What the Law Cannot Do

Intro: Thankful

Good morning, today we’ll be in Romans 8 but before we read, I wanted to say a few things.

First and foremost, I want to give thanks to the Lord for opening the doors that led to today. Without his grace and mercy over my life I don’t know where I would be, but I know I wouldn’t be living a life that honors him

Secondly, I’d like to thank Brad. When he called me about this church, he was planting it was really an answered prayer. My wife and I had moved to Yucaipa after getting married and we were church hopping for a good year. We were ready to give up, not finding that “fit” and we were going to start going to our old church, Harvest. Maybe the day before his first meeting I get a phone call from without even thinking about it I said, “Of course I’ll join your team.” I’m so glad I got that call; I really love this Church and to see what it’s become in a little over a year is a great blessing. I’m so excited for what this church is going to become with the Lord’s blessing in the years to come.

And it was the same when I got a call from Brad a couple months ago asking if I would preach on a Sunday morning. And again, without thinking I said “of course!” Only this time after it had time to set in, I asked myself, “What did you just do?! Who are you to teach anyone?!”

I can assure you, being up here, I take this very seriously. This is not something I could ever do on my own strength. If you can’t tell by now, I’ve never been so nervous before in my life. That’s while being married, having three children, a surgery, and watching the Eagles in a Super Bowl a few years. You Rams fans know what I’m talking about, Cowboy fans, eh been a while yea? As I stand here now, I can say as this day was coming closer and closer, the fear and self-doubt grew louder and louder. Satan was working overtime on me. Other than having the hardest time mentally and emotionally preparing for today, this was also hard on my family.

If you didn’t know, I was supposed to teach a few weeks ago. However, that week my daughter gabby was sick, which made my son get sick. We thought he was a normal fever while teething but when he had to be taken to urgent care just to be safe, my wife and I found out it was in fact Covid, which gave my wife Covid, and it was passed on to me as well. So, you can imagine how attacked I felt and at times I did feel defeated.

I say this not to just vent to my church family, which I need, we all need that at times, but I just wanted to give you, the church, a reminder: I plead you after going through a week of all this stress, sickness, and attacks: if you don’t pray for Brad and his family, please start. And if you do pray for them, pray even more. Seeing firsthand what they go through week after week has put a new perspective for me.

This is not just for sympathy or to give myself credit for being up here. In all honesty, this day was 20 years in the making. I would not be standing here right now if it wasn’t for the grace upon grace of God in my life.

Twenty years ago, I was 12 and my mom picked me up from a Christian camp. On our way down from Big Bear she asked how my weekend was, of course. To be honest I don’t remember anything about that weekend except for telling my mom, “I think I want to be a pastor.”

And from that day forward I did everything right, went to church every week and was an outstanding Christian man…

No, not really. I wish. No, I believe I declared something that God put on my heart, and he heard me. But I know the enemy also heard and after that night I began on a 13-year detour away from God until he called me back home.

When the Lord drew me back to him. That desire came back also. I tried talking myself out of it because again if you know me you know how shy and awkward I am. A shy self-conscious guy who wants to be a pastor and speak in front of people for a living, it’s not such a great combination.

But Brad giving me this opportunity is something I don’t take lightly, standing before you now is something that is very important to me, that’s what makes this so terrifying and that is what also made me to doubt myself, not in God but I began questioning my worthiness to teach anyone about God. I began going through every moment in my life I failed, and I began believing that voice questioning my qualification. But this text has really refreshed and reminded me that of course I’m unworthy, and I am not qualified… not on my own, but it is Christ who qualifies me, and we will see and learn that ultimately it is Christ that qualifies every one of us. Through this process I’ve been reminded that today isn’t about me. It hold a level of importance, yes. My wife and family are here to support me, but this isn’t about me, not at all. Today is all for the Lord, because on my own power I would fail, and that’s what I want to talk about today. So, I come before you humbled, and I just want to share with God’s word in this chapter.

Text

Romans 8:1-6 (ESV)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

This is the word of God

Context

Paul was planning to use the church of Rome to make a pit stop on his way to Spain. He wanted to reach this Church he hadn’t even met before.

At one point in A.D 19 the Jewish people were expelled from Rome by Emperor Tiberius Although the Jews were expelled from Rome at a certain point, their numbers still flourished after they were able to comeback as well as the Christian community. In fact, the gentiles were beginning to outnumber the Jewish people. Paul wanted to write to both communities.

This book’s main point is Faith vs Law. The Jewish Community held the Law in high esteem, expecting the gentiles to abide by it, where Paul comes in and flips the script.

We read this in Romans 1: 16-17. Maybe the most important verses in this book.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Faith is everything because if we were able to redeem ourselves through law and nothing else; then Christ would have died for nothing.

Law Vs. Faith

On one side you have the Law and the reliance of ourselves to earn our salvation through works. On the other hand, we have Christ who fulfilled the law perfectly and took upon everything you have or ever will commit and died the death we would have deserved if not for him. That’s essentially what Paul is talking about here.

When we try to earn our way through relying only on ourselves, we are fighting a losing battle.

A lot if not all of us knows this firsthand. When it comes to a fallen person in the flesh, I have no better example than myself. If we’re honest we can admit that this is still an easy trap to fall into. I don’t know how many times I’ve question, not God, but my salvation. When we start thinking of every wrong, we’ve done. When we look at our lives and see if we do enough praying, bible reading, tithing, volunteering, and anything we deem able to put us in a better standing before the Lord.

That’s not living in faith. Of course, those are great things to be conscious of but when we make our salvation into a progress report then we are missing the whole reason why Christ died for us.

Christ died to do what the Law couldn’t.

The Law can’t save fallen man. No fault on God but because of our sinful nature.

I love this quote, “The lack of ability of the law to save us resides in the lack of our ability to be obedient.”

You see, the law showed us right from wrong but didn’t make anyone righteous.

It was made for a way to salvation but became the reason for our damnation instead. It was weak and failing because it depended on our flesh to fulfill it.

So, Christ gave his flesh. It says in verse 3, “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh”

The main word I want you to see here is likeness. I love Paul makes sure to use that word. Because although Christ came down as a human in human flesh, it wasn’t like our fallen flesh. He lived a perfect life and died an innocent man. He did this to make all who believed in him through faith, righteous.

When we are covered in the righteousness of Christ that is how we will be looked at by God. We are no longer seen as slaves to sin who deserves judgment and death but instead, we are given grace and mercy and love.

Flesh Vs. Spirit

There are only 2 ways to live. There’s no middle ground. By the flesh or by the spirit.

Without the spirit we are unable to do the will of God, that’s because in our flesh we don’t want God.

Galatians 5:17 tells us

17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Paul continues in that same chapter in verse 24;

24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

As I prepared, I’ll admit it was hard not envying others. It’s such an easy trap to fall into. I see these young, cool, extrovert pastors everywhere. Who make standing up here look easy, and I was there sitting at my computer typing my sermon away terrified and there were times when I wanted to call Brad and say, “Dude, I can’t do it? Who am I to be up here in this position to teach anyone? They should be teaching me.” I started thinking, I need to look the part. I need new clothes, new sneakers, new haircut, a new premium bible. I read over my sermon and all the pressure I put on myself. This must be amazing I thought. It can’t be basic. That’s the flesh.

And it was Chris, our deacon here who text me out of nowhere on the day I felt the most pressure. I wanted to text someone, but I didn’t want to make what I felt into a big deal. But he just said, “Hey man, praying for you.” That’s all I needed I laid everything I was feeling out.

“Dude I’m terrified, this needs to be special. Can’t be basic. I’m feeling so much pressure.”

But Chris, thank God, just responds, “The gospel is basic, we make it complicated.”

It’s true, all through history in this bible, we complicate it.

And Christ shut that down quick. When I had to cancel a few weeks ago, I know God was showing me something. He used that hard time of my family being sick to remind me that today isn’t about me.

Like I said, this was 20 years in the making, and it was very important to me. I finally achieved this opportunity. I was going to do what I told my mom I was going to do 20 years ago, that’s huge. Maybe it got too huge. Maybe this became so that it started to become an idol. It had to be perfect, all my family was coming to town. And then The Lord delayed it. And in that delay, he put me straight. How many times do we find ourselves on out schedule, focusing on ourselves when Christ must come and remind us of who it’s about?

Some of my family couldn’t make it today, that’s not how I visioned my first-time teaching on a Sunday, but it’s how the Lord visioned it.

We complicate the gospel when we make it about us.

Community

That exchange with Chris also reminded me, to live in the spirit is to be a part of the body of Christ. Not as an individual but in a fellowship with other believers.

Verse 1

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

To be in Christ is to be a member of his Church. We are meant to do life together. How do you keep your spirit strong and your flesh weak? one way is through community in encouragement and accountability.

We all want the encouragement; we all love that. Not so much when it comes to accountability. I know I didn’t. It’s hard making that step out from the shadows to show someone, “here’s my sin, here’s my struggles, will you help me?” but that’s what we’re here for. To help.

At work a few weeks ago I was playing Rock music. Nothing bad, but not your typical Christian rock. And a coworker, joking around, said, “that didn’t sound Christian.”

People at work know I’m a Christian and knowing that makes them look at me and what I do and how I talk and what I listen to, carefully. I told this coworker, “It wasn’t bad, just some rock and roll. But thank you for looking out and keeping me accountable.”

I say this because sometimes it looks it’s easier for people who don’t belong to the Church to call Christians out more than it is for Christians to call their brothers and sisters in Christ out. And we know, a lot of Christians need to be called out.

Yes, we are in the spirit, but we are meant to be in the spirit together.

Application

The spirit and the flesh, how do you live your life, which one do you feed more?

2 Bird illustration I heard growing up

What bird will you feed? I ask you that while giving you a sneak peak at what each brings with it.

In verse 6 Paul writes,

6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Paul continues in verse 7

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The same spirit that rose Christ from the dead is in those who believe in him and worship him as Lord.

Communion

And as we come to the communion table, we come filled with the spirit, but if you perhaps are still living in the flesh or living by a set of rules thinking that if you check the right boxes that you will be fine. I want to invite you to accept Christ as Lord. It’s not about living up to impossible expectations but believing in the one who did that for you and died for your sins.

Leaders will be up in the front if you need any prayer at all. The elements will be here as well for you to come up to take them back to your seat and to reflect on what they mean. This isn’t just routine, but moment of thankfulness.