Romans 8:1-17 says, ¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 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. ⁶ To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 ⁹ But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you.

 ¹² So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

This is a picture of a Christian’s life in Paul’s mind....

In sermon 9, the Sprit of Bondage and Adoption this is the goal or the place that a follower of Christ should live.  Wesley examines the other two types, or stages in the process of getting to a what he calls, the evangelical man or the man under grace.

Let’s walk through the sermon and the text.  Keep your Bibles open, and let’s start in Romans 6:

Intro -- the setting up of the sermon 

2. The spirit of bondage and fear is widely distant from this loving Spirit of adoption: Those who are influenced only by slavish fear, cannot be termed "the sons of God;" yet some of them may be styled his servants, and are "not far from the kingdom of heaven."

3. But it is to be feared, the bulk of mankind, yea, of what is called the Christian world, have not attained even this; but are still afar off, "neither is God in all their thoughts." A few names may be found of those who love God; a few more there are that fear him; but the greater part have neither the fear of God before their eyes, nor the love of God in their hearts.

3 places/stages that humans find themselves in:

Romans 6 -- the natural person

• Romans 6 speaks of the slavery/the reigning of/the mastery of sin in our lives before Christ.
• They are asleep. Because they are, they are not disturbed, and are a some sense at rest.
• Blind, so it hard to perceive how dark the darkness is
• The have no fear nor love of God
• A certain measure of grace is present, I do not believe he is talking about someone apart from any grace of God.  The person has taken the grace, given to all (known as prevenient), and done nothing at all with it. Again, this is a paradigm of understanding.  Run it through the Word of God and see if it holds up.  I think it does just for the record.

Romans 7 -- the person under the law

• Those under the law, awakened to right and wrong-- but you have been set free (illustration of marriage)
• Important to see that the law through this section of Romans is given so that man might see their sin and their absolute inability to do anything about it.
• The great rhetorical “I” and the different readings of Roman’s it has spawned (Augustine, Luther, Calvin on one side, Wesley on the other)  
• Impersonation -- why would Paul say he is like this, yet proclaim Romans 8?
• Romans 7:14-24 says, ---⁴ We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. ²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, ²³ but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
• 
  
• Sees and fears God -- something is wrong with this person’s life that Paul is impersonating - something is broke
• They are under the Spirit of Bondage and fear.  You see they fear God yet are powerless do anything about actually pleasing him: that is Bondage
• No mention of the Spirit of God in the chapter -- the person that Paul is talking about does not have the Spirit at work in their struggle with sin

Romans 8 -- the person under grace

• Now the Spirit takes center stage, let’s read the passage again, and ask, “What does the Spirit do in our lives?”
• If we do not have it, we do not belong to Christ (vs. 9b)
• It adopts us (vs. 15)
• It frees from the spirit of bondage and fear (vs. 15)
• witness to our Spirit that we are children of God (vs. 16)
• It put’s to death the deeds of the body (vs. 13)
• Therefore, both the guilt and power of sin is broken - do not stand condemned and the ‘being of sin” is put to death
• I want to point out there is assurance that we are children of God -- 8:16 -- will be talking about this in the coming weeks

Summation:

1. From this plain account of the three-fold state of man, the natural, the legal, and the evangelical, it appears that it is not sufficient to divide mankind into sincere and insincere. A man may be sincere in any of these states; not only when he has the "Spirit of adoption," but while he has the "spirit of bondage unto fear;" yea, while he has neither this fear, nor love. For undoubtedly there may be sincere Heathens, as well as sincere Jews, or Christians. This circumstance, them does by no means prove, that, a man is in a state of acceptance with God.

Being sincere is enough -- did you catch that.....remember this is the sermon that really got to me last semester, in a good way.

"Examine yourselves, therefore," not only whether ye are sincere, but "whether ye be in the faith." Examine narrowly, (for it imports you much,) what is the ruling principle in your soul! Is it the love of God? Is it the fear of God? Or is it neither one nor the other? Is it not rather the love of the world? The love of pleasure, or gain? Of ease, or reputation? If so, you are not come so far as a Jew. You are but a Heathen still. Have you heaven in your heart? Have you the Spirit of adoption, ever crying, Abba, Father? Or do you cry unto God, as "out of the belly of hell," overwhelmed with sorrow and fear? Or are you a stranger to this whole affair, and cannot imagine what I mean? Heathen, pull off the mask! Thou hast never put on Christ! Stand barefaced! Look up to heaven; and own before Him that liveth for ever and ever, thou hast no part, either among the sons of servants of God!

Do not deceive yourselves...this is key

Now he ends the sermon with this:  Beware, then, thou who art called by the name of Christ, that thou come not short of the mark of thy high calling. Beware thou rest, not, either in a natural state with too many that are accounted good Christians; or in a legal state, wherein those who are highly esteemed of men are generally content to live and die. Nay, but God hath prepared better things for thee, if thou follow on till thou attain. Thou art not called to fear and tremble like devils; but to rejoice and love, like the angels of God. "Thou shalt love the lord thy God will all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." Thou shalt "rejoice evermore;" thou shalt "pray without ceasing:" thou shalt "in everything give thanks." Thou shalt do the will of God on earth as it is done in heaven. O prove thou "what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God!" Now present thyself "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God." "Whereunto thou hast already attained, hold fast," by "reaching forth unto those things which are before:" until "the God of peace make thee perfect in every good work, working in thee that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ: To whom be glory for ever and ever! Amen!"

If we have time...Questions:

Do you agree with Wesley’s categories?  What do you think of this presentation of Romans 6,7, and 8?  

Schedule:  

November 10th -- review/ and more questions of sermon #9 and the themes of faith, sin, prevenient grace, justification and new birth.  

November 17th -- Sermon 29:  Upon the Lord’s discourse 9 (Matthew 6:24-34)

November 24th -- we are are not meeting due to Thanksgiving Dinner

December 1st -- Sermon 40:  On Christian Perfection

December 8th -- Sermon 10:  The witness of the Spirit

December 15th -- One of Wesley’s sermon’s on money -- have not decided which one yet

December 22nd -- Review of all of Wesley and what do we do with this...