1. January 2, 2011

2. Romans 7 closed with these words: Romans 7 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death (this body of death) ? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. We will struggle in this life: the inner man , born of God's Spirit, against the flesh man , born of our mama and daddy. But we will be delivered from this body of death.

3. Romans 8 1 There is therefore now no condemn-ation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Believers may be chastened of the Lord, but will not be condemned with the world. By their (our) union with Christ through faith, they (we) are thus secured. Matthew Henry Concise Bible Commentary.

4. John 5 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Every believer is already passed from death unto life, and will never be condemned . Condemnation = judgment; damnation.

5. "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" This is not a conditional phrase as in If we walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. We are in Jesus Christ and He is in us, In the Person of His Holy Spirit . As we submit to the Power of God's Holy Spirit, our way of life will be, more and more, Spiritual .

6. We will at times stray or wander from the straight path of Righteousness. Hebrews 12 6-8 For whom the Lord loveth He chast-eneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons ; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Instead of condemnation, we receive discipline to bring us back into fellowship.

7. 2 For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Sin produces death ; the Holy Spirit gives life . Eternal Life Abundant Life By grace through faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ. Eternal and abundant life is ours; we only have to receive it and enjoy it .

8. 1 John 2 1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous: And He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Because we are two men , the new inner man who is born of God, And the carnal man who is born of the flesh, We will sin , but will never be condemned.

9. 3-4 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh , God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, con-demned 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. The Law was not weak, it was perfect. Human nature is weak , and prone to sin. God loved us so much that He sent Jesus, Who was not weak, and in Him Fulfilled the Righteousness of the Law in us .

10. Jesus did it, and we get credit for it! That would make a mummy shout!

11. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (NIV) 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. This is the difference between the children of the devil and the children of God.

12. It's all about mindset and desire . The unsaved crave the things of the flesh. Their minds are set on having those things and fulfilling those desires . God's children desire, with great desire , the things of God . Certainly our minds may wander at times, but we always come back to our first love .

13. 6-8 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9a But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you . 9b Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ (Holy Spirit), he is none of His.

14. Many people struggl e with these Scriptures, thinking that they are contradictory : Are we spiritually minded, or are we carnally minded? First we have to understand the difference in unbelievers and believers . Believers love God, and our minds are set on Him and His Way . Unbelievers love themselves, and have a self-centered mindset .

15. Then we have to understand that a believer still struggles with a sin nature that is contrary to his innermost desire -- to please God. John 3 6-7 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. Romans 7 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man ( born of the Spirit) : 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (born of the flesh) .

16. An unbeliever doesn't struggle , because he has no conflict ; he has only one nature. He can sin and enjoy it . He seeks opportunity to sin. He doesn't even see sin as sinful .

17. But when a believer sins, we are convicted by the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in us. We know that sin is sinful and destructive . We have only one desire : Draw nigh to God through repentance.

18. Friday, January 7, 2011 at 7:00 P.M. God's Idea of a Good Time. All styles of Gospel Music: country, blues, western swing, rock, bluegrass, jazz, Plus -- comedy , and The Word .