let's um give our attention tonight this is on page 1200 in your pew bible let's give our attention tonight to god's word 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. May the Lord bless tonight the hearing of His Word. One of the things that moves me about Romans and I made this comment this morning is how Paul never grows weary of speaking of the christian gospel this this meant everything to him he never uh wearied of this in fact we know that that he said at one point in his ministry woe is me if i don't preach the gospel he invited a curse on himself uh if he didn't do this using the language in which reminds us of isaiah when he said woe is me for i am undone for i'm a man of unclean lips this was so important to the apostle and remember boys and girls this this word gospel it it means good news the good news of what god has done for us apart from human works apart from what we do and we find this throughout the scripture that that the apostle paul when he speaks of the Christian gospel, he often speaks in sort of a narrow way of the gospel when it focuses on the doctrine of justification by faith alone. And that's what he had been doing in the first five chapters of the book of Romans, describing the wonderful truth of how a sinner is right with God. And that was wonderful to study and to look at. I mean, you have everything. We had already studied after that great statement having been justified by faith we have peace period and so paul is continually telling us about this he is continually moved by this but that being said there's a legitimate concern when we never look at gospel and good news of what god is doing what He's doing for us more broadly. And Paul often spoke of the Christian gospel as having a dual benefit. That God justifies the wicked, but that He also, in His gospel, blesses us with sanctification. And this is really important tonight. If we miss this broader description of what God is doing and we're not balanced in the way that we present it what can easily happen is we begin to think that sanctification is our part in other words the consequence of it being in a very narrow presentation that hey god did his part here the rest of this is up to you here and i wonder at times if that's what's caused a lot of confusion because we have not been as balanced as the apostle is as balanced in speaking of these things. And you'll notice this here tonight, what we've come to in Romans 8 is a broader presentation of the gospel. He's moving and showing this presentation, showing how this impacts everything. And this is important tonight, I don't know if you've ever felt what I described, that god justified you and you know now it's it's up to you that that the preacher wanting appropriately to produce holiness in the life of the people um that's them a good one and sometimes i guess that's needed but at the end of the day you can leave the people wondering if remaining in covenant relationship with god hinges upon them maintaining their covenant faithfulness in their own power and i emphasize in their own power and i believe romans 8 is answering this for us tonight paul is speaking more broadly about how glorious the christian gospel is for the whole of the christian life and this should be immensely encouraging for the christian to think through now how he is to live and what the gospel means for now how he lives as a new creature in christ Paul has been explaining this since chapter 6. And tonight, I want you to see how he presents this new life and how he introduces, who he introduces into the equation that by the time we get done with chapter 8, we should have hit the highest note by then. We should be ready to sing within chapter 8. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. This thing is moving. This chapter is moving us to end on that kind of high note. and if we don't get there we've missed it let me um let me start here tonight in light of something that happened in the gospels this is luke 7 and i believe this illustrates a bit i'm going to use this to illustrate a bit of the connection here of romans 7 and 8 you'll remember that there was jesus there coming into a house of a pharisee and this woman had been there and she had brought this alabaster flask of ointment and we read that she was standing behind his feet weeping and she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment now when the pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet he would have known who or what sort of woman this is who's touching him for she's a sinner and jesus answering said to him simon i have something to say to you and he answered say it teacher a certain money lender had two debtors one owed 500 denarii and the other 50 when they could not pay he canceled the debt of both now which of them will love him more simon answered the one i suppose for whom he canceled the larger debt and he said to him you judge rightly then turning to the woman he said to simon you see this woman i entered your house you gave me no water for my feet she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair you gave me no kiss but from the time i came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet you did not anoint my head with oil but she's anointed my feet with ointment therefore i tell you her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much he who is forgiven little loves little and he said to her your sins are forgiven this woman probably a prostitute burdened by sin comes completely bottomed out completely bottomed out, sitting there with the religious leaders. They haven't come to Him this way. They haven't approached Him this way. And not fearing any of the condemnation of a woman doing this in that culture, she washes His feet with her tears. And Jesus right then and there pronounces forgiveness on her. Beautiful moment. All of these people that come to Jesus in the Gospels. We see this. You ever wonder what happened to them after? We see the first scene. You ever wonder what happened to this woman after? What it was like for her after? Was it easy? You think she said, hey, I came to Jesus and everything got wonderful? I think the basic assumption of the Christian life is hey if you become one of us it's great you you know this is this this is just wonderful yes it's joyful but i'll tell you what it is hard where did they go the other night and i asked gil if i could do this so none of you are wondering that when i tell this story but gil came before the youth group and if any of the youth group is here the young people they'll know gil gave his testimony, and Gil gave a really, I mean, he did exactly what the scriptures say. He told others the wonderful things that the Lord has done for him. I'm not going to rehearse all of that, but Gil said something that struck me. Gil said, I knew the streets. I lived the streets. I could go back tomorrow. It's that tempting. I could easily go back tomorrow. I think if you understand that struggle, which every Christian should have, it's not just peculiar to Gil. You understand what Paul's dealing with in Romans 8. What has been the immense problem that he's been dealing with in Romans 7? Well, Paul presented some very difficult stuff in Romans 7. That was not easy to preach. That was not easy to say. And those are some of the most heart-wrenching and difficult verses to mine through in the Bible. I mean, there's been a lot of discussion about Romans 7. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. In other words, I had this great estimation of myself. I thought myself really good in the life when I thought I was alive. And then all of a sudden, the law smacked me upside the head and I understood the real demands of the law. And you know what happened? I died. The law killed, meaning I had a horrid realization. I was under the wrath of God. And His standards I can't keep. I'm not doing well. And it brought an end to me. Brought an end. And you remember in verse 14 that everything then turned to the present. And he is describing for us as to what happened to him now that his heart was regenerated, his life was open to what God's law really demands of him. And what he's describing for us in Romans 7 is this created a huge burden for me as a Christian. This was an immense weight for me as a Christian. I struggled as a believer. And he's describing this. I mean, he says, I went from the front of the church thinking I was fine as the Pharisee. I went to the back and started beating my chest. That was my experience. And I had this new, profound desire to love God's law and to keep God's law. I mean, every Christian does. We love the law of God. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. But I don't practice what I want to do. That's what I'm finding. I never saw this before. Well, I'm seeing it now. In verse 18, 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. I am wretched, miserable, blind, wretched man that I am. And you say, well, that's not really encouraging. That's not a real encouraging picture of the Christian life. That's not building up, Pastor Gordon, that's not building up a lot of self-esteem. Come on, guy. You know the Christian self-esteem movement does this. Hey, I don't know how many counselors, you know, they get Christian counselors bring them in and the way they try to help people is give them I am statements. I'm good, I'm this, I'm that, I'm that. To build them up. And you say, well, some of those people don't need to be built up. They're still too built up. So what are we doing with all of this? What does this mean? Paul wasn't talking about building up the old Paul. Paul, as a new man, is now very realistic about the Christian life and this fierce warfare that he's struggling with that often leaves him feeling very beat down. And that's reality. You know, that's reality. That's what we need a good dose of today, don't we? I'm miserable, and there's nothing good that dwells. I love what William Hendrickson said. When we limit Christian experience just to the positive, victorious life and leave out the war and the struggle and the honesty of it, we're like a musician who tries to play on a beautiful harp with many broken strings. That's a really good comparison. It's a warped message. So that's an immense problem isn't it you don't feel very victorious you're thinking am i missing something all of you have felt this am i missing something in the christian life i'm sick of the progress and what's the answer paul you're too defeatist you need to get away from the sin stuff and and live the really victorious christian life there was a whole series of books that came out in the 80s on the victorious christian life there was a whole new reformation of self-esteem remember paul is being honest here tonight isn't he and that the battles we face with sin can be very discouraging at times it can be very distressing and very painful and paul is telling us you see there's something you need to understand about all of this what's the answer where is he back to he's right back to the gospel he's right back to the heart of it and he ends in chapter 7 and says who will deliver me future tense who is going to bring an end to this body of death we know that's christ as we considered tonight at the resurrection but here's what he's doing in chapter 8 look at verse 1 there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus when you see your misery you know what happens put this in context you have a longing in your heart to know god to love him to grow in holiness you have this prevailing desire and i emphasize that desire and yet the reality is you always feel held back. You always feel held back because of the warfare. And how does Paul deal with this? What's the tendency for the pastor in how to deal with this? The tendency for the pastor is this. A pastor looks at the covenant people of God and he thinks, boy, they're just not making any advance in holiness they're not getting anywhere are they listening i'm going to straighten them out i'm going to straighten them out and so he pounds holding us and that sunday the congregation can walk away with a good loss and that's not necessarily bad oftentimes we need to be confronted don't we such sometimes it's just sheer laziness and we need to be confronted but i want you to notice how paul is doing this here if the gospel's not preached what motivation do you have to change you're left hopeless now there could be the possibility that one's not born again because there's no change and even then what did the law do it aroused a lot more sin it made matters worse for the person and as important as it is to preach that i want you to notice what paul does at this point after he talks about this intense warfare in the desire to be holy and not accomplishing it in the way that we want to accomplish it paul essentially says don't lose sight of the matter don't lose sight of what's already true don't forget this here's the truth of the matter there is period there's no condemnation for those who are in christ it's over you don't have to fear that it's done for you you never ever have to worry about being put back under the curse none it's so emphatic here in the original and so essentially what he just said is your struggle does not call into question the reality of what is true for you in jesus that's what he said your struggle does not call into question the reality of what has happened in christ jesus what has been the the key driving point of these first seven chapters justification by faith alone that's it verse 5 especially god has imputed to you the righteousness of his son and he doesn't see as if you had using the heidelberg never sinned or been a sinner as if you had been perfectly obedient as christ was obedient for you that's true and he said in the last chapter what that means is that now we have been delivered from the law having died to what we were held by so that we should now walk in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter and he used the analogy of marriage remember and and and what happens when somebody dies and how there's freedom and there was a death and since you died you are now no longer under that former master and since there was a death you have now been joined to christ you're married to another and paul is saying to you tonight you never have to fear in the struggle against sin that you're falling back under condemnation i don't know how you feel when you hear that that's the most wonderful thing i could ever hear going through the christian life you understand it maybe the better question is do you believe it not only is he speaking about the verdict here but about the penalty the verdict demands and i want you to think about this for a minute the weight of what should be a dread for everyone who thinks they're doing well outside they should be the ones in fear and they're not and god has said painful as it is to say that He will punish people forever in a real place called hell if they remain in the first Adam and under the curse of the law. The Bible speaks about this everywhere. And Paul just said to you, dear Christians, in your struggle with sin, since the body of death has not been fully done away with, yes, the old man has been killed and you're a new creature, but the body of sin you're still struggling with the sinful nature you need to live knowing there's no condemnation and if you don't live believing that and if you don't live knowing that it'll never make a lick of a difference in pursuing the new life and that's why he's already said in in chapter 5 therefore we have now been justified by his blood we shall be saved by him from the wrath of god your judgment's done and paul's explaining that here god dealt with the penalty and that's not it what romans 8 is telling us he dealt with the penalty in verse 1 and now he says but he's also dealt with its enslaving power over you and that's what's really beautiful about uh where he now takes this in romans 8 look at verse 2 for the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death that is so important there's two powers at work in the world, if you will. There's the law of sin and death. We've looked at this. In other words, there's a power over people's lives that completely masters them. They're enslaved to you. Remember Romans 6? And you don't have to look far to see this. You don't have to look far. Just flip on the news. Look at it. Look at the misery. Look at the events that happened last week. This controls people. You know, and when I met with the man recently who came on our church doors and he was describing how he just can't get out of his sin. And I said to him, I said, well, what do you want from me? Do you want me just to try to fix things for you? I can't do that. But do you want just to get things fixed? Or do you want a Savior? And he says, I'm done trying myself. I've tried all my life. I'm done. I can't get out. That's the first power. And here the apostle gives us another power, if you will. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from that bondage of being in the old man. The great guarantee, if you will, is now presented to us. Who has entered into Romans 8? It's the Holy Spirit. Do you know 21 times he's mentioned in this chapter? And I believe the purpose, full intent in that, is for the apostle to say to you, I know the struggle's real, but you're not alone to accomplish it you're not alone to beat it he hasn't left you alone in some sense romans 7 as a believer is describing himself alone in his own power and romans 8 is saying that's not true the spirit is given the spirit is given to set you free the spirit when he comes what does he do this is what jesus said to nicodemus nicodemus you you must be born again and life has to be implanted in your heart life and from there flows the rivers of living water which he referred to the holy spirit in john 7 this is what god has done the presence and the authority of the spirit in us even though we're still struggling with sin even though we still fight even though we're still going to feel knocked down at times even though it's still going to feel and experience the things that i don't want to do i do he is the pledge sealing your hearts for your future and complete freedom from sin in the resurrection and that's why paul presents them as a guarantee you're sealed his presence in you means you are free having been joined to the lord jesus christ that means you are no longer under sin and the law as a master you've been brought under another and you can live knowing and believing there's no condemnation and you know he's going to this anticipates verse 16 what is the spirit doing the spirit himself is bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of god that's such a gift you take that gift for granted by the way i take that gift for granted i don't run around you know constantly doubting and doubting and doubting and questioning god's word and wondering if genesis 1 is true and doing these things that we see people doing today That is a gift when the Holy Spirit is bearing witness and securing and keeping you in confidence. Bearing witness of Christ and trusting. It's a gift. And Paul is beginning to describe that here in verse 3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak to the flesh, God did. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. so his point is jesus came here he took on our rags and in his own humanity god poured out the penalty for your sins in his humanity god poured it out on him as he kept the law perfectly in your place he removed the curse that was on your heads for all of the disobedience that you have done and ever will do he collected his justice from that righteous substitute once and for all and that glorious truth is being now proclaimed and bore witness in your hearts by the spirit so that now as the spirit works and applies these things the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled verse 4 in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit what does that mean i'm perfect now oh no that now i'm doing my part to fulfill righteousness no he just said this the purpose of the spirit who has come to dwell in you he lives in our hearts he dwells within us amazing as that is that's just something to meditate on this week by the way he empowers us for a life consecrated to the lord shattering yes those sins that you so easily give into he is given to shatter those sins and this is why he's going to say if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you'll live can you imagine if that said if you put to death the deeds of the body you'll live it's not what it says when the spirit's in you guess what he's doing he's shattering and he's breaking and he's freeing and he's giving you aid and he's comforting you i know it's a small beginning it's a small beginning but he could have stamped it here and said something like this don't think God's done with you after you are fully and completely acquitted in justification God's not done with you don't think God's done oh no he's not done he's got a big project he's working on and after you are acquitted his purpose for you is holiness that you would now respond out of gratitude keeping his law out of thankfulness and he's given his spirit so that you would begin to taste it anticipating the future glory when you will know what it is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength in the age that is to come. So he just said to you tonight you're not alone. I didn't do this, and leave you alone. And now you understand how he's still answering the objection in chapter 6, that when you do this grace thing and you preach this grace thing, you're just going to create careless living. And Paul's saying, there is no possible way. He justified you, and the relationship to sanctification is important. It's where you're going. And I think the Apostle would say if there's absolutely no change, the big issue is you need to be born again. You need to be justified. That's what it comes down to. I suppose today I could sum up and say there's really these different kinds of people. The Pharisee says, God, I thank You I'm not. And Paul has dealt with that kind of person. I was that. I tried it all. but paul here describes what we actually face when we are brought under the power of the spirit when we are born again when we have been justified the truth of the matter for you is there is no condemnation anymore you need that you can't go on living without believing that and trusting that and making a progress in holiness and when you understand that you realize how important it is to come to the feet of Christ. You understand in the daily struggle how much you need Him. And from there, as you come to His feet, you begin to understand what Jesus said. To Him who is forgiven much, He loves much. You know what you've been brought out from. You know what you were. And now the Spirit has been given to you for this new life, anticipating what is to come. And now this prevailing desire within you, He helps you and gives you strength and aid to look to the Lord for grace and mercy. But don't ever think in your struggle that you lack. Christ has given you everything. He's given you forgiveness. He's given you His righteousness. Even His holiness, even His perfection has been imputed to you so that you stand righteous and lack nothing. And from there I can go on. From there I can see. From there I can trust in God's grace. May this gospel truth drive your new life and may you live in assurance of faith by the powerful Spirit whom He has sealed us for for the day of redemption. O Lord our God, we thank You for Your gospel truth. We thank You that You've not left us alone. We thank You that You've sealed us with the Spirit. And we pray, Lord, that even though this struggle is fierce and our hearts condemn us, You know our hearts, You know all things. And we thank You that we can live in complete joy in this life as we considered tonight, knowing there is therefore now no condemnation. And that we can go forward now tasting the beginnings of this new life. And so, Holy Spirit, sanctify us according to Your truth. Your Word is truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.