Let me say, first of all, that my family and I greatly appreciate
your kindness to us. We are thankful for you more
than you can know. While we give all the glory to
God, we thank him for you. If you turn in your Bibles this
morning to the book of Romans, the book of Romans, I'll read the first two verses
of Romans chapter 8, Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Actually, I believe in the original,
that first verse is just that first part of that statement.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. I've entitled this message, The
Law That Liberates. The salvation that we find spoken
of in the Bible is spoken of as a deliverance, a liberation. from a kind of
slavery and bondage and captivity. But man, especially lost religious man, is always trying to bring us
again into bondage even using what I would call
liberating verses. Verses like that second verse, where Paul says, for the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death. Now, I took a kind of sampling
of a couple of Bible commentaries, even some
who would claim to believe the grace of God. The first one interpreted that
verse in this way. that when he speaks of the law,
he's speaking of that new principle of action which the Spirit of
Christ has opened up within us, the law of our new being. This sets us free as soon as
it takes possession of our inner man from the law of sin and death,
that is, from the enslaving power of that corrupt principle. The second commentator on that
verse said, the weaker principle is dethroned and expelled by
the more powerful, The principle of spiritual life prevails against
and brings into captivity the principle of spiritual death. The whole verse is to this effect,
that the triumph of believers over their inward corruption
through the power of Christ's Spirit in them proves them to
be in Christ Jesus. and as such, absolved from condemnation. And my first question is, is that what Paul's talking about
here? Is he talking about a greater
principle that the believer has now in them that overcomes lesser
or weaker principle. You see, such notions as these
writers have set forth, they don't liberate me. They just put me in more bondage. If my triumph over my inward
corruption proves that I'm not condemned, I'm in big trouble. I'm in big trouble. And I must be condemned. Because to be honest with you,
I find myself like the Apostle Paul stated himself to be when he said something like this,
I'm not making much progress. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I find myself, as our Lord said,
that I am. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So what is Paul talking about
here? when he talks about something
that he calls the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Is he talking about simply a
principle put in us by the spirit of God? What some people would
call a new nature? what some people even call a
divine nature. I'm a bit inclined to believe
that any who have the divine nature, they must be divine. They must be divine. But what I believe that Paul
is talking about here and what I believe is natural to the context. What he's calling here the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is simply the gospel. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that means that the law is
used of two things in that one verse. If you turn back to Romans chapter
3, Paul uses also in a verse here a similar phrase that is
also undoubtedly the gospel. Look down in verse 27 of Romans
3. He says, where is boasting then? And I know that any imagined
victory over the flesh by any sinner can only bring forth boasting
in that sinner. But he says, where is boasting
then? It is excluded by what law of
works? Nay. but by the law of faith."
Well, what is the law of faith but the gospel? And it is here
contrasted in verse 2 of Romans 8, it's here contrasted to the
law of sin and death, which can only condemn us. which can only
enslave us, which can only hold us. And that law of sin and death
certainly has reference to that Mosaic law that came through
the mediator Moses, but that law just simply stood for any
principle or law or way that was based on any of our doings,
any of our works, anything of our person. In other words, everything
about that Old Testament economy is typical. Who is that priest? That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is that altar? It is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who is that sacrifice? What does that all mean, that
blood? It's the sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And that law, rather than being
a standard for our living, or rather than being a standard
by which we judge our progress, That law, even as it was given
to Moses and how those people responded to it, just showed
our inability to have any righteousness, any salvation, any hope based
on something we either are or do. You see, the gospel is a number
of times in this book referred to as a law. Listen to the psalmist
in Psalm 19. The law of the Lord is perfect. Somebody said, well, surely the
law is the holy law of God. But that's not what he's talking
about here. Because look at what it says further. The law of the
Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord
is sure, making wise the simple. He's talking there about the
gospel. Then Paul says in Romans 7 and
verse 25, he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with my mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. How could that ever be said of
the Mosaic Law, even by the Apostle Paul? No, what he's talking about
here is the Gospel. Everything that God requires,
everything that God requires done of me or for me is all together
in the message and in the truth of the Gospel. James makes reference
to it. He said, so speak ye, and so
do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. I'm not
going to be judged by Moses' law. He says, the law of liberty,
the law of that liberty that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And most of all, if you notice
in that verse, he refers to it as the law of the Spirit. Men by nature like spiritual
laws. Men by nature would believe something
like four spiritual laws. We all, by nature, are like those
Israelites who are always asking God for a law. Tell us, command
us what we're to do, and we'll do it. But they never did. They
never did. You see, this is the Law of The
Spirit, not our spirit, but this is the Law of The Spirit, capital
S here. That means the Holy Spirit. And what did our Lord Jesus Christ
say that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, when He was
come, what did He say that He would do? We'll turn right over
to John chapter 16. John chapter 16 and listen to
what Christ says in John 16 and verse 13. In other words, any law that
is associated with the Holy Spirit has something to do with Christ. has something to do with liberty
rather than bondage. Now listen to what he says in
verse 13 of John 16. He says, how be it when he, the
Spirit of Truth, he always kind of distinguishes the Spirit of
God by something that is associated with his work. Here he is called
the Spirit of Truth. When He, the Spirit of Truth,
is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak
of Himself. Now, wherever the Holy Spirit
is at work in a sinner, it will not be to the glorifying of the
Holy Spirit, it'll be to the glorifying of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He will not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will
show you things to come. He shall glorify me." He shall glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that
the Father hath are mine, therefore I said that he shall take of
mine and shall show it unto you. So he says here in this verse,
speaking of this law, it is the law of the spirit, and rather
than being, as the law of Moses called, the ministration of death,
this law has to do with life. Men are always in a debate on
what your position is concerning the law. I always just say guilty. What's your position before the
law? Dead? Condemned? That's all I can be
by the law. I'm a sinner and this is a holy
law. How can I be otherwise? But this
law has to do with the Spirit of God, has to do with Christ
Jesus, has to do with life. Has to do with life. That is
life, as it is said, in contrast with a law that has nothing to
do with death. I love a verse in 1 John chapter
5. So plain, so clear, so direct,
so unmistakably plain. And it's where John is led by
the Spirit to say this. He says, and this is the record. Now you mark this down. Don't
tell me what you believe. Don't tell me what you think.
Don't give me your opinion. This is the record that God hath
given unto us eternal life. Who did it? God did it. What
did He do? He gave us something. What did
He give us? Eternal life. And this life is in the Son. So whatever anybody says about
this verse, whatever principles they ascribe to it, whatever
work in the center, whatever result or victory or whatever
it is, I assure you that assurance and liberty and freedom from
condemnation cannot be in any way associated with the law of
Moses. You see, this is the law that
liberates. This is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And Paul writes in another place,
if you notice this position, somebody say, well, we ought
not always talk about positional salvation. My friend, all of
salvation is positional. You say, what do you mean by
that? Well, I mean that the scriptures tell us again and again and again
that salvation is in Christ. This is the spirit of law, the
law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. You won't find
it anywhere else. You won't have any peace concerning
God or your sin apart from Christ, and all the saved, all of God's
elect, all the righteous, all the elect in every age, they
are viewed by God in Christ Jesus. But Paul writes in 2 Corinthians,
He says, if any man be in Christ, put there by divine sovereign
acts of grace, in Christ because chosen in Christ,
in Christ because predestinated to be conformed to Christ, in
Christ in every sense of that divine grace union, in Christ. And then finally, in Christ by
faith. But if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. Or as that actually says, he's
in a new creation. And somebody wants to take a
verse like that and they want to associate it with a subject
which is true, but not the subject of that context. They want to
make that having to do with regeneration. I guarantee you, you go to almost
any commentator or listen to most preachers when they're talking
about regeneration, they're going to that verse. There's just one
problem with it. It says, if any man be in Christ
Jesus, he's a new creation, and behold, all things are passed
away, and behold, all things are become new. But the problem is, if the subject
there in 2 Corinthians 5 is regeneration, I don't know any professing believers
that can really say that. Jim, can you say that every old
thing about you has passed away? Or could we ever dare say that
in ourselves, in our experience, in our hearts and minds, that
everything has become new? No. But the subject there is not
regeneration. The subject there in that chapter
is reconciliation. And what Paul is saying there
is that in Christ, God putting us in Christ and every person
in Christ Jesus is in this new creation and every old association
with our father Adam and that old creation, it's all ended. It is no more. Not in Adam anymore. I'm in Christ
Jesus. I'm in the new creation. I'm
in Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus. While I still got my old
nature, while I still got some of my old problems and faults
and failures, but before God, in Christ Jesus, I stand in this
new creation and everything's new. Everything's new. So what does the true gospel
do? What does the spirit, the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, what did the Apostle Paul
hear? What did he say it had done for
him? And if you notice here in this second verse, he's not talking
just of In generality, he's talking personally here. What has it
done for him? Well, I know what some people,
it seems like the gospel has done for them. It's made them
miserable. Their gospel has made them miserable.
Their gospel has made them a bunch of whiny, self-righteous, pious
hypocrites that walk around proud that they've got some kind of
new principle in them that they don't sin, or that they don't
sin as much, or they don't sin as bad, or they got this... Basically,
it amounts to a spiritual example of what people used to call white
dog, black dog in you, white dog, black dog biting, one good,
one bad, this, that, and the other. That's not what the Scripture's
about. I don't read but of two entities
in a regenerated center. I don't read about a new nature.
I read about a new person that's come to indwell. And there's a conflict all right.
But the conflict, rather than being between two natures, the
conflict, according to what Paul writes in Galatians, is a conflict
between the flesh and the Holy Spirit. Now that has a lot of ramifications,
I know that. But I can tell you what one of
them is. The flesh. always wants to keep going back
under bondage. The flesh, we by nature tend
always, it keeps creeping back in, we keep experiencing this
over and over again, that we'll either find peace of conscience
or lack of it by something we perceive ourselves as doing. Is that not right? You say, well, I believe the
grace of God. Yeah, but next week one day when you fail miserably
and you know you have, you might find yourself feeling in a lesser
of a position with God. Or if you go and you have a good
week and you don't cuss anybody out or something like that, you
might say, well, I'm really making progress in this thing. That's blessed. And it always
tends to bondage. And that's why these false religionists,
they love to stand before you and tell you things that you're
to do and stop doing and to try to help you in some way to feel
better about yourself. I'm going to tell you something.
If you ever get to feeling real good about yourself, you're in
big trouble. Because the Bible says, now you
think about this, man at his best state is altogether
vanity. Well, what is our best state? Our best state is to be in Christ
Jesus. Our best state is to be believers
in Christ. But at our best state, we of
ourselves are still nothing but vanity. We always imagine we can make a little progress. Somebody says, well, the Bible
speaks about growing in grace. It sure does. It doesn't talk about growing
toward grace. It talks about growing in grace. And one thing I'm sure of that
is an essential part and manifestation of our growing in grace is we
grow in the need, we grow in the revelation and the assurance
in ourselves that the only way we could be saved is by grace. I'm more sure. And I don't want
to tell you all the reasons why, but I'm more sure this very day
as I stand before you, I'm more sure that the only way I could
ever be saved is by the free grace of God. I'm more sure of
that than I was 35 years ago. That's right. In my experience, In my failings,
in my shortcomings, in my own personal innate wickedness, I've
proved, I've shown myself over and over the only way I could
ever be saved is by the free grace of God. You see, this law of the spirit
of life in Christ, it's not a principle, it's a divine declaration. I believe that in the book of
Acts, where Paul is caught up in that ship, you know, in what
is called the Urocladon wind, whatever that is, that's a bad
wind, had these sailors all scared. And so they're there caught in
that storm and they're all in such disarray and fear and all
these things. And Paul, in the midst of it,
is resting and at peace. And he's at rest and peace because
of one thing. He said, I believe God. But he didn't just stop there,
did he? I believe God that it shall be as he has said to me. That's right. That's what faith is. Faith is
God enabling us to believe that it is and shall be just as he
said that it is and it shall be. I heard a preacher preach
one night. He said, faith is believing that
God will do what he says he'll do. I thought about that. That's true as far as it goes. not only believes God that he
will do what he says he will do, faith believes God in what
he has said that he has done. You see the difference? That's what the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus, that's what the gospel, the good news,
the glad tidings of Christ is all about. It is a divine declaration,
it is a proclamation of what God has already done in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
the truth of the matter is this. What good would it be for you
to believe that God will do what he says he'll do if we already
don't believe that he's done what he says he's done? I'm confused,
Your Honor. It's because I'm confused. But I know this. God has done
what he says he's done. And Paul says that this law,
this true gospel, in his own self, he says, the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free. Free. You remember that the Jews One thing they had to say concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, when anything about liberty was mentioned, they said, are you talking about
freedom for us? We've never been in bondage to
any man. Well, they were right there at
that very moment in bondage, were they not? To the Roman Empire? We're not ever in bondage to
anyone. So the only ones that can rejoice
in being made free are those who find themselves to
be in bondage. You see, this is a declaration,
I say, a divine declaration rather than a principle, because it
is the revelation of something that was done by Christ outside
of me. Paul calls the Gospel, he says,
it's the power of God unto salvation. There's something about this
gospel that tells us that we have been made free from something. And if we've been made free,
we must have been in bondage, hadn't we? We must have been in bondage.
And we were, both a natural bondage and especially a religious, spiritual
bondage. And many are still in it to this
day. Oh, they've heard a little bit
about the doctrines of grace. I used to read some of the Puritans,
and man, some of them had some good things to say. But you talk
about feeling like a wet puppy a lot of times when I got through
reading. Boy, you hear a man talk about
his experience, boy, I ain't had nothing like that. And I'd
always kind of walk away feeling bound up, bound down, burdened
down, kind of fearful, you know. Surely if I was a Christian like
this person was, I'd have had an experience like that or I'd
have attained some new height of spirituality or purity of
life or something like that. Surely I... The law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus, Paul says, hath made me free. Free. And that is because that it is
the only liberating message there is, because it is a message about
a work of liberation. Listen to what our Lord said
the first time He stood up in the synagogue at Nazareth. And
he read from the Old Testament that prophecy which concerned
himself. He said, ìIn this day is this
scripture fulfilled in your ears and eyes on this occasion.î He said, ìThe Spirit of the Lord
is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captive.î and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. That's what
the gospel does. when Paul was giving instruction
to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2. He said, and the servant of the
Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach,
patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.
If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the
snare of the devil who are taken captive by him at his will." You hear all these people talk
about folks being devil-possessed. Sounds like to me that every
sinner not liberated by Christ is still devil-possessed, captives. But why does the apostle say
that his preacher is to be gentle and in meekness, seeking to instruct
those that oppose themselves, they keep themselves in this
bondage, they'll remain there, and there's just one liberating
thing, and that's the truth. I see a lot of religious people,
they are bound tighter than As they used to say in eastern
North Carolina, tighter than Dick's hat band. I don't know
how tight Dick's hat band was, but it was tight. He said, they
are bound tight. Why? Because they don't know
the truth. They haven't heard, they haven't
received, they haven't believed the liberating, freeing truth
of the gospel. Enslaved to the devil. Because
our Lord said in John 8, and ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. That means anything that binds
us up to laws and rules and regulations made by man or a life under the
Old Testament law or something of that nature, everything like
that that binds and holds us captive is not the truth. As a matter of fact, He goes
on in that same chapter and says, if the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. Free indeed. You see, the law of the spirit
of life in Christ is that good news, that liberating message that Christ has made us free. Made us free. Well, what has
it made us free from? He says, has made us free from
the law of sin and death. That is essentially from the
condemning power of the law because of our sin. Why can the law no longer condemn
the people that Christ died for? Because the curse of the law
has already been born, that curse that they deserve has already
been born in his own body on the tree. And that's why Paul begins this chapter. There is therefore now. That's where I'm living. I don't
know about you. I'm having to live in the now. I got so much
going on in my life and family right now that I can't worry
much about the past and I can't think much about the future.
I'm having to live in the now. My daughter, when I was about
to leave, she said, Daddy, you'll be glad to get away a day or
two away from all this stuff, won't you? That's where I'm living
in the now. But this is what the gospel says
to me. There is therefore, that is because
of who Christ is and because of what he did on that cross,
there is therefore now no condemnation. And somebody just takes that
next statement, which is found later on in the original. Those, speaking of those who
walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, they say, well,
that means that there's no condemnation to you if you're in this spiritual
walk and you're walking with the Lord and walking by faith
and walking in all this way. But what they're actually doing
is basing all peace and hope and salvation on the walking
rather than the working of Christ. You know what it is to walk after
the flesh? It is to try to gain or receive
the favor of God based on anything you are, do, think, decide, whatever
it is. You just walk in after the flesh
and it always brings forth death. So what is it to walk after the
Spirit? It is to trust the One the Spirit
reveals. It is to believe on the One that
the Spirit of God sets forth as our only hope, our only righteousness. There is no condemnation. And there are three aspects all
reflecting the work of the triune God. Because it is said in the Bible
that it is the Father who put us in Christ, chose us in Christ. It is said that all that were
chosen in Christ, they also died in Christ. They were buried in
Christ and they rose in Christ. And by the Spirit of God, when
through the gospel of Christ crucified, they're enabled to
see and believe and know the joy and the truth of the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ. The gospel frees us because it
tells how Christ has freed us from the curse of the law because
he bore that curse on the tree. The gospel frees us from our
sin debt by revealing to us that Christ has already paid that
sin debt, that ransom, in full. The gospel frees us from the
claims of divine justice because Christ as our substitute has
made satisfaction being the very propitiation for our sins. The gospel frees us because it
tells us that God has justified us. The gospel frees us because
it frees us from the hope, from the hold of false religion with
all its threats and promises of reward. When I was growing up, preachers
used to scare the dickens out of me. You might say they were trying
to scare the hell out of me or scare me out of hell. I don't
know which one. But they did a pretty good job. I'd go home from a so-called
revival meeting. I'd lay down on that bed as a
young person, pull a sheet all the way up to the top of my chin,
fearing I might die during the night and go to hell. They could
say things. They could say that you better
do this, you better live right, you better... They could just
scare me to death. But now, I can laugh at them. I can laugh at their phony God.
You remember Elijah on Mount Carmel? That's what he did basically
to all those prophets of of Jezebel and the prophets of the grove,
they had their big religious service and they were all carrying
on. And Elijah, he began to mock them. Somebody today would say,
well, you better be careful what you say about God. You better
be careful what you say about somebody else's religion. Really? You don't have to fear a God
that does not exist. I don't care how big they paint
him, make him growl, flex his muscle, whatever he is. Gospel makes you free. They say,
well, if you don't do right, you won't get a reward. You won't
go to heaven. You won't get a mansion as big as mine. What's a mansion compared to
the Lord of glory himself? Freed us from the hold of false
religion. Freed us from its traditions
by teaching us the truth. Freed us from its superstition. You know, Paul at Athens, he
said, I perceive you men of Athens, you're in all things too superstitious. That really means too religious. Freed us from those who held
us under their power. That's right. Freed us from the captivity of
Satan. Freed us from the fear of death.
Freed us from unrighteousness by imputing to us a perfect righteousness
in Christ. Made us free. But free to do what? Free to
do what? Made us free to serve Christ. free to follow the lamb whithersoever
he goeth, free to worship Christ alone, free us to proclaim this
law of the spirit of life in Christ, free us to rest in him,
free us to rejoice in him, free us to have security in him, free
us to help our brothers and sisters because we love them and because
Christ has set us free. Look back over in Romans chapter
7, because he had already given them the picture of this. Verse 1, he says, No ye not,
brethren, for I speak to them that know the law? How that the
law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the
woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband
so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she
is loose from the law of her husband. So then if while her
husband liveth she be married to another man, she shall be
called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man. Wherefore? Now, Paul, why'd you say all
that stuff about the law? Again, to show the law and how
the Lord Jesus Christ liberates. He says, Wherefore, my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law, by the body of Christ. The only way we could ever be
free from the law is through the body that is the dying of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Freedom by His death. That you should be married to
another even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
bring forth fruit unto God. Set free to bring forth fruit
unto God. What do we do in the flesh? We
bring forth fruit unto death. It's the evidence that we're
dead. It's the end will be death, eternal death. But we're set
free that we might bring forth fruit unto God. James said, whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, He being
not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed in his deed. In Exodus chapter 21, we have that picture of what
is called the willing bond slave. And if a man had a servant, a
slave, and his master was a good master,
the man had family while he was there in that service, and there
came a time when he'd served out his period of servitude and
And the law said he had to go free. But if he said this, I love my
master, I love my family, I don't want to be free of either
one of them. His master could take him down
to the gates of the city and there he could have his ear bored
a hole punched through his ear. And he might be out there the
next week or the next year or whatever it is, he might be out
there scrubbing the floor for his master. Everybody that walked by, they'd
look and they'd say, well, he's in service to his master, but
it's not because he has to be. He's a free man and he's serving
his master out of love as a free man. He's a willing bond slave. That's what Paul said he was
to the Lord Jesus Christ, a willing bond slave. Why? Because the law of the spirit
of life in Christ Jesus had made him free. free to serve the Lord Jesus
Christ. Only the gospel, the true gospel, liberates and
makes us free, free to worship and praise and serve God. Because only a liberated people can praise and worship the Lord
Jesus Christ. May it set us all free to serve
him.