Sunday, August 13th

Control

Gone Fishing Series

Romans 8:1-17

Humankind has an innate desire to be in control. As children become adolescents, they long to be free of their parent's control. Students can't wait to graduate from school to be free of their teacher's control. Many employees would much rather work independently so they are not under their bosses' control. We see this longing in Janet Jackson's song "Control:"

"When I was seventeen, I did what people told me

Did what my father said

And let my mother mold me

But that was a long ago

I'm in control, never gonna stop

Control, to get what I want

Control, I like to have a lot

Control, now I'm all grown up"

Maybe we think we will be in control with enough money and power, but really, are we? All this fight for control is vanity, as we learn in Ecclesiastes. The problem with control is we cannot control sin. Romans 8 breaks down the problem with our sinful nature and leads us to the only way to experience freedom from it.

Romans 8:1-2 says because we "belong to Christ Jesus, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed us from the power of sin that leads to death." I cannot control my sinful nature without Holy Spirit. I have to let the Spirit control me and restrain sin. I must come to a place of surrendering my will, my control, to the Lord.

No matter how much I know right from wrong, I cannot do right within my power. The law cannot help me; it can only lead me to the One who can.

Just because I have the Holy Spirit doesn't mean I am instantly changed. I must choose daily in each circumstance to be led by Holy Spirit. To be led by the Spirit, I must think about things that please God. If I focus on sinful things, sin will control me. If I focus on spiritual things, Holy Spirit will direct me. What dominates our mind dominates our life.

There is no condemnation in Christ and no excuses for living in sin. In the world, we can say when we do wrong, "I couldn't help it," but that is not true in Christ. Romans 8:12 says, "We have no obligation to do what our sinful nature urges us to do." It says in verse 13 that through the Holy Spirit, we put to death our sinful nature.

Our divine nature includes the fruit of self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). We give our control to Christ, but He, in return, gives us the power to control ourselves so that we can live free of sin, which is what it means to be truly in CONTROL.