Becoming a Practicing Trinitarian


Sermon by Ed Hartman on June 3, 2018 Romans 8:9-11

Download Audio

Let’s take our Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 8. If you’re using your pew Bible, it’s on page 944. If you were here last Sunday evening you will remember that Wiley Lowry introduced our new series that will take us through at least the next several weeks on Romans chapter 8. He introduced the first eight verses and really introduced the connection between Romans chapter 7 and 8. And it’s my privilege to read and unpack verses 9 through 11 this evening. Before we read those verses, let’s ask God’s blessing in prayer.

 

Father in heaven, it’s by Your Holy Spirit that we come to You, claiming the merits of Jesus Christ as that which qualifies us to stand before Your presence. By Your Spirit, we plead for special grace not just to understand what Your Word is saying to us today, but to embrace the truth, to love the truth, to celebrate the truth, to make it part of who we are, to build our lives upon the truth, to delight in it and to go forth deeply grateful that we have been in Your presence through the ministry of Your Word and the power of Your Spirit. All of this we pray in Jesus’ precious and holy name, amen.

 

The thesis for our study this evening, just before I read our verses, you’ll hear me repeat this over and over again and if you remember nothing else here’s the phrase to remember – the only way to live as a follower of Jesus, the only way to live as a true follower of Jesus, is to become a practicing Trinitarian and to consciously live every day as a practicing Trinitarian. We’ll unpack that as we work our way through this study. Verse 9:

 

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

 

This is God’s Word.

 

You may remember last Sunday that Wiley took us back nine years to the last time when Derek Thomas preached through this chapter, and I think Ligon Duncan preached one of the sermons in that series, but Derek preached most of the sections in that chapter. I think those sermons became a book which you can buy in our bookstore. But when he came to verses 9 through 11, the verses we’ve just read, he titled his sermon, “Are You Ready to Die?” And that was the question he asked over and over again throughout the sermon. And you can see why he asked that question and centered that study on that question. Verse 10, “although the body is dead because of sin,” verse 11, “he will give life to your mortal bodies.” He quoted Martyn Lloyd-Jones who said, “The principle of death is already at work within us.” Lloyd-Jones said, “The moment we enter into this world and begin to live, we also begin to die. Your first breath is one of the last ones you will ever take.” And so, on the basis of those verses, Derek asked, “Are you ready to die?” He probably repeated the question seven or eight times.

 

But that’s not our question tonight. The question for tonight is, “Are you ready to live?” because you really don’t know the answer to the question, “Are you ready to die?” unless you’re very carefully paying attention to the question, “Are you ready to live?” and “How are you prepared to live?” And so our outline this evening is going to be very simple. We’ll look at the theology of this passage and then we’ll unpack its practice. Theology and practice.

 

Theology

The theology is very straightforward. If you look carefully at the verses, you’ll see that Paul puts a heavy emphasis on life and living. In verse 10 he says, “The Spirit is life.” Practically, “The Spirit is your life.” Verse 11, “The Spirit gives life.” The question has been asked, “Is that resurrection life at the return of Christ or is that life today?” The answer is, “Both.” John Calvin, in speaking about this passage, said, “Paul speaks here not only of the last resurrection which shall be in a moment, but of the continued work of the Spirit by which he gradually mortifies the relics of the flesh and renews in us celestial life.” So the Spirit is your life, the Spirit gives you life – certainly at the return of Christ, but right now He is giving you resurrection life. He’s making good on Jesus’ promise, “I am making all things new.”

 

Life

He is your life, He gives your life, and then in verses 12 and 13, the passage I believe David Felker will preach next, which will be in June – two weeks from tonight. Next Sunday is Cory Brock's installation, I believe. But in the passage that lies ahead, verses 12 and 13, Paul is going to talk about living according to the flesh or living according to the Spirit. So life and living is the key focus what Paul is pressing into right now.

 

Flesh

Now pause for a second. Having mentioned “flesh” and “Spirit,” we need to make some definitions. “Flesh,” very straightforwardly, is both a state or a status and a dynamic, a power. The truth is the same about the Spirit. It’s a state of being and it’s also a dynamic, a power. In Romans chapter 8, you’ll find that the “flesh” is spoken of thirteen times. John Stott talks about it as “the sin-dominated self.” It’s the self without reference to God. And to be “in the flesh” means to live life without reference to God, which is the ultimate sin – to live as if He doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter. That’s life in the flesh. It’s living life as it makes sense to me.

 

Spirit

On the other hand, living “in the Spirit,” that’s mentioned twenty-one times in Romans 8; a reference to the Spirit – life connected to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ through the Spirit. It’s certainly speaking of the Holy Spirit, but to be “in the Spirit,” is life connected with the Father and the Son through the Spirit. That’s why we’re talking about being practicing Trinitarians. Both are a state and a power that is at work within us. And so you can see why I’ve said the thesis of our study is the only way to live as a follower of Jesus is to become a practicing Trinitarian and to consciously, intentionally live as a practicing Trinitarian.

 

One of the ways that I like to study the Bible is I like to print out the text in a much larger font; here’s mine. And then, because I’m a visual learner, I use lots of different highlighters. And you can really see. John Piper says pens have eyes. When you start highlighting and drawing connections, you begin to see things that you wouldn’t see just if you were reading it. But you look at the colors – the emphasis on the Spirit is all throughout that passage. Every time the Spirit shows up I’ve highlighted it in yellow. Christ, or Jesus, or the Son, or the pronouns referring to Him, you find that twenty-three times referring to Jesus. Twenty-one times referring to the Spirit. The words referring to the Father or God as the Father or the pronouns referring to Him, thirty-nine times in Romans chapter 8.

 

You see what Paul is getting at? He’s saying that every member of the Trinity matters, is critically important to how you live your life. And in verse 11 you find all three members of the Trinity referenced twice in two separate phrases. Listen to it in verse 11. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,” – “The Spirit of him” – who? Of the Father. “Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he,” the Father, “who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his,” the Father’s, “Spirit who dwells in you.” Two separate phrases, each member of the Trinity is referenced, and Paul is saying it’s critically important that you live with each member of the Trinity functioning and real and active in your life. Hence, living as a practicing Trinitarian.

 

Uniqueness of the Trinity

The doctrine of the Trinity, you see, is what sets us apart from every other religion in the world. No one else has it. Not Buddhism, not Islam, not Judaism, not the cults. Emily and I were in our front yard a few Saturdays ago and four ladies were walking down our street handing out cards, inviting people to a special worship service at their church. And when they came to us, we stopped and spoke with them and I asked them who was speaking. And I didn’t recognize the man’s name, but when I turned the invitation over, I saw that it was at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. So I said, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to ask you this question. Tell me what you think about Jesus.” And they said, “Oh, Jesus was wonderful. He was such a great teacher. He was such a great prophet. He was so sacrificial. We want to live our lives the way Jesus did.” I said, “But of course! But is He God?” And they quickly stepped back and said, “Of course He’s not God. That would be blasphemy.” And I said, “Well, you know, for 2,000 years everyone who’s called themselves a Christian has talked about the Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Tell me what you think about the Trinity then.” And one of the women got upset and just walked away right there. The others, even as I shared verses that talked very clearly about the Trinity, they kindly excused themselves and walked on to the other houses. The fact is, it’s only we who have the Trinity. The question is, “Are we living as practicing Trinitarians?”

 

In just a short time I’m going to pronounce the benediction. And I’ll say, “Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore.” And we celebrate and delight in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. We celebrate the love of God the Father, but how much do we really know about the life and the presence, how much are we practicing the reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives? The question is critical, really, because verse 9 says that “anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.” It’s the defining mark. The Holy Spirit, having the Holy Spirit, is what sets you apart as belonging to Christ. No Holy Spirit, you don’t belong.

 

And Paul unpacks this further and says that it’s the Spirit dwelling in you. That’s what it means to have the Spirit. And that word, “to dwell,” means that He’s taking up residence and His influence is pervasive in your life. And so you can see the only way to live as a true follower of Jesus is to become a practicing Trinitarian and to deliberately, consciously, intentionally live your life as a practicing Trinitarian. That’s the theology.

 

Practice

What about the practice? How does this work and what difference does that make? Let me ask it this way. If I asked your spouse, if you’re married, if I asked your spouse this question, how would he or she answer – “Where do you see the evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in your spouse?” How would your wife answer that question? How would your husband answer that question? “Where do you see the evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in your spouse?” If you’re single, how would your roommate or your coworker answer that question? If you’re a teenager or if you’re a child, how would your parents or your classmates answer that question? What is the evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in your life?

 

Activity of Holy Spirit

Tim Keller, in a brief video that he did – I’m not sure where it was recorded; I think it was at last year’s General Assembly – he asked these questions in reference to what I’ve just asked. Listen to them. It will take me just a minute to read them. One, “How real has God been this week to your heart? How clear and vivid is your assurance and certainty in God’s forgiveness and Fatherly love? Are you having any particular seasons of sweet delight in God? Do you really sense His presence in your life? Do you really sense Him giving you His love? Have you been finding Scripture to be alive and active as you’ve read it? Does Scripture, instead of just being a book, does it feel like it’s coming at you and searching you out and really alive and active in coming after you? Are you finding certain Biblical promises extremely precious and encouraging, and which ones? Are you finding God’s challenging you and calling you to something through the Word? And in what ways is He challenging you? Are you finding God’s grace more glorious and moving now than you have in the past? Are you conscious of a growing sense of evil in your own heart and in response, are you conscious of a growing dependence on the preciousness of the mercy of God?”

 

How would you answer those questions? You see, the fact is, unless the Holy Spirit is active in your life, you will most likely say, “I’m not sure I have much experience about what you’ve just asked.” It’s the Holy Spirit, present and active in our lives, it’s our living as practicing Trinitarians, conscious of the Holy Spirit’s presence and deliberate, determined purpose in our lives that makes us say, “Of course I’m finding delight in His presence. And yes, I have found some really sweet times in His Word. Maybe not a lot of them, but I have. And yes, the Holy Spirit is showing me more of my sin.” And as Jack Miller asked, “Of what sin is the Holy Spirit led you to repent lately?” And does your wife know? Does your husband know? Have you repented not just to the Holy Spirit but to the person whom you’ve hurt by your sin? Only the Holy Spirit enables us to answer those questions.

 

Mortification by the Spirit

So how do you really know, what are the evidences that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you? How would you know that you’re living as a practicing Trinitarian? Well if I stopped just with the passage we’ve read it would be difficult to discern, so I’m going to borrow some of David Felker’s sermon from two weeks from now. And I want to touch on three evidences that just leap off the page. First of all, verse 13, an evidence that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you and that you’re living as a practicing Trinitarian is that you are mortifying sin by the Spirit. Verse 13, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live; the deeds of the body. John Owen, in his book, The Mortification of Sin, said this: “To mortify means to put any living thing to death. To kill a man or a snake is to take away the principle of all its strength, its vigor and power, so that it cannot act or influence on its own.”

 

I may offend some of your sensibilities with this story, but several weeks back I was headed to a meeting at Twin Lakes Camp where some of our kids have been this past week. And as I drove into the entrance, I saw on the side of the road this rather large, venomous copperhead stretched out on the edge of the pavement. And my mind raced forward to right now as camp has started. And I thought, “You know, I could wait until one of our campers gets bitten by this venomous snake, or I could mortify this snake right now!” And if you’ve ever lived in the country, you know how this works. You know if you just run over a snake you’ll just make him mad and he will come after you. So to mortify a snake, you’ve got to run over him while your wheels are spinning. So you either come up close to him and hit the gas and your wheels are spinning, or you skid over him, but that’s the way to mortify a snake. And after I did what I did, I took photographic evidence to make sure that it was clear that he was mortified!

 

But Tim Keller put it this way. “Mortification is not what most people think. It’s not simply repentance. Repentance is certainly part of it, but repenting for sin is something you do after you’ve sinned. Mortification, however, is proactive. It is weakening the attitude of the heart that create a soil for your besetting sins to grow. If you have the Spirit, you will be mortifying sin by the Spirit.” John Owen put it this way, “When it comes to following Christ, you either are killing sin or sin will be killing you.” He that is appointed to kill an enemy, if he stops striking before the other ceases living, he does but half his work and the enemy will return with a greater vengeance. You’re either killing sin by the Spirit or it will be killing you. First evidence – you’re mortifying sin by the Spirit.

 

Led by the Spirit

Second evidence, verse 14 – you’re being led by the Spirit. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” This is the New Testament expression of what the writer of Proverbs said in Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Conversely, if you’re living life by what seems to make sense to you, you’ve got to ask the question, “Am I really a child of God?” Because one of the evidences of being a practicing Trinitarian, a child of God, a son of God, is that you’re led by the Spirit. That really runs contrary to what comes naturally to us.

 

We’ve had a group of people going through a Bible study called “Life Explored.” And one of the sessions in that “Life Explored” series looks at the idolatry within us and it talks about power, approval, comfort, and control. These are the driver idols within every one of us. We desperately want the first and the last, power and control, and yet being led by the Spirit calls us to put to death what normally is offered to us in the appeal for power and control.

 

Love of Holy Spirit

But this is what puts it into context. I rather stumbled onto an article by Horatius Bonar, a 19th-century preacher, who wrote an article called, "The Gospel of the Holy Spirit's Love." And when I saw I thought, "What is he asking? What is he addressing?" His first question in the article was this – “Does the Holy Spirit love you?” Of course we know the Father loves us, we know Jesus loves us, but what about the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit just an impersonal force who works and carries out the will of the Father without any real emotion or does He love us as much as the Father loves us, as much as the Son loves us?

 

Listen to one quote from this article. You can find it online. It’s about twenty-two pages. “Perhaps much of our slow progress in the walk of faith is to be traced to our overlooking the love of the Holy Spirit. We do not deal with Him for strength and advancement as one who really loves us and longs to bless us and delights to help us in our infirmities. We regard Him as cold or distant or austere. We do not trust Him for His grace, nor realize how much He is in earnest in His dealings with us. More childlike confidence in Him and in His love for us would help us on mightily.” And then he unpacks the problems that we wrestle with. He says, “Where is the peace in your life? Where is the growing faith that ought to be in your life? Where is the joy in your life? And he answers each one of his questions with this – “There’s a good chance you don’t know how much the Holy Spirit, who indwells you, actually loves you.” It’s not just the Father who loves you, it’s not just the Son who loves you, but the Holy Spirit loves you intensely and He’s the one who leads you.

 

Evidences by the Spirit you’re mortifying sin, by the Spirit you are led, third, by the Spirit you are pleading, you are crying out for what God alone can do. Verse 15, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Notice it doesn’t say “by whom we speak; by whom we whisper; by whom we sing, ‘Abba! Father!’” It says, “by whom we cry.” Interesting, the Greek word that we translate “cry” is “krazo,” which the scholars tell us is an onomatopoeia. You know what that is, right? It’s a word that sounds like what it’s expressing, like “buzz” or “whisper” or “sizzle” or “coocoo.” “Krazo” is the sound of a raven crying out, pleading; it’s hungry, it’s needing something. And that’s the specific word Paul uses to say, as children of God, this is what is an evidence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We’re crying out to God.

 

Geoff Thomas, who was one of the speakers at Twin Lakes Fellowship this past April, wrote a book on the Holy Spirit. And on page 66 of his book, he says, “The essence of walking in the Spirit is this – ask God for God.” Ask God to send God to you. Ask the Father, ask Jesus to send the Spirit to you, to make you new by the Spirit. Ask God for God. He’s quoting from Luke 11:13, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give His Spirit to those who ask?” You want to be a practicing Trinitarian? Ask God for God. Ask God to send God to you.

 

Learn to Listen

One of the most practical things I can say to you in this regard is turn off the radio, turn off the podcast, turn off the Netflix. There’s so much noise coming at us. I have been so helped by just shutting off my radio as I’m driving from one place to another. And in the silence of a cab with no one else there, say, “Holy Spirit, I’m listening. Holy Spirit, You’re within me. What is it You’ve been wanting to say to me? What part of Your Word do You want to press more deeply into my heart? I’m listening.” But you can’t listen if you’re going to the next podcast or the next radio station or the next XM station. There’s so much noise. To be a practicing Trinitarian, you and I are going to have to learn to listen.

 

Why Asking?

Why do we have to ask? If God has already promised the Spirit, why do we have to ask? It’s a great question with a simple answer. If we didn’t have to ask it, we’d think it was all us. We’d think it’s us doing the work. We’d say, “Hey, look how patient I’m becoming! Hey, look at the fruit that I’m producing! Hey, look how wise I’m being in this tough decision!” Jeff Thomas says you and I need, before we pick up the phone to call our daughter in college, we need to say, “Holy Spirit, I need you.” Before we go home at the end of the day, realizing you’re flustered and you’re tired and you know your wife has issues or your husband has concerns, “Holy Spirit, I want my marriage to reflect Your presence. I need You. God, send God to me in this.” You’ve got a decision to make; you’re going grocery shopping – “Holy Spirit, I need You for this.” You’re going into a social setting – “Holy Spirit, come. I want to be a practicing Trinitarian. I don’t want to live with my understanding driving me toward what I think is best.”

 

And so the question stands, “Do you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, shaping you, convicting you, renewing you, encouraging you, driving you forward? Has He taken up residence and is the renovation making progress? Are you mortifying sin by the Spirit, who truly loves you? Are you being led by the Spirit, who truly loves you? Are you, by the Spirit, crying out, pleading, for the Spirit, the Spirit who truly loves you?”

 

One last story and we’re done. Donald Carson tells this story in his book, A Call for Spiritual Reformation. He tells it as a true story; I'm going to adapt it slightly for our context, but he said that a friend of his was driving a truck. This friend had a lawn care business with lawnmowers and weed-eaters and blowers and gas cans in the back of his truck. And as he was driving down the road, he saw a man standing next to his Lexus with the hood up; brand new car but the hood was up. And he wasn't in a hurry so he stopped and asked the man if he needed help. The man in the Lexus said, "I was late for a meeting. I left my house. I knew that I was low on gas but I figured I maybe had just enough to make it to this meeting. It's really an important meeting. I have to get there. I’m late!” And the man with the pickup says, “Well I’ve got some gas. I’ll give you a gallon of gas; that’s all I can spare. But there’s a gas station two miles up the road. It’s exit 19. Just pull off, get some gas, you’ll be good to go.” The man in the Lexus thanked him profusely, got back in the car, took off, sped away from the pickup truck.

 

The man put his gas tank back in the truck and strapped it down and fired up his truck and started going down the road. Fifteen miles down the road – you know where this story’s going? There’s the same Lexus. His hood’s up again. The pickup truck driver stopped and said, “What have you done? Didn’t you stop for gas?” He said, “I was in too much of a hurry! I couldn’t! I wanted to get to this meeting…do you have any more gas?”

 

I listened to Tim Keller make a presentation of four questions that we ought to be asking. One of the questions includes this paragraph. I’m adapting it slightly:

 

“It’s become so common for us to live and minister without praying, without seeking the Spirit. It happens like this. You get up in the morning and there’s stuff to do and you’re not prepared and you’re behind. And you really don’t want to look stupid, so you don’t pray, you hustle, you get ready, and you hit the door. That goes on and goes on and you keep living and you keep ministering and you see people’s lives change and you see things happening and you get the thrill of that and it’s happening, all happening without prayer. Your gifts are operating even though your spiritual grace isn’t growing. It works and so you keep on doing it until one day, one day everything blows up and falls apart and you wonder what happened.”

 

What he’s saying is, you haven’t been living as a practicing Trinitarian. You’ve not been asking God for God. You’ve not been crying out, “Krazo! God, I need Your Spirit. There's a lot that I think I can do, but if you leave me to myself I'm going to bring it all to ruin. I want to live, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, shaping, controlling, influencing everything that I think, everything that I do, every conversation that I have, every place that I go. Father, I want, I need to be a practicing Trinitarian. Would You please, please make it so?"

 

That’s the challenge to you this evening. And instead of praying, I’m going to ask you to stand. I’m going to pronounce the benediction, a Trinitarian benediction. Would you stand?

 

Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, who loves you, and the love of God the Father, who loves you, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, who loves you, be yours now and forevermore. Amen.

© 2024 First Presbyterian Church.

This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Web site. No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template.

Should there be questions regarding grammar or theological content, the reader should presume any website error to be with the webmaster/transcriber/editor rather than with the original speaker. For full copyright, reproduction and permission information, please visit the First Presbyterian Church Copyright, Reproduction & Permission statement.

To view recordings of our entire services, visit our Facebook page.

caret-downclosedown-arrowenvelopefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepausephoneplayprocesssearchtwitter-squarevimeo-square