Romans 8:3-11 (#28.2025.11.02)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website@beholdingbibletruth.com and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:47

Well, when we first came to Christ, shortly after we came to Christ, we signed up for Evangelism Explosion. Many of you know that Dr. D. James Kennedy was a Presbyterian pastor, took over, I think it was Coral Gables, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. And he said, I preached it down to four people. And he said, I figured out. I had to figure out what to do next. So he said, I figured we would grow the church through evangelism since there were only a handful of believers in the church.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:18

So they went door to door with Evangelism Explosion. So Beth and I signed up for Evangelism Explosion and we learned the gospel. Every week you go and learn a piece of the gospel. You go out and team to three, and then you share a little bit of it until you would share the whole. The. The. The whole thing, door to door. And we had such experiences.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:40

We would go on the north side, we'd knock on doors. We were going to Allegheny Center Alliance Church. That's what we're learning in. And it was amazing to us because we were new as believers. So the gospel was new to us. And when you share the gospel in its simplicity, it is very simple, right? Very simple. Not easy to comprehend. In fact, impossible without the light of God speaking forth into the heart of people.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:09

But it's very simple, right? Your sin has separated you from God. He sent his son to bridge the gap. And you can come to him through his son. I mean, that's the gospel. And shed his blood on the cross for you. And it is. It is indeed great news. And like we said last week, the gospel.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:29

We tend to think about the gospel as that which we share in evangelism to unbelievers. But that's just the tip of the gospel. The gospel is really the good and the great news of in Christ, all that we have in Christ, the hope of glory, right? That, that's it so we're talking about the gospel of believers. And there's no better place to understand the gospel for believers than where we are, which is Romans 8, which is right at the core, the center of the gospel for believers. So that's where we are in this. So stand with me, if you will, and let's read this glorious section of scripture together. For what the law could not do, weak as it was, through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:36

For those who are according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh, but those who are wanting to disappear things of the Spirit. For the mindset on the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mindset on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God. It was not even able to do so. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh. You're in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:20

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, if the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to you immortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Well, there's no better place to understand the Gospel for believers than Romans. There's also no better place to stand in being overwhelmed with the truths. They're here. And you sometimes read it and you say, what the heck is that? Right? Hold on, Paul, hold on.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:04

Let me catch up. Let me catch up. Up. Right. The Spirit of God reading through the Apostle Paul. And of course, I came to Christ shortly after I tuned my radio to Pastor John MacArthur, who asked the question the very first time I tuned it to WPIT am, a station here in Pittsburgh. And he asked the question, what was the Bible? What is the Bible? And the first time I thought and heard that question, I thought, I don't know. I don't want to.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:35

But I remember thinking, I don't know who God is, but if he can't write a book and keep it, he can't be much of a God. Remember, it can't be much of a God. And MacArthur really taught me to, to love the scriptures and to walk through them line upon line, precept upon precept. And we tend to think, if we're good evangelicals, that the point of the life of an evangelical is to get a 90 on our, on our test, because we pride ourselves in knowing the answers. And as we come to Scripture, if you've been a believer a long time, you can say, ah, I know that one, I know that one, I know that one. And it's just a reminder that the Christian life is not a test. It's not a multiple choice test where we understand the answers. It's where we understand him, who is the answer.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:27

And where Paul will say, oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments. Unfathomable are his ways. And it's a reminder that the Scriptures, they're not for us to understand. It's there for us to really to get, to see who he is, the depth of who he is. Right? And so we should be blown away consistently by the Scripture. And that's how we approach them every time. Not that we are getting the answers to a test, but we're learning to understand him who is beyond comprehension.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:07

He's cracked his glory, and we see just a bit of his glory. So if we go through here, I just try and set aside Scripture, if you've been in it a long time, and just set it aside and say, okay, so what is this telling us? It's telling us something about what it means to be in Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And the difference between this is about where we obtain the righteousness of God, the righteousness which is beyond comprehension, beyond understanding. Right? And there's, there's no really to understand the righteousness of God unless you understand the law in all of its depth and you look at it and it's all of its minute nature, you would say, what? Like, what up? If you study the law, you go back and Leviticus, you'd go, what? Like all of this detail, detail in the tabernacle, detail in the worship, detail in approaching God because His holiness is beyond comprehension. So that's what we're to walk away with, like, whoa. And the law shows us that we cannot, we cannot. So it says what the law could not do, what the law could not do.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:23

Now, that Greek word has two applications. One, if it's speaking of persons, could not means the person is incapable of doing it. If it's of a thing, it's impossible. Impossible. It means impossible. So since the law is not a person, the law is a thing, if you will. It's. It literally means what the law could not like.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:50

It was impossible for the law to do, which was bring about the righteousness of God for us could not do. And, and this is, this is the gospel. What you can't do, God did. I mean, that's it. If you boil the gospel down, if you boil it down, what you cannot do, God did. What you cannot do, God does. What you will not do, God does. What you cannot, will not and don't do, God does.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:21

That's the gospel, isn't it? Because as we live the gospel out, we continue to come to grips with what I cannot do, we also continue to grow up, come to grips with I will not do. We're still in the will not do's right? And I don't do. So this cannot, will not, don't. That's the gospel God did. What did he do? He sent his own son. What? Like I say, it's easy to roll out of bed, achy joints, bad back, grumbling about stuff in the world and stuff in my life and all of that. Rarely do we roll out and say, you sent your son to do what I couldn't do. That's not fair.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:12

That's not right. That's not just. We're clear about what is not right and just in our life. But rarely do we understand or think about, he sent his son. Really. He says by this, what was manifested in us. It says the love of God. Underline it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:33

The love of God was manifested in us. Well, how was it manifested? God. God sent his only begotten son. What does begotten mean? Of the same nature. There's only one who is of the same nature, right? And that's his son. He said he sent him into the world so that we might live. This is love. I love this.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:02

You think, oh yeah, I love you, Lord. He says, it's not that you love me, it's that I love you. Because you can't love him unless he first loved you. Unless he first loved you. But that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation. The satisfaction for the wrath of God. The satisfaction for the wrath of God. We love the love of God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:30

We don't love to hear about the wrath of God because we tend to think about wrath as angry and out of control, not wrath as righteous justice. Wrath is righteous justice. We know justice. That's what I want to happen in my life to him, to her, to them, to those. Right? I want them to get justice. But this is the righteous justice of God. That's what it means. Propitiation, satisfaction.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:02

Well, how do you do that? He sent his son in the likeness. In the likeness? It literally means in the form of sinful flesh. Well, what does that mean? Well, it means that the Word in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. My favorite thought about this is the uncontainable stepped into a container. What you think about that for a second? The immutable, unchangeable, immortal, eternal stepped into a fleshly container. Who would do that? Who would do that in the likeness of sinful flesh? And it says he did what? The Word became flesh and. Well, the word literally means to tabernacle among us.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:08

He became the tabernacle of God. You can't understand Jesus Christ apart from the Old Testament because he is the tabernacle. He's the prophet, the priest, the king. He's the sacrifice. He's the high priest. He's everything. All of it points to him. And he tabernacled among us.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:32

Tabernacled is. The tabernacle is where God met with man. He tabernacled among us. And Scripture says he emptied himself by taking on the form of a bond servant. The king of kings took on the form of a bond servant. Who would do that? I wouldn't do that. I want to take on the form of the king. Right, that's what I want to do.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:10

I want to. I want to put on the robes of a king. He laid aside the robes of a king without not stopping being a king. And he took on the robes of a bond servant. He was made in the likeness of men and says, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Even death on the cross? Even death on the cross. So he's fully human. At the same time, he's fully divine and sinless.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:45

Hebrew said, he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature. That's why Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father shows the Father. He said, you've seen me, you've seen the Father. That is, he is the only begotten. He is of the same nature. And therefore, if you've seen Christ, you've seen the Father. In fact, not only did he come to shed his blood. But it says that the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, no one has seen God at any time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:21

God the Father, the only begotten God, Jesus, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has brought him out into the open. He's brought him out into the open. The scripture says if you came before God, if you went before God, no one can see God and live. No one can see God and live. And he gave us a picture in the physical sun. I always say that 10,000 degrees on its surface temperature and millions of degrees at the center. You can. They can take a craft now and they can't get within millions of miles because the craft would be consumed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:59

That's the same way that's the picture of God. He dwells in unapproachable light. His light would consume us. But Jesus had brought him out into the open. And it says that he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh so that he could become an offering for sin. Isn't that amazing? So God condemned sin. So if you think about this, our sin condemns us and God the Father condemns sin in and through his Son. We were condemned and God condemned sin.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:40

So he says, remember, every priest stands daily ministering, right, Offering time after time, what do they offer? Same sacrifices over and over again. What's that mean? It wasn't done? Yeah, it wasn't done. Whatever they. Whatever they offered didn't. Didn't satisfy completely. That's why they had to continue to offer them, which can never take away sins. They were pointing to something else. It could never take away sins.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:12

But it says, he having offered one sacrifice. I love this. For sins for all time. For all time. And this is the. This is the piece that's the proof to a Jew. Jesus offered and then he sat down. The high priest never sat down.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:38

He never sat down because it was never done. The idea that Jesus sat down has. Speaks the fact that it's finished. Because the high priest never sat down. And he not only sat down, where did he sit down? At the right hand, in the place of right, in the place of authority, in the place of inheritance, in the place of favor. That's where he sat. He sat down once for all. So for by one offering, what did he do? Perfected for all time those who are sanctified or being sanctified.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:15

Wow. See, this is the book of Hebrews. So for a Jew, it would be like, there's no way. No way that is not even possible. Not Even possible. So the scripture says, for a Jew, if the Jews looking for signs, show me, show me that this is true. A Greek is looking for wisdom, like prove it's true. Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:45

See, that's what we do. We think. But to a Greek, it's foolishness. Yes. So we with our mind. Where a Jew would say, show me, let me see if any feel it right? But he's saying, think about this right once for all. One offering. One offering.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:04

And God was saying, I showed you. I showed you to the Jew. I showed you. The entire system in the Old Testament was showing you, Lord Jesus, that it was utterly impossible. I always think if I lived under the old covenant, right, the people weren't saved any different. But if we were under the sacrificial system, I would need a farm so large to sacrifice for my sin. I would be doing it all day long. I would think, holy smokes.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:39

There aren't enough animals to be able to shed enough blood to be able to cover my sin. I don't know about you, but me, it'd be like a continual deal, the animal trouble. So he says, what is this for? He's back to what the gospel is for. For a new believer, an old believer. The righteous. The righteous requirements of the law. The righteous requirements of the law. The righteousness of God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:17

God's glorious, perfect, sinless, pure, upright, holy nature. Would be fulfilled in us. Underline that. Would be fulfilled in us. The righteous requirements of the law. How'd he do that? Well, he made him who knew no sin to be sin. Why? Why? He says so that. That.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:44

That is always pointing. So that. Or in order. That. Or the word that is pointing. There's a. There's a big pointer here. Gives us ultimate purpose to.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:58

So that what? That. That we might become. We might become what? The righteousness of God. Me. You ever think about that? That. That we might become the righteousness of. So we followed the law. Try and follow the law.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:37

Six hundred and whatever commandments. How long would it take you to figure out? I can't do that. How about two? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. I. I don't care if there's 1, there's 600, there's 5, there's 10 commandments. It doesn't really matter how he summarizes it. That's not happening.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:03

The right that we might become the righteousness of God. What? So he says, so that's what's happening for us. What's the proof of that? The holy Spirit is a promise, a seal and a pledge. Holy Spirit is a promise, a seal and a pledge. And also you can write over there the proof. And I wrote this is really interesting because it's easy to make a profession. But he's saying, here's the mark, here's the seal, here's the evidence, here's the proof. It is the possession of the Holy Spirit, which is a picture, a seal.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:06

Right. Of the fact that we are his possession. You must possess the Holy Spirit. So he says, we are sealed. We're sealed. With what? Literally? The spirit of promise. The Holy One is how the Greek reads in Ephesians. In him also you, after listening to the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:35

The Greek literally means sealed with the spirit of promise, the Holy One. H. Well, first of all, the promise is based upon the fact that there was an old covenant pointing to a new covenant. A new covenant. That's the promise. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. Okay, so this is me new heart. So you have a heart of stone.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:09

God takes the heart of stone out, gives you a heart of flesh. Your spirit is dead. Your spirit is dead. He puts a new spirit in you, and then he puts his spirit in you to be able to have fellowship with Him. His spirit testifies to our born again spirit. Forget that. So before Christ we were cold hearted, dead. No spirit if you will.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:37

No spirit to be able to communicate with God. So I'll give you a new heart and a new spirit. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh. And who does that? You say, when I accepted Christ. It's a goofy statement. No, you didn't accept Christ. He accepted you. Right? He took your heart of stone out and gave you a heart of flesh.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:02

He gave you what you needed to respond to him. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk my statutes. So the new covenant is a promise. But the Holy Spirit is also a seal. A seal. And in the revelation it talks about the seal being on the forehead. Right? But there's two parts to the seal. There's the seal in you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:31

So in Romans 8 it says that the Spirit himself will witness the spirit of. Witness to what? Our Spirit. That you are a child. And so at some point in time before Christ, now in Christ, the Spirit testifies with this new spirit that God has put in you. You're a child. You're my child. That's the spirit in you. That's the seal in you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:05

That seal testifies, and Scripture says it is a circumcision of the heart. So he says, who's a Jew? He is a Jew. He says in Romans, who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that which of the heart by the Spirit, not by the letter. How would you circumcise your heart? Right. Think about that. How would you circumcise your heart? So he says, the Spirit. Does that work? That's in you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:45

Then there is a seal on you. That's the outward testimony of the Spirit. Right. This is the proof, if you will, the proving, the evidence. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Sometimes you feel like my fruit's really teeny, don't you? You're like man. Not a whole lot of evidence. It feels like in my life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:13

Not a whole lot of that, but it's there. You're the fruit of the Spirit. He also said, who made us adequate as servants of a new covenant. Really? What's the new covenant? It's not of the letter, but it's of the Spirit. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. That's the seal on you. Paul says, that's the seal on me. That is the seal, not the fruit of the Spirit, but also the fruit that he bears through you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:40

Those are the two pictures of the outward fruit, the outward seal. One is this the fruit of the Spirit. The other is the fruit of the ministry that he has for your life. Makes sense. So Paul says that we are servants of the new covenant. And for you, that is the work that he has for you, the good works that he has prepared for you. When? Beforehand? Before all time. That's the seal, the outward evidence.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:10

Does that make sense? And he says also. Who also sealed us in Second Corinthians and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a. As a pledge. A pledge is a down payment. Pledge is a down payment. A down payment of what? What's the down payment mean? More to come. More to come. So he says, that seal is more to come.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:44

God placed a down payment in your life. The Spirit. It is the first fruits, which means there's a harvest to come. There is more to come. That good news. That's great news. It is great news. Right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:03

You sealed us. So the Holy Spirit is a promise, a seal and a pledge. And the proof, if you will. So it's not about what you say. It's about possessing the Holy Spirit and being. And then he says, we flip over it's not only possessing the Holy Spirit, it's being possessed by the Holy Spirit. Oh, okay. Well, that's the hard one.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:26

That's the hard one. He says, well, let me show you what that looks like. Being possessed by the Holy Spirit. It's of the spirit or of the flesh. So he said, being possessed by the Holy Spirit, we walk according to the Spirit. What does that mean? Means we move through life. It's just a picture. We just move through life empowered by the Holy Spirit as opposed to of the flesh.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:53

And what does that look like? Well, it's a mind set on the things of the spirit. A mind set on the things of the spirit. Meditating on considering. Right. Thinking on studying. Right. All of those are our mindset on the things as opposed to a mindset on the things of the flesh. I know what that was like.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:20

I still know what that's like. Know it's like to think on the things of the flesh. Right. Spawn times. Right. It says, the passing pleasures of sin. Yeah. That's what it is of the flesh.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:33

And one is death, the other is life. And he says, those who are of the flesh are hostile toward God. Those who are of the spirit are at peace with God. It's hard to comprehend that we were dead in our sins and trespasses. And God demonstrates His love in that while we were yet sinners, we were enemies of God. It's hard to comprehend. We were enemies. Now we're at peace.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:12

And those who are in the flesh, they're not able to be subject to God. In fact, they won't. We can be submissive to God, albeit clunky submissiveness at times. Isn't that right? How hard is it to submit to God? How hard is it? Well, he says, apart from the Spirit, impossible. Apart from the Spirit, impossible. You will not. And in fact, he says, you cannot please God. You cannot submit to God and you cannot please God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:53

That's what it means to be of the flesh. You cannot please God, which means we are able to please God, which seems also astounding. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. But those who come to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. Which means I take a step toward him and he rewards it. He empowers more, comes with it, right? Literally, I just turn. And he keeps turning me. And he turns my heart.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:36

He empowers me to go toward him. Right? So he says of the Spirit, of the flesh. So then with the question, oh, no, which one Am I? Oh no. Do I have the spirit? Am I really saved? Oh, no. Oh no. So he says, if you have the spirit of God, you belong to God, and if you belong to God, you have the spirit of God, is what the scripture says. Because, you know, I wonder, is there enough evidence? Is there enough proof? Is there enough? Is the spirit of God really in me? Maybe you need more spirit. Maybe you need a second spirit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:16

So there's all folks who are out there saying what you need is more of the Holy Spirit. Well, I got the Holy Spirit. Well, how do you get more of the Holy Spirit? You can't get more of the Holy Spirit. You can surrender more to the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit doesn't come in part like, right, it doesn't come a little bit half seal you and then he'll seal you later at another time. Right? I mean, that idea that there's some more out there, there's not more. There's more to surrender to. But, but the spirit of God is not coming in any more fullness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:51

Spirit of God is there? It's whether I surrender to the spirit of God. It's more fun to think about. Well, there's just more out there. If I do this or this or this, if I pray this thing or do this thing, if I speak this way, if I do this, then I'll get more. And he says, no, you just need to surrender. Well, I don't do that. But if you can do this thing and surrender this thing and do this because it's out there. No, you just surrender to me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:19

Yeah, I know, but that's the challenge, isn't it? But this is for assurance. Every get it, you're going to say, oh, is the spirit really in me? Is there enough evidence? There's enough proof. He said, if you're, if you're gods, the spirit of God is in you. If the spirit of God is in you, you're God, you're gods. The spirit of God is in you. The spirit of God is in you. Your gods. It's a circular proof.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:43

Do you see what he's doing? He says it's a circular proof because we need assurance, right? He says, but if anyone does not have the spirit of God, guess what? He doesn't belong to him. This is clear saying, if you're his, of course, and I love that he says, but now you have come to know God, or rather be known by God. See, it is a matter of, oh, I know God. No, the question is this guy know you. Jesus said at the End of the time, he'll separate and he'll say, oh, hey, Lord, we were doing all that things for you. And he says, no, I never knew you. It's not that you say you know him, it's that he knows you. It's a lot out there, right? For saying they know him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:35

He knows you. You're a chosen race, a royal priesthood, holy nation, people for God's own possession. See, he possesses you. You don't possess him. He possesses you. You don't possess him. As we surrender and allow him to possess us, even more proof of his presence is seen. Forget that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:04

But he says, if you have the Spirit, then Christ is in you. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So we looked at that before. The Holy Spirit lives in you. Christ the Son lives in you, and God the Father lives in you. So he said to them, where then is a. Because they said, we're going to build you a tabernacle, Lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:36

He says, where is then a tabernacle that I could live in? God says to them, you're going to build me a house to live in. The eternal, immortal, invisible God. You're going to build that? Because they said, we're going to build you a house. Great house. You can dwell in the house. Where does he dwell? Dwells in us. What? So he comes in, comes into us. What.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:03

What are you doing living in there? And it's full of junk, isn't it? Full of junk? So he's renovating our hearts. Isn't he renovating our hearts? We're going through a renovation. It's driving me nuts. I just want to be done, I think, Lord, do you want. Just want to be done? Driving you nuts with the renovation? He's renovating your heart, your spirit, your soul. Good thing he doesn't give up, doesn't quit, because he says this is important. So he says, watch. The body's dead and dying.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:45

Well, how do you know that? I wake up every day. No matter how much we try, no matter how many supplements and how much we work out and how much all the stuff we do, red light, all that stuff, there's no matter what you do, the body is dying. It is dying, sometimes faster than not. And there is this false sense that I. You know what? I can stop this. I just can't. It's not going to happen to me because Beth and I say, we're not getting old. That's not happening.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:16

That's not happening. And the body Texts me regularly. Yeah. How about this? How about this? Yesterday we're fixing the window of the contractor who didn't do all his job. And, oh, I just pulled my back, middle of my back. I'm just dying again. Oh, my gosh. Get an MRI on my knee and on my back.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:39

My gosh. The body is dying, isn't it? But he says the spirit is alive. In other words, the renovation is going on while the body is breaking down. Renovations going on. So he says, yeah, well, that's sin. Through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sin can't escape, right? Whereas in Adam, all die. We die.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:14

The body dies. But he says, in Christ, we shall all be made alive. So the outer man is decaying. The outer man is decaying. Out of man is decaying. No matter what we do, the outer man will decay. And like Dr. Tim Teller said, you know, when he was faced with his cancer again, he said, you know, at the end of the day.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:41

And he said, I write on it. I. I preach on it. I. I pastor people who are dying, he said, other people die. I don't die. Right? That's who you feel like, is it? Other people die. I don't die.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:53

I don't die. At the end of the day, we are to die well. We are to die well. That the. The gospel for believers is live well, die well, die well. We should embrace dying. It is graduation. It is.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:14

It is graduation. This is what we're doing. We are. We should embrace death because not only is it inevitable, it is glory. It is glory, right? So we go in by kind of dragging our feet, you know, moaning about it. So he says, if you do that, you will do what? You'll lose heart. Because the outside is fading away. It ain't fun, though, you know, growing old is for sissies, right? It's insane.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:51

It just. But he says, you will lose heart if you focus on the outer man. You will. So he says, therefore, do not lose heart. Why does he say that? Because you will lose heart as the outer decays, you're going to lose heart. You won't be able to play golf anymore. You won't be able to play pickleball anymore. I mean, all of this is just reality, right? Won't be able to walk, like, you know, just all of that is reality.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:22

So he says, therefore, do not lose heart. Underline that. Do not lose heart. Because if you focus on the outer, you will lose heart. Why? Our inner man is being renewed. Our Inner man is. So it's a great reminder for me. Yeah, do everything you can to slow the decay of the body.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:47

You should at the same time do everything that you can to renew the spirit. So are you equally committed to, to the internal renewal as you are to the external slowing of the decay? Because you know you aren't going to build muscle. You aren't, it's just, are you going to lose it less fast? That's the only thing we're slowing the decay. But he's saying just make sure while you focus on that, which is fine. Are you putting equal effort into renewing your spirit so that that is growing? Because he says, by the way, the Father who raised Christ Jesus from the dead, and he raised him from the dead with what? A resurrected body? A body that will not decay, A body that will not fade away. He will resurrect you. We said he's going to resurrect you. Well, what's that like? So also is the resurrection from the dead.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:54

And you stand there and think. So your mind tries to go to a previous, doesn't it? So when we hear a concept, we think, what do I know about that? Have I experienced it before? That's where the mind goes. Tries to find a past, right. Memory, resurrection from the dead. I've never done that one. I don't get that one. I can't see that one. I can't comprehend it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:21

So he says, all right, well this is. It's sown, perishable, it's raised imperishable. Okay, that's good. It's sewn in dishonor, it's raised in glory. Well that's good. It's sown in weakness. But raised in power. You're sown as a natural body, raised a spiritual body.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:41

He says, if there's a natural body, of course there is a spiritual body, a new body. So it's written, the first man Adam was the living soul. The last man Adam became a life giving spirit. Last Adam. Just as we are born the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Do we long for the better? Do we long for the better? Should says, it's better, better, right? And understand. He says, now I say this brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. In other words, you must be changed to fully, to fully receive the inheritance.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:27

You must be changed because the inheritance is him. I tell you, a mystery. No kidding. This is a mystery. Yeah, very mysterious. I don't get it. But we will not all sleep. We're not all fall.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:44

Right, We'll. But we will all be changed. When? In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye. At the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound. The dead will be raised imperishable. And we will be changed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:01

We will be changed. What does that look like? I don't know. I don't know. Just the Jesus came back in the body. They recognized him. It was whole in his hands and pulled in aside. That's all we know. And he could walk through walls.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:22

That sounds great. Ball. What is it? I don't know, but it's the unimaginable. It's the imperishable. We will be changed. For the perishable must put on imperish the imperishable. And the moral must put on immortality. So he says, well, what's happening in the meantime? You have this treasure in the toilets.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:51

Those are little broken. That's what they mean, earthen vessels. They're clay vessels. Right. So we have this glory in our broken vessels. I know what that's like. We have this treasure in earth and vessels. Why is that? I want my earth and vessel to have glory.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:12

He says, no, the earthen vessel isn't have glory. Right. I've given you a spirit who shows a seal within you and who shows the seal without you. The fruit of your spirit, the fruit of your ministry internally. Right. As in you. Right. It's not in your earth and vessel per se.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:32

It is how you possess your earthen vessel. And whether we surrender the earth and vessel to his use, if you will. What is it for? Lord, there's a. So that again. What's it for? That the surpassing greatness of the power of God. That the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God. Of God. And if it's of God, then it's not from me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:09

Well, I don't like that. I want to get some of the glory. Come on. Right. So we have this glory in broken vessels. So Paul says that I boast about my broken vessels. He says I boast about my weakness. Why? That the power of God may dwell in me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:30

Are you boasting about your weakness? In other words, are you glorying in the fact that you can't, won't and don't, and the glory in the fact that he does what I can't, what I want, what I don't, he does because what I can, what I won't and I didn't do. He did. He does the same. That's the gospel for believers. So what are we supposed to do? He says, behold the surpassing greatness of his resurrection power for us. He says, just stand back. Stand back and behold. Well, how am I going to behold it? You have to see it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:18

Well, how am I going to see it? Well, I got to pray that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened, that we would know what the hope of his calling, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. Well, what was that power? Well, these are in accordance. What are they in accordance with? The working of the strength of his might. The strength of God's might. Well, where did we see that, Lord? Where do we see the strength of your might? He brought it about in Christ when he raised him from the dead and then he seated him at his right hand where far above all demonic rule, authority, power and dominion. He's not only above the local, the national, the president, the people in the world. He's far above the rulers in darkness, far above all rule, authority, power and dominion. Really, what else did he do? He gave him a name that is named every.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:38

Not only in this age, but in the age to come. So God says, I demonstrated the strength of my might, greatness of my power when I raised the Lord Jesus from the dead, overcame the un overcomeable death. And he says, you need the eyes of your heart to be opened that you would see. What would you see? The riches of the glory of his inheritance in us and the surpassing greatness of his power toward us. His resurrection power toward us. This is a help my unbelief. I don't see this. I don't get it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:50:24

I don't experience it. And now we're talking. He was talking about prayers that were answered instantaneously. Don't you love that? When you pray for something, God answers it instantaneously and it wants it instantaneously. And we're in a world that wants it instantaneously. And what's happening now is it started with Google search and now it's AI Understand you can master it and use it, but understand it's designed to master you and to get you to ask for instantaneous guidance, instantaneous wisdom. It's neither artificial, it's programmed nor intelligent. It's neither of those things.

Scott Keffer [: 00:51:02

It's demonically right, Designed if you're asking it anything other than research and facts. Right, but understand at the core of it, it's designed to get instant answers to whatever you need, not just what's the address. Not just what's the outcome of the World Series, but hey, what should I do with my life? Hey, what should I do to get answers instead of God? And the part about this resurrection power is it's not instant, is it all the time? It's slow go. We were talking about, Beth went through the four week program natural. If you're using natural results for your healing, they're slow to go. They're slow to go. They don't go like this. It's more fun to take a shot or a pill.

Scott Keffer [: 00:51:53

Just is like, fix this now. I'm gonna fix this now. What do I want to wait for? Right? But that's the. The resurrection power is slow to go, isn't it? Right. So we live by faith. Sometimes he answers instantaneously, most times he doesn't. The longer you know him, the more you walk by faith. Which means I'm not answering because you know I'm doing the right thing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:52:17

You, because you can trust me. So we need the eyes of our heart. So he says, behold, remember, remind yourself of the resurrection power I demonstrated when I raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. And then he says, he who? How's it go? I lost it. Life is a Ferris wheel. You notice, you get those thoughts and then they go, yeah, the older you get, the bigger the Ferris wheel is and the slower in turns. Peter did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How will he not also with him freely give you all things? So he comes with that question for you, which we'll get here in eight.

Scott Keffer [: 00:53:06

He says, I delivered my son. You think I'd withhold anything that's. That's good for you? Without anything I gave my son, I would not withhold anything. So behold the surpassing greatness of his power. So he says, the spirit of God in you is a seal in you and on you. Right? As proof of the fact, right of the reality of who you are in Christ. All right, put down an application and we share a few it observation. I have an insight.

Scott Keffer [: 00:54:42

And may the God who raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand, may he bless you, may he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you shalom deep in your soul, that you'd walk according to the spirit and the truth and the joy that he has meant for us. I bless you and keep you. Amen. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible, in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:55:24

Until next time. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time. May God bless you and keep you. Thank you.