Paul answers that in Romans 8:9. “You (Christians), however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” The difference between Christians and non-Christians is who’s in control of their lives. What a person does, therefore, isn’t as important as who’s doing it.

So, who is doing it? Is it one’s sinful nature or the Spirit, because it can only be one or the other. All people on Earth fall into two categories: those who are controlled by the sinful nature (the law of sin and death), and those who are controlled by the Spirit (the law of the Spirit of life). And it makes a huge difference as to which of those two is in control, because “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires,” verse 5.

On that basis, then, what does “the sinful nature” desire? Well, it definitely isn’t anything to do with God, “because the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God,” verses 7-8. That’s certainly stating it bluntly: the sinful nature has no interest in God.

In contrast to that, what does “the Spirit” desire instead? Well, it certainly isn’t hostile to God, for “you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry ‘Abba, Father,’” verse 15. The Spirit also desires that “the righteous requirements of the law be fully met in us,” verse 4, so that we can submit to God’s law. And as far as pleasing God, the Spirit “puts to death the misdeeds of the body,” verse 13, which pleases God immensely because it frees us “from the law of sin and death,” verse 2. In three clear ways, then, the Spirit’s desires are the absolute opposite to the desires of the sinful nature.   

It’s clear, therefore, what Christians have that non-Christians don’t have. It’s in whose desires are being fulfilled and what those desires are.

Fortunately, Paul makes it clear what we totally depend on the Spirit for, it’s where we cannot help ourselves. It is only “by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body,” for instance, Romans 8:13. The Spirit is the only cure for our sinful nature, and the only means by which we can fully meet the righteous requirements of God’s law (verse 4) and want to please God rather than consider him our enemy (verses 7-8). It is also the only means by which we understand the relationship we have with God, that we are his children (verses 15-17), we belong to him (verse 9) and that he lives his life in us (verses 9 and 11) so that even now we can begin to experience “the glorious freedom of the children of God,” verse 21. It’s the Spirit who gives us hope in a frustrating, decaying world (verses 23-24), and the Spirit that testifies with our spirit that glory awaits us (verses 16-17). And if we are weak in any of these things, ”the Spirit helps us in our weakness,” verse 26, and “intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will,” verse 27.

“What, then, shall we say in response to this?” Paul asks in verse 31. His answer? “If God be for us, who can be against us?” To Paul, that’s the starting point for a Christian. It is not what we can do to help ourselves, it is what God has done, is doing and will always do for us as his adopted children and heirs. We also have Jesus Christ “at the right hand of God interceding for us,” verse 34, so that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us,” verse 37.

On the other hand, Paul does accept that even when we know we’ve got all this going for us, we still “groan inwardly,” verse 23. It is quite normal for us to get depressed and frustrated. Who wouldn’t be in this world? But rather than place our dependence on human resources, Paul emphasizes dependence on the Spirit because it’s the Spirit who keeps our spirits up and gives us the hope that saves us (verse 24). And it’s a mind “controlled by the Spirit” that has “life and peace,” verse 6.

When she came to stay, therefore, I wondered what on earth we could do together to keep her occupied. She had the energy of three nuclear power stations, while I tottered in her wake on worn out batteries. Would she be so bored by Day 2 that she’d be crying for home?

By Day 6, however, she was still happy. She scampered down the front path each morning as happily as she did on Day 1. To her, it didn’t matter where we were going either, because wherever Granpy was going was just fine with her. And if all Granpy could manage was a trip to the Library where he collapsed with exhaustion with a newspaper, it was still fine, because for her being together was enough.

Her trust and contentment in whatever we did together was a joy – and a revelation, too, because this was John 3. In that chapter, Jesus is telling Nicodemus what being born again is like, and comes up with this remarkable explanation in verse 8: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

When I’m born of the Spirit I have no idea where the Spirit’s taking me, just like my granddaughter had no idea where I was taking her each day. It was no problem for her, though. Granpy knew where he was going, and that’s all that mattered. She could scamper into each day in total trust and contentment. And that’s what it’s like being born of the Spirit. The Spirit knows where he’s going, so what else matters? And every morning it’s the same. Out we go together, the Spirit and I, just like I did with my granddaughter.

And Jesus said it would be like this in John 14:16-18, too. The Spirit would live with us and be with us forever. Every moment of every day, then, we’d have a Spirit guide. Where he’s going, we do not know. But he knows – and for my granddaughter with me as her guide – that was all that mattered.

And that’s exactly what Jesus’ death accomplished for us. It closed the door. Whatever happened in our lives before that moment was sealed behind that door of his death, never to be seen again. So when Paul said that Jesus “set me free from the law of sin and death,” Romans 8:2, he meant completely free. The door had closed on sin and death. Sin and death were on the other side of the door, left inside the room, and Paul could walk away from them never to see them again. Sin would still be a powerful influence in his life, yes, but never again could it kill him because Jesus had taken the death penalty of sin on himself.

That wasn’t all Jesus’ death closed the door on, either. Up to the time of closing the door, Paul “lived according to the sinful nature,” verse 5, meaning his mind was completely controlled by it. He had no choice in what he did, he simply did whatever his sinful mind wanted to do, the result being, he was “hostile to God,” verse 7, he didn’t want to obey God’s law, and he couldn’t please God, verse 8. But he could close the door on that too, because Jesus “condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit,” verses 3-4.

So that’s two things – the power of sin to kill him and the power of sin to control him – that Paul could close the door on. They could throw themselves at the door like rabid monsters in a horror movie, but the door would stay firm in its frame. From now on, verse 9, Paul would be under the complete and wonderful control of the Spirit, full of “life and peace,” verse 6, and never again would he be controlled by his sinful nature. Because once that door closed, that was it, Jesus’ death was an impenetrable barrier to the past.

I imagine Jesus saying to Paul, then, “You just leave those two monsters with me. Now go, and please close the door behind you.”

Trying to be good hasn’t exactly had stellar results in my own experience, either. It became horribly disheartening actually, because I’ve donated to all kinds of charities and disaster relief funds, given myself in service to the needy, listened for hours to people who want to talk, and generally tried to be an all round good person. And what did it get me? A deep fatigue brought on by trying to meet people’s needs and expectations, mixed with guilt and frustration if I fell short, leading to emotional burnout and cynicism. I reached the point I couldn’t find it in me anymore to donate or listen to other people’s problems, because for all my goodness and all the world’s goodness, the horrible reality was – nothing really changes. The futility of it all really got to me.

But that’s what life is in this world. It IS utterly futile, Romans 8:20, ”For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it.” God meant this world to be frustrating. He intended the futility of it all to get to us, to the point that “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time,” verse 22. Why? Because the only solution to our problems is the “redemption of our bodies,” verse 23. And until our bodies are redeemed we’re stuck “in the bondage of decay,” verse 21.

So what is a body redeemed? One that is “led by the Spirit,” verse 14. And what a powerful force for good that is, because “a mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace,” verse 6. There’s hope, then. There is a solution to this futility, that one day we’ll all be led by the Spirit into “the glorious freedom of the children of God,” verse 21. But it’s by the Spirit, take note, not by our goodness, and that’s the lesson that obviously needs deeply imprinting in our heads as we try to be good on our own strength and it’s getting us nowhere.

So, is it true that we can be good without God? It wasn’t in Paul’s experience. “I find this law at work,” he wrote, “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me (Romans 7:21),” and the more he tried to do good, the worse it got, too. He eventually concluded that “nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do do what is good, but I cannot carry it out (verse 18).”

So, what was his problem? It was what he called his “sinful nature.” It was so powerful it wouldn’t let him do the good he so desperately wanted to do, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work…waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin (verse 23).” Even when he wanted to do something as good as keeping God’s law, he still couldn’t do it.

And what is our experience as humanity in general? Well, for those who want to be good people and want this Earth to be a happy, peaceful place, it must be terribly disappointing, because for all our desire and efforts to do good, multiple millions of people are still suffering from acute poverty, endless wars and terrible diseases. The facts speak for themselves, that our experience today is exactly the same as Paul’s. In our inner beings we’d love to make this world a better place for everyone, but we still can’t do it. If it was true, then, that we’re quite capable of doing good and creating peace and happiness for all people on Earth, it would’ve happened already, right? But it hasn’t.

And the reason it doesn’t happen is that all our desire to do good is “weakened by the sinful nature (Romans 8:3).” And there’s only one way, according to Paul, for dealing with that, and that’s having the Spirit of God living in us (verse 9). That, and that alone, is the source of “life and peace (verse 6).” Would an atheist accept that? Likely not. Why not? Because his sinful nature won’t let him, proving the point that there’s only way we can be good and that’s with God, not without him.

Can we know the Spirit is guiding us? Yes, Galatians 3:2. Paul’s asking a group of Christians when they received the Spirit. But why would he ask such a question if they had no clue what he was talking about? Well, of course they knew. As soon as they’d believed the message about Jesus Christ, they’d experienced the Spirit kick in, and from that moment on they’d trusted the Spirit to guide them, verse 3. And not surprisingly either, because obvious miracles had begun to happen to them, verse 5. Oh, they knew when the Spirit was guiding them. There was clear evidence they could point to, and Paul knew it. That’s why he could ask them when they received the Spirit. He asked because he knew they knew.

The writer of Hebrews is just as blunt. Why on earth, he’s wondering, would Christians revert back to their old selves when they’ve “tasted the heavenly gift” and “shared in the Holy Spirit,” Hebrews 6:4? They knew what it was like to be guided by the Spirit. They’d tasted it, shared it, and personally experienced “the powers of the coming age,” verse 5. They had all kinds of evidence of the Spirit at work in their lives. So they knew, too.

When the Spirit guides it’s obvious. Once we’ve “been enlightened” and “tasted the goodness of the Word of God,” Hebrews 6:4-5, and we’re hanging on to the message of Jesus Christ for dear life, Galatians 3:1-2, 5, then, guaranteed, we have the Spirit’s guidance, with obvious miracles as proof of it. What obvious miracles? All those listed in Galatians 5:16-26, for a start. The Spirit will happily deal with all the junk in our lives that wrecked our relationship with God and ruined our relationships with people. He’ll happily replace it with lovely qualities instead, the obvious fruits of which will be great relationships with God and people. And we won’t need the law to keep us in line anymore (verse 23) because the Spirit is “crucifying our sinful nature,” verse 24.

So let the Spirit guide, because what we need and long for is what the Spirit does for us. Ever so gradually and ever so gently the Spirit “transforms us into the likeness of Christ with ever-increasing glory,” 2 Corinthians 3:18. So gently, though, we may think the Spirit isn’t guiding us, but if we’re hanging onto the message about Jesus Christ, the Spirit is at work, guaranteed, Galatians 3:1-5.

What she meant by that was relaxing in her partner’s arms and letting him take her wherever he wished. She didn’t have to anticipate where he was going or what steps he was about to take, nor did she need to worry if she was making a mess of it. All she had to do was live in the present moment, on that “knife edge” (as she called it) between past and future, aware only that she was in her partner’s arms. And once she grasped that, she said, it made dancing a joy.

I thought about that in my dance with Jesus. He made me his disciple and partner, and to all his disciples he said, “If any of you want to serve me, follow me,” John 12:26. Exactly what a good dancing partner does. She’s a great follower. So’s a great disciple.

So what makes a good follower? Jesus drops a vital clue in John 10:4 - ”they follow because they are familiar with his voice.” That’s another lovely dancing term – being “familiar.” Dancing partners become very familiar. Dance together long enough and they dance in sync without thinking. The slightest pressure of the man’s hip, of his fingertips or turn of head, and it’s all so familiar to his partner. She simply responds, automatically. She’s able to follow because she knows him so well.

Familiarity takes time, of course, which the lady on the radio admitted to. Things didn’t click for some time for her. She tried very hard to relax and let her partner lead. And then one marvellous day it happened: she moved in sync with him without thinking. Something in her brain had suddenly locked in, and it was all so easy after that.

And that’s exactly what the Spirit does for us. The Spirit gradually makes Jesus plain to us, or familiar, John 14:26. He makes sense of all Jesus said and did, John 16:13-5, to the point we know Jesus so well we glide in sync with him automatically. Suddenly, it all comes easily, just as it does in dancing, and then it’s a joy.

But that’s what Jesus sent the Spirit for. The Spirit enters our lives to transform us into Jesus’ likeness, so we move in perfect sync with him, 2 Corinthians 3:18. The secret is being “available,” relaxing in the Spirit’s arms and letting him take us wherever he wishes, Galatians 5:25.

(See May 2/10 for “How do we know it’s the Spirit?”)

     1) The Spirit sets us free from sin and death (verse 2)

     2) “Live according to the Spirit” and we can fully meet the righteous requirements of God’s law (verse 4), “put to death the misdeeds of the body (verse 13),” and we desire what the Spirit desires, not what our sinful nature desires (verse 5).

     3) A mind “controlled by the Spirit” is life and peace, meaning it’s no longer hostile to God, it has no trouble submitting to God’s law and it’s able to please God (verses 6-8).

     4) If the Spirit of God (or Christ) “lives” in us, we are not controlled by our sinful nature anymore (verse 9), we “belong to Christ (verse 9),” God gives life to our mortal bodies (verse 11) and our “spirit is alive (verse 10).”

     5) If we’re “led by the Spirit” we are “sons of God (verse 14),” we’ve received the “Spirit of sonship (verse 15),” and “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (and therefore) heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (verses 16-17).”

     6) We’ll never be slaves to a spirit of fear again (verse 15). 

     7) The Spirit “helps us in our weakness,” “intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express,” and “intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will (verses 26-27).”

     What more could we ask for? The Spirit frees us from what’s killing us, puts new desires in our heads that are good for us, creates a new and wonderful relationship with God for us, gives us life and peace, removes our fears, helps us when we’re weak, enables us to obey God’s will for our eternal benefit, and helps us realize we’re God’s children and we belong to him. There’s no reason, therefore, to go back to a life of worrying what’s going to happen to us. The Spirit takes care of our every need, past, present and future.  

     The wonderful result of having such a Spirit (as well as personal proof we’ve got the Spirit, too), is a confidence in God and our relationship with him. “We know,” as Paul writes in verse 28, “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” We just know God is always working everything out exactly according to his purpose for us. And how do we know? Because we have “the mind of the Spirit (verse 27)” that not only helps us helpless humans obey God, but also totally trust him, too.

     We see it in our huge drive of late to “go green.” We’d love to band together to save the planet, reduce pollution, end our dependence on fossil fuels, keep the Earth beautiful, livable and able to renew itself – but – our efforts are constantly being hampered by the self-interests of individuals, governments and large corporations. It’s so frustrating. We want to end poverty and disease, make cities safe, see girls get the same opportunity as boys in Afghanistan, but there’s always something holding us back, be it weird religion, stifling tradition, power-hungry maniacs who care for no one but themselves – and our own personal excuses, too.  

     Our experience as humans tells us so clearly we have a problem: We want to do good but we just can’t do it. Paul discovered the same thing happening in himself, too – “in my mind I’m a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin,” Romans 7:25. In his mind he desperately wanted to do good, but there was this other power inside him constantly working against him making the good he wanted to do so difficult. It was always an uphill battle, just as it is today trying to get anything going that would improve life on this planet.

     If only the entire world realized, then, that “Yes, we can” do the good we so desperately want to do because God sent Jesus to make it possible. How? By dying for us, first of all, because his death “condemned sin in sinful man (Romans 8:3).” It literally knocked the legs out from under our sinful nature, releasing us from its grip. He also gave us his Spirit – and it’s this marvellous “Spirit of Christ (verse 9)” that “gives life to your mortal bodies (verse 11).” What gives life to our desire to do good and make it possible is Christ’s Spirit living in us, because “by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body (verse 13).” It’s the Spirit in us that keeps the legs of our sinful nature knocked out, so that finally, at last, “Yes, we can” do the good we so desperately want to do.