Romans 8:12-25  Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

12 So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs —heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. 

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility —not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it —in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. 23 And not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits —we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. 

The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Ro 8:12–25). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.

Feelings lead us astray

[12]  So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--
       - “walk according to the flesh” means that we have allowed ungodly habit patterns stored in the brain, the brain being a piece of “flesh,” to influence our behavior.
       - “live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12) and “walk according to the flesh” (Romans 8:4), are equivalent.
       - The more we know Him, the more we will love Him. The more we love Him, the more we will desire to glorify Him through every thought and deed.
       - Many of these ungodly habits were formed before we met Christ, but some are fashioned after we become believers.
       - Yes, new sinful patterns are produced when I, the new self (the new man), believe the power of sin’s lie in a new area and respond accordingly.
       - Therefore, when I sin, it is the new self who has sinned, since I am the new self.[1]

[13] for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die;
       - if you do not die physically then you will wish you were dead; it is a life of misery and despair.
       - Consequence is reaped from our disobedience the remainder of our stay on earth (Colossians 3:25).
       - Yet, not once does God condemn us (Romans 8:1)![2]
but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
       - Truth can expose and overcome deception; this is when we really begin to live.
       - It is not focusing on “NOT walking according to the flesh”.
       - It is focused on “living by the Spirit.”
       - Rob Bell – Bubba’s/Zaxby’s
       - Even Jesus was tempted with evil thoughts but He rejected them as they entered his mind.
       - Jesus proves, therefore, that a sinful thought does not result in sin until we allow it to negatively impact our thinking and, in turn, our behavior.[3]

[14] For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
       - When we allow the thoughts directed into our minds by means of the “Spirit” to control our lives, these thoughts are always in agreement with the Word of God.[4]
       - Our actions are a confirmation of who we are as believers.
       - Michelle at wedding last night.

[15] For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
       - The Spirit sets us free to see God as our Father.
       - We cry out “Daddy!!!”

[16] The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
       - The Spirit teaches us that we no longer have to fear God for He is our Father.
       - If we are justified (saved), we are sons of God whether we feel like it or not.
       - We must communicate these wonderful truths to all who will listen, for an improper view of the Father keeps many from accepting Christ as Savior.[5]

[17] and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
       - All that God owns will be committed to us.
       - Whatever is God’s is ours because we are His heirs.

if indeed we suffer
- Our training; we learn to stand strong in the heat of the battle.
with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
- Suffering leads to GLORY.

[18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time
       - Think about the persecutions Paul suffered through for his preaching.
are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed (given) to us.

[19] For the anxious longing (groans and suffers) of the creation (since the fall of man in Genesis 3) waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

[20] For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope [21] that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22] For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
       - It’s Fall… watch the leaves turn and fall off the tree and you have the death of winter.
       - This curse will be removed during the Millennium.
Cory’s shades… use them.

 - Isaiah 30:23-26 – Then the LORD will bless you with rain at planting time. There will be wonderful harvests and plenty of pastureland for your cattle. [24] The oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat good grain, its chaff having been blown away by the wind. [25] In that day, when your enemies are slaughtered, there will be streams of water flowing down every mountain and hill. [26] The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days! So it will be when the LORD begins to heal his people and cure the wounds he gave them.

 - Isaiah 35:1-2 - Even the wilderness will rejoice in those days. The desert will blossom with flowers. [2] Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel's pastures and the plain of Sharon. There the LORD will display his glory, the splendor of our God.

 - Ezekiel 36:28-38 - “And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. [29] I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops, and I will abolish famine in the land. [30] I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. [31] Then you will remember your past sins and hate yourselves for all the evil things you did. [32] But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!

[33] “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring people to live in your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. [34] The fields that used to lie empty and desolate—a shock to all who passed by—will again be farmed. [35] And when I bring you back, people will say, ‘This godforsaken land is now like Eden's garden! The ruined cities now have strong walls, and they are filled with people!’ [36] Then the nations all around—all those still left—will know that I, the LORD, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the LORD, have promised this, and I will do it.

[37] “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel's prayers for these blessings, and I am ready to grant them their requests. [38] I will multiply them like the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem's streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the LORD.”

- Pictures from the Wilderness in Israel

[23] And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
       - Because we live in bodies that will die and house the power of sin; when our body dies, so will our brain with ungodly habit patterns; our behavior will then be perfected.
 - We received our glorified body when the church is raptured.
       – I Thessalonians 4:13-17 - And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. [14] For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. [15] I can tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves. [16] For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. [17] Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.

[24] For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
       - We wait for what God has promised.

[25] But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
       - The best way to overcome suffering is to have the ability to view the unseen.
       - Our citizenship is in heaven and it is from that vantage point we are to view the things that touch our lives.

Who’s your Daddy?

[1] Warren, B. (2013). Romans: The Foundational Truths of Romans 1–8 (p. 119). Hardin, KY: The Hill Publishing.
[2] Warren, B. (2013). Romans: The Foundational Truths of Romans 1–8 (p. 119). Hardin, KY: The Hill Publishing.
[3] Warren, B. (2013). Romans: The Foundational Truths of Romans 1–8 (p. 119). Hardin, KY: The Hill Publishing.
[4] Warren, B. (2013). Romans: The Foundational Truths of Romans 1–8 (p. 120). Hardin, KY: The Hill Publishing.
[5] Warren, B. (2013). Romans: The Foundational Truths of Romans 1–8 (p. 120). Hardin, KY: The Hill Publishing.

Romans 8:1-11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life [a]in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, [b]weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of [c]sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is [d]alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [e]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Romans 7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

7 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her [a]husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law [b]concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in [c]the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the [d]Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except [e]through the Law; for I would not have known about[f]coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not [g]covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me [h]coveting of every kind; for apart [i]from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart [j]from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was [k]to result in life, proved [l]to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold [m]into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

21 I find then the [n]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God [o]in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in [p]the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner[q]of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [r]the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.