Romans - Week 16

Life and Peace

READ

Romans 8:5-6

5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Paul contrasts unbelievers with believers in this passage. Unbelievers are “dominated by the sinful nature.” This does not mean they are incapable of doing some good things for their fellow man, but they can never do enough to please a holy God. On the other hand, believers—those controlled by the Holy Spirit—think about that which pleases God. The death unbelievers experience will be both physical and spiritual. Believers will face physical death but never spiritual death.

REFLECT

Notice the path to peace for the believer: “letting the Spirit control your mind.”

RESPOND

Discipline yourself to think about what Paul mentioned in Philippians 4:8. Discuss with your disciple how you can better do this.

The Sinful Nature

READ

Romans 8:7-8

7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

One can never improve the sinful nature. It has been inherited from Adam, the head of the human race. The only hope a person has is to trust in Jesus Christ because by doing so one receives a new nature. Paul says the “sinful nature is always hostile to God.” As someone has said, “Bad people don’t go to hell because they are bad, and good people don’t go to heaven because they are good. Bad people go to hell because they have not trusted in Jesus for salvation and good people go to heaven because they have trusted Jesus for salvation.

REFLECT

Think about the truth that when you were unsaved you could never please God.

RESPOND

Try to help others understand that they don’t have to improve their lives before they trust in Jesus. Use Romans 5:6 to show that Jesus died for sinners. Admitting they are sinners and in need of salvation is the first step in recognizing the importance of trusting in Jesus for salvation.

Controlled by the Spirit

READ

Romans 8:9

9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

When He was on earth, Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit was “with” them and would be “in” them (see John 14:16-17). Following the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit indwelled all believers. Some hold the view that one could be saved but not yet have the Holy Spirit. Paul says here in Romans 8:9 that if one does not have the Holy Spirit living in him, he is not a believer.

REFLECT

Think of the truth of Scripture that if you have trusted Jesus for salvation, you also have the Holy Spirt living in you.

RESPOND

Read Ephesians 4:25-32 that tells believers how to live pleasing to God. Especially notice verse 30 that indicates one grieves the Holy Spirit when not living this way.

He Will Give You Life

READ

Romans 8:10-11

10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

Although the body of the believer physically dies, the individual then will be more alive than ever as he or she will be with Jesus. Eventually, as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 records, the body of each person saved during the Church Age will be raised from the dead. (Old Testament saints will be raised at a later time.) When saying goodbye to a saved loved one, it can be comforting to know and believe this.

REFLECT

Think about the fact that you do not have to grieve for a lost loved one who was a Christ-follower as those who have no hope.

RESPOND

Use a couple Scripture passages as you talk about those who have passed away. Use 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 for those who have any doubts about the bodies of believers being raised from the dead. Use the words of Jesus in John 11:25 to comfort those who have had a believing loved one pass away.

No Obligation

READ

Romans 8:12-14

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

No believer is compelled to sin because of the sin nature within. It is a choice about whether to yield to the desires of the old nature or the new nature within. Unbelievers, however, who live by only the desires of the old nature will die, both physically and spiritually. Christ-followers are those who have been given a new nature and have put to death the desires of the old nature. These believers are those who are led by the Holy Spirit because they are the “children of God.”

REFLECT

Think about how pleased you can be that you don’t have to yield to the desires of the old nature. As a child of God you are led by the Spirit of God.

RESPOND

With your disciple, talk about loved ones who have not yet trusted Jesus as Savior. Pray that they will be convicted of the need to do so before it is eternally too late for them.