Tonight, I turn your attention to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, not an unfamiliar chapter to us, one that we know very well. I want to consider with you verse 1. We'll read together the first 17 verses, but considering together verse 1 of Romans chapter 8. We know that Paul is coming off that chapter 7 where he talks about struggling with sin even with a born-again heart. And after talking about that struggle with sin, he says, What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? And then he gives the answer, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And then as he comes into chapter 8, he begins with this powerful verse. Hear now the Word of God. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemns sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. But those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, and yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship, and by him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we may also share in His glory. Beloved in Christ the Lord, think of a prisoner, a prison inmate on death row. Boys and girls, one who has been tried and convicted for a particular crime, one who has been found guilty and is sentenced, not just to life in prison, but sentenced to death, sentenced to die. that one is in a hopeless, a helpless situation. And as you think about that one, what would be the best possible news that one could ever hear? It would be of a pardon, right? And you may not know what a pardon is, I'll tell you in a second, but not just any pardon, a full and complete pardon. That means to not only have the execution stopped, no longer will he be put to death, but he is also set free. He is taken out from behind those prison bars and set free. And even more than that, the record is erased as if he had never committed the crime. That would be the greatest, most valuable gift that prison inmate could ever receive. And people of God, that is a glimpse of what God's grace is like. That points to what Paul teaches in this text before us. This text, you see, is the most glorious statement that the believer could ever hear. You see, the amazing puzzle of the Christian life is that this life is a picture of the contrast between what it is we deserve and what it is we receive. We deserve eternal death, but we receive everlasting life. In this text, we find Paul's powerful proclamation of a full pardon. He says, therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That one simple statement, you see, is the message of the Gospel. That one statement describes the outcome or the effect or we might say the application of the saving work of Jesus Christ for those who belong to Him. And Paul teaches here that that full pardon is first of all because of a new status. Therefore, there is now no condemnation. That new status is no condemnation. But you see, we cannot help but notice that in that statement of a new status, there's also a reminder of the oldest status. there was condemnation. We were condemned because of sin. And the amazing thing is that we still struggle with sin and that's why this message is so very comforting. We struggle as we mentioned, Paul points out in chapter 7 that he talks about the sin that remains in him against his renewed will. He doesn't do the good that he wants to do. Instead, he does the evil that his new heart hates, that he doesn't want to do. And he confesses that his hope is only in Christ. Praise be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And we too as believers, congregation, we must confess that our flesh is still subject to the effects of sin. We get sick, we get old, we die. And we still struggle with the results of sin all around us in this life. and we must confess that the old man of sin in each one of us is not yet completely gone. There are times when we too don't do the things that we know we should. The things that please God. The things that He commands. And there are other times that we do the things that we know God commands us to stay away from. And in chapter 6, verse 23, Paul also explains the deadliness of sin. When he says the wages of sin is death. And we know that that means death in every conceivable way. Spiritual death, physical death, leading ultimately to eternal death. And we also know that in the previous chapters, Paul has talked about sin and its results. And along with that, he talks about the law. And he makes it clear that the law is inadequate as a means of salvation. Even here in chapter 8, it was weak. What it could not do, God did. It was inadequate as a means of salvation. In fact, apart from the grace of God, he says the law only exaggerated sin. As he says in chapter 7, verse 7, what should we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not. Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law, for I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, Do not covet. You see, under the law, all men are condemned. But the law, as he says, seems to cause that sin to spring up in us. The things that we desire to do by nature, when the law says do not covet, then our sinful self wants to covet because that's part of our sinful nature. When the law says do not steal, Our simple nature desires to steal because that's part of our simple nature. The law was inadequate as a means of salvation, but instead revealed our sin. And what does it mean then to be condemned? Well, very simply, it means to have a verdict and a sentence against you. And in relation to the law of God, it means the curse of God's law is against us. We are guilty and the judgment and the sentence is eternal death. See, the old status is that there was condemnation. By nature, all of mankind, including us, each and every one is on eternity's death row. As Paul makes clear in chapter 5, verse 18. And that means that the judgment of God is against the sin of man. And that judgment is eternal death. It is eternal separation from God's blessing and His favor. That's the clear teaching of Scripture. The judgment of God against wicked man. Psalm 1 says the wicked will not stand in the judgment. Jesus says in John 3, verse 36, He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. It's all a part of being condemned. And along with that condemnation, we cannot overlook the Bible's description of hell. Boys and girls, you've heard it. The Bible describes hell as the place where the worm does not die. It's described as the place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's described as the place, it's called the lake of fire. And all of those things point to how terrible hell is. And we might even add that hell is the place where there is the fierce and the merciless wrath of Almighty God. Did you ever think about that? We're so used to the grace and the favor of God. But hell is the place where there is the fierce and the merciless wrath of Almighty God, which is unimaginable. Think about the anger of someone that has been against you. the worst anger you can ever remember that someone ever had against you. It cannot even begin to compare to the fierce and merciless wrath of God against those, against sinners in hell. You see, beloved, that's the future of the condemned sinner. And it's not a pretty sight. It's not a pleasant thought. it's terrifying. And it ought to be terrifying. I know that a number of you remember that classic sermon by Jonathan Edwards. I believe he preached it around 1740 or so. Sinners in the hands of an angry God. And as you read that sermon, kind of the picture we get there is of the sinner, you and me, dangling over the fire of hell. It describes hell's mouth wide open. drooling as it were, just waiting for the sinner to drop in. And Edwards makes clear that we are only kept out by God's pleasure. And he says that our wickedness is as a heavy load that continues to weigh us downward toward that open mouth of hell, right into the teeth of hell. And He also says that any virtue we might have, any righteousness at all, all of our righteousness, He says, has no more influence to uphold us or keep us out of hell than a spider's web is able to stop a stone that is falling against it. You know what that means? A spider's web can't stop a stone. We were all but in hell. That's the old status, beloved. But Paul talks about the glory of the new status in such simple words, there is therefore now no condemnation. We are no longer under the curse of the law, but under the grace of God. Condemnation and everything that it means, as we have said, is gone. It's gone. It is no more. And we are given a full pardon. We have been plucked from the mouth of hell. And we are held safe and secure under the shadow of the Almighty's wings. And how comforting that is and is to be for the child of God, especially as we still struggle with sin in this life. That sin that remains in us against our renewed will. That sin that disturbs and even angers us at times. But that sin which by the grace of God doesn't ruin us. You see, with condemnation came punishment. But with full pardon, that punishment is removed. But not only is the death sentence stopped, there is freedom. Freedom. From the wages of sin, both from the guilt and from the enslaving power of sin, as Paul says in verse 2, being free from the law of sin and death, no longer bound by the power of sin. You see, no condemnation means being delivered from the power of death and every curse of the law because there is no sentence against God's people anymore. The very reason that there once was for the condemnation is gone. It's been removed. Wiped out. But not because of the saved sinner, we know. Paul doesn't say that in and of ourselves we are not worthy of condemnation. We are. He doesn't say that in and of ourselves there is no accusation against us, because there is. He doesn't say that there will never be affliction and suffering and chastening in our future, because we deal with it all the time, don't we? But instead, Paul powerfully proclaims the believer's full pardon that we have been set free from eternity's death row in the second place on account of a new position. There is no condemnation. Why? Because we have a new position and it is in Christ Jesus. And notice, it's not for the sinless because there are none. Paul says, in another place, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And this full pardon that he speaks of is not based on it. It's not determined by the conduct of the believer. It's not based on your conduct or my conduct because, as Isaiah says, even our best works are as filthy rags. And we know that because of our daily sin, we are to humble ourselves daily and bow before God's throne of grace, imploring Him for His forgiveness. But this full pardon is based on the believer's gracious position in Christ. It's for those who are in Christ Jesus. And what can we say about that position? Well, first of all, that it is a fixed position. It is a fixed position. The Greek word in is talking about that very thing, a fixed position. Once one is there, that one is never to be removed. That's the position of the believer in Christ, having been brought from, we might say, from outside of the sphere of His love and compassion and grace and saving work, to have been brought inside of the sphere of the love and the compassion and the saving work of Jesus Christ. Being in Him by faith. Believing and trusting in Him. In His saving sacrifice and receiving all the benefits of salvation earned by Him. It's a fixed position. But it's also a gracious position. I didn't put myself in Him. I didn't make myself believe in Him. I didn't decide that He was the best option among many. But it's the work of the Holy Spirit who transforms the hearts and lives of God's people who has delivered us from the cell of eternal darkness, that prison cell of eternal darkness, and brought us into the wonderful freedom of the light of the truth of God. He has changed our affections from hatred for this Jesus to an earnest love for Christ Jesus. It's a fixed position, a gracious position, but also a justified position. You see, beloved, the power of the law has been broken against the Christian because Jesus Christ kept that law perfectly, thus removing my crime of sin and offense. The power has been broken because Jesus Christ paid the law's penalty. The time has been served. The eternal punishment has been met. Jesus Christ has removed the curse and the condemning power of the law from His people and that law now only serves as a rule of gratitude for you and me by which we reflect God's holy character and through which others see that we belong to Him. Beloved, we are justified in the sight of God as Heidelberg Catechism Answers 60 so beautifully says, as if I had never committed nor had any sins and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me. Think of that inmate again. Not only is the death sentence stopped, not only is He released from behind bars, from behind the razor fence, but the crime is erased. That's full pardon for you and me as if I had never committed nor had any sins and myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me. Isn't that simply amazing? That God sees you and me in Christ Jesus that way. Oh, we know the truth, don't we? We know our sin and misery all too well, and so does God. But that's how He sees us, as if we are completely perfect. No condemnation is the result of justification, As Paul makes clear in Romans 5, verses 1 and 2, in Christ, God declares us. He says, you are not guilty. And your new status of no condemnation is because of your new position in Christ Jesus. And what does it mean to be in Christ? It means to enjoy a life of faith being grafted into Him by true faith that believes the whole Word of God that it's true for me too and trusting Him alone for salvation. Being in Christ means enjoying life in Him. Christ living in me like the branch being grafted into the vine, drawing life-giving nourishment from it. It means His life flowing through me so that my life is governed by Him. And that means that I cannot go one day without thinking about what Jesus Christ has done for me and how I can live for Him today through my thoughts and words and motives with my everything founded on Him. enjoying life in him beloved means that it's something that is conscious we consciously, actively, continually think on him and desire to be molded and shaped after his will life in him is also a life of sanctification that's the necessary outworking of justification, sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit which Paul gives a beautiful description of the work of the Holy Spirit in the following verses that we read And in chapter 12, we read that we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds. The Holy Spirit is busy and active, cleansing us from the pollution of sin. Making us more and more Christ-like. Being in Christ is life by the Spirit. As Paul says in verse 4, not living according to the sinful nature, the flesh, but living according to the Spirit. In Galatians 5, Paul lists both the fruit of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit and it's clear that they are complete opposites. They are opposed to each other. And to walk and live in the Spirit means to walk in newness of life, which is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and all those fruit of the Spirit that he talks about. To live, to walk in the Spirit means that one's motive for life and living is to be obedient to God. It means the believer's whole life is devoted to God and that the believer is not selfish for himself or herself, but is selfish for the Kingdom of God. Just like we said this morning that our boast is in Christ. We are selfish for the Kingdom of God. The believer understands that he is not his own but belongs to Jesus Christ all because the Holy Spirit lives in, dwells in them. But on the other hand, those who are not in Christ Jesus, as Paul makes clear, walk or live according to the flesh. And that means the very opposite. That means they seek to fulfill the sinful desires of the flesh. Those things that he also lists in Galatians 5. Immorality, idolatry, jealousy, anger, envy. The whole list of things that he has there. It means their motivation is to advance themselves at all costs because they do not care about the Kingdom of God. But instead, this life and what they can get out of it is most important. And beloved, what is the difference between those who live according to the Spirit and those who live according to the simple nature? Very simply, as Jesus says in John 3, verse 36, the difference is eternal life versus the wrath of God. To be in Christ means also a life of righteousness, as we already said, Christ's righteousness. That was Paul's comfort. In Philippians 2, verse 9, being found in Christ, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. Well, what then is the result of being in Christ? Two things for you to think of. First of all, it is a position of hope. That living hope that we speak of so often. That living hope characterized by both peace and fellowship with God as well as access to God. That is what the Lord's table represents. Peace and fellowship with God. And access to God. As Paul says in Romans 5, Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Through Jesus Christ, we enjoy reconciliation and fellowship with God and adoption by God. We call Him Abba, Father. But the second result that I ask you to think about of being in Christ is that it is an unending position. It's not temporary. There are no strings attached. We will never be retried. Never again will God's people be condemned. Our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west, and we are guaranteed that the Holy Spirit will indeed complete that work which He has begun. And Paul teaches that this is an unending position, especially throughout Romans chapter 8. He says, God will glorify those whom He predestined. He says, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. He says, nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Beloved, that is the truth of this full pardon for those who are in Christ Jesus. And you see, it couldn't be more clear and that's why it must be proclaimed powerfully because the opposite is also true that for those who are not in Christ Jesus there is condemnation they remain in that position that status of being condemned complete with the terrifying judgment of God that verdict of guilty that sentence of eternal death where the wages of sin will indeed be paid it will take them all eternity it will be never ending And the only way of escape is Jesus Christ, falling in humility before Him. Because as Acts 4 rightly says, There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we might be saved. This is such comfort for the believer. Again, imagine hearing the burden and the terror lifted for that pardoned inmate. A full pardon for Him. But as great as that is, it's only temporary for this life. And it does not begin to compare to the full pardon from eternal punishment and death that we enjoy in Christ Jesus. It is real and it is true. No matter what you have done. No matter how bad you have been. And that too is to be amazing to us. Because we know our sin. And maybe you're here tonight and you have that thought that God can't possibly forgive me. He can't possibly love me. I've simply been too bad. My life is in a shambles. I just don't live like I know He wants me to live. You need to hear Him say that His grace is greater than all of it. You want proof? He says, see, look, look at my table, see my table. He says, see by faith the blood of my Son shed for you. See by faith the body of my Son broken for you. Be not unbelieving, but believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And full pardon is yours. Beloved, as those who enjoy that full pardon, we live this life with joy-filled hearts. We live striving to serve God with gratitude, knowing that we will be free in Him forever, all because He saved a wretch like me. And the Holy Spirit testifies that truth to our hearts, and God gives us a visible guarantee of full pardon right here at the Lord's table. And therefore come, come, together, let's celebrate eternal freedom in Christ Jesus.