Sermon Tone Analysis

1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 "because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

3 "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.”

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Today we’re going to come to one of the greatest chapters in all of Scripture.

Romans chapter 8.

But before we get into the particulars of we really need to set the context for the chapter.

So this is a very important message.

Because if you don’t understand what the Apostle Paul’s motivation was for writing it, you’ll misunderstand and misapply the Scripture.

Jesus makes an amazing statement in John chapter 17.

He is praying to His Father and He says,

"Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

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Sanctify means to be set apart.

Christ, as our High Priest, prays that we might be set apart from this world, the world system.

And the method laid down by Christ, in His prayer is God’s Word.

The truth of God’s Word actually makes us more and more like Christ, separated from the world and unto our heavenly Father.

The whole of the word, everything in the Bible ministers to our sanctification.

You cannot read truly about God Himself, in His being and His Person, without its promoting your sanctification.

The doctrine of God, the

doctrine of sin, the

law of God, the

doctrine of punishment, of

judgment and of hell—

all that is truth and points in the direction of sanctification;

udgment and of hell—all that is truth and points in the direction of sanctification; it is the whole truth.

it is the whole truth.

Romans chapters 6-8 deal with the doctrine of sanctification, in a very explicit manner.

Paul has just spent the first five chapters telling us how sinful people are made right with God.

Turn with me please to where we are introduced to God.

We see here about creation testifying to God’s glory and power.

"For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.

As a result, people are without excuse.”

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If you’ve ever stood at the edge of a canyon and seen the birds swooping below you

and the clouds stretched out over your head, or

if you’ve ever stood in a field and felt a tiny rush of fear as you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in over the horizon,

then you know what this means.

There is something about the grandeur of creation that calls out to the human heart, saying, “You are not all there is!”

The world itself isn’t ultimate.

The world sprang from the mind, word, and hand of God Almighty.

We are not the result of random chance and genetic mutations, gene re-assortments, and chromosomal accidents.

We are created!

Every one of us is the result of an idea, a plan, and an action of God himself.

And that brings both meaning and responsibility to human life ().

None of us is autonomous, and understanding that fact is key to understanding the gospel.

Despite our constant talk of rights and liberty,

we are not really as free as we would like to think.

We are created.

We are made.

And therefore

we are owned.

Because he created us, God has the right to tell us how to live.

So in the garden of Eden, he told Adam and Eve which trees were theirs to eat from, and which they could not eat ().

It’s not that God was acting like a child on a power trip, bossing his little brother around and making arbitrary rules just to see what would happen.

No, the Bible tells us that God is good.

He knew what was best for his people, and

He gave them laws that would preserve and

increase their happiness and well-being.

Some understanding of this is absolutely necessary if a person wants to understand the good news of Christianity.

The gospel is God’s response to the bad news of sin, and sin is a person’s rejection of God’s Creator-rights over him.

Thus the fundamental truth of human existence, the well from which all else flows, is that

God created us, and therefore

God owns us.

There’s another truth communicated to us in .

18 "For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,” ()

Because he created us, God has the right to tell us how to live.

So in the garden of Eden, he told Adam and Eve which trees were theirs to eat from, and which they could not eat ().

It’s not that God was acting like a child on a power trip, bossing his little brother around and making arbitrary rules just to see what would happen.

No, the Bible tells us that God is good.

He knew what was best for his people, and he gave them laws that would preserve and increase their happiness and well-being.

We are accountable to God.

Some understanding of this is absolutely necessary if a person wants to understand the good news of Christianity.

The gospel is God’s response to the bad news of sin, and sin is a person’s rejection of God’s Creator-rights over him.

Thus the fundamental truth of human existence, the well from which all else flows, is that God created us, and therefore God owns us.

With his very first words, Paul insists that humanity is not autonomous.

We did not create ourselves, and we are neither self-reliant nor self-accountable.

No, it is God who created the world and everything in it, including us.

Because He created us, God has the right to demand that we worship Him.

Look what Paul says in verse

21 "For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude.

Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened.”

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Second, Paul tells his readers that their problem is that they rebelled against God.

They—along with everyone else—did not honor God and give thanks to him as they should have.

Their foolish hearts were darkened and they

"and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.”

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For most of the next three chapters Paul presses this point, indicting all humanity as sinners against God.

In chapter 1 his focus is on the Gentiles, and then in chapter 2 he turns just as strongly toward the Jews.

n chapter 1 his focus is on the Gentiles, and then in chapter 2 he turns just as strongly toward the Jews.

It’s as if Paul knows that the most self-righteous of the Jews would have been applauding his lashing of the Gentiles, so he pivots on a dime in 2:1 and points his accusing finger at the applauders: “Therefore you have no excuse”!

Just like Gentiles, he says, Jews have broken God’s law and are under his judgment.

It’s as if Paul knows that the most self-righteous of the Jews would have been applauding his

lashing of the Gentiles,

so he pivots on a dime in 2:1 and points his accusing finger at the applauders: “Therefore you have no excuse”!

Just like Gentiles, he says, Jews have broken God’s law and are under his judgment.

By the middle of chapter 3, Paul has indicted every single person in the world with rebellion against God.

9 "What then?

Are we any better off?

Not at all!

For we have already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin,” ()

And his sobering conclusion is that when we stand before God the Judge, every mouth will be silenced.

No one will mount a defense.

Not one excuse will be offered.