Romans 8: 9-14 & 18 “But you [dear believer] are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you . . . And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. 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. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God . . . For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Paul gives us here in the center of Romans 8 the heart, the central part of the gospel so that we can understand this process of our salvation, this being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, being made just like Him, this in between place where we find ourselves, conceived of God on the one side, but not yet born of God into the full light of day on the other side. We understand that we are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, because the Spirit of God is in us. But we still find, that because there are tentacles of sin still residing in our bodies, even though the Holy Spirit lives in our bodies – they are the temple of God. And that Holy Spirit is working in our bodies to transform them. Nevertheless, the tentacles of sin are still there in our bodies, and therefore our bodies die.

We should not be astonished that our physical body ought not to die. What should astonish us is that our physical body is still subject to death. The fact that a Christian dies physically and his body goes into the grave is an extraordinary and astonishing thing, because it is so clearly not the intent of the gospel. It is not the pattern, the expectation of the gospel. The expectation of the gospel is that because we are born again, we are separated from the law of sin and death, we are separated from the curse of God, Christ was made a curse for us and we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. We are born again, we are conceived of God. We stand in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. But we are in this in-between place. And the New Testament and this passage teaches us that we are in a fight.

Although we are conceived of God, we have not yet come forth into the full light of day, and God has given us this awesome privilege, this awesome privilege, that we get to share with Jesus in His victory. Can we understand this? Having a body that still has sin in it, that leads still to death is an awesome privilege. Because how can we share in His glory if we do not share in His victory? And how can we share in His victory if we do not share in His fight?

For God to allow us to lift our sword, that is faith in His word, and do battle against the law of sin and death, to do battle against the accuser of the brethren who desires to keep us nailed to that which is dead, in our minds, to have this privilege of fighting with Jesus in us, bringing down the enemy, bringing captive into obedience every thought to the life of Jesus inside of us, suffering with Him, in a body that is still subject to sin and death. Suffering with Him in refusing that which is contrary to God in this mighty battle, because there is no possible way we could share in His glory unless we can share in His victory and there is no possible way that we could share in His victory unless we ourselves do battle with the very thing that He Himself defeated.

God has given us the continued presence of sin, not that He might be displeased with us. That is a completely Satanic understanding of where we stand. God has given us the presence of sin in our bodies that we might have the awesome privilege of fighting it with Jesus, of defeating it with Jesus. So we might share in the battle He fought, so we can share in His victory, so we can share in His glory.

You cannot know glory unless you know victory and you cannot know victory unless you know the fight. You can be handed something on a silver platter; you can be handed all the wonders of heaven, but none of it is glory unless you share in His fight. That is where we stand.

In verse 12, Paul says, “Listen, brethren, the privilege, the awesome privilege. 'We are debtors.'” To have this treasure of Christ in earthen vessels! To have a human body, a human frame. Oh, this privilege, this privilege, that God has so honored us, giving us, not just doing it instantly the moment we were born again, but giving us the privilege and the honor of defeating sin with Jesus in us, of defeating death with Jesus in us, of casting down the accuser with Jesus in us. We are debtors, what a privilege God has given us.

We are debtors, not to the flesh, if you live according to the flesh you will die. If you live in a carnal mind thinking you are still subject to the law of sin and death, you will die. If you live in this deluded belief, the imagination of your mind that you are some self separate from Christ, and that the cross of Jesus is something you are always escaping from and you have to drag yourself back to it. That is living in the flesh – we don't live there. We live in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

Now, we could continue to imagine that the pursuit of some life for ourselves in this world has some value or meaning. Someone who has gone through the motions of asking Jesus into his heart and yet is still convinced that there is value in this world and in their lives in this world separate from Jesus. If they want to pursue the lust of their body and build a life for themselves with their own strength and their own smarts in this world. Yes, they will die. Their bodies will die and go into the grave. They will be separate from their bodies. We don't know how long they will wait until they are ready to value this privilege instead of the emptiness of life in this world.

Yes, I suppose, that having seen the glory of standing with Jesus, someone could say to themselves, “Well, I'd rather go a different way.” But you see, Paul isn't writing to those, because those will die. God knows who belongs to Him. Paul here is speaking to those who yearn for Jesus, to those who want to be with Him in His glory. Those who in their weakness and in their inability, in the night watches upon their bed, cry, “Oh Father, if you are doing anything in the earth, don't pass me by, don't leave me out. I've been wrong so many times, but Jesus, I want to be with you. I don't want to be anywhere else.

My God, in that day, in that day, in that day, when He stands in His glory, to be anywhere else but by His side, with Him, standing in Him in His glory is inconceivable. It is a horror that cannot even be looked at. Oh Father! To be with Him in His glory is everything. It is everything. The mud puddles, the cesspools of this world, vanish into nothingness as if they never were, and all those who tried to find some satisfaction in them, will look in that moment and know that they were inconceivably mistaken.

To be with Jesus in His glory – there is nothing else, nothing else to look at, nothing else to consider.

Whatever we go through in the present time, the sufferings of this present time, they are not anything, they are not worthy of being set against the glory that will be revealed inside of us. Because you see, when Jesus stands in His glory, it will be inside the victory He wins in us.

Romans 8:13b-14 “. . . but if, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

We must understand this – putting to death the deeds of the body.

Now, we know that this is not literal, because we do not do anything except in the body. If we took this literally, we would have to lie in our beds and not get up. And yet, lying in bed is a deed of the body, getting up is a deed of the body, going to work, coming home again, these are all deeds we do in the body. And we understand without any confusion that Paul is not talking about that.

Colossians 3:1-4 “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

Therefore, because of that hope, that certainty, because we see that that is who we are, that our old life that was an abomination to God is dead, and that who we are and what we are is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is our life, we recognize no other life. We recognize no other life.

Therefore, because Christ is our life, we turn and we put to death, we fight against, our members which are on the earth. Now here Paul tells us what He is talking about, when he says, deeds of the body, verse 5 & 8 “. . . fornication, uncleanness, passsion, evil desire, and coventousness, which is idolatry. . . anger wrath, amilece, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Verses 9-11 “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds [We are to put off these workings of the flesh nature because we have already put off the old man of sin who does these things], and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him [as we know Jesus, as we know Him in us, as the knowledge of His love inside of us increases, increases, we are renewed, we are transformed], where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all."

Verses 12-14 “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another and forgiving one another . . . But above all these things put on the love, which is the bond of perfection.”

God has given us this awesome privilege, of bringing our bodies into the sphere of salvation, of seeing His nature triumph through our bodies. We stand firmly in Him. We are not going in and out. We are not in trouble with God. We stand firmly in Him and through the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, that is the foundation on which we stand. Through the Spirit of life that lives in us, in our spirits, in our minds, and in our bodies. Flowing out of our spirit, transforming our minds so that we believe God, moving through our mouth as we confess the Lord Jesus and speak that which is truth. That same spirit is working in our bodies.

Here is how He leads us: He leads us in triumph. He leads in triumph! This is our mindset.

Your see, if we are putting to death these things - you know, we struggle with anger, putting on tender mercies, kindness, humility and weakness, versus anger. We get angry. It is so easy to get into the fleshy thinking that that anger is me, and so unless I get that anger under control, God is displeased with me. That is a fleshy mindset, and if we live in that way of thinking, we will always live under the weight of not pleasing God, the weight of living under a God who is far separate from us, who is trying us, who is seeing whether we really love Him or not. And probably we don't, but we hope that we do and maybe, maybe, someday. And we fight with this anger and it just gets the better of us and we see ourselves in the flesh.

The triumph of God, the working of God in our lives, is from an entirely different viewpoint. And what I am trying to do is to get us out of that mindset and into the mindset of one who is filled with the life of the Spirit of Christ, who knows His Father. Jesus is our life, He is in us, we recognize no other life, and we have this privilege of working with Him to bring that anger to nothing. To bring out through our bodies His tender mercies, His kindness, His love for other people, the river of life that flows out of our bellies, our of our hearts, moving through us, that God in us might bless and touch and bring life and healing to others.

This is our glory, to triumph over that tentacle of sin that still remains in our bodies.

Do you see how God has positioned us. We cannot even condemn the body. The tentacle of sin is in the body, the body is dead because of sin. The body dies because it sins. But Paul makes it very clear, that I myself am with Christ. That is not me, that is sin. If you think it's you, you will never win. When you understand that it is not you, it is sin in the body, and you cannot even condemn the body because the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that Holy Spirit is right now working, working, working, in our bodies to transform them with the power of the resurrection life of Jesus.

We must understand that we have been given this privilege, because if we did not have sin remaining in our bodies, we would not be able to share in the fight of Jesus, and if we did not share in the fight of Jesus, we would not share in His victory, and if we do not share in His victory, we cannot know His glory.

You want His glory? Then embrace with all of your heart, this wonderful privilege of living and walking in a body of weakness, that you might see the victory of Jesus in your body. This is what its all about.

We must have the perspective of God.

2 Corinthians 2:14 “Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”

This is how God leads us, this is how He moves in us, this is our reality. This is not something we are hoping for, maybe some day.

Believe what God speaks, believe what He is saying.

He always leads us in triumph.

Now, some pastors have changed this to read, “He always causes us to triumph,” and many teachers of the word who are trying to bring a godly way of thinking into the minds of believers, say, He causes us to to triumph, because they really are not saying, 'triumph,' they are saying 'win.' God causes us to win. And this is true.

But, you see, triumph and winning are two different things!

When you are in a battle, and you are fighting with everything that is inside of you, in all of the strength and the power of the life of the One who is in you, and you are fighting to win, at the very moment when your enemy is totally defeated, and you have won life for yourself, life for your physical body, at that moment you win. And God causes us to win.

But triumph is not winning, triumph is what comes right after the win.

Think of it this way. Here is the Superbowl, the end game of the season. Whichever team wins this game is the greatest team in America for a year, and all the glory and honor that comes with that. You have a player who has trained for years, he has prepared himself, he has worked hard, everything his coach has taught him he has incorporated. He has disciplined his body, he has placed his whole focus on the knowledge of the game.

It is just a few seconds before the final bell, and the score is even – tied. His side has the ball and he runs and evades his opponent, and the quarterback sees him and throws the ball to him. With all of his skill and training, in that moment, he leaps high into the air, and he catches that ball and comes down on the other side of the finish line. The bell rings, and his team has won. In that moment, he won the victory. That is winning, and yes, God does cause us to win. God causes us to win.

But that is not triumph. The triumph comes moments later as he finds himself suddenly grabbed by many hands. He is pushed up into the air, finding himself on his back on the upraised hands of his team mates. He sees the night sky, he sees the lights of the stadium all around. He sees the crowds around the periphery of his vision, and he sees them all on their feet, shouting in unison his name. He knows he won, he knows he brought victory. All of his training and practice have come through at that one moment and he lies there in triumph on the arms of his team mates while he hears the crowds shout his name.

That moment is triumph.

The word 'triumph' is a Roman word that talks about the return of a victorious general who comes through the crowds of the city who are celebrating a victory already won.

So, you can cause to win, but you lead in triumph. Triumph is the celebration of glory after the victory has been won.

And Paul, here, makes this claim, that right now, on this side of the sea, before the waters open, on this side of the victory, before it is completed, God leads us in the procession of triumph. We have this expectation of hope, we consider that we are led in that very triumph of having won.

We do not doubt, “Shall I win? Maybe I'll make it, maybe I won't.”

No, God always leads us in triumph.

Let me read you the definition of the English word triumph adapted from the Websters 1926 dictionary. (From my book, The Jesus Secret)

“God always leads me in the imposing ceremony of honor given to a victorious general who has overcome every obstacle, defeated every foe. God always leads me into His city crowned with life, bearing His scepter in my hand. God leads me in the procession of the fruit I have produced, the great work I have done for His name. I offer all I am, all I have done, and all I have produced from His investment of power in me as an offering of praise to the glory of Jesus. God always leads me to receive the honor of triumph. God always leads me to celebrate full and total victory and success with exultation. God always leads me to exult boastfully in the victory of Christ in me.”

God always leads me to exult boastfully in the victory of Christ in me!

You hear the voice of someone coming along and saying, “Well brother, you really don't know if your are going to make it or not.” That voice is coming straight from the pit. Don't consider it.

God always leads me in triumph. God always leads me to exult boastfully in the victory of Christ in me. Anytime you want to know whether something is God's leading or not? If it is God's leading, in the center of it will be a mighty boast in the victory of Christ already won inside of you. If not? Well – my God always leads in triumph.

We dance on this side of the sea, before the waters part. We are confident, our salvation, our being partakers of Jesus is based on the maintaining of our confidence with rejoicing firm all the way through.

So what if I struggle with anger. I am absolutely convinced that God is leading me right now in the triumph celebrating the victory that I will win over all that is not of Jesus. The victory that He will work in me where His kindness wins over the anger that is in my body, He is leading me in the celebration of that triumph even before it happens.

So, I just blew it. My son argues with me, and I see red and get angry, and I express that anger. That is the tentacle of sin still working in my body. But I tell you where my faith is. Though I ask for forgiveness, I do not ask forgiveness because I am bad and I did something bad, I ask forgiveness because there is a river of life inside of me and that love flows out and covers that hurt that I may have caused. I love and I am confident, I am fully confident, in the victory of Christ, and I boast in His triumph.

Though I might not see it with my natural eyes right now, I have the full expectation of it in this life, in this age, in my flesh, in my dying body. I see Him in His glory in me by faith. And that expecting of faith, that rejoices in triumph before the victory, is the faith that we have. We read in 1 John that this is the victory that we presently have over this world and everything that is in it – even our faith.

God always leads us in triumph.

And so in this view, the Apostle Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12, establishes this conclusion.

2 Corinthians 12: 7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me [depart from me so I don't have to fight it, depart from me so that I don't have to bring it into the obedience of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit]. And He said to me, 'My grace [My enablement] is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

“My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Consider those words. Jesus says, “My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” You want perfection, you want His life in you? Then you must have a weak body.

We must have weakness before we can know His strength because His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

We carry this human body with all of its weakness, all of its infirmities, its distresses, its needs. It is our glory.

The power of Christ is made perfect in our weak bodies.

His life is revealed in our mortal flesh.

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