Open your Bible, if you would,
to John chapter three. The name of the message is No
Condemnation, No Condemnation. Beloved God, this is a wonderful
topic that we're going to look at today, a wonderful truth from
the Holy Scriptures. And it will cause the heart of
the believer to rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. because of
what he's done for us. And the fact that by his perfect
sin atoning work on Calvary's cross, those who believe on Christ
have no condemnation and they shall never be bought into condemnation.
And we can live in this right now. This is a fact for the believer
right now. And it's absolutely wonderful.
Turn, if you would, again to John chapter three. We'll look
at this wonderful fact that there's no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus, who are saved by his sin-atoning work
on Calvary's cross, who look to him and him alone as the savior
of their souls. Now, these are the words of the
master. And this is what's so wonderful.
This is God in the flesh proclaiming this truth about his people. And it's absolutely wonderful.
Remember, he's gonna go and purchase us at Calvary's cross, but he's
the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. All
of this is purposed and planned by God. And he set his face like
a flint to Jerusalem. And he's told us in this chapter,
that you must be born again. In verse 3 and verse 7, in John
3, 7, he says, Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be
born again. And that's a spiritual rebirth,
that's the Holy Spirit regenerating us, making us alive, giving us
faith to believe in Christ and rest in Christ and trust him
with our eternal souls. And it's absolutely wonderful.
One of the glorious truths that our Lord is gonna set before
us is the fact that those who believe on Christ have no condemnation. No condemnation. This is absolutely
wonderful. Again, now let those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
who believe on him, Look at what our Lord tells us in this text. John chapter three, it's absolutely
marvelous. And again, he's telling Nicodemus
this. He's still discoursing with Nicodemus. And this wonderful statement
is about believers that he's going to say. Those who believe
on him, which if you're a born again, blood washed saint, that's
us. resting and trusting in the crucified one, the only savior
of sinners, cast aside any of our own works, have no hope in
ourselves, and all our hope is wrapped up in Christ and what
he's done. Look at this in John chapter
3 verses 17 to 19. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. Now we can take a look at that
word word there and just seeing it in this context, we know it
doesn't mean everybody because not everyone's saved. But I'll
tell you who will be saved, all the elect of all the ages. Now
look at this. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Isn't that wonderful? Now look
at the other side, though. But he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that light has come to the world, that's Christ. And man loved
darkness, we love our sin. Because we're born dead in trespasses
and sins. We love sin in our natural state. The amazing thing is after we're
born again, we hate sin in ourselves more than anyone else. It's absolutely
amazing. Look at this. Man loved darkness
rather than light because their deeds were evil. So we're sinners. We're born dead in trespasses
and sins. But look at this statement. This
is what we're going to focus on, this statement in verse 18,
this first statement in verse 18. What wonderful words of comfort
to the born-again blood-washed believer. I'll tell you, this
warms my heart. This warms my heart. Look at
this. The born-again, blood-washed believer is trusting and resting
in Christ and Him alone. He's the only Savior I have.
I can't save myself, I can't save you, can't save anyone else,
you can't save yourself, you can't save me. But I'll tell
you about the one who can save anyone who comes to Him. His
name is the Lord Jesus Christ, and look what He says here. Look
at this. He that believeth on Him, that's
Christ. That's talking about Christ.
Him that believeth on Christ. is not condemned. My! But my sins, I have so many sins. Marvel at this. There's no condemnation
in Christ as he that believeth on him is not condemned. Why? Well, because my sins have
already been judged at Calvary's cross. Christ paid the price for me.
He saved me from my sins. And when a man or a woman believes
in and receives the Lord Jesus Christ, we're justified before
God. So completely, now let this sink
into your heart, so completely that it's as if we never sinned
at all. My, isn't that wonderful? You say that, people say, oh,
if I say that to people, they're going to go do whatever they
want. Not God's people. Because we already know what
we are. I like what Norm told me the other day. I love this.
He said, no one who was in the city of refuge had to ask someone
why they were there. No one in Christ has to ask someone
why they're in Christ, because we're a bunch of sinners, and
we're saved by the grace of God in Christ, period. Isn't it wonderful? So marvel that sinners who are
sinners from the top of their head, we who are born dead and
trespassed as sins, and we're sinners from the top of our head
to the bottom of our feet, are made righteous before God in
Christ because we're clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of this, the thief on the
cross, his sins made him black as hell, right? He was black.
He was black with sin, wasn't he? My, oh my. Condemned by the law. My, oh
my. And he believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and in that very moment, He's as white as heaven's own
purity. And so are we who are saved.
Isn't that amazing? In the Song of Solomon, we're called black and yet calmly. Black being our sin and calmly
being beautiful in the Hebrew, which is how we are in Christ,
clothed in his righteousness. Isn't that wonderful? I'll tell
you what, it doesn't get any better than that. You know, listen
to this. With his spotless garments on, we are as holy as God's own
Son. This is the glory of the grace
of God in Christ. Christ does not take away part
of our sins, but all of them. All of them, beloved. Heaven
forgiven you all trespasses and sins. My oh my. Christ doesn't remove sin partially,
but entirely. I remember when I was in religion,
they used to tell you, well, your past sins are all forgiven,
but you be careful with what you do now. And most of those folks believed
they could lose their salvation. Well, look at this. He that believeth
on him, that's Christ, is not condemned. See, God doesn't count our sin
against us. It's already being paid for.
We're sinners. We'll be the first to admit that.
We sin more than we want to. But praise God, we're sinner
saints. We're saved by the grace of God in and through Christ.
Christ does not blot out sin for a little while, but eternally,
eternally He blots out our sin. He's Lord Jesus Christ. It's He who's cleansed us from
all our sins. How? By His precious, precious
blood. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
I remember what someone said. Someone said, what was it again? They said, It's not just who
saved us, it's whose blood saved us. God in the flesh. God in the flesh. Oh, isn't that
wonderful? Oh my, it just gets better and
better. So we're washed clean, we're
forgiven for our sins. He blot them out for eternity,
beloved. Jesus Christ, Lord of all, became
a man. and cleansed us from our sin
by the shedding of his precious blood, when he accomplished the
perfect sin-atoning work of salvation in the room and place of his
people at Calvary's cross. He's perfect. There is in Christ,
those in Christ, in Christ, there's no spot, wrinkle, or any such
thing. And we who are in him are holy
and without blame and faultless. That's wonderful. You know why? Because we're in him. He's not
going to cast us away, is he? It's because of our union with
Christ. He saved us. Oh my. Beloved of God, let us
never be ashamed to declare in uncertain terms, he that believeth
on him, on Christ, is not condemned. Oh, that's wonderful. I just
love it. This is the glorious gospel message
of God's free grace, of justification by faith in and through Christ
alone. And it needs no defense. It only
needs to be preached and proclaimed, beloved. The problem is, we humans
mix things in with it. Don't mix nothing with it. He
that believeth on Christ is not condemned, period. Right? It's
all Him. Salvation's of the Lord. By the
time religion filters the gospel through conditions, through their
requirements, their evidences, their examinations, their counsels,
to receive members, it doesn't become justification by faith,
it becomes justification and sanctification by works. But
look at this marvelous text here, it says, he that believeth on
him, Christ, is not condemned. How do we believe? We just look
to him, beloved, by God-given faith. We look to Christ, look
to me to live, he says. Come unto me, all ye that are
burdened and heavy laden by your works, and here give your rest. Rest for your soul. My, it's
wonderful. Let us sing with the hymn right
here. My sins, oh, the bliss of the glorious thought. My sins,
not in part, but the whole, are nailed to his cross, and I bear
them no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord,
O my soul. So let we who are saved by Christ
according to the mercy of God and the grace of God, let us
rejoice over this wonderful fact that the Master himself has said
here that there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Turn with me, if you would, to
Romans chapter 8. Oh my, Romans chapter 8. And this just brings forth even
more. Paul's bringing this forth here. by inspiration of the Holy
Spirit of God. And the Holy Spirit is just having
him pen similar words to what the Lord said over there in John
3, 18. This is wonderful. Look at this,
Romans chapter 8, verse 1. Look at this. There is therefore
now no condemnation, judgment, no judgment. So same, look at
it, no condemnation to those who who are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. They're
born again. They're resting in Christ. They're going through
this world of woe. It's a hard world. There's struggles
every day for us. And just resting and trusting
in Christ. Now, there are two things that
every believer wants above all else. We want to know that we
have deliverance from the guilt and curse of sin. We want to
live in Christ. We want deliverance from the
power of our sin. We want deliverance from the
practice of sin. We want to walk in the Spirit.
We want a saving interest in Christ, and our living union
with Christ will do both. So marvel at these words. Here
it is right here before us. Here it is right here before
us. And look what the apostle doesn't
say. He doesn't say we're not condemnable,
right? But he says, look at this. There's now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus. Now listen to the words of our
Lord. He that believeth on him, that's Christ, is not condemned.
That's wonderful. So marvel, beloved of God. Let
this comfort your soul and my soul. The fact that our sin cannot
bring us into condemnation. It's forgiven. It's forgiven. We just, we repent and move on. We just confess it to our great
God and move on. My, oh my. My, oh my. And let this text
just sink deep into your soul. He that believeth on him, Christ
is not condemned. This is set before us by the
master himself. How can he say this about us?
Well, because he bore the penalty for our sins. He bore the judgment
for our sins. The condemnation and the wrath
of God fell upon him for my sins. He's perfect. He's spotless.
And what sins? Past, present, and future sins.
And it's because of this union with Christ that we have. Because no, he that believeth
on him, Christ is not condemned. The flesh is no longer our master.
It's no longer our guide. My oh my. Let's close with the
last part of Romans chapter 8. This is going to bring forth
the fact that nothing, nothing shall ever take us from the Lord
or lead us into condemnation. You know why? You know why we
can't be brought into condemnation? Because we can't be separated
from Christ. Right? Look at this, Romans chapter
8, verses 33 to 39. Who shall then, or who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's life? It's God that justifies. So remember right there, we're
justified by God. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. Christ
died for our sins. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Now we're going to see all kinds of worldly things
here. Look at this. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Now look at this, nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved
us. through Christ, in Christ alone.
Look at this. And this is because of God's
keeping power. This is all God at work. Look
at this. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. If we can't be separated from
Christ, we'll never be condemned. That's why. Isn't that wonderful? What a comforting truth. Praise
the mighty name of Jesus. Amen and amen.