No Condemnation

Intro

Many regard Romans 8 to be the greatest chapter in the entire bible and verse one to be the greatest verse in chapter 8. We are going to revisit verses 1-3 tonight and hopefully make it further into chapter 8, my goal is to make it through verse 13 that way next week we can get into what Paul calls the spirit of adoption then the week after that the conclusion of chapter 8, what some call the believer’s triumph. Remember Paul is transitioning into the part of this letter where he is making implications. “If the gospel is true, then how does affect the way we ____.”

No Condemnation for the Believer

The Apostle Paul starts Romans 8 with the word therefore reflects all the way back to Romans 3. So everything they Paul has discussed from chapter 3 up until the end of chapter 7 he is now concluding because of that chapter 8 is true. In chapter 7 Paul wrestles with the reality of sin. Even those that know Christ still battle with sin on a regular basis. What is there for a believer that still sins. Paul makes this statement in Romans 5:1 as a positive, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now he is making this statement as a negative, “There is now NO condemnation.”

Therefore there is now... This signifies a place and time. What this means is that there was a time when man even believers were under condemnation. There are people now that we interact with regularly whether friends or family that are currently under condemnation. Scripture mentions those without a relationship with Jesus as being under God’s wrath. This also answers a question from chapter 7. If the believer continues to do that which he or she does not want to do, sin, how much wrath do they experience?

Therefore there is now no... Paul’s answer to this is that there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. This means that there is no condemnation because of previous sins committed. This is a concept that many have a hard time coming to agreement with. “You do not know the things that I have done in my life.” And this is true but that does not mean that God does not know what you have done. And though He knows what you have done He still loves you so there is no condemnation for those previously committed sins. What is more difficult for especially believers to grasp is that there is no condemnation for the sins they will commit. To the believer it is usually easier to comprehend that Christ died for my past but now that I follow Christ there is no excuse. What makes this so difficult is it is partially true. For the believer they no longer have to sin for those who are apart from a relationship with Christ, under God’s wrath, they have no choice but to sin. The difference for the believer is mercy. Wrath is one of those things people have a hard time grasping. “How can a good God display wrath because I have made a few mistakes?” We know that this is deception from the enemy because no one goes through life making a few mistakes.

Tim Keller “We need not only to repent of the things we do wrong but also for all the reasons we have ever done anything right.”

Lost people do good things or things that at least appear good on the surface but are rooted in self gratification seeking the glorification of creation rather than Creator.

Matt Chandler put it well stating that God’s wrath is not separated from His love. His love is actually the reason for His wrath and ultimately His wrath was taken out on Jesus so that we would not have to experience it. He also said that no one is under God’s wrath except for those who choose to be. There is no, “I’m just doing my own thing,” no you are either under God’s wrath or God’s mercy.

A good friend of mine, Matthew Jacobs, said, “The love of God cannot be magnified until the wrath of a God is satisfied.”

So to the believer this verse is the greatest news in all the world. Better news than winning the lottery or yes even better than finding out that you are going to have a baby. This verse is the reason Christians sing, our greatest fear has been conquered. However, as exciting as this is for the believer this verse is a curse to those apart from Christ. The good news of Christ does not come apart from the bad news of sin. Paul says that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus but for those who are not in Christ Jesus there is condemnation.

Verse 2 Paul brings up two different laws. The law of the Spirit of Life in a Christ Jesus and the law of Sin and Death. Like we previously mentioned these are not so much laws and more like principles. He is following up verse 1 by concluding those who are under God’s wrath are under the law or principle of sin and death and those who are under God’s mercy are set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit.

Then in verse 3 Paul says that the law was weakened by the flesh. So in other words it is not the law’s fault but instead it is what the law has to work with, our flesh. What the law could not do God did. How did He do it? By condemning sin in the flesh. Who’s flesh? His own Son that He sent in the likeness of sinful flesh. What does it mean to have the likeness of sinful flesh? This means that God sent Jesus came as a man with all of the characteristics of man minus the sinful nature. So God the Father sent Jesus the Son as s sin offering, this is how God did what the law could not do.

Verse 4 answers why God did this, “In order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled.” What is the law’s requirement? Back in the OT when the priest would offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins it had to be a perfect spotless animal; it could not have any deformity or flaw. This is what Paul means by the law’s requirement would be fulfilled. The law’s requirement is perfection, therefore Christ has to be our substitution because we could not fulfill the law’s requirement. The law’s requirement is fulfilled in those of us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Mindset of the Believer

The law’s requirement is fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit not those who walk according to the flesh according to verse 5 because those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh just like those who live according Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.

What is the mindset of the flesh? According to Paul in verse 6 the mindset of the flesh is death. On the contrast the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace.

Paul goes on in verse 7 to say that the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God. How is it hostile to God? Because it does not submit to God’s law. This sounds on the surface like a rule following type deal but Paul then says that they do not submit to God’s law not because they do not like to follow rules but because they are unable to. So what he is referring to is the bondage that sin has over man. People like to say, “Oh we have free will,” when in reality the only thing we ever freely choose is sin. We make choices yes we are not robots but apart from divine intervention our choices will always default to sin.

Verse 8 affirms this, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” The writer of Hebrews put it like this, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God.” The text does not say without faith it is highly unlikely to please God, no it is impossible. This is not a Dumb and Dumber moment, “Are you saying there’s a chance?” No, there is not a chance. Without faith it is impossible to please God, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Mark of the Believer

Paul does not leave his readers there though. He then says, “You however, are not in the flesh.” So there is a chance because his readers are not in the flesh. This gives the implication that they are in the Spirit IF indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. So the requisite for pleasing God is not being in the flesh and in order for that to take place you must be in the Spirit and this is only possible if the Spirit of God lives in you. In order to be in the Spirit there is not a list of things you must accomplish like memorizing the entire NT, or pray 23 times per day, even though those are good things. No, what is required to be in the Spirit is for the Spirit to be in you. Alternatively, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.”

Verse 10 “Now if Christ is in you the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.” So the Spirit gives life because of righteousness, not because of man’s righteousness but the righteousness of Christ inputed to the believer.

Paul gives another condition in verse 11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.” The way you tell if the Spirit lives in you is if you are raised from the dead just like Christ was raised from the dead. Well that is all fine and dandy but if I wait until I die to see if I am raised from the dead is not that a tad too late? You are correct and I was going to leave you there and that is where the section stops but I thought that would be the worst cliff hanger ever!

Verse 12, “So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh.” So this means that those who are believers, those who are in the spirit, are not longer obligated to live according to the flesh, they are no longer obligated to live in sin. Yes you will still sin but there is another way. “This is the way,” only the way of Mandalore cannot do anything in light of salvation. Those who are in Christ no longer have to sin.

Verse 13, “Because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die,” is that not comforting? This is what a lot of believers struggle with, if I am in Christ Jesus why do I continue to do the same sins over and over? Then they conclude that they must not be in the Spirit but in the flesh. However, here is the main thing that tells whether or not you are in the Spirit, “But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” What is required to be in the Spirit? Put to death the things of the body, put to death the flesh. Not physical, that appointment has already been set, 100% of people will die a physical death if Christ does not return in our lifetime. What Paul is talking about it putting to death the deeds of the body, the deeds of sin.

Are you going to sin? Yes. Will you struggle with sin if you are a believer? Yes. But that is the key to all of this. Do you struggle with sin? Or does sin have complete control over your life? How can you be convinced you are in Christ Jesus despite continuously falling into the same sin over and over? The one in the flesh does not care because sin is their master. How do you address sin? Do you acknowledge it for what it is or do you make excuses for why you do it? Do you adopt a mindset geared around the sin in your life or is your mindset shaped by God’s grace? If you are under condemnation there is no peace in your life, regardless of how many times you tell yourself that you are better than Billy down the street. If I am just accepted for my sexual choices whether it be preferences of who I go to bed with, or who I go to bed as. The biggest lie told to the LGBTQ community is that they will be happy if they are just accepted when in reality they are more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the population. How is that possible? As a nation we are more accepting of these individuals than ever before. The reason for this is they find their identity in sex not in Christ, they worship the creation rather than the Creator. And they are not the only ones in that boat, anyone finding their value, self worth, purpose in life apart from Jesus are in that same sinking ship. Then people in the church want to line these people up as target practice when they should be objects of our pity and love. Al Mohler said in his book, We Cannot be Silent, that the church has gotten to the point that if a homosexual walked up to them and asked how to become a Christian the church goer would not have an answer for them. Are distortions of the order in which God created us to be accepted? Absolutely not. But the solution for the gay person is not to become straight it is Jesus. The solution for the transgender is not to identify with the gender that God created them it is Jesus. The solution for the porn addict is not to stop watching porn it is Jesus. You can fill in the blank with anything, drugs, alcohol, binging Netflix, gossip, etc. The solution is not to fix the problem your self because you can not, the solution is found in Christ Jesus. Only through the Spirit living in you can you put to death these things so if that is you and you have fought your sin on your own, stop, repent, and let Jesus fight it for you. If you are a believer and you have allowed sin to creep into your life and you acknowledge what it is but you deal with it nonchalantly, you need to put that sin in your life to death. Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. Yes you are going to struggle with sin but struggle with it do not let it creep in. This is one of the reasons we have our church body to hold each other accountable. This is not a very popular role of the church now days. We like to pretend everyone is perfect inside these doors and in a lot of cases it has gotten to the point that no one wants to verbalize their sinful struggles out of fear of what everyone else will think. We need to be a youth group and a church that is able to look at one another and expose blindspots in each others lives. If Bro. William sees me with another woman down at Big Mikes he should not just brush it aside. Put sin to death in your life.

Regardless of which scenario of those two your are in we want to invite you to get that right with the Lord and if need be make it public before the church. If you have never taken that step and followed Christ as your Lord and Savior we want to talk to you about what that looks like. If you are a follower and you have not followed in believer’s baptism that needs to take place. Maybe you are struggling with sin and you need someone to pray with you and hold you accountable we would love to talk with you and help you through that.