Tracing the story of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, first we hear of the Holy Spirit coming on Mary and bringing about the incarnation. We see it in the story of Simeon, upon whom the Holy Spirit rested, who was led by the Spirit to see the Christ and prophesy over him. We see the Holy Spirit come down in the form of a dove at Christ’s baptism, and then drive Him into the wilderness to be tempted. Then when He returned, he enters the temple where he inaugurates His ministry with the words of Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Luke 4:18-19 CEB
If we look back in our own lives, we can see the story of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, transforming us from and even through our own brokenness.
That is what Paul writes about in Romans 8, as he addresses the two primary competing forces in our lives as Christians, the Holy Spirit and our own flesh or selfishness. Paul here does not mean to set up a gnostic dichotomy between body and spirit. The Greek here for “flesh” is “sarx” as opposed to “soma” or “body,” meaning to misuse the body, living in a way that centers on the self. The CEB translates it as “selfishness” or “self-centered” and that is the true counterpoint to the Holy Spirit and the temptation that pulls us from the Spirit’s guidance.
But the Holy Spirit is our inheritance as children of God – not something we have earned, not something we even could earn. We are often the older son in the parable of the Prodigal Son, lamenting how hard we have worked. But God says to us “all I have is yours.” As Paul writes earlier in the chapter,
So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 CEB
Paul also writes that “All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters.” We can ask of our Father with the freedom of children.
The Spirit-led life and church is one that overflows and spills over into the lives and neighborhoods around us. The “vampire,” self-focused love will leave us all shriveled and sucked dry. Let us be a people led by the Spirit, a nexus of His grace and goodness and healing in the world around us.
– Sermon Notes, Dave Sim, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, July 10, 2022