Rob Jackson: [00:00:00] It is a joy to be back with you. I've thought of you often since my first visit, earlier this year during the Culture Conference and today I am so excited to be with you and share with you some things that the Holy Spirit's been teaching me from Romans seven.

So if you will go ahead and turn there or look that up on your phone, 'cause we'll be in Romans seven and Romans eight. And I have three questions that I'm gonna try to answer today. The first being, what does it mean to be a human being? And you might think, Rob, that's a really weird question. I was in a meeting some time ago, actually several years ago, and one of the smarter guys in the room said, I think we're gonna reach a time when we've really forgotten what it means to be human.

And folks, I think we're pretty close to that. He also said something else. He said, I think we're gonna come to a time when the words we use in our Christian faith are no longer gonna have any meaning to those who are not in the faith. And we're gonna have to even back up and explain what does the word sin mean? What does conversion [00:01:00] mean? Things of this sort. 

So I agree with him and we'll talk about what does it mean to be a human? 

Number two, what does it mean to be a Christian who struggles with sin? Because we do, right? We don't come to Christ and no longer sin. And number three, what does it mean to be a Christian who walks by the Spirit?

That's where I really want to land today. Walking by the spirit, just as if you had been living with Jesus Christ 2000 years ago and could have walked with him on the streets of Nazareth. Let's look at the first slide. We're asking questions about who am I? What is the meaning of my life? How can I cope with loss? Who loves me, and where am I going when I die? 

If we had time, each of you could pick a question and tell me how it really lands on you, how it really impacts you. But these are questions that have been with us forever. [00:02:00] They're gonna be with the next generation if time lasts, and we need to consider it.

These questions are worthy of our attention. I think even more today when we can create so much confusion and chaos around identifying with this and not that. Creating divisions that sometimes aren't necessary. Now because the question's timeless, there was a group in 1646, a group of theologians who got together to ask basically, what's the purpose of a human being?

And the question they raised is, what is the chief end of Man? We might not word it that way today, but what's the purpose of a human being? And this is the answer they came up with after they prayed and consulted the scriptures. And talked among themselves, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever."

Now, I have to be honest with you, I had never considered that until I was in my mid thirties. [00:03:00] Why not? I was in church three times a week. I attended a Baptist college in my twenties, but this "enjoying God" never crossed my mind. And so here we are, and I'm wanting to talk with you about how you can recalibrate your joy in Christ by the Spirit.

But in 2023, our culture says no. There are other ways to find joy or pleasure or peace, and I think we're finding the pain of life is really inescapable. I mean, it always has been. But today it seems that our pain is dehumanizing us. Like even if it seems odd to talk about heart, mind, and body, if that seems odd, is because we've forgotten in part what it means to be a human being.

Now, back in the Culture Conference, we talked about moving from pain to peace, and I [00:04:00] shared with you some of my own journey of having panic attacks daily for seven years, about 40 years ago. And how God has brought me from pain to peace. And we looked at mental illnesses and addictions and everyday dysfunctions that plague us. None are exempt from the pain of life.

And so to talk about this further, I wanna use an iceberg as a visual metaphor. We're gonna look at how we are something like icebergs ourself, and let me explain, I've taken a little bit of artistic liberty to use a triangle to suggest an iceberg. That's not what they really look like, but I'll tell you why I've chosen the triangle in just a moment.

What I wanna help you focus on for the minute is we've got this expression "that's just the tip of the iceberg," and so we know we can see a little bit up here above the waterline, but we know now about 85% of the iceberg is [00:05:00] beneath the water and we're unable to see it. 

I think we're a lot like icebergs.

You see our bodies, you see our behaviors, but you and I don't see your minds and we don't see your spirits. We don't see what is fundamentally driving you to do what you're doing. Now, my model, I've called the iceberg model of identity and Christian Discipleship, and it answers basically two questions. Going back to the tip of the iceberg, it asks, what are you doing? I. And if we're gonna be truthful, we know what we're doing right? But it also goes deeper and asks, why are you doing that? The why is in the mind and the spirit, the doing is in the body. Now let's go back and talk about why I'm using a triangle to suggest an iceberg. 'cause it's imperfect and that bothers me.

But I'm an imperfect kind of guy. I. [00:06:00] So I'm trying to suggest that at the very base, the largest part of the iceberg, we have the spirit or the heart. I'm trying to communicate. I think that is like where we start. The scripture teaches us above all else in Proverbs four, "guard your heart," and then we go from spirit to mind.

The scripture teaches us in Romans 12, "renew your mind in Christ." And then we go from spirit to mind to body. And still in Romans 12, it teaches us to present our bodies as "living and holy sacrifices." And may I suggest you can't do that if you're not guarding your heart and renewing your mind.

It all starts from the inside and it finds its way outside. Now, it's true. We can't divide the body from the mind and the spirit. These are three faculties that interact. Isn't it something that our [00:07:00] Creator, God, who is Father, Son, and Spirit, made us in his image and gave us a tripartite design of our own: spirit, mind, body.

Now let me just ask you real quickly, can you imagine how your life might have been different if you really heard early in life and took it to heart? "Guard your heart." How different would your life be today? "Renew your mind. Offer your body as a living sacrifice." These are the marks of Christian identity as I'm coming to understand it.

Now, let's go to the second point. We're gonna talk about what it means to be a Christian who struggles, and this is where we're gonna get into Paul's testimony. And here's a spoiler alert, I personally believe Paul was speaking as a Christian in Romans seven. Some people say, no, he's speaking before he was redeemed.

But there are so many [00:08:00] points I can't even draw them all out this morning that convinces me, Paul loves the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and is motivated to do the right thing. He just can't do it. 

For years, I've been taking calls from men who would say something like, you know, somewhere in the Bible there is this passage that talks about, I can't do the things I want to do. I do the very thing I hate. I have been hearing that for more than 30 years working in Christian call centers, serving people across the country. Can you resonate with that? I don't like what I'm doing. So let's look at this first scripture, Romans 7:15 , he says, I don't understand my own actions.

"For, I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Now, this is talking about how really he sees the dilemma. It impacts the whole person, body, mind, and [00:09:00] spirit. When he talks about understanding his actions, he's referencing the mind. I'm using my mind to understand. When he is talking about actions, he's pointing back actually to the body.

Then when he talks about "I don't do what I want," want is a desire that's deep in our heart . And then he comes back to say, and you know what I do? The very thing, I hate. Hate is an emotion. This first verse captures what I'm trying to illustrate for the rest of the morning. We as people are disintegrated in our hearts , our minds, and our bodies.

And these are not as integrated as they need to be, and they cannot be integrated until we are in Christ and walking by the Spirit. And sometimes even when we're in Christ walking by the Spirit, we cease walking by the Spirit and go back walking like a Rob Jackson. [00:10:00] And that's not good. By the way, Romans 7: 16.

"Now, if I do what I want, I agree with the law that it is good." So here Paul is going back to his mind. He's going back to his body and his heart . You know, the stuff I do with my body is not what I want with my spirit, and I agree with the law mentally. I agree with the law. That is good. Now, Paul was a very educated man. He was looking at this almost like a psychologist. He was trying to understand the dilemma and the fact that he hated his sin, to me, is a characteristic of a Christian. If you're asking, do I have a Christian identity, then do you hate the sin that's in your life?

Romans 7: 16. "Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good." So. [00:11:00] If I think my actions are sinful and I'm ashamed of them, then I'm agreeing with God's law that sin is wrong. But notice the obvious. You can have the right information, you can have the right belief system. You can even know right from wrong.

And today we have all the information we could ever possibly hope to have right here, and we carry it in our pockets. And information has never transformed anyone. Information is not equal to transformation. Now, truly, we need information. Let us study the word of God, let us do self examinations, but transformation, that's that's what we're looking for.

And wanting to be more like Jesus is a characteristic of Christian identity. Romans 7: 17. "So now it's no longer I who do it, but sin that [00:12:00] dwells within me." So the doing it references the body. The sin that dwells within me, references mind and heart . It's like underneath that waterline, there is something going on.

And this is where we talk about indwelling sin. That's gonna be one of his themes in this passage. 

You know this word sin, it's singular here. He's referencing, I believe original sin is an inescapable part of the Christian life. It's a part of our identity. And let's be clear, original sin is not like some stain you can wash out with water baptism.

 Original sin impacts the whole person. We are under Adam's curse. Heart, mind, and body are spiritually dead and in rebellion against God until we are born again. Romans 7: 18, "For I know that nothing good dwells in [00:13:00] me. That is my flesh for, I have the desire to do what's right, but not the ability to carry it out."

So knowledge goes back to mind. Flesh goes to body. Desire to heart .Doing goes back to body, but let's talk about ability. 

The desire in my heart, I just don't have the will. I don't have enough willpower to make me do the very thing that I want to do. The thing that I'm convinced is right. So this original sin is a big issue. Romans 7: 18, "For I know nothing good dwells in me. That is in my flesh for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability."

So we're back to ability this old nature. Now, Romans 7: 19 speaks this "For, I don't do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing." So let's talk about this expression. Keep [00:14:00] on doing. Have you noticed when you keep on doing a behavior, it often becomes a habit? Have you noticed if you keep on doing a habit it becomes a compulsion. Now, compulsion is something I do to try to really distract myself. I'm anxious and so I go do something on social media compulsively, right? If you keep on doing a compulsion, it can become an addiction. As things are becoming more and more addiction oriented, it's the heart , the mind, and the body.

And within the body is taking over the brain and the nervous systems. And so as the whole person experience to have habits, compulsions, and addictions, and to use a language or a term that we're familiar with in our church circles, it can be a stronghold. Have you ever tried to overcome a [00:15:00] stronghold on your own?

If you have, you know how difficult that can be. Romans 7: 20. "Now, if I do what I don't want, it's no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." So we're still back to looking at heart , mind, body and how all this connects. By now you're experts on that, but I want you to see with me, Paul has genuine anguish as he speaks about this.

There's a desire to follow God. He is really frustrated at this point, and here is the passage that reveals two natures exist inside one mortal man. And this is true of you as a Christian today. Your mortal body houses your old human nature and the new nature imparted to you by Jesus Christ. And it's the grace of the Holy Spirit who helps us to see [00:16:00] what grieves him.

So the scripture teaches us, "don't grieve the Holy Spirit." Alright. I believe one mark of Christian identity is that it grieves us when we grieve the Spirit who's living inside of us as a comforter, not a critic. Be sure to make the distinction there. Now, sometimes we get in trouble and we're just grieved because we're in trouble.

We grieved because there's some consequences to deal with and there is that part of it. But here, this is holy suffering. He talks about in Romans 7: 21, a law . So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right evil, I close at hand." So let's get real scientific here for just a minute. Object lesson.

Got a pen. I'm gonna release it. I've just [00:17:00] illustrated gravity, right? How many times is the pen gonna fall? Every time, right? "Every time I want to do right, evil lies close at hand."

Do you realize that? Are you sober? Make no mistake every time you want to do right according to the word of God, the law of God. I believe that's an impulse from the Holy Spirit of your life. But make no mistake, sin is crouching at the doors of your heart, your mind, and your body. Romans 7: 22 through 23, " For I delight in the law of God in my inner be, but I see in my members another law, waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that [00:18:00] dwells in my members." In this verse, Paul breaks attention for just a moment. He speaks of his delight. See, delight is coming from the heart. It is in his inner being, which is sort of mind and heart , and these two are coming into agreement with one another.

But see, there's this, this law that makes him captive to the sin that dwells in his members, his body. So there's a lot here for us to consider. We go back from looking at the mind and how we think. We go back from realizing that we're a captive to the law. And it dwells in our members. Now, I'm oversimplifying to simply say it dwells in our physical body.

I'm not trying to declare that the body is bad and the spirit is good. No, but I am trying to emphasize, these bodies are mortal. They live with original sin. They live in [00:19:00] a fallen world, and we have body parts that can get us in trouble. 

Upon close self-examination in my life, I don't think a kneecap has ever gotten me in trouble. Other body parts we will not discuss. Okay? So think about your body. 

Okay, so we get to the place where he says in Romans 7: 24, "Wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death?" 

Now I owe a debt of gratitude to Charles Spurgeon. I started reading him when I was in college. I was in the music department getting bored. I would go read Charles Spurgeon in the library. I've gone to him now 40 years later to get help on this particular verse. And here in Romans 7: 24, Paul is saying wretched man that I am. So Spurgeon has this sermon called The [00:20:00] Fainting Soldier. That's how he regards Paul in this particular verse. And he notes that Paul is suffering 'cause he's fighting to do what's right according to God's perfect law.

But like others who have seen combat it's almost sounding like Paul was going through the fog of war. Like, man, when is it gonna ever get any better? Here's what I think was happening. Paul was doing his best. In Romans 8, we gonna talk about walking in the Spirit and letting the Spirit do his best through us because of the union we have in Christ. 

Sometimes we keep on trying instead of submitting ourselves to God himself.

So I want you to realize, for example, like [00:21:00] when we look at Romans 7: 25, Paul begins to conclude with gratitude, and that almost sounds like an odd place to land, given what we've been talking about since verse 15. But he says, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." So we've got this confusion going on and there's a part of me that wants to say, Paul. So then, I mean, really, is this where you're gonna leave this? I mean, I'm looking and the chapter's over, right? 

We know the Holy Spirit didn't say, we're gonna come back tomorrow and talk about Romans 8. Those chapter divisions are put in later. 

But it's really important I think, to see that Paul has become very matter of fact about having two [00:22:00] natures that live in his one body. And let me ask you, is that true for you? Do you realize the old man and the new man are warring? This is a part of what it means to have a Christian identity.

Now let's go to point 3. We will talk about what it means to be a Christian who walks by the Spirit in Romans 8:1 is a precious verse, so read it with me, will you? " There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." It's gonna be really important to underscore no condemnation.

But listen, as a counselor, working with people and being a person for 62 years, I know something about condemnation. I've felt that before, and I bet every one of you have also, [00:23:00] and if you're in Christ feeling condemnation, know this. It has not come from God. 

Condemnation comes from other places. It can come from our sin nature. It can come from early wounds or yesterday's wounds that we have not yet started to heal. Some of the words we've heard from people that are still there. It can come from the world and all the systems of the world and the cultures, and make no mistake, it all comes from the enemy and his kingdom of darkness.

It's gonna be really important for you and Christian identity to make a real clear line between. Condemnation, which is not from God and conviction, which comes to us from the Holy Spirit. When we are not enjoying God, when we are pursuing a pleasure greater than God if such a thing could be possible, [00:24:00] then the Holy Spirit is gonna say, Hey, you need to dial it back in here. The steps you're taking away from God, do you really want to do that? That that's not gonna serve you well. In fact, my word will direct you otherwise. So let's make sure that you see the difference between condemnation and conviction. Ignore condemnation or go get help with it. Talk to your pastor, talk to a counselor. Talk to those who love you, deal with it. 

But if you have conviction, lean into it. The Holy Spirit is your comforter, not your critic. So let him convince you that God has better plans for you than the sin that your flesh prefers. 

Now, Romans 8:2, "For the law of the Spirit of life is set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of death."

So freedom, I think about Mel Gibson, [00:25:00] "freedom!" We need a blue face up here. But this is what we're wanting to cry out for. We were created to be free to enjoy God and sin came in and interrupted that, and now we're living inside these mortal bodies. But you know the word justification. In Christ, you are justified and it is just as if you had not sinned.

Now, that's an oversimplification is not dealing with all of the parameters that we could get into, but nevertheless, it works for the moment, it's just as if, just as if you've not sinned, I want you to live in that joy, okay? 

We need to understand that God is father, son, and spirit, and you don't have, as a Christian, you don't have to be [00:26:00] afraid of God. Now, the word teaches us to be fearful of God. Yes, let's have a familial, holy, righteous, fear of God, but afraid I. No. And so when we speak about God the Father, some of you may almost go offline because you might have had a difficult relationship with a parent.

You might not understand that can actually be a good thing. And just remember that God as father is, is a world apart from those of us who are dads. This is an imperfect example, but if God is the sun in the sky, we're like little birthday candles that burn out. God is wonderful, and how could we enjoy him if we think any less of him?

Romans 8:3 and 4, "For God has done what the law, weak and by the [00:27:00] flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. You walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

 For all the verses we're covering, this is the one that's really dense. Let's kind of unpack it a bit. The first passage " For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do." There's a quote from Jonathan Edwards that I think fits really well here. Jonathan Edwards said this, "you contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary."

So here we're looking at how dependent we are on God to bring redemption to us. We don't create our salvation. We don't contribute to it except the sin that made it necessary. Humanity has never been able to save itself from sin until Jesus Christ, fully God , became [00:28:00] fully man. See the merger of the divine and the natural.

See what's happening there. When God says, I see you can't do this. The song we sing, "lawlessness has won," and God steps up and says, I got you. I'm gonna take care of this. My son, Jesus Christ, will come to you in the flesh. And folks, the death of Christ on the cross works for us because Christ is fully God and fully man.

So I think part of a Christian identity is frequently, frequently going back to the cross. Personalizing this. Make sure it's not some just Christian thought you have. Let it be very, very personal. And note the last expression in this scripture [00:29:00] "for those who walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

I mentioned this a moment ago. If we lived in the Middle East 2000 years ago with Jesus Christ, can you imagine if you had met him and maybe you would've had the desire to walk with him? Jesus, may I walk with you? Sure. Sure, you can walk with me. That's not very complicated or very sophisticated or even mysterious, when we hear an expression like walk with the Holy Spirit, I mean, kind of like everybody, like what? Well, the Holy Spirit, a real person doesn't have a tangible body, but he lives in yours and he is walking with you everywhere you go. Are you taking him to the places he has [00:30:00] ordained? That's our question. We ask him to help us to take him to places that will please the Father.

Now, Romans 8:5, "For those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit, they set their minds on the things of the Spirit." So here, the emphasis on the mind I think is crucial. It's gonna be very, very important for us to realize that when you see someone's behaviors, you are actually seeing some of what they're thinking and feeling in their minds and what they're desiring in their hearts.

It all connects. So behaviors reveal to others some of what we're thinking about. I. And Paul reminds us, set your minds on the Spirit. And when we do this, we're more [00:31:00] like Jesus, and that inner transformation finds its way on the outside with our behaviors. Like the branches on a vine, John 15, we're producing or receiving the fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Christian identity has got to be demonstrating that kind of produce. I can say I'm a Christian, but if there's no fruit, we've got a problem. So Romans 8:6. "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace."

He's reiterating the way we learn. But note this, the natural man and the spiritual are different. Each has a different [00:32:00] worldview. Each has different ideas and different philosophies, different values. The war you feel within you, because of the two natures that exist within your one body, well, it's real.

It's like a civil war of its own. And if you're lacking life and peace, I would encourage you to do some soul searching with the Holy Spirit and the Bible. Get down to the heart of the matter with the Comforter, not the critic. He can help you sort it out and don't miss the obvious. The Spirit reveals to us that identity in Christ, this union in Christ, is life and peace. Romans 8:7 . 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." So let's be sure that we understand. You can't take the You can't take the man [00:33:00] at war with God and educate, rehabilitate, or intimidate that natural man into following God and God's law.

It's not possible. It's not possible to improve the old man. He must die. So let him. Now you can weaken him along the way. Maybe, you know, it's gonna be important to, to realize, you know, you can't improve the old man, just let him die. The Romans 8:8. "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God." I believe this verse is speaking to those not yet in Christ.

This is like a positional statement, those in the flesh. So we wanna make sure that you are in Christ and then you can be walking with God in a new way. You [00:34:00] can exchange, allow him to exchange his life with you. And do you realize if Christ is in you, this is an important point. God is already pleased with you.

I'm not gonna ask for a show of hands, but how many of you feel like some of your loved ones are not pleased with you?

God, the Father is, if you're in Christ.

Romans 8:8, "Those in the flesh cannot, please God," just can't, just can't. There's a quote by the Puritan Richard Sibbes who says this: "There is more mercy in God than there is sin in us." So sometimes I meet a Christian who has not only a tender conscience, but a, a conscience that's really pretty wounded.

[00:35:00] And he or she is over fixating on how imperfect they are and they can't do anything and have they committed the unpardonable sin and so forth. And I'm just wanting to assure you from these words, by Sibbes, there is more mercy in God then there is sin in us. But let's not forget when we sin, it grieves the Spirit and we've talked about that.

Romans 8:9, "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." So I believe, and this is just a personal belief, that when Jesus Christ comes into us through the Holy Spirit, I believe that we're a different species of human being.

Paul, in the Corinthian letter, the second one, said, you're a new creation. I'm gonna take that literally, I encourage you to as well, but keep [00:36:00] this in mind. We have new hearts and new minds, but we are still in these mortal bodies. We don't yet get a new body. We will get that later. But today, spirit and the mind, they're new.

Romans 8:10, "But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead, the spirit is life because of righteousness." So he's comparing the natural and the supernatural. He's comparing the dead and the living. He wants you to understand the mortal you versus the eternal you and how the mortal body, the mortal you, is opposed to all that Christ wants for you and still you have the righteousness of Christ.

Romans 8:11, one of my favorite verses in all of these passages. "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, will give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who [00:37:00] dwells in you." 

And this is the secret to Christian contentment: in Christ by the Spirit, we are sons and daughters of God, the Father, and he is more, he is more than enough. We can get so lost in our circumstances that we fail to look to God. We can let our circumstances undermine our peace, and God has himself to give us. Romans 8: 12 and 13 talk about how we're not debtors to the flesh.

"So then brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh." Verse 13, "if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put the death, the deeds of your body, you will live." So let me very quickly begin to conclude with this particular "if by the spirit you put the death, the deeds of your body, you will live."

Let's create a fill in the blank for a moment. If [00:38:00] by blank you put the death, the deeds of your body, you will live. What can you put in that blank? Good intentions. No. Church attendance. Glad you're here, but no. Is there anything other than the Holy Spirit who indwells you that can help you to kill your sins?

It is the person of the Holy Spirit who accomplishes that in you. So in Christ, the theological term is vivification, we are made alive again. With the Holy Spirit, the doctrine is mortification, we need to be killing our sins. 

So let me close with these three thoughts. One thing I want you to take out of here is God made you in his image with a heart, mind, and body. You have your own trinity. 

Number two, in your mortal body, you have two opposing [00:39:00] natures. And I might suggest if you don't feel the war, you may only have the one nature. You may have the sin nature that loves this world. 

Number three. Those who live in friendship with the Holy Spirit, those are the ones who enjoy God the most.

Let's pray together.

Father, may we come to enjoy you because it gives you the greatest glory. May we realize in Christ that you love us and there's no condemnation. May we accept the limitations of what it is to be a human being. And may we continue to look forward to the time that we live with you forever. I pray these things in Christ's name.

Amen.