Grace | Romans 8:1-4

Welcome! Today, we’re continuing our conversation about our identity as the people of God. So far, we’ve established two key identity statements:

We are a people who seek to become more like Jesus—in how we think, speak, and act.

We are a people who are guided by the Spirit and the Bible.

Two sermons, two targets for how we live out our identity. Now, let me ask you: How are you doing in living them out? Do you think, speak, and act like Jesus? Do you know His Word? Are you listening to His Spirit?

It’s a high bar, isn’t it? My guess is that we’ve all fallen short in some way this past week. So, what does that mean for you and your salvation? If you sin, fail, and struggle with weakness, how can you expect Jesus to respond to you?

To answer that question I want to invite you to look with me at how Jesus responded to just such weakness from others in the Scripture. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but I’ll invite you to look with me at people who struggled with doubt, unbelief and desperation, greed, adultery and betrayal.

How does Jesus respond to weak people who struggle with doubt? Look with me at how Jesus responded to Thomas in John 20. You can read the specifics of it later and if you would, you would discover that Jesus sought out Thomas and gently invited Him to believe! He didn’t condemn Thomas but sought Him out and called him to something better than Thomas could muster without Christ’s intervention!

And what of unbelief and desperation? How does Jesus respond to the weak in here who struggle to believe and trust! Well how did Jesus respond to the father in Mark 9. Again I’ll invite you to go read it later, but a father comes to Jesus with a child who’s demon possessed. Apparently the demon had tried to throw the child into fire and water often in attempts to kill the child. As you read the iteration, it seems that the father has all but lost hope all together. He’s probably take his kid to all the specialists and sought out all the treatment. This is the last ditch effort. He’s maybe heard about this faith healer and so why not give it a try. He brings his son to Jesus and what he says reveals his weakness and desperation. Jesus if you can do anything, would you take pity on us and heal my son!

Jesus appears slightly taken back at the ask and more specifically the lack of faith in the ask, and he response, “If I can, anything is possible for those who believe.”

And the man says immediately, “I believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.”

And Jesus gentle interaction mixed with this man’s weak faith is enough for Jesus. Jesus doesn’t condemn this man, but rather, He blesses him and his family by healing his son and casting out the demon!

In these 2 encounters we see Jesus respond gently to weakness and He responds with love to bring blessing and transformation into their lives.

The same can be said when we see Jesus interact with a weak and greed wee little man named Zacchaeus.

You can go read of that story in Luke 19:1-10. Essentially, Zacchaeus was a greedy little man who used his position as a tax man to exploit people for his personal gain. Not exactly someone who did a good job of thinking, speaking or acting like Jesus! And yet how did Jesus respond to this weak and greedy man!

Jesus sought Him out. Zacchaeus, I’m coming to your house for dinner! Jesus wasn’t harsh or condemning with Zacchaeus, nope he was gentle and loving with Zacchaeus’s weakness and guess what, that forever changed Zacchaeus for the better! Jesus could’ve condemned Zacchaeus like everyone else in their community did, but He didn’t.

So we’ve hit doubt, unbelief and greed, not small sins, but maybe not as big as others. What of the big ones? How does Jesus treat really weak people, people that fail on a grand scale?

How does Jesus treat adulters?

Those of you who committed this sin or had it committed against you know the depths of weakness it brings upon your life. It’s terrible.

How does Jesus treat adulters?

Well in John 8 a woman who was caught in the act of adultery is bought before him and the crowd is foaming at the mouth. They are ready to stone the woman and ask Jesus if they should! The law demands it they say, but they want to know what Jesus thinks!

Jesus simply says to them, the one who is without any sin can cast the first stone. And wouldn’t you know it, starting with the oldest and wisest of the group, they crowd disperses. And when it’s only Jesus and the woman, Jesus speaks to her, “has no one condemned you? Well then neither do I, go and sin no more!”

You really should go read the story. The gentleness and love of Jesus. The wisdom and grace. It’s amazing.

And lastly what of betrayal. Honestly when we’re talking about sin, sin on some level is almost always a betrayal of God. So how does God treat the weak among us who would betray him?

Well for that we need only but turn to John 21 and read how Jesus responded to Peter.

Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers and that’s why it must’ve hurt Jesus so much when Peter stabbed Jesus in the back. On the night that Jesus was crucified, Peter lied 3 times in a row that he even knew Jesus at all! And what’s worse, Luke 22:61 indicates that it all happened with in earshot of Jesus! Imagine your best friend overhearing you lie that you ever knew them!

How would you treat such weakness, such treachery? Most of us would condemn such a “friend”. We would cut them out of our lives forever as someone who could never be trusted.

How does Jesus treat Peter’s weakness? In John 21 we’re told that Jesus seeks Peter out. He makes him breakfast and then he asks him 3 simple questions. Peter do you love. Peter do you love me. Peter do you love me. 3 questions for Peter to reaffirm his love for Jesus and then Jesus reinstates him by commanding Him to feed His lambs!

Although you and I may have condemned and cut Peter off, Jesus does not. That’s because Jesus responds to weakness with gentleness and love. Jesus responds to those who desire to know Him with grace!

In all of these scenarios, all of these people we’re open to relationship with Jesus. They were all weak and various different ways. They struggled with sin. They struggle to measure up to God’s law perfectly, but they were open to knowing Jesus, to interacting with Jesus and because of that Jesus gave them grace! He treated them with gentleness and a love that built them up and transformed them.

Here’s the truth Church, If you desire to know Jesus, even and especially in your weakness, you can expect Jesus to treat you with gentleness and love! You can expect that Jesus will never cut you off!

Romans 8:1 Please read it with me.

Romans 8:1 (NIV)

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

If you’ll allow me a slight paraphrase for clarity’s sake, here’s what I think God is saying to us through Paul in this verse to the Romans. I think He’s saying, “There is now no separation from God for those who have chosen to live life in relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ!”

Jesus’ gentleness and love and grace says to the one desiring a relationships with Him, “I will never deny it to you. Because of Christ work and resurrection, you and I now always have access to God.”

And we’re also guaranteed that God will be glad to see us when we come to Him, why? Because we will never stand condemned or guilty before Him!

Now, some of you might be thinking, how is this possible? We’ve already talked about how weak we are and how often I fail, how could it ever be that could stand before God confidently or not guilty before Him? How could it be that He would be happy to see me? I’m weak man! I’m a failure! I screw up all the time! How could this be that I wouldn’t ever stand condemned before God?

Church this is the power of Grace! Look at vv. 2-4 with me.

2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 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, 4 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.

I know it’s a bit of a mouth full, but Paul is defining for us here what grace is and how it works.

He’s saying that those who are in Christ, translation, those who have an intimate and trusting personal relationship with Jesus, they stand under grace!

There’s no condemnation, meaning the relationship can never be broken by our performance or lack of performance to the law! Rather Jesus did for us what we could never have done for ourselves and He will continue to do so!

Look at v. 3 and 4 again.

Romans 8:3–4 (NIV)

3 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, 4 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.

For what the law and the flesh were too weak to do, which was what? The law and the flesh were too weak to fulfill it’s righteous requirements; for what the law and the flesh were too weak to do, God did!

This is what grace is Church, it’s the guarantee that Jesus will always respond to our weakness with gentleness and love.

Grace is God’s active favor and love in our lives to bless us, gently transform us and accomplish for us what we cannot do for ourselves!

And this is wear people always start to raise an issue. Wait a second, so it doesn’t matter how I live? I can do whatever I want and Jesus just forgives me and treats my weakness with gentleness and love? There’s no consequences for my sin?

Listen if you preach grace correctly, there will always be people who say so what now I just have a license to sin!

To that I say with Paul, may it never be!

First of all, we have at the center of our target a loving relationship with Jesus.

If you love someone, do you go out of your way to displease and upset them? Well if you do everyone will know the truth soon enough! Love does not seek to offend!

So that’s our starting place, but also if you simply look at how Jesus responded to the individuals mentioned you’d see He’s not saying just go and do whatever you want! In every scenario, Jesus is graciously leading these weak people way from sin and into the goodness of God, from doubt to belief, from despair to hope, from shame to honor, from guilt and rejection to acceptance!

Never once does Jesus restore or heal or forgive and then say now go and keep on sinning! No, always and forever his response to our sin and weakness will be, now that I’ve healed you go and sin no more!

And again Romans 8 teaches us.

Romans 8:2 (NIV)

2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

We have not been freed to the law of sin and death! As in we have not been freed to keep on sinning! We’ve been freedom from the law of sin and death!

Church if you want to relate to God based upon the law, you can, but it will be a miserable relationship. Why? Because you will evaluate yourself and God’s pleasure or displeasure with you based upon your performance. And we’ve already established that our best performance in the flesh before God is weak sauce!

Not only that but in relating to God based upon the law and your ability to keep it, you will forever keep sin over you as your master!

You can think of it like this.

Remember the 10 commandments. Well relating to God based upon the law looks like this, with one tablet an angel draws a line in the sand and the law says do not cross it. While God holds the other tablet above His head just waiting for when you do to bring that sucker down on top of you!

That’s what legalism does to us and to our relationship with God. It keeps in a place where we’re constantly execting God to bring the hammer down! But grace, grace erases the line altogether.

And it doesn’t do so in a way that says there is no sin, but it simply says now that you’ve been adopted, you’re a child of the king, you’re royalty so sin is beneath you. You’re better than that! Sin diminishes you!

You see, legalism and living by the law keeps you out of the kings court under the rule of sin. It says your relationship to God is based on your performance.

But grace says you’ve been adopted as child of the King, you’re place is in His presence always and your performance has nothing to do with it! But sin, well that garbage is just beneath you so you don't even need to bother with any of it anyway because you’re royalty now!

I heard it put this way and found it extremely helpful. (Title Slide)

Imagine that you were and orphan living in a monarchy some where and you occasionally stole to get by but you knew if the police ever caught you, you could get arrested. One day just such thing happened but the King decided to pardon you. He was upset with you for your thieving but decided to give you a break.

“I forgive you just don’t do it again and then he sent you on your way.”

What are the chances you don’t cross that line again? I mean it might help you for while, but you’re still an orphan and you still gotta eat so chances are, that pardon and the line in the sand, “don’t do it again.” It’s probably not going to help you all that much.

That’s what it’s like coming to Jesus and then continuing to live under the law, but it’s not the truth of what happened or what Grace has done for us Church!

Imagine a different scenario with me. That you’re an orphan again and you’ve been thieving around to get by but this time, you don’t get caught and pardoned by the police this time, the King’s carriage roles into your neighborhood and the soldiers get out and start walking the streets calling your name.

Levi! And you initailly you freak out cause your a theiving orphan but the soldier tell you, you’re not in trouble, the King would like to see you is all.

So you go, and you enter the throne room and as soon as you do, what are you doing. You’re peaking a look at the King’s face. Is he happy to see you or disappointed. For those who only ever live by the law, this is their constant reality when relating to God, is he happy to see me or not? Is he disappointed.

Well you see he’s actually happy to see you so you venture over to him and he pulls out some legal documents… a big scroll the first page reads pardon. He says, listen I know what you’ve been up to and we’re wiping you slate clean. Your past, present and future crimes are frogiven, but that’s sort of beside the point. He pulls out another paper. It’s got a giant seal on it. He says listen, I knew your grandparents and your parents. I’m so sorry what happened to you, I’ve had my lawyers draw this up. I’m adopting you. You know belong to be! Your a prince in the Kingdom! I need you to represent me and my interests throughout the land and all that I have is not accessible to you! All that stuff you were wrapped up in, well I hope you can see there’s just no need for it any more. All that’s beneath you now that you’re my child!

And He goes one step forward, son, he says, I need you to know, that now that you're mine, I promise I’ll always be available to you. Day or night, whenever you need, come see me, I’ll be happy to see you and I’ll bring my power and wealth to bare on whatever problems you have. I will fix my favor upon you now and forever to bless you and help you live up to my name!

This is what grace does Church! It puts sin beneath us!

We started out this morning asking how Jesus would respond to your weakness. The answer is, if you know Him, He’s got grace for you. Grace that will bring the active favor of God into your life to bless you, transform you and accomplish for you what you never could alone!

That’s how Jesus responds to our weakness. He puts His relationship with us over everything else and says He’ll treat us gently and with love. Love as God defines it, which is always about building us up in His goodness and righteousness!

If that’s what we can expect from Jesus, then don’t you think that ought to be how we treat one another as well.

That’s why the leaders at the Church have put grace and this identity statement on our target. Because Jesus gives us grace, we will be a people the treats weakness with gentleness and love. We will treat others the way Jesus treats us!

We will be an active force of favor in the lives of our brothers and sisters to build them up with gentleness and always in love.

This means we’ll call out sin and call people to move beyond it, not in judgement but simply because it’s beneath us, it doesn’t fit for children of the king.

We will be ruggedly committed to one another unto the likeness of Christ, and when one of us fails to measure up, well we’ll go to each other and seek to restore one another with gentleness and love.

We are a people who treat weakness with gentleness and love.