Recap of Romans 8 

• He’s a LIBERATING Spirit - Freed us
• He’s a GUIDING Spirit - Following Him
• He’s a STRENGTHENING Spirit - Giving us the courage to put to death the deeds of the flesh
• He’s an AFFIRMING Spirit - He’s whispering to us that we are able! 
• He a PRAYING Spirit - When we don’t know what to pray

Influence - Growing up, my parents could recognize good influences and bad influences on my life. 

Galatians 5:1–4 (NLT) — 1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. 2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.

Four Influences that we can have 

1. Influence of the LAW
   1. Galatians 3:10-12 (NLT) — 10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” 11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” 12 This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.”
   2. Paul’s dilemma 
      1. Trying to transform a Gentile into a Jew. 
      2. From no laws to 613 laws - 365 negative; 248 positive
   3. Paul knew they would:
      1. Get trapped in legalism - Trying to earn salvation or favor through law-keeping is a never-ending cycle of failure and shame.
         1. Martin Luther on the steps of the Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs, in Rome. 28 marble steps said to have been taken from Israel and brought to Rome. 
      2. Be distracted by the law - It takes away focus from what truly matters, faith in Christ and love for others.
   4. Religion is a trap, an enslaving trap
   5. Freedom in Christ - The law was our tutor, but now we are justified by faith, not works (Galatians 3:24-26).
2. Influence of the FLESH
   1. Galatians 5:17; 19-21 (NLT) — 17 For the sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 
   2. The forces are fighting even in the faithful. 
   3. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" in 1886
      1. Scientist that explores the duality of the human nature.
   4. THE TWO DOGS
   5. The results of following sinful nature:
      1. Sexual sins - immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures
      2. Religious sins - idolatry, sorcery
      3. Interpersonal sins - hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy
      4. Excessive and uncontrolled behavior - drunkenness, wild parties
3. Influence of LOVE
   1. Galatians 5:13–15 (NLT) — 13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.
   2. Your freedom is not a license to sin, it’s a license to love. 
   3. All of the energy you were putting into trying to be right with God through obeying rules, you can put into loving each other. 
   4. Be careful that you not bite and devour one another - When you try to obey the law for righteousness, you end up bashing one another. 
      1. The stoning of the old testament 
      2. The stoning of modern day islam 
   5. We will not be judged on our perfect law keeping, but we will be judged on our love. 
4. Influence of the Spirit
   1. Galatians 5:16–25 (NLT) — 16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
   2. When you follow the Spirit, you don’t do what your sinful nature desires.
   3. The Spirit gives us desires. 
   4. Fruit of the Spirit
      1. love, joy, peace, 
      2. patience, kindness, goodness, 
      3. faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
   5. Here, THERE IS NO LAW
      1. You can go wild in this world of spiritual fruit and never worry about going out of bounds.