You Don't Owe Your Sinful Nature Anything

What if the question you've been asking about your faith is the wrong one?

A lot of us spend our time asking, “What should I believe?” or “What should I do?” Those are important questions, but there’s a more fundamental question underneath both of them: Who am I?

We’re in week two of Game Changers, a series walking through Romans 8. This chapter is often called the heart of the Gospel, and over these four weeks, we’re looking at some of the powerful truths Paul gives us about what it means to follow Jesus.

Last week, Paul dealt with some of the objections that can keep us from moving forward. What about my past? What if people knew the real me? What if I mess up? He painted a picture of the life that could be. This week, he begins to show us how we actually live that life.

Paul starts with a pretty incredible truth in Romans 8:11: “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”

Think about that for a moment. God didn't just wipe our debt clean through Jesus. He also made a deposit into our account. When we say yes to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. We aren't expected to figure out the Christian life on our own.

Paul follows that statement with a “therefore” in verse 12: “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.”

Whenever we see the word therefore in Scripture, it’s worth asking what the “therefore” is there for. Paul is connecting the dots. Because the Spirit of God lives in you, you no longer have an obligation to your sinful nature.

That word obligation is important. The original word Paul uses is opheiletes, which means someone who owes a debt. We understand what it means to owe someone something. If you have a mortgage, the bank expects a payment. If you borrow your neighbor’s truck, you should probably return it, preferably with some gas in it.

Paul is saying that our sinful nature can make us feel like we still owe it something. Sin keeps calling out to us. We are naturally inclined toward it, and the things we are tempted by don't suddenly stop being tempting when we start following Jesus.

But something has changed. We don't owe our sinful nature anything anymore.

Paul has already established that everyone has sinned. Romans 3:23 says, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” The sinful nature is real, and it isn't something we can simply ignore. In fact, Romans 8:13 gives us a pretty sobering warning: “For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”

The Christian life isn't about trying harder to become a better version of yourself. It's about learning to yield to the Spirit of God who is already at work in you.

And that's where Paul's argument moves from what we do to who we are.

Romans 8:14 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

That changes everything.

The way we live flows out of the identity we've received. God has brought us into his family. We don't have to earn our place there, and we don't have to keep proving that we belong.

Being a child means you have access. You don't have to make an appointment to get on your mom's calendar. You're in.

Being a child means you belong. You don't have to earn your place at the table. You're invited because you're family.

And being a child means you're cared for. Knowing you have someone to count on changes the way you live.

Paul takes it even further in verse 15: “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, 'Abba, Father.'”

For Paul's original audience, adoption carried much more weight than it often does for us today. It meant a new name, a new status, a new family and a new future. When you were adopted, your old identity no longer determined your place in the world. You belonged to someone new.

That gives us a different way to think about what it means to follow Jesus. Christianity isn't simply about believing the right things or following the right rules. At its core, it's about belonging to God.

And for some of us, that idea can be complicated because our experience with family has been complicated.

Maybe the word “father” doesn't immediately bring up feelings of safety or comfort. Maybe your family was marked by anger, manipulation, addiction or dysfunction. Maybe you had a good family but still carry wounds from it. Whatever your story is, Paul isn't asking you to pretend your family experience was better than it was.

He's telling you that your family story doesn't get the final word about who you are.

God is doing something new. In Christ, you have been brought into a family where your identity isn't determined by your past. You don't have to carry forward everything that was handed down to you. You belong to God, and that changes the story.

This is why the question “Who am I?” matters so much.

It's easy to build our identity around things that can change. Maybe it's our career. If your identity is tied to your job, one bad quarter or one difficult season can suddenly make you question your worth. Maybe it's what someone else thinks about you. When your identity depends on another person's approval, you're always going to be exhausted trying to hold on to it. Maybe it's your role as a parent, spouse, friend or leader. Those things matter, but none of them can carry the weight of telling you who you ultimately are.

Paul points us toward something much more secure.

Romans 8:16 says, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.”

You don't have to spend your life trying to prove that you belong. You don't have to earn God's love by getting everything right. You don't have to become a better version of yourself before you can call God your Father.

You are his child.

And once you begin to understand that, it changes the way you live.

You can say no to sin because you don't owe it anything. You can face temptation without believing it has the final say. You can walk through failure without believing your failure defines you. You can face your past without being controlled by it. And you can move forward with confidence because your identity isn't something you have to create for yourself.

It's something God has already given you.

That's the invitation of Romans 8. Not simply to try harder, believe more or clean yourself up. It's an invitation to recognize who you are and to live from that identity.

You don't owe your sinful nature anything.

You belong to God.