We come into this new life in Christ with baggage, problems, sinful habits and dispositions in our personality, things that need to change. We need to grow up. The question is HOW do we grow up in Christ?

In a Spirit filled church people are growing by the Spirit! We grow up and are transformed into new people by the Spirit of Christ living in us, NOT by keeping a set of laws. People are growing by the working of the Spirit not by human self effort. And there is a drastic difference between those two! Many Christian’s lives are a mess because of not knowing that difference! There is possibly more misunderstanding, and frustration over HOW we grow as believers than just about anything else in the Christian life.

Absolutely...We ARE to grow and be transformed. We ARE to become more patient, and loving; we are to be holy, self controlled, and transformed in our minds. Paul said his desire was to present everyone fully mature in Christ. But HOW we go about this can be the difference between heavy, burdensome, oppressive Christianity, and life-giving, Christ-centered, Spirit-filled Christianity.

To understand HOW you become holy it really helps to know WHAT you are! A Christian is a person in whom Jesus Christ lives by his Spirit. That’s who you are!! Say “Jesus Christ lives in my by his Spirit”. The same Christ... who overcame every temptation, who had compassion on the crowds, who always did what pleased the Father, who laid down his life for others, who washed the disciples feet, who healed the sick and forgave his enemies – lives in you, in the person of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible calls this a mystery. And it is! But it is now the defining truth of who you are. This is now what you are to be completely conscious of day and night. This is to be the music playing in your head.

We ENTER the kingdom of God by being born of the Spirit. And we GROW UP in the kingdom by living in relationship with the Spirit. Paul said in Galatians 5 Since we LIVE (or have life) by the Spirit, let us also WALK by the Spirit. Growing up in Jesus is not something you crank out by your own effort or by beating yourself up. It is by walking in relationship with the Spirit of God.

For those who have grown weary or frustrated over your own spiritual failures this is great news. (And we all have.) For those who have felt the misery and the guilt and the power of a particular sin they fall into over and over, this is great news!

William Cowper said, “This union of our soul with Christ, under the influence of the Divine Spirit, (has become) the very life of my soul, and the soul of all my happiness; that Jesus is a PRESENT Savior from the GUILT of sin by his most precious blood, and from the POWER of sin by His Spirit! Hudson Taylor said, (I saw the “blessed reality” (that) “Christ liveth in me.” And how great the difference! - instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another.”

In Galatians 3:2-5 Paul said,“I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?” Having begun with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh, that is your own works and efforts to keep the law? Does God who supplies you with his marvelous Holy Spirit and works miracles among you, do it as a result of works of the law which you perform or because you believe confidently in the message which you heard with faith.” (AMP)

How did you RECEIVE the Holy Spirit? Was he a prize awarded to you for your great performance? Did you do something great to ACHIEVE the Holy Spirit? Was he given to you for how perfectly you observed or obeyed God’s laws? NO! God gave you his marvelous Holy Spirit as you believed.

He CAME to you by believing. And he will CONTINUE to work in your life as you continue in simple faith and abiding in him. If you RECEIVED the greatest gift of all, the Holy Spirit by faith - why would you turn away from THAT to some inferior method of perfecting yourself! You are to not only receive the Spirit by faith, but you are to be perfected by the Spirit as you believe, trust and depend on him! You can’t really grow up any other way!

David Guzik said, “This (scripture) lays out one of the fundamental differences between the principle of law and the principle of grace. Under law, we are blessed and grow by earning and deserving. Under grace we grow spiritually by believing and receiving”.

So the key ingredient to being perfected by the Holy Spirit, IS YOUR FAITH. In his book Union with Christ-What is it, Rankin Wilbourne says, “Faith is HOW our union with Christ becomes OPERATIVE and POWERFUL in your life”.

Here’s how this works as I see it: In every moment... in every new situation... in every conversation... in every emotion you experience... in every problem you encounter... you MUST ACTIVELY BELIEVE CHRIST IS HERE NOW IN ME BY HIS SPIRIT AND HE MAKES ME FULLY SUFFICIENT FOR THIS MOMENT. Ian Thomas said to walk in the Spirit means,.. “for every new situation into which every new step takes you, no matter what it may be, to hear Christ saying to you, “I AM”, then to look up into his face by faith and say, “YOU ARE”! That is all I need to know, Lord and I thank you, for you are never less than adequate!”

Paul put in this way in Galatians 2:20 “ It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live, I LIVE BY FAITH in the Son of God…. That is how you can live too! As you get up each day start thinking, I can live life today, by trusting in the Son of God who lives in me.

If this is not clear to you, pray for revelation to understand it. In Ephesians 1:19, Paul prays, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the...immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe… the same power that raised Christ from the dead”.

God’s Spirit is able to overcome all your strongholds, your bad habits, your sinful tendencies. Paul said “our weapons have divine power to destroy strongholds”. What are the strongholds in your life? (False beliefs, sinful ways of thinking and reacting) These can be destroyed! You do not have to live with them! What you need is wisdom and revelation; you need the eyes of your heart opened to SEE how much power is in you by the Spirit of God.

In a similar prayer in Ephesians 3 Paul prays that “the Father, out of his glorious riches, would strengthen you with power THROUGH HIS SPIRIT in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”… Paul wants us to know the Spirit’s power in our inner being, so we will have the full experience of Christ living IN us. Rankin Wilbourne said, “If the Spirit is the means by which Jesus unites us to himself, then it is essential for the Spirit to be known and celebrated in order for union with Christ to be appreciated and embraced”.

He ends that prayer by saying, “Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to HIS POWER THAT IS AT WORK WITHIN US.” God is able to do more miraculous transformation within you by his Spirit, than you can ask for, or even imagine! Believe that! However….

IF you try to improve yourself by your own efforts to keep the laws of God, you end up with bitter frustration and deep sense of failure and condemnation. Paul tells us his own struggle to keep the law and his failure to do so in Romans 7. One command ruined Paul’s life! - “Do not covet!”. Trying to obey that one command turned him into a miserable wreck! He wanted to, but he couldn’t! He ended up saying, “O, wretched man that I am!”…..WHO will deliver me from this body of death? He had reached a point that he not longer was looking for WHAT could deliver him but WHO could deliver him. He knew he beyond the help of rules. He needed more than a command, more than somebody saying, “You’d better do this!”)   He needed a power outside himself. Thanks be to God! There is deliverance through Jesus Christ!!

Romans 8 goes on to describe that better way of sanctification and growth! “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are IN Christ Jesus”. That was the first thing a Christian who is struggling needs to hear! This wretched condition of trying and failing, this misery of our inability and powerlessness to keep the law, this black cloud of condemnation, was taken care of by Christ. He is going to tell us how that works but first Paul just announces the good news!   There is NOW no condemnation for people who are in Christ!

And that’s important to know! Walter Marshall said, “There can be no growth without the comforts of the gospel. For the practice of holiness, it is necessary that we be well persuaded of our reconciliation with God”.   In order to grow spiritually, you must be convinced of your acceptance by God without condemnation. If you don’t know that, all your energy will going to fighting feelings of condemnation, and guilt and shame and wondering if God really loves you or not. Growth starts the day you get off the treadmill of focusing on yourself and your failure and rest in the amazing grace in which you now stand.

But there is more! Verse 2 “Through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit who gives life, has set you free from the law of sin and death”. Without Christ you WERE governed by a law, or inescapable pattern of living; you sinned and experienced the misery and consequences of sin, a living death now and eternal death to come. This was the way life worked. It had to work that way. It was a law. You were under that law.

Now that you have Jesus Christ in you, there is a new law at work in you. There is a new power, a new way your life works. It is the law of the Spirit of life. And this new law of the Spirit has set you free from the old law of sin and death. It has set you free from the tyranny of your sin. The inclination to sin is powerful! The inclination to unload that anger, and vengeance, or to follow that lustful desire is powerful. That’s why people sin, and destroy their careers and family and reputation. The law of sin is powerful! But thank God there is a greater power! The power of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It HAS set you free!  

Paul says we grow and change and get freed from stuff, NOT by laws or commands, BUT by the Spirit. So we really need to begin to identify ourselves TOTALLY with this new way of living, by the Spirit. Your identity MUST become, I am a person in whom Jesus Christ lives by his Spirit and the Holy Spirit has set me free from the old rule of life.

Verse 3 “For what the law could not 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”. The law, or the commandments, could not remove the guilt of your sin, and it could not change your own sinful tendencies. But what the law could not do, God did! He did it by sending his own Son to be a sin offering.

“And so he condemned sin in the flesh”. He went to the very heart of our human condition, to the very heart of your biggest problem. He went after our sin! He condemned sin’s power to condemn us and sin’s power to control us.

He died that we might be justified and NOT condemned. AND He also died in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who walk according to the Spirit. What is the answer to the guilt of our sin? It is the death of Christ. What is the answer to our wretched failure to live as we ought? It is the life of Christ that has come to dwell in us by his Spirit.    

No law or commandment was never able to heal you! Only the Spirit of God can heal you! Romans 8:11 “And if the Spirit of him who raised raised Jesus Christ from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you”. God used the Holy Spirit to raise Jesus from the dead. Now if that Spirit who had that power lives in you, do you not think he can give life to you? You have the life-raising, death-defeating, death-defying Spirit of God living in you. You are much more that flesh and blood! You are no longer JUST a normal human being!

So now the answer to every need is the Spirit. Because everything Christ has for us comes to us by His Spirit. We become the people we were created to be as we live according to the Spirit. The Spirit is in you inclining you to spiritual things!! He is in you with power and moving you to righteousness. He is in you with the fruit of love and joy and peace and patience and gentleness. Abandon yourself fully to him, to stay with him, to keep in step, to live according to him.

So the secret to Christian growth is all found right here! In learning to walk according to the Spirit! The MSG “What the law code asked for but we could not deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us”.

Learn what it means to keep in step with the Spirit. Involve yourself with the Holy Spirit. Live daily alongside the Spirit. In every situation life presents to you, choose to be led by the Holy Spirit, in your words and responses, and attitudes. Believe what God has said about you - that you are freed from sin, alive to God and empowered by the Spirit!

It is so good to know that when I get up in the morning I can cast the entire weight of living life that day upon the Holy Spirit and trust in him for the spiritual life and passion and wisdom. I can count on him to be my counselor and helper and guide and teacher. If I feel like I just got ran over by a truck, I don’t have to pay attention to that, because I am counting on the law of the Spirit of life in Christ to bear me along. And he does. He gives you words to say, people to love, ideas for good works.

We are NEVER trusting ourselves or our own willpower, but we are ALWAYS trusting God’s activity in us by his Spirit! If you don’t feel that spiritual, that doesn’t change things – you are not looking to yourself, anyway You are trusting in the activity of the Spirit. If you want to exude love and patience and joy and peace and gentleness that has to come from inside of you and that has to come from the Holy Spirit. You actively trust him to bear his fruit in you and through you.

If you were to ask me how to live the Christian life each day, through all the ups and downs of life, through all the temptations, through all the demands of life, this message would be my answer – living by faith in the reality that Jesus Christ lives in me today by his Spirit.