Provided We Suffer With Him

“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 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 Jesus 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. 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. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are 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!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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.” (Romans 8:9-17 ESV)

What came right before this was Paul stating that if our minds are set on the flesh, and so we live and we walk according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, its end is death, not life eternal with God. “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.” But the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (see Romans 8:1-8).

So, when this says that you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you, we have to read this in the full context of at least verses 1-17, and in the context of the whole of the book of Romans. For Christ is not “in us” just because we say he is. For we are not “in Christ” if we are still walking (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, and if we deliberately and habitually are sinning against God and other humans, who we are supposed to love, and if we are not walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice.

For what does this say next? We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if we live according to the flesh, we will die. And in Romans 6 Paul said that if sin is what we obey, we will die. But if obedience to God is what we obey, in practice, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life. And this is the essence of the gospel message, that Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross that we might die with him to sin, not just once, but daily, and that we might walk in obedience to his commands in holy and godly living.

But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body (flesh), then we will live. So, what is that saying to us? Same message over and over again all throughout the New Testament. It is the gospel that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, but that not many seem to be teaching anymore. So many people today are teaching an altered gospel and an altered God/Christ and an altered church in order to attract the world into their gatherings and so as not to offend the ungodly with the truth of the gospel: If we die to sin and obey our Lord, we have eternal life in him.

For it is all who are being led by the Spirit who are the children of God. So, what is this saying? What does it mean to be led by the Spirit? It means that we are being guided and directed by the Holy Spirit in the way that we should go and that we are following the leading of the Holy Spirit in doing what he says we ought to do. For we are not being led by him if we are not following his lead. Thus, we cannot continue to walk according to the flesh, still yielding our lives over to the control of sin and of the flesh, and be “in Christ” and be children of God and heirs to the promise.

Now many people quote verses 16-17 independent of verses 1-15, and so they will teach anyone who makes a profession of faith in Jesus Christ that the Spirit now bears witness with their spirit that they are indeed now children of God, based upon lip service alone. But we are heirs with Christ PROVIDED (conditional upon) we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him. And the first way we suffer with him is via dying with him to sin in order that we might now live to his righteousness in his power. And then we suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness, like he did.

All of God’s promises have with them conditions, which we can know if we read the Scriptures in their appropriate context, and not out of context. Like so many people quote John 10:28-30 and they apply those promises across the board to all who profess the name of Jesus. But verse 27, which they leave out (why?), tells us who those promises are for. His sheep (his followers) listen to him, and he knows them, and they follow (obey) him. And they have the promise of eternal life with God, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of his or the Father’s hands.

[Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Php 2:5-11: Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]  

My Sheep  

An Original Work / June 24, 2012  

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full… 

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263