported ministry, and that means that every tax-deductible gift you give helps us reach more people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Tune in again next time as we continue this series with a challenge to fully submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit, allowing him to transform your heart and establish new, God-honoring goals for your life. Let's rejoin Raul now for a closing thought.

Raul Ries: Thirdly, the Holy Spirit bears witness that we are joint heirs with Christ. Romans 8:17 says, "And if children, then heirs—heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we also may be glorified together with him." And then fourthly, the Holy Spirit bears witness that we are conquerors over suffering. That's a big one. Over suffering.

How about the sermon on the mount? Matthew 5:11, Jesus said, "Oh, how happy are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all kinds of things evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice," here's my attitude, "rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Something caught my eye here in verse 11: "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you." What's happening to the church today? We're being persecuted now.

We're going to be reviled. But at the same time, I draw the line for sin. I'm not going to give into sin. I'm going to stand in God's righteousness and his truth.