Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION

No family exists in isolation from the rest of the world.  Our children have friends, many go to school; eventually they will leave home for good.  We should train them so that when they leave, they are led out by the Spirit.

THE TEXT

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death . . . .” (Romans 8:1-17).

NEW EXODUS

Through several chapters, Paul’s argument in Romans is organized by the story of the Exodus.  Because of the one transgression of Adam, the world is an Egypt under the power of Sin and Death, and the Law only makes it worse (Romans 5:12-21).  Those who cross through the Red Sea of baptism, though, are delivered from Pharaoh (Romans 6), but then struggle in the wilderness of the flesh (Romans 7).  Those who follow the Spirit through the wilderness are eventually led into the promised land of a new creation (Romans 8).  The Spirit binds us together, but the Spirit also leads us out.

LED BY THE SPIRIT

The Spirit defeats Sin and Death, and does what the law was incapable of doing (8:2-3).  Those who are led by the Spirit, not those who are of the law, fulfill the law’s requirements (8:4).  Israel was Yahweh’s son, and those who are led by the Spirit of sonship prove themselves to be true sons, the true Israel (8:12-14).  Because of the Spirit, we are no longer in slavery to flesh, death, or fear.  We put sin to death and walk in life.

FRIENDS

Parents need to oversee their children’s relationships outside the home.  They should teach their children Paul’s adage, “Bad company corrupts good morals,” Paul says (1 Corinthians 15:33; cf. Proverbs 13:20), remind their children that they are temples of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), children of light who ought to have no fellowship with darkness (2 Corinthians s6:14-15).  Parents should train their children to be able to spot fools when they see them.  Fools babble (Proverbs 10:8) and boast; fools are proud, scoff at authority (Proverbs 1:22), are full of anger (Proverbs 12:16).  “Leave the presence of a fool,” Solomon warns (Proverbs 14:7). Parents should prepare their children not only to avoid fools, but to rebuke their companions when necessary.  Parents should prepare their children to be “uncool.”

COURTSHIP

Parents should especially train their children in godly relations with the opposite sex.  Seducers exist, both male and female (Proverbs 7:1-27; 9:13-18), and children should be trained to spot and avoid them, so that they don’t defile the temple of God by uniting with a whore (1 Corinthians 6:12-20).  From their earliest years, they should be taught that Christians marry Christians.  Here as elsewhere, success in parenting depends on children being receptive.  Teenagers who sneak around with a boyfriend or girlfriend or who defy their parents’ authority are fools.

LEAVING HOME

Children leave home.  That’s what they are supposed to do.  Families exist to disperse and die, so that they can bear fruit.  Parents who try to keep their kids from growing up are resisting the Spirit, who leads them out.  The goal of parenting is to train children to leave and to leave well.  One important way to accomplish this is to give children increasing, but limited freedom while they still live at home.  Yahweh grew up Israel by keeping her close during her infancy, and then sending her out when she matured.