1. Romans 8:6 says, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." To be "spiritually minded" is to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, sealed by the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. This is the great theme of Romans 8.
3. A 17th century German preacher by the name of Philipp Jakob Spener said that, "If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the Epistle to the Romans a precious stone, chapter 8 would be the sparkling point of the jewel."
4. J. Vernon McGee said, "Chapter 8 is the high-water mark in Romans...A life that is pleasing to God must be lived in the power of the Holy Spirit."
5. William Newell said, "There is scarcely a passage in the New Testament that is more delightful reading to the spiritual Christian than the eighth of Romans...There is an atmosphere of blessing all through it...for the blessed Holy Spirit breathes throughout it -- the indwelling Deliverer, Quickener, Guide, Assurer, Helper, Intercessor."
6. Romans 7:6 says "that we should serve (God) in newness of spirit." Romans 8 explains how this is possible.
7. Romans 7:25 says, "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God." Romans 8 explains how this is possible.
8. Romans chapter 7 deals with the problem of indwelling sin; and Romans 8 emphasizes the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
9. In Romans 7 the word "I" appears 33 times (cf. 7:15). In contrast, in Romans chapter 8 there are 19 references to the Holy Spirit.

1. OUR POWER
2. OUR PROVISION
3. OUR PERSPECTIVE

I. OUR POWER

1. After noting that the Holy Spirit is mentioned nineteen times in Romans 8, the Scofield Study Bible says, "Romans 3:21--5:11 speaks of the redemptive price (the blood of Christ); Romans 8 of redemptive power." Cf. Romans 8:11. That is power!
2. Romans 8:1 starts off with that wonderful promise -- "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..."
3. John 3:18 says, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already..."
4. In the epistle to the Romans, we see a contrast between law and grace. The law demands obedience, but grace is given to believers so that we are able to obey.
5. Therefore, because of God's grace, there is "now no condemnation" (8:1).
6. Now we "are in Christ Jesus." We are united to the Lord Jesus Christ in His death and His resurrection, and there is "now no condemnation."
7. When we entered into union with Christ we came into contact with the greatest power in the world -- the power of God. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives life and makes us free from the power of indwelling sin -- the "flesh" (8:1).
8. As one preacher put it, "All the efficacy of His redemptive work is guaranteed to us for holiness of life" (W.H. Griffith Thomas, St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans).
9. Romans 6:14 says, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." The man who attempts to escape the bondage of sin by keeping the law will fail every time (cf. 7:15-20).
10. But grace enables us to obey God and to walk in newness of life -- and this is by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (8:1-4).
11. The Holy Spirit delivers us from the power of sin. Romans 8:2 says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free (set at liberty) from the law of sin and death."
12. The same Greek word translated "made free" is translated "delivered" in Romans 8:21. We have been delivered from the power of sin.
13. The Holy Spirit regenerates and quickens -- the Holy Spirit brings life, and the Holy Spirit's power sustains it. This "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" has made us "free from the law of sin and death" (8:2).
14. There is an important contrast here -- the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and the law of sin and death. The former overcomes the latter by the principle of counteraction.
15. W.H. Griffith Thomas wrote, "The one overcomes the other by the great principle of counteraction; just as at the Red Sea the law of the wind counteracted the law of the tide" (Romans).
16. Exodus 14:21 says, "The LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided." The law of the wind counteracted the law of the tide.
17. An airplane should fall from the sky by the law of gravitation, but it is upheld by the law of aerodynamics. This is the law of counteraction.
18. A young girl was asked what did the apostle Paul mean when he said, "But I keep under my body" (I Cor. 9:27). How did he do it?
19. She replied, "By keeping his soul on top."
20. That is the law of counteraction, and "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" is a higher law than "the law of sin and death."
21. The higher law sets us free from the lesser law.
22. Romans 7 deals with the problem of indwelling sin. Romans 7:24 says, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
23. The answer to that important question is found in Romans 8.
24. God’s method is not suppression or struggle. The Christian life will be victorious over sin in the degree to which the individual is giving place to the counteracting work of the Holy Spirit.
25. We are saved by faith, and we are sanctified by faith. Paul asks in Galatians 3:3, "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"
26. God’s method is not eradication. Some erroneously teach that the old nature can be eradicated. But the flesh will never be eradicated in this life. But by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit it can be effectually and continually counteracted.
27. Galatians 5:17 describes this conflict -- "For the flesh (the power of indwelling sin) lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
28. The desires of the flesh are strong, and they are opposed to the desires of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit's power is far greater than the power of the flesh! Cf. Romans 8:5-9.
29. "The law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2) is operative in the life of the believer all the time, but the Spirit-filled Christian will be victorious over sin when he yields to the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:4).

II. OUR PROVISION

1. Everything necessary for holiness and victory over sin has been provided by God in the gift of His Son (Romans 8:3).
2. Second Peter 1:3 says, "His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness."
3. The Lord Jesus Christ "condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:3b, 4).
4. "The righteousness of the law" (8:4), that is, the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us -- not by keeping the law, but by what Christ did on the cross when He died for our sins.
5. Consequently, we "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (8:4).
6. The word “walk” is found often in Paul’s epistles (8:1, 4). Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary says “walk” in Scripture means “to live and act or behave; to pursue a particular course of life,” and his dictionary gives many Scriptural references.
7. Webster says. "To walk after the flesh means to indulge sensual appetites, and to live in sin (Rom. 8:4)."
8. "To walk after the Spirit means to be guided by the counsels and influences of the Spirit and by the word of God, and to live a life of holy deportment (Rom. 8:1)."
9. Strictly speaking, God does not give us power to walk with Him and to live for Him, etc.  Actually, He is the power, and He lives in us the moment we receive Christ.
10. Therefore, it is through the mighty energy of the Holy Spirit within us that we are enabled to overcome the power of indwelling sin.

III. OUR PERSPECTIVE

1. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," and "they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (8:7, 8). This refers to the old, unregenerate, sinful nature, according to which the unregenerate man lives.
2. It describes a godless life apart from God. It does not necessarily mean a vicious, wicked life, like the depraved maniac who stabbed those youngsters in Brooklyn last week.
3. It does not necessarily mean a vicious, wicked life, because many sinners are polite and educated and refined, etc. Some are even very religious but they have never been born again.
4. Our Lord said to Nicodemus, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:6, 7).
5. The unregenerate man, living after the flesh, may be very religious but he "cannot please God" (Romans 8:8).
6. The man who walks after the flesh minds the things of the flesh; but the man that walks after the Spirit minds the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5).
7. Christians have a different perspective on things than unregenerate worldlings who walk after the flesh. For example, those in the flesh accept so-called "same sex marriage," but those that walk after the Spirit recognize this as wicked and foolish and contrary to Scripture.
8. A man lives according to his nature, and if he lives "after the flesh" he will of necessity "mind the things of the flesh" (8:5).
9. "The whole bent, trend, and tendency of his nature will be towards that which actuates him. Natural things suit the natural man and spiritual things suit the spiritual man. As is the life within, so will be the character and conduct, for fruit always comes 'according to its kind'" (W.H. Griffith Thomas).
10. Genesis 1:11 refers to "the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind," and in Genesis 1 we see the phrase "after his kind" ten times. This is not only true in the physical realm, but in the spiritual realm also.
11. "For to be carnally minded is death..." (8:6). The second death is eternal separation from God. Revelation 21:8 says all sinners "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
12. The good news: "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev. 2:11).
13. Revelation 20:6 says those that are saved will be part of the first resurrection, and "on such the second death hath no power."
14. There are many contrasts here in Romans 8 -- flesh and Spirit, carnally minded and spiritually minded, and here is another -- death and life (8:6).
15. There is not only a new perspective for the born again child of God, but a new sphere. He not only walks "after the Spirit" (8:1, 4, 5), but he is "in the Spirit" (8:9).
16. All believers are indwelt by the blessed Holy Spirit. The man who does not have the Holy Spirit "is none of his" (8:9).

CONCLUSION:

1. John Wesley was one of the greatest preachers that ever lived. The first thirteen years of his ministry were dry and difficult.
2. In his journal, Wesley wrote about attending a Bible study one evening on the book of Romans.
3. John Wesley wrote these words, "About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
4. This awakening to the realization that Christ not only delivered Wesley from the penalty of sin, but also from the power of sin had a profound impact, and was a defining moment in his ministry.