Sermon25-30 Rom8 Guide

Rom 8:1-17 theme verse Rom 8:4

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this twenty third Sunday of 2025, on Pentecost Sunday, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last two weeks, we looked at the grace of the Holy Spirit through which we join in the sanctification, serve the church and bear the Gospel proclamation ministry, yet this week, we would like to look at how we can receive that grace of the Spirit together.

1)    First to summarize the entire plot of Romans together, after Paul opened his letter, from chapter 1 to chapter 4, first he speaks about the heart of Gospel, I mean, the justification by faith, and then he talks about the assurance that the gospel gives; I mean, in chapter 5, he talks about the reconciliation with God and the hope of glory in Gospel. And in chapter 6, he talks about the freedom from bondage to sin. And in chapter 7, he talks about the freedom from bondage to the law. And then in the first half of chapter 8, he talks about the assurance of eternal life in the Holy Spirit, as well as he celebrates the security of believers. And then, in chapters 9 to 11, he defenses the gospel for Israel. And from chapter 12 to the first half of chapter 15, after he talks about the transforming power of the gospel, and then, from the second half of chapter 15 to chapter 16, he closes his letter.

2)    Among these, to take a closer look at the assurance given by the gospel from chapter 5 to chapter 8, in Chapter 5, Paul talks about a life of reconciliation with God after the justification by faith and even we can rejoice in the midst of suffering. And in Chapter 6 Paul talks about a life of no longer being a slave to sin but becoming a slave to righteousness, since we have died and risen with Christ. And in Chapter 7, Paul talks also about the life to be freed from the bondage of the law and to rejoice in the law of God, but still we do not have the ability to do good through the flesh. And then in chapter 8 verse 1-13, Paul says that we can live a life of fulfilling the law by walking according to the Holy Spirit sent by God and now indwelling within us. And in chapter 8 verse 14-17, Paul says that this Holy Spirit is the Spirit of adoption so that through Him, we have now become children of God. And then in 8:18-30, Paul says that this Holy Spirit not only justifies us but also glorifies us as the Spirit of glory. And finally in 8:31-39, Paul says that this salvation is the most secure by God in His love.

3)    We would like to look into some points in more detail. First, at verse 4, Paul says that God sent his Spirit so that we who walk according to the Spirit may fulfill the requirements of the law. Through this, we can know that the biblical image of human being is the one who is in harmony with God’s law, in other words, a person who lives according to God’s will. That’s why, Herman Bavinck, in his book “Reformed Dogmatics,” also said that humans were created in the image of God as physically and ethically mature beings, with knowledge in their minds, righteousness in their will, and holiness in their hearts, in other words, we were created as holy and perfect beings in perfect harmony with the law of God and as the dwelling place of the Holy Trinity and the most excellent temple of the Holy Spirit. And also Ezekiel 36:25-27 says that He said that He would not only 'purify us from sin' and 'renew our spirit and heart', and but also 'put God's Spirit within us so that we could live according to God's law.’

4)    As such, the Biblical image of human being is a person who was created in the image of the holy God and lives in harmony with the law of God, in other words, a person who lives according to the will of God. By the way, since the will of God, that is, the law of God, is a life of love, I mean, to love God and to love our neighbors, as Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-40, so we become to know that a biblical person who lives in harmony with the will of God is a person of love. That’s why Romans 13:10 says that love is the fulfillment of the law. And also as we see in 1 Timothy 1:5, “The purpose of this teaching is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith,” we can know that love ultimately flows from holiness, and holiness is reflected in love. And, in today’s text, Romans 8:4 says that this requirement of the law, I mean, to live the life of love can be fulfilled when we walk according to the Holy Spirit.

5)    As such, the Holy Spirit who came down on Pentecost does the following ministries, I mean; First, He makes us Christ's people by uniting us with Christ, Second, He frees us from the law of sin and death through the merits of Christ. Third, He reconciles us with God. Fourth, He makes us children of God. Fifth, He makes us live a life that pleases God, submitting to His law. Finally, He makes us participate in His sufferings as heirs, as He glorifies us.

6)    Here to walk according to the Holy spirit mean to follow the Holy Spirit. I mean, according to verse 9, Paul says that the Holy Spirit comes to us and dwells in us and also that the Holy Spirit has His thoughts that are different from our fleshly thoughts. I mean, as Paul says in Galatians 5:19-21 that 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 warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”, we can know that if we follow the thoughts of the flesh, the end is death. Yet, on the other hand, since the thought of the Spirit is life and peace, so that if we walk according to the Spirit, we can live a life bearing the fruit of the Spirit, as Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Therefore, in order to live a holy life, in other words, a life of love in harmony with God’s law, we have to think the things of the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit. In other words, first, we ask for help to think and walk according to the Spirit, as the Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as you will,” then, as John 14:26 says, the Holy Spirit reminds us of the Bible words and helps us understand its meaning, and then as Philippians 2:13 says, the Holy Spirit creates in us a desire to live according to God’s will and helps us act according to His will.

7)    As such, the state of thinking the mind of the Holy Spirit and walking according to the Spirit is called being filled with the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5:18. In other words, being filled with the Holy Spirit does not mean that we receive more of the Holy Spirit, but that the Holy Spirit possesses us more so that if we give ourselves over to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit can lead us and control our thoughts and actions. That is the meaning of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

8)    Therefore, in the new era when the Holy Spirit has come within us, we are invited to live the life  to please God by being in harmony with the law of love, in the presence of Trinity, being restored with the image of God. And in order to live this kind of life of love, we have to think of the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit. Therefore, I pray that this year, we all may become those who please God, by thinking and walking according to the Spirit, while following the guidance of the Spirit within us.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that in the new era of the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit not only performs the sanctification work while indwelling in us, but also makes us proclaim the Gospel giving us His power so that we have to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. So, reviewing our own life whether we are living the appropriate life in this new era, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And, in this era, it is said that we have to think the things of the Spirit and walk according to the Spirit. We call this as being filled with the Holy Spirit so that we have to live being filled with the Spirit. So after reviewing our life whether we live the life to think in the Spirit and walk by the Spirit after dedicate ourselves to the Spirit, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.