Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Romans 8:14 | Date: August 7, 2022 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Scripture Reading and Introduction

You will open the scriptures with me and turn to Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight. And then turn also to Philippians chapter two. Put a marker there, we’ll be back there soon. Philippians chapter two. But to begin, I’d like to read Romans chapter eight, beginning with verse one.

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. 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 things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it cannot. For 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 the 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 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. 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. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, we come now to this wonderful topic of the leading of the Spirit in our lives. We pray that, again, you will give us a clear understanding of what that means and a clear appreciation of its significance for us in light of all that you’ve commanded us to be and do. We thank you for your gracious provisions in Christ by the Spirit of God. Help us to rejoice in that today, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

All right, we’re in that third major area of the doctrine of salvation that we’re calling redemption applied. We have seen that in the application of Christ’s saving work, the Spirit of God comes and unites us to Jesus Christ, and united to Him, we have the righteousness that God requires of us. Also united to Him, we have the privilege of being sons of God because we are sons in the Son. And we’ve seen something of the status and the acceptance that we have in Christ before God, and the privileges that we have in that respect. And now also we’ve begun now to explore something of the significance of that in terms of life and behavior.

I’m not sure the language is right, but we can call this the application of it, the experience of it, the experience of salvation applied to us in Christ. We saw that first last week in terms of sanctification. We saw that as the term is used in the New Testament, it has to do with what we are and what we have in Christ, that we are set apart, consecrated to God in Christ. The holiness that he requires of us we have because we are in Jesus. We also saw that that has practical applications and implications—significance in terms of how we live and the outworking of that sanctified status that we have in Christ. It has real-life implications.

And I mentioned that last week: it’s in terms of enablement. God has enabled us now by the Spirit of God to do what he has called us to do and to be what he’s called us to be. And everywhere in the New Testament, that is linked to the work of the Holy Spirit of God in us. We’ll see that more here in Romans 8 in just a minute, but look over at Philippians 2, because I think this sets the context for us pretty well in a clear way. Philippians 2, verses 12 and 13:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Notice here, he’s speaking of Christian responsibility in life. He is not saying work for your salvation. He’s not saying to work it up. God has done all of that. He’s saying, work it out. That is, this salvation that we have in Christ ought to be worked out in terms of practical Christian living and daily Christian experience. But notice the connection to verse 13: “For,” another explanatory conjunction, work out your salvation. Why? “Because it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Now, he doesn’t mention here specifically, explicitly, the work of the Holy Spirit; clearly, in the light of the rest of the New Testament, that is what is in view here. God, the Holy Spirit, is at work in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. And because he is at work in us to will and to do of his good pleasure, verse 12, work out your salvation. Notice your responsibility. Our responsibility to live godly before the Lord is grounded in the provision that we have here, specifically stated as the work of the Spirit of God in us to will and to do of his good pleasure.

He has come to us to change us, to transform us in such a way that he transforms our “want to” even, so that now we have a new desire, a new bent, if you will, and our bent is now to serve God and to obey him. Imperfect as it is, our bent now is different from what it was. We now, because of the work of God in us, want to do according to his good pleasure. This is God’s work in us. Because of his work in us, verse 13, now verse 12: we are responsible to work out our salvation.

Well, I think that says in a nutshell what we’re going to see here in Romans chapter eight. Paul has a number of expressions here with regard to the work of the Spirit in us, in the Spirit rather than in the flesh, and so on. I want to focus on the one in verse 14, an expression that is rarely understood, it seems. He describes this work of the Spirit of God in us in terms of his leading. Notice verse 14 again: “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

And notice again, the context is that of our responsibility to live righteously before him. Verse 12: “We are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” Because, as he has explained, we’re not in the flesh anymore. You live according to the flesh, you’ll die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you’ll live. Because all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Now this expression, “the leading of the Spirit,” or “being led by the Spirit,” I mentioned that it seems rarely understood today. I don’t mean that the doctrine is misunderstood so much as the expression itself. Like last week we talked about the word “sanctification” being used primarily today in ways that it is not used in the New Testament primarily. So also here with this term, the leading of the Spirit. In contemporary Christian lingo, it usually has some kind of mystical connotations. “The Spirit of God is leading me to take this new job.” Or “God is leading me to buy this car.” Or often in the church, it’s “God is leading me to quit this responsibility.” God has led me, and you blame it on God, and it’s sanctified now. “God has led me to write this letter. God has led me to talk to you.”

We have it used in that kind of mystical sense where God is directing me to do something like that that’s not specifically commanded in the Bible, but it’s some action you want to take and so you like to say that it is God who is doing it. Now whether all of that is true or not is not my point. My point this morning is that’s not the meaning of this expression as it is used by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. And when we use it in that way instead of the way that Paul uses it, just like last week when we talked about the doctrine of sanctification, we miss what he intended for us to take away with that expression.

So what does it mean to be led by the Spirit? Well, clearly the idea is that of direction and control. This word is used elsewhere. Only one other place in the New Testament is it used in this kind of context, by the leading of the Spirit. But the word is used in other kinds of contexts in the New Testament, like leading an animal with the rope, or leading a blind man, or leading a prisoner. The idea is clearly that of direction and control. So our question now this morning—we’ll have to spend some time on this—what then is the meaning of the leading of the Spirit in verse 14? “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

I first became aware of this and alerted to this actually in reading Benjamin Warfield. There’s a marvelous sermon on this subject. And I’ve been greatly appreciative of it ever since.

The Leading Of The Spirit Is The Common Experience Of Every Believer

The first point that he gives—and we’ll not be following him terribly closely—but the first point that he gives that I think is very helpful here is just to point out that the leading of the Spirit, whatever that means, is the common experience of every believer. The leading of the Spirit is the common experience of every believer. And it’s not just reserved for super saints. It’s not just reserved for special occasions.

This is the common experience of all believers. All who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. That is, this defines for us what it is to be sons of God. This is the marker. This is the identifying mark of being a son of God. We are led by the Spirit. As many as are led, these—and the implication is these only—as many as are led, these are the sons of God.

So this is what differentiates the Christian from the world. We can say a lot of things about what differentiates us from the world, but here what differentiates us from the world is that we, unlike the world, are people who are led by the Spirit of God. In context, we are not led by the flesh; we’re led by the Spirit.

All right, so this then is the common experience of every believer. That’s why he has in verses 9 to 11 this sort of an aside explaining that to have Christ is to have the Spirit. If you don’t have the Spirit, you don’t have Christ. If you have Christ, you have the Spirit. These are interchangeable terms like being “in Christ” or “in the Spirit” or “having Christ” or “having the Spirit.” The functional unity of Christ and his Spirit whom he has sent is so close here that one is spoken of in terms of the other. And to have Christ is to have the Spirit, and he leads us. This is the common experience of all who are in Christ. It’s not reserved for special saints. It’s not reserved for special occasions. I think you’ll see more of that as we go along.

The Purpose Of This Leading Is To Deliver Us From Sin

All right, what is it to be led by the Spirit? First, this is the common experience of all believers. Second, this is very important: the purpose of this leading is to deliver us from sin. Or to put it this way, to lead us in obedience. The purpose of the leading of the Spirit is to lead us in obedience, to give us freedom from sin and to lead us to obedience.

Now this is Paul’s argument in Romans eight. It’s also his argument since chapter six. You might remember that Paul, after chapter five in Romans, has spoken of the greatness of God’s grace: where sin abounds, grace abounds more. And so next he has to take on that question, well, maybe we should sin more so that we have more grace. And Paul’s answer in Romans 6 is that no, that’s an impossibility because of what we are now in Christ. We are not that kind of person in Christ. We are different people because in Christ, we have died with Christ. We’ve been raised from the dead to a new life with Christ. And so Paul’s exhortation in Romans 6 is live accordingly.

Or to use another metaphor that he gives in Romans 6: sin is dead. You are dead to sin, therefore live like it. Or to use another: sin no longer reigns in your mortal body. It no longer has the grip that it used to have, but joined to Christ, that grip has been broken, and sin doesn’t reign anymore. It doesn’t rule over you like it did before. And so Paul’s counsel is: consider yourself dead to sin. Sin doesn’t reign; don’t let it reign in your bodies.

So that’s the argument he takes up in Romans chapter six. Sin no longer has dominion over you. Then we come to Romans chapter seven and he continues that same argument here with respect to the inability of the person in the flesh to keep the law of God. Married to the law, he’s just beaten by it and he can’t do what it commands and he’s frustrated by that. Chapter six: the Christian, sin no longer reigns. Sin does not have dominion over you. In chapter seven, we have this experience of the ruling order of sin over us.

We get to chapter eight, and now notice this new freedom in Christ. Verse one again: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” But now notice the focus is not justification only, but the related entailments, specifically transformation of life. Look at verse two: “For there’s no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” There is now a new freedom in Christ. And verses three and four explain that further:

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.

So the death of Christ, he says, secured for us not only acceptance before God, but a new freedom from sin. And we are now no longer dominated by the flesh and by sin, but we’re dominated now by the Spirit. He is the new controlling factor, the controlling principle in our lives. That’s verses 1 to 4.

Now verses 5 to 8 give a contrast to those who are outside of Christ, those who do not have the Spirit of God. Verse 5: “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.

So again here, Paul takes up the contrast. Here’s what it is like for the unbeliever. He lives in the flesh. He lives under sin. He lives under the rule and the dominance of sin, and he can’t not sin. He can’t break that grip. And this is the mark of all of those who are outside of Christ. There’s no ability to break away from sin’s grip and obey God. Notice that again in verse seven: the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, does not submit to God’s law. Indeed, it cannot. And verse eight: “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Outside of Christ, dominated by sin and can’t break the grip.

This is one of those verses, by the way, that—and I just have to mention this as we go along—it’s one of those verses that puts the lie to the contemporary notion of free will. The contemporary notion of free will—there’s a sense in which you can define free will and say we all have free will. Certainly we do what we want to do. But the contemporary notion of free will is that we’re somehow hanging in neutrality between good and evil, between God and Satan, God and sin, and we can do whichever we’re free to do whatever we want. Here’s one of those passages that puts a lie to that. The mark of those outside of Christ, or here, outside of the Spirit, without the Spirit of God, is they cannot please God. They cannot obey. They’re enslaved to sin. That’s the mark of those outside of Christ. That’s what he illustrated for us in chapter seven.

So the mark of those who are in the flesh is that they are under sin, ruled by it. And then verse nine draws the contrast back to those who are in Christ: “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.” You’ve come under a new reign, a new rule. So we have two very different realms of existence: in the flesh or in the Spirit. In the flesh, you’re under the dominance of sin, under its grip and under its rule. In the Spirit, in Christ, you’re under the dominance of the Spirit now. He reigns. He rules. And because he rules, sin no longer has dominion over us.

This, by the way, is the ground of Paul’s famous distinction between the natural man and the spiritual man. The natural man is the self-led man. The spiritual man is the spirit-led man. And this is the distinction between those in Christ and those outside of Christ. The last part of verse nine: this new freedom by the dominance of the Spirit is the mark of every believer. “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

In verses 10 and 11, this life-giving work of the Spirit ultimately entails physical resurrection from the dead. But then verses 12 and 13, he draws a practical conclusion: “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, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. That is, because of this new reality, this new realm in which we live, in which the Spirit dominates, living in the Spirit, we must live accordingly. To continue to live in disobedience would be to show that you are not, after all, in the Spirit or in Christ.

And then verse 14, our text: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” This is our defining mark. We’re led by the Spirit. We’re free from the dominion of sin. The Spirit has come and broken the grip of sin, and he now dominates in the life of the believer. And then verses 15 and following, which we have not read, we have the explanation then of the Spirit’s work of assurance and hope.

All of that is to show that the leading of the Spirit is defined in terms of God’s accomplishing of practical godliness in us, freeing the child of God from sin, leading us to obedience and to godliness. This has been Paul’s argument all the way from Romans 6 through chapter 8. We cannot continue in sin because we are in Christ and dominated by the Spirit. Living in sin is just not who we are anymore. We don’t live any longer in that realm.

Now, just for the sake of being thorough, let’s look at Galatians chapter 5, and you’ll see the only other time in the New Testament where this expression is used: being led of the Spirit. Galatians 5, verse 18. Now let’s back up. Let me take the time to read, beginning with verse 16:

But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I’ve warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law, and those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

But here we have a similar context. And verse 18 again: “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Now here Paul uses those two different expressions, two contrasting realms of existence. One, under the law. Two, in the Spirit. The law and the Spirit. Under law is the same as being dominated by the flesh, dominated by sin—the inability of the person to obey because he’s dominated by sin. And the earmarks of that being under law or in the flesh? Verse 19: “The works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery,” and all of these. Contrast verse 22: led by the Spirit produces a different kind of fruit. We’re enabled now. A new dominating influence has come, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

These are the new covenant blessings. This is the new covenant blessing of the Spirit enjoyed by every believer. He has come to bring a dominance now to give us a new bent in living, and living toward righteousness. Well, all of that is the same virtually of what we have back in Romans 8:14: “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” This is what it is to be a Christian. We are in the Spirit under new rule, under new dominance—no longer by the flesh, no longer by sin, no longer under law, but under the rule of the Spirit. We’re given a new freedom, freedom from sin and ability to walk in obedience.

All of that then emphasizes again that this work of the Spirit, the leading of the Spirit, is not reserved for special saints. It’s not even reserved for special occasions. It is a ministry of the Spirit to all of the people of God because of our common need, our common weakness. And he gives us a new freedom, a new dominance over us that shapes all of life.

All of that then to say that God, when he saves us and when he joins us to Christ, does not leave us to be self-directed. He does not command holiness and then leave it up to us entirely. He’s come to break us loose from the bondage of sin. As we see in chapter 6, sin’s grip has been broken. And it’s broken here in chapter 8 by the Spirit who has come to take dominance over our lives. And His being within us as a dominating influence—no longer in the flesh, no longer self-led, but led by the Spirit to will and to do of His good pleasure.

So we’ve been set apart to God, in Christ, by the Spirit. We’re now led by the Spirit and he not only points us in the direction that we should take, but he actually leads us. He takes us where we ought to go. The Holy Spirit has come to us not just to rouse our awareness of sin or simply to give us an inclination to holiness, but he has come to take the helm and bring us Himself to godly living. And these are the connotations of Paul’s expression, “being led by the Spirit.”

Now, again, I want to emphasize that none of this should be taken to imply any lack of responsibility on our part. I think Warfield made a comment somewhere in that context about: we’re led, we’re not carried. We’re not passive. And the New Testament is still very clear in its presentation of the Christian life as a struggle, as a battle, as war. We’re not passive. And in fact, verse 13 here emphasizes both. Romans 8:13: “If you live according to the flesh, you will die.” That’s the mark of an unbeliever who does not have Christ, does not have the dominance of the Spirit. “But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Notice: you must put to death the deeds of the body. It is absolutely incumbent upon all of us to renounce and to kill sin. But notice what it says: “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.” The enablement has been given to us to crucify, to mortify sin. That is what we saw in Philippians 2, verses 12 and 13. Work out your salvation. Why? Because God is at work in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And our responsibility is grounded in God’s provisions for us in Christ. What God requires of us—you hear me say this all the time—what God requires of us, he gives us. That’s the nature of grace. God calls us to holiness; He sends his Spirit to take new dominance over us so that obedience and godliness will come.

This is the new covenant promise. You remember the great contrast that Jeremiah drew? Paul draws this out in the New Testament as well. That old covenant, it commanded obedience. So Jeremiah the prophet says, I’m going to make a new covenant with you, and it’s not going to be like that old one. And in this new covenant, I’m going to write my law on your hearts. I’ll take out that heart of stone. I’ll put in a heart of flesh. I’ll put my Spirit in you and I’ll cause you to walk according to my law. That old covenant couldn’t effect what it commanded. Under the new covenant, we’ve been given the Spirit of God to set us free from sin and enable us to obedience.

An old song that is in an old Baptist hymnal from England from a couple of centuries ago—I haven’t heard it sung except where it’s been rescued a couple of times and brought to congregations—the wording of it’s been credited to John Bunyan. I’m not sure that’s right. The hymn writer is someone else, but maybe he got it from Bunyan, but it’s a great line. He says, “Run, run and work the law demands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. But sweeter news the gospel brings, it bids me fly and lends me wings.” That’s the leading of the Spirit.

Think Arminianism on steroids, something like that. It’s actually much worse than that. It’s pure naturalism. It’s a pure work salvation. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, you can do it and that’s it. Augustine published a prayer that he had prayed. In that prayer, he said, “Lord, give what you command and command what you will. Give what you command and command what you will.” Pelagius saw that and thought, oh, that’s awful. Man is able to do everything he’s responsible to do. And there was the conflict and the defining moment in the history of the church with regard to that doctrine. Augustine got it right. This is the New Testament way of obedience. God gives what he commands. Or like the song, he bids us fly and he lends us wings.

In other words then, don’t say—don’t say—”I couldn’t help it.” And don’t ever blame God for any failure or lack of progress on your part. We can’t do that. He has given us every enablement by his Spirit to live for him. He is grounded in the work, a work that the Spirit of God has taken up in us. That’s why many people have wanted to say the perseverance of the saints is actually this perseverance of the Spirit of God working in us. I don’t think just saying it that way says the whole thing, but it’s certainly onto something that is right.

God the Spirit has taken up this work in us. And every time we read a command in the scriptures—”do this,” “be like that”—every time we read a command in the scriptures, it should call to mind to us that the Spirit of God has come to take control of us and influence over us to provide in us obedience and to bring compliance with all of those commands. And anytime you might despair that you might not make it, keep in mind this doctrine of the leading of the Spirit and be assured that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Amen.