Better, Worse or the Same

Dr. Stan DeKovan teaches from Romans 8 on how God’s grace transforms our lives and sets us free from sin.

Summary

The battle between true and dead religion is waged around the power of God to transform lives. The purpose of Romans 8 is to bring us into the realm of walking in the Spirit so that we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The grace of God that is revealed in the New Covenant makes us loving instead of selfish. Dr. Stan calls believers to walk in the true grace of God.

Outline

1. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
   1. When the devil tries to condemn us, Jesus is our advocate.
   2. You are not in the flesh, but Spirit when we gave our heart to the Lord.
2. We are all on the road.
   1. As believers we are a new creation on a new path.
   2. Path speaks of destiny. Our journey in Christ is always in the right direction.
   3. Between now and heaven, God has purpose and destiny for us.
   4. We do not just talk about breakthrough, it is ours in Christ.
3. The struggles of life.
   1. My own stuff.
   2. Religion vs. freedom in Christ…OT leprosy vs NT. The OT was all about protecting people from the infection of sin, the NT is all about destroying sin.
   3. We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.   We carry the light that destroys the darkness.
   4. Perfectionism.
   5. Fears.
   6. Our minds need renewed…for right thinking leads to right living.
   7. We are to subdue fear through faith in the Son of God.
   8. All that we have belongs to God.
   9. Sometimes we watch too much TV and get fears from talking heads without theological degrees.
4. Context of Romans 8.
   1. Writing to the church in Rome – in the eye of the tiger –center of decadence, power, control, sin and evil.
   2. It was written to a group of believers in the midst of such a climate.
   3. They struggled like believers do today with who we are and how we are to handle the circumstances we find.
   4. Paul always reminds people who they are before he tells them what to do.
   5. If you know who you are, doing what you should is easy, if you do not know who you are, doing the right thing is a constant struggle.
   6. You are right where God wants you to be.
5. Grace shifts us from one law to another.
   1. Only in Christ do we actually love God and one another.
   2. We are not sinners saved by grace, we are a new creation that sometimes sins.
   3. When we do sin we have an advocate with God, so we repent and begin walking with God again.
6. Sinners sin, this should not surprise us.
   1. Selfish motivation is ever present in those who do not know Jesus.
   2. They do so naturally, just as those who have the Spirit naturally fulfill the law of God.
   3. Everybody grows naturally if we let the Spirit rule our lives.
7. Choices remain.
   1. We have to set our minds on Christ – we need to have the right perspective.
   2. We are free in Christ not to sin, and to become godlike in every aspect of life.
8. We are sons of God by nature.
   1. We are not slaves, only sons.