Unraveling The Connection:, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, :, : And Of Asher, Pagiel The Son Of Ocran: And Of Gad, Eliasaph The Son Of Deuel. The Levites, However, Were Not Numbered Among The Other Israelites, As The Lord Commanded Moses. ^34 So The Israelites Did All This As The Lord Commanded Moses: They Camped Under Their Respective Divisions, And So They Set Out, Each With His Clan And Family. To The Levites Was Given The Charge Of Moving The Tabernacle When The Tribes Moved, And Setting It Up When They Camped, And Maintaining It When It Was Stationary. They Were Given Specific Instructions For How To Do This, Andistinct Difference Between The Style Of The Two Sections. The First Section, Which We Will Call The “flesh” Section, Describes What It Means To Be Dominated By The Flesh. It Is A Life Of Self-centeredness That Is Far Too Common In Our World. If We Are Fully Candid, We Will Have To Admit That There Are Times That Every One Of Us Is Dominated By Our Flesh. When We Are, We Will Not Be Living A Life That Is Pleasing To The Lord. The Second Section, Which We Will Call The “Spirit” Section, Describes What It Means To Be Dominated By The Holy Spirit. It Is A Life Of God-centeredness And Is Largely Uncommon In The World. It Is The Life That Pleases God And Is The Life That He Desires For Each Of Us. Let’s Spend Our Time This Morning Looking At These Two Sections. 1. The “Flesh” Section This Section Describes The Life That Is Dominated By The Flesh. Romans 8:5-8 Says, “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. The Mind Of Sinful Man Is Death, But The Mind Controlled By The Spirit Is Life And Peace; 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.” First, Paul Says That Those Who Live According To The Sinful Nature Have Their Minds Set On What That Nature Desires. This Is A Self-centered Life. It Is A Life That Is Focused On What I Want And What Is Best For Me. It Is A Life That Is All About Me. The Second Thing That Paul Says Is That The Mind Of Sinful Man Is Death. This Is Because The Mind That Is Dominated By The Flesh Is Not Subject To God’s Law. It Is Hostile To God And Cannot Please God. The Life That Is Dominated By The Flesh Is Heading For Destruction. 2. The “Spirit” Section The Second Section Of This Passage Describes The Life That Is Dominated By The Spirit. Romans 8:9-14 Says, “You, However, Are Controlled Not By The Sinful Nature But By The Spirit, If The Spirit Of God Lives In You. And If Anyone Does Not Have The Spirit Of Christ, He Does Not Belong To Christ. But If Christ Is In You, Your Body Is Dead Because Of Sin, Yet Your Spirit Is Alive Because Of Righteousness. 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 Through His Spirit, Who Lives In You.” The First Thing That We See Is That The Spirit Gives Life. If Christ Is In You, Your Spirit Is Alive Because Of Righteousness. The Spirit Brings Life To Our Mortal Bodies. The Second Thing That We See Is That If Anyone Does Not Have The Spirit Of Christ, He Does Not Belong To Christ. If You Are Not Controlled By The Spirit, You Are Not A Christian. The Third Thing That We See Is That The Mind Controlled By The Spirit Is Life And Peace. The Life That Is Dominated By The Spirit Is A Life That Is Focused On God. It Is A Life That Is Centered On Him And His Purposes. 3. Conclusion The Question That We Must Ask Ourselves Is This: Which Section Of This Passage Best Describes My Life? Am I Living A Life That Is Dominated By The Flesh Or A Life That Is Dominated By The Spirit? If We Are Honest With Ourselves, We Will All Have To Admit That There Are Times When We Are Dominated By The Flesh. But As Christians, We Are Called To Live A Life That Is Dominated By The Spirit. We Are Called To Live A Life That Is Focused On God And His Purposes. May God Help Us To Do Just That. Amen.9. The Importance Of Romans 8:5-8 Romans 8:5-8 Is One Of The Most Important Passages In The Bible. It Explains The Difference Between A Life Dominated By The Flesh And A Life Dominated By The Spirit. It Is A Passage That We Would Do Well To Study And To Meditate On. It Is A Passage That Can Help Us To Live A Life That Is Pleasing To God. May We All Strive To Live A Life That Is Dominated By The Spirit. Amen. 3. Conclusion The Bible Is Full Of Beautiful And Powerful Passages, But There Are Some That Stand Out Above The Rest. One Of These Is Romans 8:5-8. This Passage Is So Important Because It Really Gets To The Heart Of What It Means To Be A Christian. The First Thing That This Passage Teaches Us Is That We Are Not Controlled By Our Sinful Nature. This Is Such An Important Truth To Remember. So Often, We Can Feel Like We Are Slaves To Our Sin, Like We Are Powerless To Do Anything About It. But This Passage Reminds Us That We Are Not. We Have Been Set Free From The Power Of Sin Through Jesus Christ. The Second Thing That This Passage Teaches Us Is That We Are Controlled By The Spirit. This Is Such An Encouraging Truth. It Means That We Are Not Alone In Our Fight Against Sin. We Have The Holy Spirit Living Inside Of Us, Helping Us To Overcome Our Sinful Nature. The Third Thing That This Passage Teaches Us Is That The Mind Controlled By The Spirit Is Life And Peace. This Is Such A Beautiful Truth. It Means That When We Allow The Holy Spirit To Control Our Thoughts And Our Actions, We Will Experience True Life And Peace. This Passage Is So Important Because It Reminds Us Of Who We Are In Christ. We Are Not Slaves To Our Sin. We Are Free. We Are Not Alone In Our Fight Against Sin. We Have The Holy Spirit Living Inside Of Us. And When We Allow The Holy Spirit To Control Our Thoughts And Our Actions, We Will Experience True Life And Peace. 4. What Romans 8:5-8 Teaches Us When We Read Romans 8:5-8, We See That There Are Two Types Of People In The World: Those Who Live According To The Flesh And Those Who Live According To The Spirit. The People Who Live According To The Flesh Are Focused On The Things Of This World, While Those Who Live According To The Spirit Are Focused On The Things Of God. The People Who Live According To The Flesh Are Controlled By Their Sinful Nature. They Are Focused On Themselves And Their Own Desires. They Are Not Interested In Anything That Does Not Benefit Them. They Are Not Interested In God Or His Will For Their Lives. The People Who Live According To The Spirit Are Controlled By The Holy Spirit. They Are Focused On God And His Will For Their Lives. They Are Interested In Living For Him And Pleasing Him. They Are Not Focused On Themselves Or Their Own Desires. The People Who Live According To The Flesh Will Eventually Experience Death. This Is Because The Wages Of Sin Is Death. The People Who Live According To The Spirit Will Experience Life And Peace. This Is Because The Spirit Gives Life And Peace. This Passage Teaches Us That We Have A Choice. We Can Choose To Live According To The Flesh Or We Can Choose To Live According To The Spirit. The Choice Is Up To Us. But We Need To Remember That The Choice We Make Will Have Eternal Consequences. If We Choose To Live According To The Flesh, We Will Experience Death. If We Choose To Live According To The Spirit, We Will Experi