Romans 8:9-17 - Searching For Identity? (A Short Bible Study)

The story we tell ourselves about ourselves matters quite a bit. I’ll let that thought sink in for just a moment.  It’s a statement about identity and I believe that it can shape our daily lives dramatically.  So, what do the Scriptures say about that? Who does Jesus say we really are? We’re in Romans 8:9-17, the part of the letter where Paul teaches us more about the life-changing reality of being sons and daughters of God.

Transcript

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The story we tell ourselves about ourselves actually matters quite a bit. I'll let that thought sink in for just a moment. It's a statement about identity, and I believe that it can shape our daily lives pretty dramatically. So what does Scripture say about all of that? Who does Jesus say that we truly are? On that happy note, welcome to Meet Me in the Word. I am so glad that you've joined us today. We're in Romans chapter 8, verses 9 through 17. It's the part of the letter where Paul teaches the Roman believers and us all about this reality of being sons and daughters of God. Go ahead and open up your copy of the Word to Romans chapter 8, and we'll read through all of that together. But before we do anything else, let's pray. Jesus, thank you for this good day that you have given us. Thank you that you call us sons and daughters of the Most High God. We are here to understand more about that and to meet with you. Would you please meet with us? Amen. All right, let's jump into this together again. Romans chapter 8, starting at verse 9. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again. Rather the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry Abba Father. The Spirit Himself testifies with our Spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Let's take a moment here to pause and listen to God. Once again, if it helps you to pause this podcast to have a little bit more of a moment, go ahead and do that, and then we'll continue on. Let's make a few observations here together. I've divided our uh our observation time, our reflection time here into kind of three sections. And that was helpful for me. Hopefully it's helpful for you as well. The first is verses 9 through 11, and I just kind of narrowed this down, hopefully not too much, but to this idea that the Spirit gives life. If we belong to Jesus, then the Spirit is in us, and the Spirit is the polar opposite of the flesh, right? When, by the way, when Paul uses that, if in especially in this context, uh, I don't know that we need to be questioning our salvation, like, oh, if you know, if this is there, like you're like kind of wondering, well, did I did I give my life to Jesus in the right way? Sometimes we can get ourselves into that weird space. Um, but he's really just kind of saying, look, it uh if you've trusted Jesus, then then then all of these things are true uh about you. So he's saying, yep, this is this is there. Uh remember in in the previous eight verses, kind of towards the end, he talked about you know what happens uh in the realm of the flesh, it leads towards death, but but you you're you're not in the realm of the flesh, you're in the realm of the spirit. Like that's your reality, your reality. And and anybody who uh who does have the spirit of Christ, this is true for them. And it's not true for those who have rejected Christ. So uh I guess the encouragement here is is accept Jesus, right? Like put your hope and your faith in him, and and then really honestly, like don't worry about it. Sometimes we just, yeah. Anyway, we'll move on. So let's go to verse 11 because I think it really helps us to uh to understand uh all of this here a little bit better. So I'll just reread that portion for us. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his spirit who lives in you. So we come to understand that even though our bodies experience death and decay, right? That's an unwelcome result of the brokenness in our world generally, like because of sin. We have disease, we have sickness, we have death, we have decay, all because sin entered the world. It's a result of that. But because of the spirit, even our bodies have this hope of the resurrection. And I think that's a a reality that we need to maybe talk about a little bit more as people who love Jesus and choose to follow him, that it's not about just saving our spirit or our soul. It's about all of us. It really is. Uh, in fact, in other places, especially towards the end of uh his first letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, I feel like in verses um or chapters rather, uh 14 and 15, kind of in that whole section there, uh, Paul talks quite vividly and thoroughly about this hope for uh our bodies. Um they will be resurrected, uh, not as they are now, they'll be renewed totally. Um, but there's not this idea of like us kind of floating ambiguously around. And this isn't like the main thrust of what we're trying to talk about today, but it is this aspect of hope that that when we recognize that we're no longer operating under the realm of the flesh, which leads to death, we're operating uh under the realm of the spirit, which leads to life through righteousness. It's a game changer for our whole selves, right? And so that's part of the hope of glory is that we're not, you know, floating around in a weird kind of a way. It's like, no, this is us. God saves all of us. And uh I mean you're like that's just uh an amazing thought. So the spirit gives life. I hope that you've heard that that piece. It's really, it's just so encouraging, isn't it? Like the tone of Romans 8 is like is just like bubbleful or bubbleful. Yeah, that could work. Bubbly and full of joy, and uh it's just it's it's wonderful. So you go into uh into verses 12 and 13, and I'd like to talk about our joy-filled, our joy-filled obligation. So here's the reality, guys. We don't actually have to do whatever our flesh wants. Like I know sometimes it feels like we do, and there are even people, quite a few people, who hold to the idea that we should uh we should pay attention to what our bodies want and do that thing, and and there is an aspect of health in that that's true, like listen to your body, listen to symptoms, that kind of thing. But when it comes to like desires, urges, temptations, all of those sorts of things, no, you actually don't have to give in to what your body's doing. You, right? You, the center of you, is in charge of the rest of you. So so don't, you know, don't buy into that myth that we, for whatever reason, need to listen to that. So we can, right? We can say no to all of that. And and so we have this obligation that Paul describes it this way. It's not to the flesh, right? That's why we don't have to say yes to the flesh to live according to it. We don't have to go to that spot, but to live according uh to the spirit, and we put to death the misdeeds of the body, it's an identity thing, isn't it? It's this this obligation, it it speaks to who do we belong to. And I hope that that idea is is something that you're able to embrace. Like we belong to somebody, and I don't mean it in a weird ownership kind of a way, but that sense of of just truly like, yeah, I belong with Jesus. Like that's that's my person, that's who I identify with, right? I don't identify any longer with the world of the flesh or those other desires. That's not who I am any longer. I am a son of the most high God. I am a daughter of the most high God. And because of that, I live in in such a way that reflects that. So, yeah, my obligation or my connection is to the spirit and not to the flesh. Finally, in verses 14 through 17, uh, we are children of God, and you know, the handcuffs that held us to sin have been undone, and we're now again sons and daughters of God. That uh verse there uh in verse uh 15, you know, right at the end, we're we're this adoption into sonship, and by him we cry, Abba Father. We get to we get to call him dad, so to speak, and and there's that affection that's there, and it's and it's not odd, it's not out of place. It does belong all because he cares for us so deeply. This is just a really, really special thing that we get to experience all because of the grace of God and the way that he has pursued us. And and then I wanted to make sure that we um really celebrated what's happening here in verse 16. The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Isn't that kind of a wild thought? That the Spirit of God agrees with our spirit, our creator with the creation, right? All of that is is there, and and he's seeking us out and and choosing to enter into this partnership, but it's more than just like a handshake thing, it's a welcome to the family thing. So uh his spirit testifies with ours that we are God's children, and then he completes that thought and he said, Look, it if we're children, then we're heirs. So we're not just guests, we're not just servants in the house of God, we're not close friends, although we are that. We're not but we're not just that. We're we're family, and if we're family, then we're entitled to this inheritance, and this inheritance is the fullest riches inheritance we could possibly imagine. All of that is ours because of Jesus. All right. Just a couple of thoughts to leave you with as we uh begin to uh prepare to head on with the rest of our day and whatever God has for us in that. So, first question for you. If I belong to Jesus, what does that say about me? All right, we've been talking about that, but I want you to make that personal. If if you belong to Jesus, what does that say about you? And then secondly, are there any behaviors in my life that just don't align with my identity in Christ? It's important to think about that. Because sometimes that stuff slips in and we just need to address it. So if there's anything that's mismatched there, bring it to the Lord, confess it, and move on. He is the author of life and he desires the very best for you. Call out to him, that you can call him Father. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for all that you have given us. Thank you that you have changed not only what we believe, but who we actually are. Amen.