The Experience of the New Way EBC

Rom. 8:1-13 8/26/07

Paul has just finished explaining the law that hold the carnal to bondage. Now he explains the removal of all of that. This chapter presents a glorious display of the power of Divine grace, and of the provision which God has made for the consolation of His people.

John MacArthur- Man is not simply influenced by sin but is completely overpowered by it, and no one can escape that dominance by his own effort. Sin is a defiling disease that corrupts every person, degrades every individual, disquiets every soul. It steals peace and joy from the heart and replaces them with trouble and pain. Sin is implanted in every human life, and its deadly force brings a universal depravity that no man can cure. Such is the condition of every individual born into the world, and it is in light of that dreadful condition that Paul proclaims in Romans 8:1–4 the unspeakably wonderful truth about those who, by grace working through faith, belong to Jesus Christ.

One of the greatest tradegies of sin is that it blinds the mind.

He now tells us there is a way of escape- “thru our Lord Jesus Christ”. He gives us some practical realities:

The law reveals and condemns but does not empower.

I. Our New Code (8:1-4)

A. There is no more condemnation because of sin (1)

1. Condemnation- damnatory sentence. It has to do with the adverse judgment of God against sin.

a. Robert Mounce- The just penalty incurred by the sins of the human race was paid by the death of Christ. The unfavorable verdict has been removed.

2. At salvation Jesus did this:

a. 1 John 1:9- not only does he pay my sin debt but he cleanses “of all unrightousness”.

b. Eph. 1:11- shares with us his inheritance

3. In Christ- Martin Luther explains it this way: It is impossible for a man to be a Christian without having Christ, and if he has Christ, he has at the same time all that is in Christ. What gives peace to the conscience is that by faith our sins are no more ours, but Christ’s, upon whom God hath laid them all; and that, on the other hand, all Christ’s righteousness is ours, to whom God hath given it. Christ lays His hand upon us, and we are healed. He casts His mantle upon us, and we are clothed; for He is the glorious Savior, blessed for ever.

a. John Phillips – The expression “in Christ” is one of Paul’s favorites. To be “in Christ” is to be in a sphere where God’s wrath can never touch us. Example – Noah and the Ark.

4. He didn’t say, no more sin, no more mistakes – He said No more condemnation. The Law brought condemnation, the spirit brings life.

B. No more control by Sin (2)

1. The freedom that Christ gives is complete and permanent deliverance from sin’s power and penalty (and ultimately from its presence). It also gives the ability to obey God.

a. Kenneth Weust -The law here is not a written law but a regulative principle which exercises a control over the life of the believer. This regulative control over his life is exercised by the Holy Spirit. This control is in the form of the energy given the believer both to desire and to do God’s will, this energy coming from the life that God is, which in the believer is given him by reason of his position in Christ Jesus.

a. Rom. 6:6,14, 18-

b. Gal. 3:21-24-

C. There is no more continuance in sin (3-4)

1. Rom. 7:18- this is our life apart from the Holy Spirit. Not the man down the street, but us. The Holy Spirit is now able to do the impossible – makes something out of nothing to make a holy life out of something weak.

2. You and I are able to lead a holy life based on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

a. The Law is no stronger than the flesh. God’s law commands righteousness, but it cannot provide the means to achieve that righteousness. Therefore what the law was unable to do for fallen man God did himself.

3. John MacArthur- Those who trust in Christ not only are saved from the penalty of sin but also are able for the first time to fulfill God’s righteous standards. The flesh of a believer is still weak and subject to sin, but the inner person is remade in the image of Christ and has the power through His Spirit to resist and overcome sin.

The only hope men have for salvation from their sin is in their trust in the offering for sin that Christ Himself made at Calvary. And when He became that offering, He took upon Himself the penalty of death for the sins of all mankind. In his commentary on Romans, the nineteenth-century Scottish evangelist Robert Haldane wrote, “We see the Father assume the place of judge against His Son, in order to become the Father of those who were His enemies. The Father condemns the Son of His love, that He may absolve the children of wrath.