No Condemnation
Notes
Transcript
If I had to take a guess, I would imagine most people in this room over 30 knows exactly what this image is.
This was a culture-defining moment, a trial that to this day lives in infamy as one of the most debated trials in modern history ending as a tragic blow to justice in the eyes of most people.
For those of you who don’t know what this image is, this is a man named O.J. Simpson.
And not to make some of you feel really old in this room, O.J. Simpson was arrested 1994, back when I was less than one year old.
And the arrest happened because his ex-wife Nicole and his friend Ronald we’re found dead, and after missing his voluntary surrender, OJ ran in his white Ford Bronco, resulting in his eventual capture in his own driveway.
And OJ was charged with first-degree murder.
O.J.’s trail would start at the beginning of the following year, 1995, and would proceed for 8 long months as the entire world watched with bated breath…
As the attorneys battled back and forth attempting to defend their client, attempting to find justice for Nicole and Ronald…
As they tried to sway to jury one way or another,
Truly, no one knew what the outcome would be.
I mean, everyone new OJ was guilty, but would the court uphold that? Was there enough evidence to actually condemn OJ Simpson, the great celebrity football player, of these murders?
Well, that’s where this photo comes into play.
Because at this pivotal moment in the case, the phrase that will never be forgotten, I’m sure you know it…
“If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit”
See, these bloody gloves were found at the crime scene, and the logic that the lawyers presented was “if these gloves don’t fit, they can’t be OJ’s, therefore they are someone elses”
I mean, I’m no forensic expert….but it looks like the gloves fit to me….
But anyway, not the point…
The gloves didn’t fit, so the court and the jury decided “not guilty”
This man walked out of that courtroom free.
There was no jail time, there was no criminal fine, nothing. He was found innocent, no condemnation.
Even though the evidence in the public eye was overwhelming, even though OJ literally fled the scene in a cop chase,
OJ will won’t be remembered as the man who went to jail, he won’t be remembered as the first running back to break 2,000 yards in a season in the NFL…
No. OJ Simpson will forever be the man who got away with murder.
And in a way, this is our reality too.
Our passage starts this morning with: therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus…
If your identity is in Christ, if you are a follower of Christ this morning,
You are the one who got away. Scott free.
You walked out of that courtroom, heaps of guilty evidence, everyone looking at you knowing you shouldn’t be leaving the jail,
Except theres one major difference…
It’s that justice was upheld. And there was someone who had to pay the price. And there is atonement that we receive, someone made amends with the party that was wronged,
But it wasn’t our persuasion to the jury that convinced the judge, it was Jesus Christ who stepped up in our place.
And Romans 8:1-4 is one of the clearest statements of this in all of the new testament,
So, let’s start his morning with some of the best news, the best gospel that’s ever been written down…
Therefore, There is No Condemnation
Therefore, There is No Condemnation
What a wonderful note.
Here’s what it says:
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,
Now, that word condemnation, I think we take it for granted a lot of times, you can even argue that it’s a bit of Christianese when we use it in everyday conversation…
But what condemnation is translated from in the Greek is katakrima.
And this word, it isn’t ambiguous, in fact, I use 5-6 different english translations every time I write a sermon,
usually words are translated differently in a few of them,
But not this one. This one, across every translation I read, it’s identical.
Condemnation.
And this is a very legal term, it’s entirely judicial, and it doesn’t just mean to hand the offending party a guilty verdict, or to let them know, to condemn them verbally,
It’s also to carry out and punish that guilty party. In other words, there is no death-sentence for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And remember our first rule of correct interpretation - if theres a therefore, you have to ask what it’s there for!
This therefore is connecting back to the argument that Paul is building, and it’s mostly from chapters 5-7…
It starts like this, I’ll give you the sparknotes:
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.
So there’s our problem, sin is spread to all people…
16 And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation, but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification.
Then, at the end of chapter 7, Paul writes:
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
You know, I used to be the stereotypical band nerd. I played the sousaphone, and my entire high school life revolved around marching band, and competitions, football games, basketball games,
And the key to music, as I found out, it’s not the notes themselves or how in tune a band is, although those things help…
It’s something called dynamics. Essentially, it’s how loud and soft a musical piece is, a high dynamic ranges has highs and lows and it keep the emotions rolling,
And there’s this thing music, hang with me I promise this is going somewhere, called a crescendo.
It’s a note in the music where you build, you get louder and louder overtime, until the finale where you let lose.
Romans 8:1 is the crescendo of Paul’s argument.
He spends all this time saying how horrible to world is, how were all infected with this thing called sin that leads to death,
How no one is righteous, not the gentile, not the Jew, everyone has offended God with their lives…
And then he says Jesus is Lord, and therefore, we are no longer condemned.
We are no longer a prisoner on death row. We aren’t simply on this earth to wait for our final sentencing,
No, there is no more guilt, or being bound to sin, we are free.
The crescendo to living our true lives in Christ.
And this naturally leads us to the reason this is true, which is the next connector word: because. This is what Paul writes:
2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
So, we are not condemned, if we are in Christ Jesus,
Because there is a law of the Spirit that is life. And that is contrasted with the law of sin, which is death.
What Paul is saying here, is we’ve traded laws.
Law of the Spirit vs. Law of Sin and Death
Law of the Spirit vs. Law of Sin and Death
Now, bear with me here, or rather bear with Paul here,
Because he’s using some word play.
What Paul doesn’t mean is there was the law of Moses that was sin and death, and now therefore there is a new law of Spirit where were all free and loving and happy and whatever.
That’s not what the law means in context here, rather…
It can be translated as a custom. It’s more of a general statement, not a proper noun.
You can read it as “the custom of the Spirit” or “the principle of the Spirit”, the “norm of sin a death” “what normally happens in sin, which is death”
I think you get the picture.
The law of the Spirit, by nature, is life.
Whereas the law of sin, by nature, is death.
And notice the characteristics of the law of the Spirit:
2 things: it was in Christ Jesus. IE, life in the spirit was in Jesus…
And it has set you free from the law of sin and death.
So, think of these two entities here: the Spirit, and Sin and Death.
One is God Himself, the other is the realm of evil, satan, however you want to characterize it,
Paul characterized it as sin and death.
So, we are either under the law of sin and death, or under the law of the life giving Spirit, which was in Jesus Christ.
If you’re in Christ, you’ve traded these laws.
Why is this so important? Why does Paul even go into so much detail about this?
Well, we need to continue the stair steps of argument that Paul presents, and our next big connecting word is the “for” that Paul writes starting in verse 3…
3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,
Okay, stop there. Here’s our next big idea, after we know now that there is no condemnation, because we are under a new Spirit power, or law, or characteristic,
The reason is….
The Law is Inadequate
The Law is Inadequate
Now, as is Paul’s wordplay this entire time, he switches back to actually indeed talking about the Law, the Mosaic law that remember the Jews were trying to impart on the gentiles as they’re coming back to Rome after a 5 year exile.
The law, God’s covenant with Israel, Paul says would not free anyone from sin and death…
Why?
Because it was weakened by the flesh.
What on earth does that mean?
Well, we should clarify our statement here that the law is inadequate.
Because if the law itself is bad, that means God created something bad and gave the Israelites something bad.
I think we can agree that that’s not the solution here.
In fact, Paul directly writes against this notion:
Take a look at the third chapter of Galatians with me…
21 Is the law therefore contrary to God’s promises? Absolutely not! For if the law had been granted with the ability to give life, then righteousness would certainly be on the basis of the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin’s power, so that the promise might be given on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe.
You see, what made the law inadequate was not the inadequacy of the good law, but the inadequacy of us.
Of our fleshly being.
Of our sin nature.
Paul brings this into sharp focus when he writes:
18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. 19 For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.
This is why the law is inadequate and weakened:
We have no ability to do it.
We have no ability to truly will ourselves to follow the law, to do the things that God wants…
See, the law, if it comes from God, it can only work on the Spirit.
It can’t work on someone operating in sin and death, under that law, under those pretenses,
Because that’s not how it was designed.
It was designed to work on a Spirit level, not a flesh level.
And you may be thinking: but wait, Seth, I thought you just said we’re under no condemnation, and we traded our law for the Spirit law, and were all good now,
And yes, you were listening well, and good job,
But keep reading.
3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,
4 in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Here’s the moral of the story:
We Could Not, But God Could
We Could Not, But God Could
Ironically, as God gives us the law, he gives the Israelites the law that is supposed to connect us with his prescense,
That couldn’t fully happen unless God fulfilled our side of the deal.
Because the only person that can satisfy God is God.
This is the importance of the incarnation,
That Jesus came down from heaven and took on the likeness of us, of humanity, of our sinful flesh it says,
And because Jesus was perfect and perfectly in the Spirit
The law could finally work.
What humanity could not, Jesus Christ did.
Jesus Christ showed us what it’s fully like to be the humans we’re supposed to be,
Opposing sin and flesh, conquering sinful desires, doing the perfect will of the Father in heaven…
Being a perfect image bearer of the creator.
And Jesus, being perfect, unblemished by flesh and sin,
He was put on the altar as a final sin offering.
He was put in our place,
He told the jury - don’t worry they’re innocent.
Yes, the gloves fit. Yes, there’s blood on their hands. Yes, they are guilty.
But they can walk out of this courtroom without condemnation.
I forgive them, and I will take their penalty.
I will take their condemnation.
21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Lord save us if our theology gets any more complicated than that.
And let me tell you why that’s called the gospel,
It’s because
We Are Free to Walk in Righteousness
We Are Free to Walk in Righteousness
I know there’s still a question most of you have right now,
I know it because this is a question I wrestle with all then time.
If I’m truly saved, why do I still sin?
If I’m free, why am I still feeling chained to sin and death?
Well, I think we need to reframe what it is to be saved.
Because nowhere in the Bible, especially in the new testament, does it say you’ll stop struggling with sin.
That you won’t mess up.
No, here’s what it says:
You are no longer condemned.
Why?
Because the spirit-law had set you free.
How?
Because God did what you cannot.
See, evil and satan, they want you to be trapped in your sin.
They want you to question your salvation, because that’s indirectly questioning God’s power.
And That’s all Satan needs to get you off course.
And to me, satan and all the spiritual beings, I think they’re rather smart.
The serpent is described as cunning, very sharp.
And I think they’ve had enough time to leaf through the Bible, if they’ve read it, to understand the ending.
And the ending is they’ve been defeated.
They know it… they’re aware…. they aren’t dumb.
19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
And my question has always been “why do they still try?”
And then it occured to me:
Have you ever seen someone evicted from a rental house?
Maybe squatters that are told to get out?
Maybe someone who steals a car?
What happens every time?
It’s found completley trashed.
Destroyed. After the joy ride ends, the car is crashed.
The house has cement poured down the drains, feces on the walls, broken windows and doors….
For no other reason than retribution, chaos, and destruction.
The evil spiritual beings, they know this.
They know they’re squatting in someone else’s house,
they are unwelcome parties in a kingdom that doesn’t belong to them,
The ship is going down and they are going to take as many people with them to the watery depths that they possibly can.
And they’re trying hard to make you feel condemned.
Because that same law of sin and death, that is what they’re under.
But not you.
You are not condemned,
But look at who is!
3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,
Sin itself is condemned. Death is condemned.
13 Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them; each one was judged according to their works. 14 Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Death was defeated when Jesus walked out of the grave.
Church, don’t forget that.
Don’t forget that Jesus said it is fininshed.
And what God says, is.
It’s not up for debate, it’s not a “wait and see if it comes true” kind of thing.
It is.
And Jesus said it is finished.
And that means, if we are in Christ, our sin actually changes.
Because Paul doesn’t say we’ll stop sinning, in fact, chapter 7 highlights why we can’t stop.
Whether we are under the law of the spirit or of sin and death,
We will sin either way until Jesus comes back to establish his final reign.
What happens is…
Our Sin Becomes and Offense to God
Our Sin Becomes and Offense to God
Now, don’t get me wrong, sin is always an offense to God whether you are in Christ or not.
But, before we declare our faith in Jesus, before we declare him Lord, before we are “in Christ”,
We are not set free, and we are under the law of sin and death.
That means our character, our nature is sin.
It is, by default, everything we do, is an offense to God, but it’s right in line with our nature.
After we declare allegiance to Jesus, after we enter into his kingdom, after we are now under a new Kingship,
We are under the law of the spirit.
There is no condemnation, we have freedom, we are serving God.
And most people see that as a simple get out of jail free card,
A new life, the slate is free, all my sin is forgiven, I can continue living however I want because my sin no longer matter,
But this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Because now, sin isn’t our nature. Now, we aren’t serving death.
We’ve been attoned for, blood has been spilled on our behalf,
And what I’m arguming this morning
Is if you can look at all that, and look up to your savior on the cross, and go on doing as you please and sinning because your slate is wiped,
How much worse is your sin now than it used to be?
How much more offensive is it to God to sin how, in a conversion state,
How much more heartbreaking is it to our Good God that we say “thanks for sending your son to die for me, but I’d rather do this instead”
How much worse is it to defile the house and family that your Father adopted you into willingly and lovingly.
It’s the same picture as the Israelites, who coming out of slavery in Egypt,
They get a little hungry and thirsty, and they look up at God and say “take us back, we would rather be in slavery, we would rather have our wives taken away, our sons backs broken in slavery, than to be with you.”
Our sin says the same thing to God.
I would rather be under the law of sin and death than to be with you.
I would rather die than be with you.
This is mindset we must change. This is where the lie that we stand condemned needs to be infiltrated with the truth….
Because our lives need to change from sinning, to delighting God.
Our Lives Should Delight God
Our Lives Should Delight God
If we have traded our old lives of sin and death for God,
We need to stop sinning, yes, as Jesus said,
But more importantly, we need to live to delight God.
Our worry is no longer being guilty, our worry is displeasing our Lord.
Our Father.
I think this changes how we think about stopping sin, and it changes how we act,
We aren’t constantly trying to stop.
Trying to get our of jail, trying to stop being bound by sin,
That’s all done for us.
Our path, in true freedom, then, becomes striving to please God.
When the Pharisees catch the women in adultery, this is how Jesus handles the situation:
10 When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]
Church, if you are clinging to Jesus Christ this morning,
There is no one standing to condemn you.
What we need to do, then, is to stop believing that lie.
We need to stop focusing on the acts of sin, we need to stop focusing on stopping sin in our power,
Because that just isn’t possible.
What we need to do is walk in righteousness, and aim to please our creator.
Because sin, now, is simply disobeying our king. Nothing more, nothing less.
And how do we please our King?
Well, as Paul says, we can’t. Only God can.
Remember, only God can please Himself, which is what Jesus did.
By walking perfectly in the Spirit,
And when Paul writes:
4 in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
That’s what we need to do. We need to walk in the Spirit.
We need to let the Spirit work in us.
Because that’s the only way to please God.
That’s the only way God can delight in us, is if we are under complete control of the Spirit.
16 I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Friends, we are guilty.
The law does not work on us.
But Jesus fulfilled the law, so we are free to please our creator because of the Spirit in us.
Isn’t this such a better way to live?
Pleasing God, rather than being chained to our sin that we are powerless to stop?
Doesn’t this seem like an easy burden, and a light yoke, because Jesus Christ bears it for us?
So, my challenge to you,
Change you mindset from “how can I stop sinning”
To
“How can I please God?” “How does this action, this conversation, this thought, how does it please God”
Invite the Spirit to take over,
And watch sin slowly dissapear.
Let’s pray.
