Romans 8

Series Intro:

Series: Life in the Spirit (Romans 8)

Romans 8 is considered by many to be the greatest chapter in the Bible. Properly understood, Romans 8 tells us how to live a life of freedom and victory. It gives us the right understanding of who we are in Christ. It speaks of our Resurrection and future blessed hope of seeing Christ come back.

With chap. 8 we arrive at what may be called the inspirational highlight of the Book of Romans. Here the apostle is swept along in a wave of spiritual exaltation that begins with God’s provision of the Spirit for victory over the old nature, breaks through the sufferings that mark our present existence, and crests with a doxology of praise to the unfathomable love of God revealed in Christ Jesus. Nowhere in the annals of sacred literature do we find anything to match the power and beauty of this remarkable paean of praise (Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier, Romans, vol. 6, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 244–245.)

To sum up what Chapter 8 is about we will use the phrase: Life in the Spirit.

We are going to spend three weeks in this glorious chapter:

Part One: Freedom (v1-17)

Part Two: Victory (v18-30)

Part Three: Love (v31-39)

Today, we are going to talk about Freedom. Life in the Spirit is a life of freedom.

Life in the Spirit: Freedom (Romans 8:1-17)

What is the worst thing that you have ever done?

How do you feel about that?

The second book in the Bible, the book of Exodus, documents a dark time for God’s people the Israelites.

When the book begins they are a free people, living in Egypt. They were fruitful, their numbers increased rapidly, they multiplied, they became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.

There was a political change, a new king came on the scene, he felt threatened by them, so he oppressed them. He forced them into slavery.

Their lives became bitter as they were ruthlessly imposed with difficult labor.

They eventually cry out to God and He raised up a deliverer and they are gloriously set free from their bondage.

God is a god of freedom.

While we here in America enjoy freedom, today in our world there are somewhere between 30-40 million slaves. Cambodia, South Sudan, China and many other countries practice slavery.

This is wrong and evil and does not please the Lord.

There is another kind of slavery that happens in the world today. It can happen to anyone; it can happen to followers of Jesus. I’m talking about slavery to guilt and condemnation, slavery to sin, and slavery to fear.

I come back to the question with which I began. What’s the worst thing that you have ever done, and how do you feel about that? Do you feel condemned? Do you feel lousy, miserable, guilty? Do you feel afraid?

Are you allowing these emotions to control you?

To live in the Spirit, it to live free from condemnation.

There is no imperative, not a single command.

We are talking about a life that is so guided by the Spirit that there is no need for a string of commands. This is describing a supernatural life that happens very naturally.Romans 8:1-17 speaks of freedom.

Freedom from condemnation, freedom from sin, and freedom from fear.

Let’s take a closer look.

Freedom from Condemnation

Rom 8:1“1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...

Here we see that our freedom from condemnation is tied to our identity.

1a. ....Because we are in Christ (v1)

Romans 8 speaks of our new identity in Christ. Human beings are searching for identity. Many search in negative and harmful ways: bullying, feel better about themselves as they make others feel bad, finding their identity by being part of a gang, trying to change their gender because they feel like they are trapped in the wrong body. Getting involved in all sorts of sexual sin.

This is not how you find your identity. This is not how you discover who you are.

Even healthier areas of focus like sports and music and academics and business, while they can be good, and we need to be involved in recreation. These activities certainly can be part of your identity. But the place to find the core of your identity is “in Christ.”

In school, people might say “I am in sports. I am in the debate club.”

Christian, you are “in Christ.” This is your identity.

Look at this profound verse:

1 Cor 6:17 “17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”

Are you joined to the Lord?

John 14:19-20 “19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

This is what Romans 8 is about.

Romans 8:1 “1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...

The NO is emphatic. There is no single kind of condemnation that can be brought against us.

We are united with Christ.

Is there any condemnation of Jesus? Of course not! You would never think that Jesus could be found guilty of any wrong doing.

We are united with Him, so there is no condemnation directed at us.

Our freedom from condemnation is tied to our identity in Christ. It is also tied to the activity of Christ for us. Look at v3-4

1a. Because Jesus was condemned for us. (v3-4)

The perfect Man was condemned for the sin of the world. So you don’t have to be. Jesus was punished for your sin, so that you could have His standing with God.

There’s no condemnation.

John 3:16–17 (NKJV)

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Word to those who feel guilty...

It’s likely in a crowd like this that some of you have done some bad things. Even as believers it is possible to sin terribly.

God wants you to know today that He forgives you because of the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus died for all of your sin, past, present, and future. He knows your weakness, he knows your struggle and he gives you the church to help you.

Don’t be condemned today.

Difference between condemnation and conviction...

Condemnation is a declared state of punishment. It is to declare guilty and provide a punishment.

Conviction is to acknowledge my guilt, and have an awareness of the sacrifice of Jesus.

There’s no hope in Condemnation; conviction is all about hope.

If you feel conviction of sin, then the right thing to do is to acknowledge your sin, repent, and to move on in faith.

There is freedom from condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Secondly, there is freedom from control of sin.

2. Freedom from Control by Sin (v5-14)

Rom 8:2 “2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

We are all too aware of the presence of sin.

We are free from the control of sin because we have the Spirit (end of v4).

As Christians, while we are still susceptible to sin, we do not have to live under it’s bondage. We are free from the control of sin.

Every Christian has the Holy Spirit inside of them. (v9)

Paul had said in v2....

2a We so not walk according to the flesh

We do not walk according to the flesh. When Paul writes “flesh,” he is not referring to the tissue of the human body, he is referring to our fallen sinfulness.

There are two ways of living… according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.

Story of Wilberforce and Pitt…(see clippings)

pic of Wilberforce

English abolitionist, William Wilberforce, that illustrates the vacuum of spiritual understanding manifested by those who are devoid of the Spirit. Wilberforce, a strong Christian, had tried unsuccessfully to get his friend, William Pitt the Younger, the prime minister of England, to go and hear the great British preacher Richard Cecil. Pitt was a nominal Christian only, a church member, and Wilberforce thought the preaching of Cecil might awaken saving faith in his friend’s heart.

Finally agreeing to go with Wilberforce, Pitt attended Cecil’s preaching service where the two sat under a powerful and wonderful presentation of the truths of God. Wilberforce was sure that his friend Pitt would sense the truth and embrace it wholeheartedly. But as they left the service, Pitt turned to Wilberforce and said, “You know, Wilberforce, I have not the slightest idea what that man has been talking about.” Boice concludes by saying, “Clearly, Pitt was as deaf to God as if he were a physically dead man” (Boice, 2:808–809).

1 Cor 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

The natural person = walks according to the flesh

The spiritual person = walks according to the spirit

We do not walk according to our fallen sinfulness. Your sin does not define you.

If you are having a hard time with sin, maybe you are walking in the flesh.

How do you tell if you walk according to the flesh or according to the Spirit?

Look at v5.

What are you thinking about?

Look at v6.

Where is your mind-set?

Counselors call this “rehabituation”. Changing your habits, changing your thinking patterns.

Do you want to please yourself or do you want to please the Lord?

What fills your mind from day to day?

Are you setting your mind on things above? Are you setting your mind on the Word of God? You’ve got to get God’s word in you.

Colossians 3:1–3 (NIV84)

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

“Sin will keep you from this book, and this book will keep you from sin.”

Rom 8:11 “11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Corrie Ten Boom: glove

v12 is key to understanding that we are free from the control of sin:

Romans 8:12 NLT

12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.

You are going to have bad urges, bad desires. You are under no obligation to obey them.

Good pics bad pics.

We are free from condemnation, free from the control of sin, lastly, living in the Spirit means that we have...

3. Freedom from Fear (v15-17)

What are you afraid of?

Death? Job, career, never getting married, marrying the wrong person?

Be not afraid.

Because we are God’s children.

What child is afraid when he or she is in the arms of their Father?

Because we are heirs.

Do you know that you have a glorious inheritance in heaven.

1 Peter 1:3–5 NLT

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

Because we will be glorified.

1 John 3:2 NLT

2 Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

Conclusion

pic of John Chrysostom

Romans III. Conclusion: The True Meaning of Freedom

John Chrysostom (A.D. 347?–407), eventually patriarch of Constantinople, earned the moniker “golden-mouth” because of his eloquent sermons against the lavish excesses of his day. This earned him no favor with Roman authorities, and when he was brought before the Roman emperor he was threatened with banishment if he remained a Christian. Chrysostom’s reply to the emperor reflects the insight of one who understands that true freedom in life comes with freedom in the Spirit and security in the love of God:

“Thou canst not banish me for this world is my father’s house.”

“But I will slay thee,” said the emperor.

“Nay, thou canst not,” said the noble champion of the faith, “for my life is hid with Christ in God.”

“I will take away thy treasures.”

“Nay, but thou canst not for my treasure is in heaven and my heart is there.”

“But I will drive thee away from man and thou shalt have no friend left.”

“Nay, thou canst not, for I have a friend in heaven from whom thou canst not separate me. I defy thee; for there is nothing that thou canst do to hurt me.” (cited by Hughes, p. 171)

Chrysostom understood what Paul wanted the believers in Rome to understand—that once we are liberated from the condemnation of sin and death, we are truly free. Nothing else matters—not geography, not possessions, not relations, not life or death. When we have condemnation and judgment lifted from our shoulders, we escape into the mental, emotional, and spiritual freedom that we created to live in. Indwelt by the Spirit, we enter into the life and peace that only can be experienced by those who have come to know freedom through Christ.