No Condemnation
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Intro
Intro
Introduce myself
Have you ever been treated better than you deserved?
Treated better than I deserved - graduation requirements at Basehor-Linwood VCS
How many of you know that God has treated us better than we deserve?
Even when we were far from Him, He blessed us in so many ways.
Even when we were far from Him, He offered us forgiveness.
But He didn’t just move the goalposts for us, kinda like my high school did.
He didn’t say that our sin doesn’t matter, because He couldn’t stop being perfect. He couldn’t stop being holy.
He Himself paid the price for our sin.
Romans 3:26 says that God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Central Truth: God condemned Jesus as guilty so that you could be innocent.
When Jesus died on the cross and said “It is finished!”, our sin debt was paid in full!
In this great exchange, Christ takes our sin, and gives us his Righteousness.
I want to us to take you back to the gospel this morning. I want to talk about Jesus, and the cross, and freedom from sin!
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Paul wrote a letter to the Roman Christians, who were a mix of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews followed the laws that God gave to them in the Torah, so they had a written standard that they had to live by to follow God.
In the end of chapter 7, Paul is dealing with this question of whether having the law actually produced righteous people.
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
3 Gospel Truths About Sin and Guilt:
Unless they believe in Jesus, people cannot stop themselves from disobeying God.
Unless they believe in Jesus, people cannot stop themselves from disobeying God.
Even when we desire to do what is right in our heart, there is part of us that still chooses to do what is wrong.
It’s like sin lives inside of us.
It has control over us.
Until we put our faith in Jesus, we are slaves to sin.
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
Sin nature
It starts from the earliest ages
Story - Lying to my parents? 1993
Sin is not just something that “those people” do, it’s something that is inside of you.
We try to justify ourselves and label others as the bad guys, but the truth is that we all sin.
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart.” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
People tell us to “live your truth” and “follow your heart”
The prevailing view today in America is that human nature is good by default—our desires are meant to be discovered and fulfilled, no matter what anybody else thinks.
This is an incorrect and naive view of human nature. (unrealistic)
It doesn’t take into account just how much evil has been done by humans throughout history, that real people had evil desires that should not have been acted upon.
The truth is that all of us are sinful without Jesus.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
If our hearts are deceitful and sick, then we shouldn’t actually follow our hearts.
So Paul asks this question: how can we be innocent before God if we all are slaves to sin? Who can set us free?
2. Jesus can set us free from our sinful impulses.
2. Jesus can set us free from our sinful impulses.
Many of you here today have experienced this. Jesus has set you free from your sinful impulses.
At salvation, you lost the desire for a certain sin that had been your thing for a long time.
Or maybe after you had put your faith in Jesus, the Lord helped you get freedom from a certain habitual sin.
Romans 7:24–25a (ESV)
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
When we put our faith in Jesus, we are forgiven and our spirit is regenerated.
After we are saved, it takes time to train our mind. will, and emotions how to live in the way of Jesus (sanctification)
It’s a process of learning to live for the Lord and put Him first in all that we do.
We still sometimes experience temptation, and we have a choice to make, whether we will obey the Lord or choose to sin.
Sometimes we feel ashamed that we’re even being tempted, but it’s normal to experience temptation. Paul talks about this in another letter to the church in Corinth.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
-God will provide an escape from temptation
Nothing else will ultimately set us free, but Jesus.
Willpower is not enough, therapy is not enough, self-help books are not enough
If you’ve ever felt like “I can’t stop doing this! I don’t want to, but I keep doing it. Who can help me?” The answer is Jesus!
Can I ever become free from this sin? Can I break this habit? The answer is yes!
If you are gossiping
If you are addicted to porn
If you are selfish
If you are drinking too much
Jesus can set you free from your sinful impulses!
The power of the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit is so much stronger than the power of that habit.
But sometimes we still feel shame for our past sins, even though we have already repented and received God’s forgiveness.
These things haunt us and make us feel like we are unforgivable.
I want to remind you today that
3. God does not condemn us for our sins if we believe in Jesus.
3. God does not condemn us for our sins if we believe in Jesus.
Security deposit ($33 at Savannah Trace, Ava coloring on the half wall in Seattle)
They give you a law to obey, your lease.
When you move out, they calculate your sins and count them against you!
If you break one clause in that lease, they enforce it!
Is God like that? Is God like a landlord, checking our behavior against every paragraph of our lease?
No!
Jesus died in our place so that we could be innocent of the guilt of our sin.
Not because we aren’t guilty.
Because He loves us and wants us to be innocent and to spend eternity with Him.
It was always God’s plan to send Jesus to die in our place for our sins. Isaiah prophesied this about Jesus, hundreds of years before He died on the cross:
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Our iniquity, our sin, our disobedience, it was all laid on Jesus on the cross. God condemned sin in the flesh, giving His own Son as a sin offering for us.
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, 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.
And if we believe in Jesus and repent of our sins…then the righteous requirement of God’s law has been met in you, by Jesus!
He lived a perfect life and died in your place to pay for your sins, because He loves you!
And because we are in Christ, there is now no condemnation! God looks at you, and He sees you just as perfect as Jesus!
You are holy and innocent in his eyes!
And that means that shame and self-condemnation have to go! You don’t have to keep torturing yourself by reliving that moment and identifying yourself with that sin.
You are not a sinner anymore, you are a saint!
Jesus has made you brand new from the inside out!
APPLICATION
Some of you here today have a significant sin in your past, and you’re struggling with shame. You’re condemning yourself.
Can God ever forgive me? He already has!
Some of you might be convinced that your sin is too much to be forgiven.
I came here today to remind you that there is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.
You are free from sin! You’re not a slave anymore!
You’re not doomed to eternal death and destruction anymore.
You will be judged as righteous at the final judgment. You will not perish but you will have eternal life with Jesus.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Restatement: God condemned Jesus as guilty so that you could be innocent.
APPLICATION
What does that mean for you?
Forgiveness is available. You’re never beyond the reach of God’s grace. He has already paid for your sin. Forgiveness is always available to you, no matter what you’ve done, even long after you got saved.
You don’t have to live in shame as a Christian, because God doesn’t see you that way. He doesn’t keep bringing it up. He has forgiven you since you have repented and believed in Jesus. Stop bringing it up to yourself. If God’s not going to condemn you on judgment day, don’t judge yourself here and now!
You can start fresh with God. You don’t have to live stuck in sinful cycles because Jesus can set you free from sinful mindsets. You can renew your mind with the help of the Holy Spirit and break free from those bad habits and sinful thought patterns.
RESPONSE
Take a moment to respond to the Lord
Heads bowed
If you’ve been struggling with shame…raise your hand…I want to pray over you.
PRAYER
“In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven”
Invite up for prayer ministry after service
Shame
Freedom from sin
To put your faith in Jesus for the first time.
DISMISS
Idea: punishment, permissiveness, propitiation
Crayon on the half wall in Seattle apt.?
Confession of some sort? Lying to parents
Quitting pop? Eating too much sugar at Christmas?
Library books?
Sermonic Outline (Rom. 7:19-8:4)
Even when we desire to do what is right in our heart, there is part of us that still chooses to do what is wrong. 7:22-23 (rephrase?)
Quote: “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart.” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
People tell us to “live your truth” and “follow your heart”
The prevailing view today in America is that human nature is good by default—our desires are meant to be discovered and fulfilled, no matter what anybody else thinks.
This is an incorrect and naive view of human nature. (unrealistic)
It doesn’t take into account just how much evil has been done by humans throughout history, that real people had evil desires that should not have been acted upon.
The truth is that all of us are sinful without Jesus.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - Rom. 3:23-
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jer. 17:9-
If our hearts are deceitful and sick, then we shouldn’t actually follow our hearts.
Jesus can set us free from our sinful impulses. 7:24-25a
Many of you here today have experienced this.
Rom. 8:2-
1 Cor. 10:13-God will provide an escape from temptation
Willpower is not enough, therapy is not enough, self-help books are not enough
If you’ve ever felt like “I can’t stop doing this! Who can help me?” The answer is Jesus!
When we put our faith in Jesus, we are forgiven and our spirit is regenerated.
After we are saved, it takes time to train our mind. will, and emotions how to live in the way of Jesus (sanctification)
Can I ever become free from this sin? Can I break this habit? The answer is yes!
APPLICATION
God does not condemn us for our sins if we believe in Jesus. 8:1-4
Security deposit ($33 at Savannah Trace, Ava coloring on the half wall in Seattle)
They calculate your sins and count them against you!
If you break one clause in that lease, they enforce it!
Jesus died in our place so that we could be innocent of the guilt of our sin.
Not because we aren’t guilty.
Because He loves us and wants us to be innocent and to spend eternity with Him.
It was always God’s plan to send Jesus to die in our place for our sins
Isa. 53:5-6
Rom. 5:1-2
Final judgment- John 5:24-30
Rules cannot make us righteous, only Jesus’ death. (in our place) 8:3-4
2 Cor. 5:21-
Some of you have a significant sin in your past, and you’re struggling with shame. You’re condemning yourself.
Can God ever forgive me? He already has!
Some of you might be convinced that your sin is too much to be forgiven.
There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.
You are free from sin! You will be judged as righteous at the final judgment.
Don’t
Conclusion
Restatement
Application
Response
If you’ve been struggling with shame…raise your hand
PRAYER
Invite up for prayer ministry after service
Shame
Freedom from sin
To put your faith in Jesus for the first time.
Principle Outline (Rom. 7:22-8:4)
Even when we desire to do what is right in our heart, there is part of us that still chooses to do what is wrong. 7:22-23
Jesus can set us free from our sinful impulses. 7:25
God does not condemn us for our sins if we believe in Jesus. 8:1
Rules cannot make us righteous, only Jesus’ death. (in our place) 8:3-4
Katakrima (Rom. 5:16, 18, 8:1) = condemnation
Scriptures
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 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, 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.
No condemnation
The law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
The law could not set you free from sin and death.
God condemned sin in the flesh in Jesus
The righteous requirement of the law was fulfilled in us by Jesus
We don’t walk according to the flesh, but the Spirit.
Textual Outline
I delight in the law of God
I delight in the law of God in my inner being
But I see another law
in my members
waging war against the law of my mind
making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members
Who will deliver me?
I am wretched
Who will deliver me from this body of death?
I serve the law of God with my mind
With my flesh I serve the law of sin.
There is now no condemnation
For those who are IN Christ Jesus
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free
It has set you free in Christ Jesus
It has set you free from the law of sin and death. (WHAT IS THIS?)
For God has done what the law could not do
The law is weakened by the flesh
By sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh
for sin
He condemned sin in the flesh
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
Context
7:4 “you also have died to the law”
7:6 “but now we are released from the law”
7:7 “if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin”
7:13 “sin, producing death in me through what is good (law)”
7:13 “in order that sin might be shown to be sin”
7:24-25 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
The law was our guardian until Christ
We are justified by faith.
We are no longer under a guardian (law), but officially sons of God (by faith not observance of the law)
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
We were enslaved to the “elementary principles” of the world”.
God sent forth his Son to redeem us
We received adoption as sons.
We are no longer slaves, but sons and heirs through God.
Study
QUESTION: What is the difference between Christian and non-Christian when it comes to sin?
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered Why Does the Bible Contain so Much Condemnation?
The Bible speaks so much of condemnation because of the sin which permeates mankind: “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). In the Bible, the word condemnation is synonymous with damnation, judgment, punishment, destruction, and verdict. In its strongest sense, condemnation means “the banishing to hell all those disobedient to the will of God” (Matthew 5:22; Matthew 23:33; Matthew 25:41) and those who deny Him (Matthew 10:33; Mark 16:16; John 3:18).
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3–17) were part of the Old Covenant or Law, which was also called “the ministry of death” or “ministry of condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:7–9). The Old Covenant brought condemnation upon mankind because it made known our sin and its tragic consequence: death. As such, the Law judged man already condemned. The Law carried a verdict of “guilty” because it pointed out sin (Romans 3:19–20; Romans 5:12–13). Before Christ, everyone had to offer animal sacrifices every year. These sacrifices were a reminder that God punishes sin but also offers forgiveness through repentance. This, in essence, was the purpose of the Law. The writer of Hebrews explains: “But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:3–4). The Law reveals sin within us and therefore condemns us. It’s as the apostle Paul said, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered What Is False Guilt, and How Can I Avoid It?
The cure for false guilt is the gospel. If you’re a Christian, start by confessing any known sin. The promise of God in 1 John 1:9 is for believers: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Remember that, once a sin has been forgiven, it’s forgiven for good. God separates our sin from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).
Also, focus on the grace of God. God’s grace is free, it’s based on Christ’s work on your behalf, and it’s greater than your sin (Romans 5:20). Meditate on Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Preach the gospel to yourself every day, spending time in passages such as Romans 3:19–26 (especially verse 24); Psalm 103:8–13; Romans 4:7–8; Ephesians 1:3–11; and Romans 5:6–11. Meditate on the cross and all it means to you; never think of your sin without also remembering the cross and the grace of God displayed in it.
