Law of the Spirit of Life Inside of Christ (Rom. 8:1-11)
September 21st, 2025
Law of the Spirit of Life Inside of Christ (Rom. 8:1-11)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” May that unprecedented grace of God be upon the regional churches that are worshiping with us. Can you live your walk of faith just by going to church? No, that’s just going to church. More specifically, you’re just going to a church building. If you’re living your walk of faith, it means your inner person is continuously changing. Then, how can I change? Because the Lord is with me, I keep changing to be like the image of the Lord. We are changing from the image of the devil more and more into the image of Christ. Then, what is the image of the devil? It is the state where we are rejecting God and we are dividing people, and there’s a lot of other things, like sexual immorality, lust, or idolatry, or the more time passes, we fall into addictions, and these things keep on changing in us. People who were caught in their wrath or anger are set free from that. For people who feel lonely or empty inside, they turn into a bright person. It’s not that the external environment is changing; our inner person is changing. Sometimes the environment also changes, but the real standard is, I myself change, because the Kingdom of God is established upon me, and don’t you think that the Kingdom of God is the best possibility? What is the goal of marriage? It is establishing God’s Kingdom. I marry a spouse, and we establish the Kingdom of God in each other. What is the reason I go to my job? It is so the Kingdom of God may be established upon me and all those around me. What is the goal with which I live on this earth? It is to establish God’s Kingdom inside of me and everyone living here on earth, that is God’s goal for us.
However, the Bible is telling us what our inner person is like. There is no other book or source in the world that tells us what our inner state is like accurately. Buddhism says you have to get rid of your greed and desires, because the way for you to receive enlightenment or attain Nirvana is if you get rid of all your desires and greed. They’re saying that all the problems we face are because of our greed, so the Buddhists practice meditation to try to get rid of that. There are a lot of people who practice Buddhist meditation here in America, they say, “All of your mental suffering is because of your greed, so get rid of it.” Because America has a Christian influence, they say there is a good, universal energy you have to bring into yourself, but that is such abstract language. In Buddhism or things like that, there is no answer, but the Bible tells us the answer today.
Once you accept Jesus Christ, there are two people living inside of you. Imagine that there is a baby with two heads and one body, then where do you think you should move? One brain wants to move in this direction, and the other brain wants to move in that direction. Don’t you think that would happen? So imagine how much conflict there would be? If you believe in Jesus Christ, then there are two people living inside of you; one side wants to go in this direction, the other side wants to go in the opposite direction. If you don’t believe in Jesus, you won’t have that conflict at all, because you might have some external conflict, but you have no conflict internally because inside, there is only one person, but when you believe in Jesus Christ, there will be two, and our walk of faith is aligning those two people into one. However, if your walk of faith is not taking place and you’re still very conflicted internally, it means there are still two people living inside of you, and the content of today’s scripture is, how can you have those two people align as one?
1. One who is in Christ Jesus
1) Condemnation – None
(1) Forgave us all our sins (Col. 2:13)
That is in today’s title, “Law of the Spirit of Life Inside of Christ” aligns into one person. In Romans 7, Paul was conflicted because of the two forces living inside of him, and then in Rom. 7:25, “Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ has set me free,” and then in Rom. 8:1, it says, “There is no longer any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” This is very important today, you have to understand this in order to combine the two hearts that are going back and forth into one. “All we have to do is work hard”? You working hard is just your physical action, but you are still internally conflicted. However, when that becomes one, the power of God works in our lives. However, there is one entity that prevents us from aligning the two forces and continues to divide us. Who is that? The Bible tells us that there is an entity that is prowling around, night and day, looking to take people astray. They are continuously poking and prodding you. Then, when you get caught by their poking and prodding, they go straight to God and accuse you.
(2) Legal indebtedness – Nailed it to the cross (Col. 2:14)
In the Old Testament, Satan, the devil, would go before God and personally report sins to God. Satan kept on reporting Job to God, saying, “Job is only faithful to you because you blessed him so much. Once you take those blessings away, he will hate you.” Then in the Old Testament, the devil goes to God and says, “I will kill King Ahab by possessing him with a spirit of deception.” What this means is, when you go to a court of law, the judge will always be reporting on crimes, and all of the accusations and allegations are according to the law, and the lawyers have to defend. That is what Jesus does. Satan is continuously monitoring and testing us day and night and prosecutes us for our sin. However, Jesus Christ already took all of our sin and punishments and death for us on the cross. On the cross, He has nailed our guilt trip regarding the law.
(3) Satan’s accusation – To God × (Job 1:6-12; 1Ki. 22:20-23; Zech. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:7-12)
What does that mean? It means that the cross has finished it so that Satan can no longer report and accuse us to God. You need to know what the devil does well, he keeps on poking and prodding you with your sin, a.k.a. your disobedience to God. Now, in the New Testament, Satan cannot prosecute or accuse you before God, so what does he do? He will instead attack and accuse our sense of guilt. Because now that Jesus Christ has resurrected and is seated at the right hand of the Throne of God, Satan can no longer go before Him. Because all sins have been forgiven on the cross, Satan no longer has anything with which to accuse us. Then, what is Satan doing now? Even right now, Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion, day and night, looking for sin inside of us, and instead of reporting it to God, he attacks us and our sense of guilt. He tells us, “Do you even really believe in Jesus? Are you even a parent?” He keeps on accusing and poking at us. He uses our weaknesses and our flaws.
But Romans 8:1 says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, it means there is nothing to condemn us with regarding sin or more. Because Jesus Christ has already paid the price of our sin on the cross, as long as we are within Him, Satan cannot accuse us or condemn us, but if we don’t know this, then Satan keeps poking our sense of guilt and conscience. Satan makes you tied up by your past. The characteristic of people who are deeply afflicted is that it is because of their past. Everything will be fine, but all of a sudden, they’ll bring up what happened in their past. The characteristic of people with mental illness is they’ll still talk about things that happened to them in the past, they may have a perfectly normal conversation then all of a sudden talk about something that happened decades ago. What does that mean? It means they are stuck there, seized by Satan. What is the work of God? You are not remaining in the past. You are living in the present, looking forward to God’s Word regarding the future. That is the work that the Holy Spirit of God is doing now. So, the real problem is not about your environment, it is about who you are inside.
What is the characteristic of people who are alcoholics? They don’t fall into addiction for no reason. Not everyone who drinks alcohol becomes addicted to it. Without a doubt, Satan uses our scars to attack us. Because Satan keeps poking us with our scars, it hurts so much, that’s why people turn to drinking. They try to cover up their suffering with alcohol, but is that possible? As soon as they sober up, the pain is back. All of our addictions into alcohol, drugs, video games, and gambling, anything like that, cannot be solved unless the internal, fundamental problem is solved first. Before we thought to the point of addiction, we had a mental problem that was already divided. In other words, “I don’t want to do this but there is something inside of me that gives me no other choice. I want to live a good and correct life, but I cannot control myself. I don’t want to suffer from panic attacks, but all of a sudden, I have them, regardless of what I want.” Then, I am in a state that is divided from myself, it means that something else has into me, regardless of what I want. That’s a mental illness. When that mental illness becomes worse, it becomes an addiction. This cannot be solved by studying psychology. This cannot be solved by money or success. King Saul even became a king, but he was still demon-possessed. He didn’t even want to do this, but he kept on trying to kill David. Sometimes he would come to his right senses and say, “My son, David,” but when he was back into possession, he would be trying to kill David again. So what is the real problem? It’s not about what’s going on around you, it’s what is inside.
That is what the Bible is giving you the answer to today. The devil continues to accuse and prosecute us. But the only way to overcome that is by remembering that Jesus Christ has taken all of the curses and the price of your sin on the cross. But the devil will attack you again saying, “So what?” The devil will keep accusing you and reporting you, “What does Jesus Christ dying on the cross have anything to do with what you’ve done in your past?” When Jesus Christ died on the cross, it wasn’t just the physical pain that He endured, He was also spat on, betrayed, and mocked. His pride was hurt and His spirit, so He died, suffering physically, mentally, and spiritually, on our behalf. So Satan is going to stab you with this in your heart, he’s going to stab you with worries about the future. At that time, you must win with the cross of Christ, “The Lord has made me a righteous child of God, and the Lord will guide my life.” There is nothing else with which you can overcome Satan.
When Satan tries to stab you with the scars of your past, hold onto the fact that the Lord has already freed you from your scars. “The Lord calls me righteous, His child, and He is with me.” Do you know how else Satan attacks us? He says, “You’re going to fail,” Satan is going to keep on attacking you in your studies and work, and says, “You’re going to collapse,” then how do you win? “Through Jesus Christ, I am a child of God, and the Lord will guide my life according to His plan.” In short, you must have victory internally. Do not try to win and fight against people, but instead, fight the internal fight. The only reason you fight is because the other person is weak. So, if somebody is very proud or very assertive, it actually means they are very weak internally, because if they had true faith, they wouldn’t have to be like that, and if they received an answer through God’s Word, they don’t have to assert their own points. If I’m certain about my future, I won’t have to be shaken, so not having this inside of you is a weakness. Where do we get our strength from? We receive strength through faith in Christ. When is that revealed? When you face a problem, crisis, or incident, that’s when the real person is revealed. During that time, the people who have faith in Jesus Christ will stand firmly.
2) In Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:2)
(1) Law of Spirit and life
So, why can we not be condemned? That’s in Rom. 8:2, “Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” What does it mean that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus? It’s talking about authority and power. This does not come from me; it’s inside of Christ Jesus. If you believe in Jesus Christ, then the Spirit of life lives within you, and the power of this spirit of life overcomes the law of sin and death.
(2) From the law of sin and death
Where does the power and authority of sin and death come from? It comes from the law. Because I’m not able to fulfill the law, the sin is activated and the result of sin is physical and spiritual death, but I’ve been set free from that. What does that mean? It means that the Lord has saved me and He will do His work through me. So, even if we do fall, you need to quickly hold on to Jesus Christ again.
(3) Liberated
Because the Lord has already taken upon him my sins and transgressions, He calls me righteous. He says we have no sin, because Jesus has solved it all, but you shouldn’t stay right there. Hold onto the cross and be changed into the Spirit of life. You shouldn’t just go back and forth between falling and repenting. If you turn to Christ, you must ask to be led by the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, the Holy Spirit of life helps us overcome the law of sin and death.
3) God
(1) Law was powerless (Rom. 8:3)
(2) Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3)
(3) Condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. 8:3)
In Rom. 8:3, it says that the law is a good thing, but it cannot give us life. Instead, the law pushes us into the law of sin and death. Because the law is perfect, but we are physical and lacking, so there is no one who can fulfill the law. But God can. God proves this. God crucified Jesus Christ Who had no sin, and by His death, He has set us free from sin. That is why only Jesus Christ has fulfilled the law, and even if we fall short, we hold onto Jesus Christ and are called sinless.
2. Holy Spirit – Flesh
1) Flesh (Rom. 8:4)
(1) Disobedience
(2) Sinful nature
(3) Satan’s channel
Yet, we still sin; we still disobey God, which is sin. The result of that disobedience to God is our actions, lacking morals and ethics. Inside of this, we have the sinful nature from our original sin that Satan uses. We cannot control that. So, for the people who are very conflicted inside or they have mental suffering or illness, they cannot control themselves. You need to quickly go into Jesus Christ and hold on, and pray to receive the guidance of the Holy Spirit, then God will place His Word and His strength into our thoughts and heart. If you have a problem with addiction, when is it finished? No matter how much you try to quit, you cannot because if you could do it on your own, you already would have, and even if you do force yourself to quit this, you will have another problem arise instead. Because you tried to quit it yourself, you will have that problem revealed another way.
2) Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:4)
(1) Live accordingly
Instead, the Holy Spirit of God has to give you the thought, “You no longer need this.” So, no matter what you’re addicted to, drugs, alcohol, video games, gambling, or sex, you no longer have the thought or desire. There are people with addictions at church, people who have been set free from drug addiction. In the future, they will be set free from their alcohol addiction and healed. It’s impossible to be healed without the Spirit of Jesus Christ. No matter how much you shove the words of the Bible in their faces, it cannot be healed.
(2) Requirements of the law met
It’s through Jesus Christ, you are under the law of the Spirit that gives life, and when that Holy Spirit begins to work upon our thoughts, spirit, and heart, we receive strength. Then, because God is working upon you with His Holy Spirit, you will receive the power that goes beyond your limitations. Despite all of this, there are people who hold onto their stubbornness and live for their physical desires, then what shall they do? God is going to discipline them. What is discipline? God is bringing you suffering so you no longer go down the incorrect path. In the Old Testament, God would strike people with curses and disasters, but in the New Testament, Jesus Christ has received all of the curses and disasters for us, so He doesn’t curse us, but He disciplines us. Heb. 12:7-8 talks about this discipline. He says even a physical father will discipline their child when they are doing something wrong. Then, imagine how much more our spiritual father will do so? But there is a goal with which He is disciplining us.
(3) Love God, love my neighbors (Mt. 22:37-40)
It says in Romans 8:10, “So that we may share in His holiness.” God is not trying to change our external environment; He’s trying to make our internal state holy. The Holiness only belongs to God; we cannot make holiness, only the Holy Spirit of God must come upon our thoughts and our heart. Heb. 12:11 says that this discipline produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. The Bible also tells us that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy. So, God wants the Kingdom of God with the righteousness and peace to be inside of our hearts, but we’re going the wrong way, so He disciplines us. Romans 8:4 says that, “In order the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us who do not live according to the flesh but live according to the spirit.” Living according to the flesh means that, living according to our desires and cravings, because inside of you, Jesus lives, but there is also something else, there is another, very large bartizan inside of you. What is that? It starts in your family, for example, if someone grew up with a lot of financial hardship, the answer to their life is not Christ, it’s money. Then, they keep on having this greed for money and they race towards making money with great diligence. They think that making money will give them joy and happiness, so they race in that direction.
What do you think the devil is doing? The devil will trap you in that so you cannot escape and he will drag you. What devil is that? The spirit of Satan that gives you material greed. Some people think the answer to life is pleasure. “Oh, what’s the point of making ourselves suffer anyways, you just enjoy life and then you die.” Those people don’t have the solution of Christ but their solution is fun and pleasure, so they chase after that. This is what it means to live after the desires of your flesh. They think that the joy of mankind is to have fun and to enjoy pleasure, and is the devil just going to watch that happen? No, the demon of pleasure will go into that person and drag them towards that. So even though we believe in Jesus, inside of us, there is something else as well, and a lot of these times, it starts in the family, it starts with your family background and environment. Let’s say you have a scar, these people will establish a solution to their scar. If they have a scar from their parents, they say, “I’m never going to marry, what’s the point of getting married? I’m just going to get scars and I’m going to give scars to my children too.” So for this person, Christ is not the solution; staying single is their solution. So, yes, I believe in Jesus, but there is another bartizan inside of me. So, what do we call a “bartizan”? It’s whatever I rely on, whatever I hold onto and seek comfort from. Even though the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ lives inside of me, I race towards my physical desires.
What is the reason you’re living in America? If it’s not for Christ, you’re looking for another solution and that must change. A lot of students are studying so they can find some sort of solution to their life. You need to quickly change that solution to Christ. If our young adults are trying to marry in order to get what you’re looking for or in order to heal your scars, you need to quickly change that. You need to change the purpose of your marriage to be centered on Christ and establishing God’s Kingdom, then God’s righteousness, peace, and joy will come upon your marriage. So even though we believe in Jesus, we chase after something else. The reason you look for a job or go to work is not for the physical desires, but it is to establish God’s Kingdom. A lot of people believe in Jesus Christ, but the reason they make money is for some other reason. We must become aligned, God and I must become aligned as one. I believe in Jesus Christ but I’m divided from God, and Satan keeps using that to drag us around. What is that “One”? It is Jesus Christ, His Kingdom; everything is contained there, that is what we’re saying today. You must remain within the control, the power, and the authority of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, that is life. And you can tell who these people are by looking at how they think.
3) Flesh
(1) Those who live according to – Minds set on what the flesh desires (Rom. 8:5)
Today’s scripture talks about our thoughts, your thoughts determine whether you follow your flesh or God. Romans 8:5 says that those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires. Gal. 5:19 onwards says what the works of the flesh are: sexual immorality, debauchery, dissension, and the thoughts of the flesh are death, that our spirit must communicate and have fellowship with the Spirit of God, but instead our spirit is dying, so for that, we have no sense of God. Even if you hear God’s Word, you have no sensitivity towards it. You are only yearning for the physical things by your sinful nature, regardless of God.
(2) Mind governed by the flesh – Death (Rom. 8:6)
(3) Hostile to God (Rom. 8:7)
That person is an enemy of God, hostile to God. If people are moving according to the world and are hostile to God, do you think things will work out for them? Do you think people who are opposing the president will be able to live well? They’re going through a lot of visa issues right now, they’re telling people to pay $100,000, that makes no sense. He’s telling people to leave. In the past, we used to pay $100 or $1000 to renew our visa; now he’s telling us to pay $100,000. He’s essentially telling us to leave. So, if you think you can beat the president, you can stay in America; otherwise, you have no choice but to leave. You think you can be opposed to God and still win? That’s nonsense. Then, what is it that pleases God? You have the thoughts of the Spirit. So, my spirit and the Holy Spirit continue to have fellowship because if you believe in Christ, the Spirit of Christ lives in me, and that’s what I keep thinking about.
3. Holy Spirit
1) Me
(1) Those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires (Rom. 8:5)
Then, what are the thoughts of the Spirit? Life and peace. We cannot make life and peace. Only the Spirit of Jesus Christ can do this for us. John 14:26-27 says that the Holy Spirit of God will teach and remind us of everything that Jesus told us, meaning He will place the Words of God into our thoughts and our heart. So our thoughts are very important, we cannot control our thoughts; you’re just sitting still and you’re seized by the thoughts of your past. You’re sitting still and you hate that person, so you need to pray so that your thoughts are controlled by God’s Holy Spirit. That is why I must constantly be vigilant and watch over my thoughts, like a watchman, so that God’s Words are upon my thoughts.
(2) Mind governed by the Spirit – Life and peace (Rom. 8:6)
John 14:27 says the peace of God will come upon you. Jesus says, “My peace I give you,” we cannot make that peace. Your mental problems, your addiction problems, the suffering and pain of your life, you cannot change. It can only change when Jesus’ peace comes upon us.
(3) Thoughts, Heart – Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:26-27)
That is why we must think the thoughts of the Spirit. How? “Based on the cross of Jesus Christ, the Lord is with me, now Lord God, please hold onto my thoughts and my heart.” You do this through prayer, and when you pray, God’s Holy Spirit works. When you pray in the name of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God works in your field. How does He work? He sends out His heavenly army of hosts to give you the answer there. As a result of these invisible, spiritual things, the visible, physical things take place.
2) Spirit of God lives in you (Rom. 8:9)
(1) In Spirit (Rom. 8:9)
(2) Spirit of Christ – Belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9)
(3) Spirit gives life because of righteousness (Rom. 8:10)
In the final point of today, Romans 8:9 says, “If the spirit of God lives in you, you are not of the flesh; you are of the spirit.” Already, the spirit of Christ lives in us, and all of our interest must be there. That’s what it means to love the Lord. The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord. 1 Tim. 3:4-5 says that if you love anything more than you love the Lord, that will result in suffering. The relationship between me and the spirit of God who lives within me, should be one of love. When you love someone, you’re always thinking of them, you’re checking in with them, you want to be with them. And the Spirit of God will hold onto our thoughts and our heart, how? He will seize us in the direction that allows us to love people, that’s how you have these restored relationships. Everywhere you go, you make peace. In the past, I was so filled with anger, and I couldn’t control it. When I had these angry fits, I was completely possessed.
Sometimes people are angry because of scars, or they have their own set of laws, and if something doesn’t go according to their standards, something wells up inside of them. That was my father, and I didn’t want to be like my dad so much, but I’m exactly like him. I guess it was relayed to me, and I knew when my dad would be angry, so I was so scared, but one day I realized, I was just like him, and when my anger reaches a limit, my anger just comes out and my actions just come out. Do you think you can change that? But one day, it did change.
3) Spirit who raises from the dead (Rom. 8:11)
(1) Lives in you (Rom. 8:11)
As the Holy Spirit continued to change my thoughts and my heart, one by one, I received the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know how many I have now, but they come. There are some people who are very impatient, they want to get what they want.
(2) His Spirit (Rom. 8:11)
However, when the Holy Spirit takes over our thoughts and our heart, then our impatience turns into patience. It’s the same thing for evil spirits. If someone is seized by the spirit of sexual immorality, they will be dragged by their lust. If someone is seized by the spirit of aggression or hostility, they will be abusive. Everybody has their personal nature or disposition, but we change whether we are changed by the Spirit of God or the spirit that is evil. That’s why when we are filled with the Spirit of God Who saves, then even our death can be revived.
(3) Give life to mortal bodies (Rom. 8:11)
Just as the Holy Spirit who saved Jesus Who was dead and brought Him back to life, the Holy Spirit can bring us, who are dead, back to life; then nothing can be a problem. That’s why always, Jesus Christ. Even if I fall, even if I don’t fall, hold onto Christ. Because based on that evidence, God is with me and Satan cannot budge.
First, we must have internal victory, “Holy Spirit of God, please work upon me. Holy Spirit of God, please work upon that person. Holy Spirit of God, please work upon my family, my field, my region.” Without a doubt, when the Holy Spirit works, you’ll be able to see it. May you and I enjoy the fruits of the Holy Spirit and save many people through these blessings.
We’ve received God’s Word today, and you need to confirm it at this time. “I will hold onto this Word I’ve received and go into prayer throughout the week. Even as I’m eating today, I will hold onto this Word firmly, and if I meet with people, I must give them this Word.” For people who don’t have that yet, go home and listen to this Word again until you have the confirmation.
Conclusion
1. In Jesus Christ – Condemnation×
2. Guidance of Holy Spirit
3. Fruits of Holy Spirit
Message Prayer
Let us pray together.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. Thank You for making us children of God through Jesus Christ. To the Lord Who has called us righteous and children of God without sin, we thank You for this blessing. We believe You will live within us with the Holy Spirit to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Lord, we pray You will bless us so we will bear the fruit of the Holy spirit and save many people.
We have returned Your material blessings as offering. Everywhere it is used, may lives be saved, may the church come to life, and may the next generation come to life. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
Announcements
1. Bible reading, writing
2. Outdoor worship postponed to 05/2026
3. LA Regional Young Adult Retreat, 10/11 at Whittier
4. Start of registration for RCA (Washington DC)
5. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, fellowship, working, and filling of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the remnants and future generations who desire to receive the works and the fruits of the Holy Spirit within Jesus Christ, be with them now until forever always, amen.