This week as we continued our journey through Romans, we talked about living a Spirit-filled life. In Romans, Paul built upon the struggle that was expressed in Romans 7 – the struggle between sin and man. In our lesson this week, looking at Romans 8, Paul now turns his focus to the Holy Spirit, the promised gift that Jesus sent to work in the lives of believers. Through the Holy Spirit, God manifests His Presence to live and work in the lives of believers as a powerful source of new life. Paul indicates that the mind is the battlefield wherein we can be led by the natural desires of the flesh, or be led by the Holy Spirit. He reminds Christians that they no longer live under the authority of sin, but under the leading of the Holy Spirit enabling them to put the misdeeds of the flesh to death (v.13).

I wanted to share with you some notes from my teaching, as I often do on Thursdays. For those that have been participating in this course with me, or who have been following along on the blog, you know that I often pull out a “red thread” or main theme for the week. This week’s red thread was the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. As we dive into this, I have some questions for reflection for you:

• Are you fully living into your inheritance of freedom in Christ?
• Do you believe that you are no longer enslaved by sin and that you have the power of the Holy Spirit leading and guiding you? 
• How is this reflected in your life? 

In our study, we also looked at the following questions –

• Who is the Holy Spirit?
• Why do we need the Holy Spirit?
• What does it mean to live a spirit-filled life?
• How do we know that the Holy Spirit lives in us?

These are some deep questions! Even if you’re not participating live with us, you can join us via streaming to get caught up and answer these questions along with us.

Paul explains to us the significance of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross; He died to set us free from the law of sin and death. He condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us. Paul then concludes that we now have an obligation to live by the Spirit, not gratifying the desires of the flesh; that we must believe that we have a new spirit as sons of God. Fear can no longer be a stumbling block to our faith as children of God. We can partake of God’s eternal inheritance now and in the future to come. What incredible news this is! Lord, give us hearts to believe and to obey.

I have a few points for life application for you to take with you. I’d love to hear how you’re applying these in the comments below!

• Pray for the Holy Spirit to be released in your life.
• Clothe yourself with Christ.
• Seek to be led by the Holy Spirit.