Romans 8:5-11
Romans 8 begins with “no condemnation” and ends with “no separation.” Our focus will be on “knowing” that we are saved.
THE BASIS FOR ASSURANCE: Romans 8:1-4
Paul’s Answer to Doubt:
“In Christ Jesus.” v.1
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”
Paul’s Observation about the Law:
1. The law cannot claim us. v.2
“because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
2. The law cannot condemn us. v.3
“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,”
3. The law cannot control us. v.4
“in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”
THE TEST FOR ASSURANCE: Romans 8:5-8
1. Have I repented of my sins? v.5
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
2. Have I surrendered to live in the Spirit? v.6
“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;”
3. Am I alive in Christ? v.7
“the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
4. Do I live to “please” God? v.8
“Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
“Regenerative and sanctifying grace keeps us so long as we keep it.” -John Wesley
THE SIGNS OF ASSURANCE: Romans 8:9-11
1. The control of the Spirit. v.9
“You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”
2. The witness of the Spirit. v.10
“But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
3. The fruit of the Spirit. v.11
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.”
BLESSED ASSURANCE
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood!
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
-Fanny J. Crosby
