Well, I invite you to turn tonight to Romans Chapter 8. Romans Chapter 8 we concluded a few weeks back Chapter 7 and the Christian struggle in this life with, again, with indwelling sin. And now we move to Romans Chapter 8. I'd like to back up at verse 21, and then our text will be through 8 verse 4. Set the context here. So Romans 7, verse 21: let's give our attention tonight to the Word of the Lord.
"So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He condemns sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
And there will end the reading of God's Word.
Well, it's been a few weeks as we've looked at this glorious epistle to the Romans, and tonight we really do transition to such a glorious statement here in Romans Chapter 8 1 But one of the things that I'm continually reminded of with the Apostle Paul is how he never grew weary in preaching the Gospel. He always really wanted to get to the heart of his ministry and telling people about the good news the gospel and he really didn't tire of this. In fact, it was at the heart of everything that he wanted to do. When he said, "Woe is me if I don't preach the Gospel," it's um kind of a prophetic curse he would call down upon himself if he didn't do it. Similar to what Isaiah described breaking apart may it be a woe upon me if the Gospel is not preached in my ministry." And that's very important because that is the heart and aim of the ministry. There are many ideas and many things that come and go, but it is this message of the everlasting Gospel that should stay front and center in the Christian ministry.
Gospel, of course, boys and girls, means "good news." We've looked at that. The good news of what God has done for us, apart from us, apart from our works, through the person in the work of Jesus Christ, to deliver us and to save us from all of our sins. And we find at times that Paul would speak in certain ways about the Gospel. He would speak very narrowly about the Gospel. First Corinthians for "I I received from the lord that which i delivered to you." And then he would he spoke of very narrowly the gospel in Christ's life, death, and resurrection. And then at other times, he would speak a little more broadly, and we want to understand that distinction because I think it's very important.
This is what Paul's been doing narrowly in the first part of the book, in Chapters 1 through 5: he's been describing the great truth of justification by grace through faith alone. That being said, there's legitimate concern when the Gospel is never looked at a little more broadly. Often Paul spoke of the Gospel that includes God's act of free justification, and then at times he also spoke of the Gospel in relation to sanctification. And if we miss the broader description of the Gospel and we're not I guess you would say balanced in presenting it that way, what can easily happen is we begin to think sanctification belongs to us. It's a very common thing that happens. In other words, the consequence of just being very narrow and only talking in justification in the presentation of the gospel God Paul also wants to encourage us of God's work of sanctification he wants us to understand that. And if we don't consider, sometime the broader application of the Gospel, we can leave the impression that it goes something like this: "Hey, God did it all in justifying you. Now you've got to fulfill your part and do the rest in your sanctification." And I think Christianity sometimes has been presented that way. It's been treated that way. I'm sure sometimes you You felt that you felt like the preacher has preached Jesus and he's maintained maintained and made known what Jesus did for you, but now he's really gonna get you and conform you to the image of the Son. And he's gonna impose holiness. And at the time, I think you can easily walk away wondering: at the end of the day, if remaining in God's favor hinges upon my sanctification and my covenant faithfulness?
It's interesting: in the golden chain of salvation, you don't even have sanctification mentioned in Romans 8. He wants us to understand that this is a whole work of God, a complete work. That doesn't mean we have no responsibility in sanctification. That's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is we have to look and see how Paul presents the Gospel in its narrow form in justification by free justification by grace through faith alone and then how he treats sanctification as one of also the great benefits of the Gospel. And I believe Romans 8 is moving us to that sort of conclusion.
Paul speaks both narrowly and more broadly about the Christian Gospel to answer a problem, and it's immensely encouraging for the Christian to think about how he is now to live and what the Gospel means for him as a new creature in Christ. And that's what Paul has really started to address in Chapter six But tonight, I want you to see how Paul presents this new life for us the new life in the spirit and he introduces into the equation by the time we come to Chapter eight sort of the high note here: "If God is for us, whoever could bring a charge against us?" In both his work of justification and sanctification, absolutely nothing separates us from the love of God. That's going to be the high note as we end Chapter 8, before we get to the Israel stuff in 9 through 11.
I want you to remember the context to set this just for a minute. What has been the great problem Paul has been helping us to understand? He's been really helping us to understand the reality of the Christian life in the struggle against sin. um He's been very careful to describe the battle against sin that we looked at last time in roman 7, that goes on in our lives, that continues to go on in our lives. And that often we are very perplexed and confused about how in the world, if I I am a christian i could so easily sin in this regard. And you know the struggle; you know how difficult that is. In Romans 7, he said, "I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died." And you remember our treatment of that hopefully that Paul, at one point, said, "I had a really good view of myself." That's kind of the general view of people of themselves. There was a time in my life that I thought I was alive. I thought I was a good person. And then I i didn't really understand the demands of the law. And you know what happened? One day, the law came home to me, and I died. The law killed me meaning I had this horrid realization that I could not keep God's righteous demands. I had this overwhelming sense of sin in my life and how far I missed the mark and His standard. Remember, um sin is missing the mark. We all have missed the mark of God's standard. And Paul says, "I realized I was on this path of destruction." But then in verse 14, he he moved into the present tense we looked at and he is explaining for us. He explained for us in Romans 10 that this created a huge burden on him as a Christian. He says, "Here's what I'm finding. Here's what I'm finding now that I've now that i've been regenerated now that I have life given to me i'm doing at times things that I hate. I have a in within me a desire to love God's law, but I don't practice at times what I want." to Verse 18: "For I know that in me, in my flesh, nothing good dwells." Verse 23: "I see a law in my members warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law." And he says, "Wretched man that I am! Miserable man that I am!" That's a a real struggle that we work through, that is real to the Christian life. And we went through the different views of Romans 7 last time, but I don't think you can miss that what Paul's doing here is the new man he's being realistic about life. And he makes an important distinction here, that about life that I have a fierce warfare going on inside of me. So you need to know that.
See how we could be deluded about the Christian life if we don't understand this? I fight against my sinful nature. I'm in a battle against it constantly. Times I give in to sin. Paul showed us this reality. I'm miserable. In this nothing good dwells within me. I've learned this. So he was honest, wasn't he? was honest about the struggle. um It was William Hendrickson who said, "When we limit Christian experience to just the positive and the victorious and leave out the war and the struggle and the honesty of what you experience, we're like a musician who tries to play a beautiful harp with many broken strings." It's an immense problem, isn't it? We don't feel very victorious. I'm a pastor, and at times I do not feel victorious.
And we looked at this was the message that sold, you might say, of Robert shuler where he had the "new reformation," and he said, "What we need is to get away from all this sin stuff. And to really make Christians live the Christian life, is to have a new reformation of self-esteem." It's sold. It's sold, and many people bought into it. Well, Paul was being honest about this, and I don't think you really help people until you're honest with them about the struggle. That's what you're going to face. I want to say the profession of faith: young people today, you're going to fall into sin at times. Part of our problem is is that we always like to present ourselves as perfect. But that's just not true, is it? You shouldn't give in to sin, but at times you do. You know this because you remember the distinction Paul made, an important distinction. I'm still wrestling with the body of sin. Did you notice that? It's crucial to this whole discussion and now What follows. What I do in the body, he makes a distinction. In the inner, regenerated man, I'm not sinning with a whole heart. That's fundamentally different from the unbeliever. But this body of sin, this struggle in the body against sin, still remains in my members. That's the struggle. We looked at that. I think that's a crucial distinction to remember as he talks about the body of sin.
But what is the great perspective that Paul wants now to give believers as we move into Chapter 8? And I think sometimes we make a break too easily from Romans 7 to 8. And you know that the chapter headings that were put in by the way, first time in the Geneva Bible, 1560, they're not inspired. These things were all together. And so it's important to sort of read the end of Romans 7 and Romans 8 together, I think, to sort of capture the flow of it. And you see there what he says at the end of Romans 7: "Thanks be to God, verse 25, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So, who will deliver me from this body of death? Wretched man that I am! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord." He's the solution. He's the answer. But then: "I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." There's the distinction. And then he breaks out in Romans 8.1. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." That is such a beautiful verse tonight to park on for a minute. That's, if you could say, that's sort of the end verdict of everything that he has been building to in all of this explanation. We had a sort of verdict in Romans 5, 1, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God." But this sort of crescendos here to this glorious verse, that here that he says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Now, that is a loaded statement. It takes us back to Romans 5 when you say "in Christ jesus that you've been taken out of the old Adam and put into the new, the last Adam. We've looked at all of that. You now are in union with Him. You've been joined to Him. When He died, you died. When He rose. aris tenses remember we looked at you rose when he was resurrected you were resurrected with Him. Is there a more comforting statement in all the Bible? I don't want you says paul this is where it's so pastoral. I don't want you to lose sight of this issue, core issue, to everything I'm building to. I know sin's confusing. I know sin is troubling to you. I know it deeply bothers you. That's a good thing. But here's what you need to know. Here's the truth of the matter: there's no more condemnation when you are in Christ Jesus. It's very emphatic here in the original. Really, four words: "no, therefore, no, condemnation." He's it's a bold statement. If we had bold, can't red letter it because it's not Jesus's words, but you know you would if you could bold and underline this would be it. That's the way it's very emphatic in the original. This was something the Spirit inspired for you, that this would stand out: "None! No condemnation!" Now, your struggle my struggle is to believe that and your struggle against sin which is really the point here, does not call into question that truth. You understand that? That's what's so important about this. That's why you put it right after this: your struggle against sin does not call into question that truth.
That has been the this has been the driving point of all these first chapters of Romans. We haven't even really got to practical application. If you're looking for that, we get there in Chapter 12, verse 1. But justification by faith alone is the most beautiful truth of the Christian Gospel. It is that article upon which the church stands or falls, as Luther says. We would not have Christianity if it were not for this article. God has imputed to you god has reckoned to You the righteousness of christ You are acquitted you are forgiven by faith. Faith alone. uh So it's two principles: is it the law of works or is it the law of faith? Remember, he presented, at the end of Chapter three "No, we say it's by faith that a man is justified, apart from works of the law. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Much more shall we be saved by Him." He's looking at the last day, from the wrath of God. The wrath of God is over for you.
Well, that's the reality. That's the beautiful truth that is here being said to us. uh The death sentence in the law sanctioned that was over you. You now remember Romans 7 because you died to that first husband, you now, by faith, are hid in Christ. You're married to another. That means there can be no condemnation for you. Understand: that the word is not only speaking merely of the verdict. It's speaking about the penalty that the verdict demands. We hear about God's love and so on and so on, but it's important to always remember that the wrath of God is the great problem that Christianity has sought out to solve for us, the Christian Gospel. God is going to punish in everlasting condemnation those apart from Jesus Christ because of sin. The curse of the law is on them. They're under the curse. The Bible speaks everywhere about it. You know, but you see what He wants to do for you?
I don't think you could even begin to talk about the Christian life and living the Christian life until this is so set set in the heart and believed and embraced. Look, dear believers: your struggle with sin is real. Since this body of sin, this body of death, has not been fully done away with, you need to live knowing, though, that by faith alone in Christ, there is no more condemnation. There is no more death sentence upon you to atone for sin, to make a payment. That's over. Not that we could.
There is nothing more that the devil hates than this message. As we looked at this morning at lunch, somebody said to me, in light of Luther's comments: the devil is you have to understand him, the devil is not simply trying to lure us into sin. Oh, he's good at that. The devil is called the great accuser. He accuses our brethren day and night. He's the accuser. The accusation is to say, "You're so perverse in your struggle against sin, there's no way God could love you. There's no way that God could care about you. There's no way God could forgive you." Every time you entertain that, you're entertaining the devil's attack.
Paul wants to remind us, first and foremost, on the narrow message here of the Gospel. Notice how he answers that struggle. You feel guilty? You feel condemned? He starts by saying, "God dealt with it. That's what the Gospel is all about. Christ Jesus lived, and He died. He lived for you, and He died for you, and He rose again. And by faith alone, embracing Christ, you are forgiven. condemnations over." And you understand the importance of that? Whereas in last day we think we're going to find out whether we're going to heaven or hell, that is not the way the christianity presents it presents the gospel the judgment's been moved back in history for you. Condemnation and judgment day took place when Jesus, in A.D. 30, in the month of Nisan, said, "It is finished." And by faith, all those benefits are given to you. That's how you stand. That's what He said in Romans 5.
Now, from here, from Romans 8 1 period there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, period you can begin to think about what God does for us beyond this. Do we have to believe this to make any progress? Trust this? His goodness to you He's also dealt with. So notice here: He's dealt with sins in the first verse condemning power over us. But he's also dealt with and we're going to look at this here since continuing presence and dominion over us. Notice this in verse three "Dominion, for what the law could not do, for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. He condemns sin in the flesh." Jesus, he's saying, came into this world and he took to himself our human nature and he bore that penalty for our sins and keeping the law perfectly on your behalf. He's removed the curse upon our heads. That all the justice that was necessary was collected from the substitute. So we call it a substitutionary atonement.
The righteousness now notice here since sin has been dealt with in its condemning power, but see what Paul now wants to move us to is to think about its enslaving power. How has God dealt with sin's enslaving power in our lives? And that's, um, begins really in verse two "For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death." Understand what he's saying there: there's there's two sort of powers that are at work in the world. There's the law of sin and death, and this principle and that controls people they are controlled by that, that principle controls people so that it's unrestrained. They're not regenerate in the heart. There's an uncontrollable power that dominates the lives of fallen people who are not born again. Paul says, notice carefully: not only does he save us and remove the condemning power of the law and remove condemnation for us, but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you now from being in bondage to that old man. This is the beautiful truth about Romans 8. This is what makes Romans 8 as we enter into it so wonderful!
There is a guarantee of this here. 21 times in this chapter, guess who's mentioned? The Holy Spirit. 21 times. Who now lives in us, dwells in us, bringing about liberty for us, so that his restraint and his authority and control over sin now becomes what he is working in our lives as the dominant characteristic as he begins to work in us to conform us to the image of Christ. That's where Romans 8 will go.
Now, we just have a few minutes left, but I'm going to do something old school here for a minute. Amanda, you want to come forward? You're going to play. Okay. This is what the old school Dutch churches used to do. Did you know that? They sing in the middle of the sermon! And I'm going to prove it to you in song right now. I want you to turn to Psalm 65C, and we're just going to sing one verse. And we're going to sing the first verse. Think about all that the scriptures have said to you and why this would be so important in light of what I just proclaimed. So this is verse 1. Let's just sing verse 1.
That's it. Amen. Is that not just what Romans is saying? "Your sins prevail against you day by day." You've sung this how many years? But He continues to show you what mercy and takes the guilt away. See? Paul is pastoral in Romans 8. Paul is concerned about this in Romans 8: there is no condemnation. And that makes a vast difference now between you and the non-believer. There is an implanted in your heart now the principle of new life. God has done for you what you could not do. And now He's given you His Spirit who rules in you. And even though you're continuing to struggle against the body of sin, which by the way, death that benefit puts it away forever he is that pledge of your future and complete freedom from sin and the resurrection. So you can live knowing there's no condemnation. And as verse 16 says, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." You know that's His work: to reassure you constantly that you're a child. God sent Him to testify in our hearts that you are adopted children of grace, and He's not going to lose you.
The purpose for now, which the Spirit has come to dwell in us, living in us, is empowering us beginning it's a beginning in this life for a consecrated life to Him. He has shattered sin's dominion over you. Remember what He said? You need to reckon that to yourself in Romans 6 as dead to sin but alive to God. That's the Spirit's work. You have to think of yourself: "I have broken the slavery in your life. I'm not saying you're going to be perfect in this life. That's not what I'm saying. It's the dominion that shatter so that you have a conscience and that you return to the Lord and that you trust Him for His forgiveness. um
I could have said it this way tonight, maybe. Don't think I'm done with you after you're fully and freely acquitted! Oh, no, I'm not done. I'm not done with you. You need to know: I'm not done with you. My purpose for you is holiness. My purpose for you is that you would now live in gratitude in response to my love. You're not alone in that. You're not alone in it. And now you can understand the great objection that was made in Chapter six. "If we preach this free grace, does that mean we can go live any way we want?" No wonder the Paul got Paul got so worked up about that! That's impossible. Justification in declaring us forever right with God I want you to know I've sent you the Spirit to give you another great benefit. That the Spirit is that we would now he would dwell in us, and that we would begin in this life to put away the body of sin and live for Christ. That's a beautiful benefit for us.
You know, this is the great truth where he says here, in verse 4: "In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." See, the ascension we looked at that tonight the Spirit is sent so that we would do what? Begin to set our hearts and minds on heavenly things, where Christ is, where we're going, and not on earthly things. Yes, that is His great work. And if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you'll live. He says that famous verse that John Owen treated. I suppose tonight we could sum up: you have two kinds of people. You have the Pharisee. "God, I thank you that I'm not like that guy. I fast, I tithe, I do all these things." That's the most difficult person to reach, by the way, because they despise having to think that anything's ever wrong with them. The person Paul describes understands the problem of sin, faces it head-on, comes to the feet of the Savior again and again, is washed, cleansed, forgiven understanding and believing. Throughout the course of this life, there will be no power to live the Christian life until you believe: "There is therefore now no condemnation!"
And from there, you begin to taste what we're going to look at in Romans 8 by the power of the Holy spirit the new life the principle of a prevailing desire as his new creation to love what He loves, to love Him, to begin to honor the law of God. What is the heart of that law? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength."
May this great Gospel that Paul preached that is a whole work of our lord may it drive you to live in confidence of His steadfast love and an assurance of faith and by the powerful Holy Spirit whom He has given to us, who begins this new creation and will finish it in the resurrection. Amen.
Let's pray. Gracious Lord, thank you for such truth, and thank you for the comforting words of Romans 8. Guide us in the light of these truths as we go out this week, and let us remember who we are, what has been done, that the condemning power of the law and sin and death is over in our lives. We are acquitted, and now to live no longer under the dominion of sin but by the power of the Spirit to walk in the newness of life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.