Session 5 - 18/06/25

The Apostles’ Creed - Session 5. 18/06/25​ – The Life of the Spirit.

I believe in the Holy Spirit …

OPENING PRAYER ….

INTRODUCTION

There are many things wrong with the world, but the Bible says that they have one common source: human hearts that are trapped in sin. In Romans 8, Paul explains how the Holy Spirit sets us free from sin and its consequences, to live as God’s children. 

Read Romans 8:1-4

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Q.1. What was God’s law powerless to do? 

Q.2. The “law of sin and death” is the principle that sin and death dominate the existence and destinies of every human born into this world. How have believers been set free from this law, and what part does the spirit play? 

There is no condemnation for Christians (v1) because Ggod has already condemned our sin through the sacrificial death of his own son (v3). Jesus set us free from the power of sin (= slavery) and the penalty of sin (=death). The work of Christ in the past on the cross is applied to our lives in the present by the Spirit. That is why Paul calls the gospel “the law of the Spirit who gives life” (v2). Paul says the Spirit is “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ” (v9). The Spirit of God living in us (v 10-11).

Read verses 5-11
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

Q.3. What happens when we become Christians, according to verse 9? 

Q.4. How is the life of the spirit different from the slavery of the flesh? Look again at verses 5-8 and contrast the two types of people.

Q.5. Look at verses 10-11. Why does Paul call the Spirit “the Spirit who gives life” in verse 2?

Read verses 12-14
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Q.6. What is Paul warning in these verses?

Q.7. What does the image of “putting to death” tell us about the Christian’s struggle with sin, and how can you encourage and challenge someone who says “I can’t stop sinning”?

Read verses 14-17
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Q.8. Summarise what verses 1-17 say about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. 

Q.9. On the night before his execution, Jesus prayed ‘My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us (the Trinity) so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20–21). Jesus’ great prayer for unity has yet to be answered, so what role can the Holy Spirit play today, to help this become a reality in the church globally? 

CLOSING PRAYER.