INTRODUCTION
SLIDE
Let’s suppose that you commit a crime that is a capital offense
And, after a chase, you are caught & arrested for that offense.
When you go to trial, your life hangs in the balance.
If you’re found guilty, as you deserve to be, it means death sentence,
but if you’re acquitted, it means life and freedom.
And let’s suppose that as the trial begins,
the judge decides to treat you with leniency
and so, he gives you two choices.
ONE CHOICE is that, even though you are guilty,
he will commute your sentence completely, permanently
and release you to go free and live a life with no strings attached
(with the hope that you will no longer live as a law-breaker
out of gratitude for his leniency.)
The other CHOICE is that the judge will release you,
but he will require you to wear an ankle bracelet
so that your every move can be tracked
and he will also assign a parole officer
to monitor everything you do.
Now, at the end of fifty years,
the judge will determine whether or not to carry out your sentence
and put you to death – all based on how well
you have proven to the court that
you have changed your life over that 50-year period.
Any variation from living totally innocent, will result in death.
Which of those two options would you choose?
I imagine that every single one of us would choose the first option, right?
Well, the gospel of Jesus provides us with the ability
to essentially make that same choice in the spiritual realm.
Through faith in Jesus, we have the ability to have our death sentence,
one which we deserve, commuted completely and permanently
so that we can live freely and righteously
out of gratitude for what Jesus has done on our behalf.
But unfortunately, it seems like,
in spite of what Jesus has made possible,
that many people choose the second option –
that of trying to achieve that commutation
of their sentence on their own
by the way that they live their lives.
My guess is that all of us have done that at some point in our lives.
I certainly know I have.
And if you’ve ever attempted to live like that - even for a brief time
– you know what a frustrating and unsatisfying kind of life that is.
So go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Romans 8.
Let’s see what God told Paul to write down for the believers in Rome.
And put to bed, once and for all, God’s truth.
Let’s understand that believing what God has told us in Romans 8:1
is the BEST NEWS EVER!
When the Apostle Paul was a Pharisee, he thought of the Law as physical.
Intended to control man’s outward actions.
But after Paul met Jesus,
then Paul realized that the Law actually condemned to death
Because he had to physically keep ALL the Law – without fail.
Before meeting Jesus, Paul was operating under Option 2.
He was guilty – the Law showed him that…..
But he was trying and trying to live his life in such a way
that how he lived would prove
that he was good enough
to have his guilty death sentence commuted.
Paul wrote concerning that very subject in the first part of Romans.
Paul showed us in Romans 1:1 thru Romans 3:20
That we are ALL condemned (guilty) before the Judge (God)
Paul concludes in Romans 3:23,
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Paul confirms for us that the sentence of sinning is death.
Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…..”
Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die…..”
Hebrews 9:22, “….. without shedding of blood is no remission.”
Without Jesus, Hell & Lake of Fire awaits those who are guilty.
But the GOOD NEWS Paul gives us in Romans 3:21-5:21.
Paul gives us the summary before the details in Romans 3:24
“Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Paul talks about the POSITIONAL sanctification
we have in Christ, free of charge, in Romans 6
Maybe we’ll provide more detail in the near future.
Suffice it for now to say that, in Jesus,
we stand before God the Father
as pure, clean, sinless, guilt-free as Jesus, Himself.
(key phrase is IN JESUS)
In Romans 7 Paul talks about PRACTICAL sanctification.
That is, trying to live out the POSITIONAL sanctification
that we already have (if we are in Jesus).
He discovered that he, Paul, was carnal.
Therefore he found himself in a dilemma,
whenever he would intend to do good, evil was present with him. Often times, the good that he would do, he didn’t do.
Many times the evil that he wouldn’t do, he was doing.
He relates this in Romans 6:14-15,
“For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not;
but what I hate, that do I.
Paul was fighting against his own spirit, his own mind.
For with his mind in his heart
he wanted to serve the law of God,
but as Jesus said concerning Peter,
“The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.”
We have all of us experienced that very same struggle.
I have not always done for God the things that I would do for God.
It isn’t that I am not willing.
It isn’t that my spirit is not willing, it is that my flesh is weak.
Paul recognized his problem, and he ends Chapter 7:24 with that cry:
“O wretched man that I am!
Who shall deliver me from this body of this death?”
Paul then answers his own question in Romans 7:25:
“I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;
but with the flesh the law of sin.“
Paul had felt and knew the condemnation of the Law.
It had condemned him to death.
But, Paul begins chapter 8 with the BEST NEWS EVER!
Let’s look at Romans 8:1 and break it down a little …..
Romans 8:1
“THERE IS therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
Another word for “there is” is equals. (A equals B - A is B)
Here is a Fact.
Here is a Promise from God.
Here is an Absolute Truth – given to us by God, Himself.
Romans 8:1
“There is THEREFORE now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
Therefore….. There is a therefore…..
The “therefore” is there before the BEST NEWS EVER.
In fact, a “therefore” is there because of the “before”.
Before the “therefore” of Romans 8:1, there is Romans 1-7,
An explanation, a proclamation - of the problem of sin –
and the cure of and in Jesus Christ.
Because God came to fulfill - the law that we couldn’t keep—
Romans 6:22, “But now being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness,
and the end everlasting.” (Option 1)
And give us “the new way of the Spirit”
Romans 7:6, “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead
wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness
of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”
Not the dos and don’ts – but living out of love and gratitude. (Option 1)
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore NOW no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
NOW – right now.
Not yesterday, not tomorrow, not next week, not someday….
Not in the by-and-by, not when I finally get to Heaven
Not after I accomplish something or some things.
Not after I attain to some spiritual blessing level.
NO – but, NOW.
In this present time, in this moment, in this situation, – NOW!
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
Get it? NO CONDEMNATION!
None, Zero, Zilch, Nada, Nien, Nay, Nutten, No way Hosea.
God said there is, right now, NO CONDEMNATION!
What condemnation are you speaking of?
How about the condemnation that Romans 1-7 are speaking of?
Paul spent a lot of time and scripture to show us that:
“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Who wouldn’t want – NO CONDEMNATION?
Who wouldn’t want that declaration of NO CONDEMNATION,
in their life – right NOW.
Have you got it?
Do you want it?
How can I have it…..?
Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation TO THEM WHICH ARE
IN CHRIST JESUS, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
This BEST NEWS EVER only applies to particular people. To “THEM”.
Who “them”? What “them”? Who is Paul speaking of?
Could we have a little clarification, please?
“Them” that are IN Christ.
Not IN you, Not in your efforts, Not in your accomplishments.
Not IN your piety, not IN your purity, not IN your abilities.
Not IN your religious affirmation.
Only “them” which are IN Christ
Only IN Christ is there is no condemnation.
Only “them” who are IN Christ is there NO CONDEMNATION.
By default:
Them who are NOT IN Christ – IS condemnation.
John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Treasure Box! - Example of being IN Christ (My Name in the Box)
Your freedom, your joy and your peace
Is IN Him, All IN Him, ONLY IN HIM!
Are YOU in Him?
NO? Do you wanna be IN Him?
Romans 8:1 BEST NEWS EVER!
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
CONCLUSION
All of Romans 1 – 7 has been leading to Romans 8:1
All of our lives we’ve been waiting for Romans 8:1
All of history has been building toward Romans 8:1
All of creation has been groaning for Romans 8:1
In Christ, There is NO CONDEMNATION
None
Zero
It hasn’t diminished
It hasn’t disappeared
It hasn’t been covered - It has been cured!
Are you still in Romans 1-7 today?
Do you need Romans 8:1 today (NOW) – Now’s your chance…..!
