Now we're going to look at Romans
chapter 8 that Brother Joe just read this morning. Romans chapter
8 beginning at verse 1. Now for many of you, I know that
you've studied the whole book of Romans and especially Romans
chapter 8 for many years. Heard a lot of messages on it.
So I I'm looking at this for you like sitting down to your
favorite meal. Just one more time. You never
get tired of having your favorite meal. So, I'm not going to bring
anything new to you and that's good because if it's new, it's
not true anyway, is it? Not of God. So, we're going to
look at an old familiar passage. Some of you may not have studied
it that many times or heard it within a gospel context. And
so it may be something new to you. There's nothing new under
the sun, nothing new in the word of God, but it may be new to
us as he reveals it to us. And that's our prayer for you.
I also want to encourage you. The reason I'm going back to
Romans eight is really, it's based upon studying Romans chapter
11. And I'm going to work my way
up through there. And so I encourage you to read your Bibles and to
read Romans 8, 9, 10, and 11. Familiarize yourself with those
scriptures, because I'm going to be dealing with them. Now,
the title of the message this morning is simply this, taken
from verse 1, and that is this, no condemnation in Christ. No condemnation in Christ. Now, if you're a sinner, And
that's, say, if. If you're a sinner who really
knows your frame, your sinfulness, your depravity, your impotency,
then just saying that, if it's true, and it is, ought to just
bring tingles up your spine. No condemnation in Christ. It's an amazing thing. This is
a message of God's grace. And you know, this is not the
only passage in the Bible, especially Romans 8, that teaches what we
would call the eternal security of the saved. But if it were
the only passage, I'd still believe it just as firmly. Because this starts out, it says,
no condemnation. That's the believer's justification
before God in Christ. And then it ends up with no separation. It's impossible for a sinner
saved by grace to ever be separated from Christ. Now, I know there
are other denominations that teach that you can be separated
if you sin badly enough or often enough, however they think of
the issues of sin. But not according to God's Word.
It's impossible. to be separated. He says that
over there in verse 35 by asking and answering a question, who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? And his answer basically,
if you read through that whole thing there, is nothing. Nothing
can separate us from the love of God in Christ. So there's
no condemnation and there's no separation. Now with the verses
that I want to deal with this morning, there are basically
two things here. What you have here, number one,
is the ground of salvation, the ground of justification before
God. How can a sinner be justified
before God? What is it to be justified? It's
to be not condemned. That condemned there is a legal
term. It's like being in a court of
law and the evidence is against you and the judge and the jury
pronounce you guilty, condemned. This is a prisoner who's condemned.
And so to be not condemned is to be not guilty. It's to be
declared righteous in whatever matter they're deciding. That's
what that is, to be declared legally righteous. And that's
what that's talking about, no condemnation. And that's the
ground of salvation here. The ground of justification. And then secondly, it talks about
the fruit. of this justification, the fruit
of salvation, the results of it, you might say, as it's applied
to each and every one of us in our lives. So let's just look
at it. Let's go to verse one here, Romans
chapter eight. He says, there is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. that therefore reaches
back to everything that Paul had written by inspiration of
the Holy Spirit up until this point concerning the salvation
of a sinner by the sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus.
That Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
chief. This glorious person that he identified in chapter 1 as
the God-man, God in human flesh, who was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh but declared to be the Son of God with power
by the resurrection from the dead." This is the person who
is identified here as Christ Jesus, the Messiah, that's what
Christ means, the anointed one, the one sent of God, the one
prophesied from the very beginning. Jesus, Yeshua, they would say
in the original, which means Jehovah, God, our Savior. That's who He is. And then everything
that Paul wrote concerning the accomplished, finished work of
Christ on the cross of Calvary for his people. You remember
he said in Romans chapter one, verses 16 and 17, he said, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and to the Greek
also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. You
see, the very reason that we who believe in Christ can claim
without fail, without hesitation, that there is therefore now no
condemnation for us is because of this person, Christ Jesus,
and what he accomplished on Calvary and the shedding of his blood
to put away our sins and the establishment of a righteousness
that enables God to be just and justifier. There is therefore
now, right now, this is a present reality, This is not something
we have to reach for. This is not something that we
have to wait for way down the road. This is a present reality
for every sinner who comes to God pleading the blood and righteousness
of Christ right now. No condemnation. And this no
condemnation, think about it. What do we deserve? Condemnation. What have we earned? Condemnation. For the wages of sin is death.
We fell in Adam. That's what it means to be ruined
by the fall. That's just not one of the three
R's, that's a reality. That's a reality for every man
and woman born into this world, born of Adam. We fell in Adam. And according to the covenant
of works, we might call it. That's what we deserve, condemnation
and death. For as sin hath reigned unto
death, the wages of sin, all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. If God were ever at any time
in our lives, now and forever, give us what we deserve, it would
be condemnation. The sentence of condemnation
which would cause us to be damned forever. That's what we deserve. It's by one man, Paul wrote,
that sin entered into the world and death by sin, that's Adam.
Adam as the representative of the whole human race. And condemnation
fell upon all men in Adam, all whom Adam represented. And therefore
there's only hope of salvation in one man, one person, the God-man,
Christ Jesus. And he saved all his people from
their sins by what he did on the cross in his death, burial,
and resurrection. All that he accomplished. So
now here's the key. If you want to stand before God,
without condemnation. The key is this, I and you, we
must be in Christ Jesus. Doesn't matter whether you're
a Jew or a Gentile. When I first began to study Romans 11, I had
in mind, and this is what I'm going to, talking about Jew and
Gentile issues of Israel. How should we view Israel today?
I'm gonna be talking about that. Not this morning, but I am gonna
be talking about it. And here's the issue. It's not
whether you're a Jew or a Gentile. It's not whether or not you go
to Israel or visit the Holy Land. That has nothing to do with it.
It's not your pedigree. It's not your law keeping. It's
not your circumcision or uncircumcision. It's are you in Christ Jesus? Now that's the issue. And this
tells us who's not condemned. Has nothing to do with Jew or
Gentile again. Your Jewishness or your non-Jewishness? It's are you in Christ Jesus? Now, what is it to be in Christ
Jesus? Let me give you these things.
Number one, it's to be in Him as a representative. He's the
representative of what the Bible calls the whole election of grace. In Romans 11, it's going to be
talking about that. A remnant according to the election
of grace. Their election, their salvation,
their justification is due to one person, a representative.
His name is Jesus Christ. He stood for his people. You have a picture of that in
the old covenant in the high priest who represented not the
whole human race, but the children of Israel when he went into the
Holy of Holies. Christ did not represent and
die for all without exception on the cross. He died for those
whom he represented. He was set up and chosen by the
Father to be their representative. In Isaiah chapter 42, he's called
mine elect, God's elect, Christ himself. He was chosen of the
Father, and he agreed in the covenant of grace to be our representative. And that's what it is to be in
Christ. It's to have him as your representative. Secondly, it's
to be in Christ by substitution. Not only did he represent his
people before God, he actually took my place before the law. That's what he was doing in his
obedience unto death. That's what it means when we
talk about the truth of imputation. that he actually not only stood
as our advocate, but he actually took our place under the condemnation
of the law. He became actually guilty. He
was made sin. Our sins, the sins of all whom
he represented were charged to him, accounted to him. And he,
listen, he deserved condemnation based upon our sins charged to
him. They became his sins by imputation. And he died because sin demands
death. Why did he have to die? He had
to die because justice demands death. He had to die because
we by nature are condemned in Adam. He had to shed his blood
because without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
The soul that sinneth must die. He wasn't a sinner. He wasn't
made a sinner. He never became a sinner. He
was made sin. It's what the scripture teaches. And I know men try to make a
whole lot more of that because I think they just love to hear
themselves talk. I really believe that. But let
me tell you something, Christ went under the sentence of condemnation
as the substitute for his people. You have another picture of the
lamb. That's what the lamb was for. Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sins of the world. That's God's elect
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation all over the
world. And that Lamb went under the
knife, just like Christ, the Lamb of God, went under the knife
of God's justice for His people. So we're in Him by substitution,
representation and substitution. And then thirdly, we're in Him
by faith. By faith, when the Holy Spirit
comes as the result of what Christ accomplished on Calvary and gives
us life, spiritual life, raises us from the dead spiritually,
and brings us to faith in Christ, we're united to Him by faith.
We believe in Him. There is therefore now no condemnation. Let me just read you something
that I believe is just is great in describing this, and I want
you to think about this. I've read it before, but it bears
repeating. What does it mean, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus? It means
this, we're justified. We're righteous in the sight
of God, not in ourselves, but in Christ. And it means this,
God sees no sin in us as a matter of divine justice. The record
books of heaven record no iniquity, no transgression, and no sin
against God's elect. Now as I'm thinking, when you
hear that, think about yourself. Think about me. He says God will
not impute sin to his saints. Look over across the page at
verse 33. He says, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect. It is God that justifies. That means God will not impute
sin to His saints. Now why won't God impute sin
to His saints? I'll tell you exactly why. Because
He imputed them, charged them, accounted them to Christ. Isn't
that right? He says God will not... Now listen to this now. Hold
on to your seats. God will not require satisfaction
from us. You wanna know why? Because our
sins were made Christ and were justly imputed to him and he
was made sin for us. He paid for them. Christ paid
for those sins in full. I say it this way, I don't remember
which old writer I got it from, but he drank damnation dry. Our sins have been forever expunged,
erased from the book of God's offended justice by our Savior's
precious blood. The Lord Jesus Christ has, by
the sacrifice of himself, put away our sins, all of them, past,
present, and future. They were imputed to him, laid
upon him, punished in him, and put away by him. Read Isaiah
53 sometimes, that's what that's talking about. He made an end
of our sins, Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. He removed all the
iniquity of his people in one day by one sacrifice, Zechariah
chapter 3 and verse 9 and also Hebrews chapter 10, you could
add to that. In him we are fully, completely, eternally, unchangeably
justified. from all things. So much so that
in the eyes of God's holy law and justice, we have no sin in
the eyes of God's holy law and justice now. By his one great
sacrifice for sin, the Son of God has made all of God's elect
perfect, righteous in God's sight. You know what it takes to believe
that? It takes God-given faith. It takes God-given faith. Think about it. God the Father
has upon the ground of Christ blood and righteousness and sacrifice
and satisfaction freely and fully forgiven all the sins of his
people. The blood of Christ, like the blood on the mercy seat,
remember the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, covers our sins. And that covering there doesn't
mean cover over, as if they're there but they're hidden. In
the eyes of God's law and justice, they're gone. Washed away. We sing it. What can wash away
my sins? What? What are we saying? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. You know what it takes to believe
that? God-given faith. It takes the work of the Holy
Spirit to believe that. So that our sins are not visible
to the eyes of God's holy law and justice. Now, God sees our
sins. That's why we're chastised. That's why we're warned. But
as far as his courtroom, as far as his justice is concerned,
he sees no sin. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. The blood of Christ has blotted
out our sins out of the ledger of the book of heaven so that
justice cannot see sin in us. For Christ's sake, the holy Lord
God has cast our sins behind his back into the depths of the
sea. You know that's scriptural language there. And it says,
so that they're not only forgotten, but gone insofar as His law and
justice are concerned. Don't tell me that salvation
is not a legal matter. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. Now, salvation is not just a
legal matter. It's more than a legal matter.
There's an experience. There's the experience of it
that is applied to us. He says in verse 1, There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit." That's
referring to the new birth. That's referring to the Christian
life, the life of faith, the life of grace. That's the power
and operation of the Holy Spirit that enters into our lives under
the preaching of the gospel. which is the power of God into
salvation, to bring us to see and believe and rest in this
one fact that there is therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. That's what he does. And we'll
talk more about that in just a minute. Now look at verse two.
Now we're talking about the ground of it now. Here's the cause of
it. You see, the ground of my salvation is not what the Holy
Spirit does in me. That's the fruit. The ground
of my salvation is what Christ did for me on the cross as my
representative, as my substitute, as the Lamb. And so he says in
verse two, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Now the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the gospel. That's what
that is. That word law there, that's word,
it's principle. There's a principle here. It's
a godly principle. It's truth. It's solid. It has the foundation of God
himself behind it, this truth. God has engaged himself behind
this. Not only that, and the way the
scripture puts that is whenever you see a scripture that says
God has sworn an oath, there's only one thing that it talks
about God has sworn an oath to. Read in Hebrews chapter 6, and
that's the salvation of his people in Christ. He's engaged Himself. And so the law of the Spirit,
that's the Holy Spirit, He's the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. He gives life from Christ. Christ is our life. The Holy
Spirit gives us life from Christ. We have life from His death.
He said that in John chapter 12. He said, "...and I, if I
be lifted up, will draw all unto me." If I die, I'm going to give
them life. That's what he means by that.
They're going to have spiritual life, eternal life. And so the
law of the spirit of life, that's in Christ Jesus. That's the gospel
of God's grace. That's the good news of how God
saves a sinner. Not by his works, for by grace
are you saved. Through faith, and that's not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast, were his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus brings
us to see our sinfulness and our depravity and our deservedness
of death and condemnation. The law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus brings us to see that we have no hope of salvation,
no hope of justification, no hope of eternal life, spiritual
life, glorious life, but in Christ Jesus. The Law of the Spirit
of Life drives us to Christ in faith, to rest in Him as our
Sabbath, as our sin-bearer, as the Lord our righteousness. The
Law of the Spirit of Life motivates us, guides us, drives us to follow
Him, to rest in Him, to look to Him, and to obey Him. It's
the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus and it made us
free. Free from the law of sin and
death. That's freedom from death. Freedom from condemnation. Turn
over to Romans chapter 6 with me. Let me show you something
here. This will help you too to understand this. What he's
talking about in Romans 6 as he starts out here is our union
with Christ. Just like I've been talking,
we're in Christ Jesus. We're united to Christ. And he
says we're united to Christ in his death. And based on that,
we'll be united with Christ in His resurrection. You can't have
one without the other. You see, there'll be no one who
perishes in hell for whom Christ died. That's an impossibility.
If that's the case, then His death means nothing. You need
to understand that. We need to get a hold, and I
know we don't do it naturally. I know that the natural man's
not gonna get a hold of this. It takes the Spirit of God for
us to do it. But we need to get a hold of the value and the preciousness
and the power of the blood of Christ that God puts on it. You see, his death is not just
effectual to those who cooperate. If that's the case, he doesn't
save sinners, he saves the people who are better than others. But
you see, we're united to Christ in his death, we'll be united
with him in his resurrection. And he says, look at verse 7,
he says, for he that is dead... Now what he means by that is
he who died with Christ. When Christ died, I died. He's
my representative, he's my substitute, you see. My sins were imputed
to him. So when he died, I died. When
he was buried, I was buried. When he arose again the third
day, I arose again the third day. I had somebody tell me years
ago, when I stated it like that, they said, I don't agree with
that. I said, you don't. He said, no. And I said, were
you baptized? He said, yes. I said, well, do you know that's
what you confess when you're baptized, that when Christ died, I died.
You go down into the water. When Christ was buried, I was
buried. And when Christ rose again, I rose. That's what you're
confessing in baptism. She said, well, I didn't know
that. And you say, isn't that sad?
These things aren't being preached today. All it is is just an act. You join a church, you go through
the motions. But what do these things mean?
What are they based on? You see, this is the Word of
God. And he says, for he that is dead, when Christ died, I
died. He died for me. And if he died
for me, it says, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now, if you've got a concordance
in your Bible, it may have this word in the place of freed. Justified and that's exactly
what it means We're justified in him There is therefore now
no condemnation now look across look down at verse 17 of Romans
chapter 6 now, that's that's our freedom in Christ legally
But look at this he says but God be thanked that you were
the servants of sin now a servant of sin There is an unbeliever
It's a slave to sin. We're all sinners. There's only
two types of people, you know that, sinners lost in their sins
and sinners saved by grace. But there are sinners who are
servants of sin, they're lost in their sins. But look on, he
says, but you have obeyed from the heart. Now here's the Spirit's
work in the new birth. The Spirit brought you to believe
from the heart. What's the heart? Your mind,
your affections, your will, the inner man. the spirit that's
being regenerated by the Holy Spirit. And he says, you believe
from the heart that form of doctrine. Now that word form there is not
like some apparition, that word form there is like a stamp, an
identifying mark. Somebody said it was like when
they say the saying, the die is cast, that's the mold. In
other words, this is an identifying mark. And it's that form of doctrine. Now, doctrine is not a bad word
in the Bible. It is to some preachers, but
it ain't in the Bible. It's not a bad word in the Bible.
It's teaching. God teaches His people truth
that identifies the Scriptures, identifies Christ, and He says,
which was delivered to you, preached to you. Now look at verse 18,
being then made free from sin. Now that word free there is a
different word than over in verse 7. In verse 7, it's justified.
That's our legal freedom in Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation
in Christ. But the word free here is a different
word. It means liberated. You've been liberated. You've
been set free from sin. Now, have you been set free from
sin? Does that mean that when God, the Holy Spirit, brings
you to be born again, you stop sinning? Well, if that's the
case, just go down there and rip out Romans 7, 14 through
25, because that's not true. Well, you know better than that.
No, that doesn't mean you're free from sin in the sense that
you stop sinning. It means you're free from sin
in the sense that you're no longer in bondage, in slavery to that
sin which kept you from coming to Christ. You've been liberated. And he says you became the servants
of righteousness. What's a servant of righteousness?
A servant of Christ, who is our righteousness. A servant of righteousness
is a sinner saved by the grace of God. Look back over Romans
eight. We've been set free. Look at
verse three. Now listen to this. He says,
for what the law could not do, for what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent in his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh. Now what was he talking about?
Well, what the law could not do. Now what is it the law cannot
do? What does the Bible teach us about that? Now here's what
the law was given for under the old covenant, that form of the
law. It was given to expose their sin. The law can show you what
sin is. Now I know, except in the hands
of the Holy Spirit, it cannot show you the utter reality and
depth of sin. But it can show you what sin
is, but I'll tell you what it cannot do, it can't take away your sin.
It can't free you from sin. It can't wash away your sins.
Listen, read the law, memorize the law, try to keep the law,
and you will not be cleansed from one sin. It cannot do that. The law can show you what righteousness
is and holiness is, but I'll tell you what the law cannot
do. It cannot make you righteous. It cannot make you, what Paul
say, as touching the law, I was a Pharisee, blameless. He said,
but it didn't make me righteous. Not at all. The law can show
you your need of salvation, but it cannot save you. Now, why
is it the law can't do that? Well, there must be some defect
in the law, oh no, in that it was weak through the flesh. You
know why the law can't save me? because of me. I'm the problem. The law's not the problem, folks.
Never has been. I'm the problem. You're the problem. That's why the law can't make
us righteous, because we're sinners. So the law can't do it. So for
what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the
flesh, what did God do? He sent his own son. God sent
forth his son, made of a woman, Galatians 4.4, made of a woman,
made under the law. To do what? To do what the law
couldn't do. To redeem us from the law. To
pay the price. You see, the law can show you
how much salvation costs, but it can't pay the cost for you.
Who did that? Christ did. God sent his son
to do that. and sent him in the likeness
of sinful flesh." Now, what does that mean? Well, Christ had a
human body. He looked just like us in that
sense. That's the likeness of sinful
flesh. He was not sinful, but it looked like he was just human
as you and I are. What's that speaking of? That's
talking about his humanity, his sinless humanity. And it says,
God sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
or literally as a sacrifice for sin. He sacrificed himself. He substituted himself. He went
under the justice of God. He, and what did he do when he
did that? Look at this, this is something. He says he condemned
sin in the flesh. As a human being, as God-man,
he went under the justice of God and he condemned sin. Daniel put it this way, he made
an end of sin. Wow. Now, without him, you know
what's gonna happen? Without Christ, you know what's
gonna happen? Sin's gonna condemn us. But when he stepped into
our place under the law, he condemned sin, he put an end of sin. He
finished the transgression. He brought in everlasting righteousness. Look at verse 4. He did all that
in order that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Now,
He didn't do that and everything stopped. As I said, salvation
is a legal matter. That's the ground of salvation,
but it doesn't just stop there. There's an application of it.
There's the result of it. There's life that's given from
it. And when he says that the righteousness
of the law, and I want you to listen to this now, the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. Now here's where we come
to the fruit of salvation. We've been talking about the
ground of it up to this point. Christ laid the foundation now.
He put away sin and established righteousness that's imputed
to His people. And all of that, that the righteousness
of the law may be fulfilled in us. Now, how is the righteousness
of the law fulfilled in me or in you? Does that mean that God
enables us to be perfect? Well, if that's the case, I got
news for you, there's none of us who are saved. Because you
haven't learned to be perfect yet in your character and your
conduct, have you? Have you? You know, Paul said
in Romans 7, he said, I don't even know how to do that. Did
you know that? Paul said, I don't even know
how to do that. He said, I want to be like Christ. This is what
Romans 7, 14 through 25 is about. He said, I want to be like Christ.
Look at verse 15 back up here in chapter 7. Well, look at verse 14. He says,
he says, for we know that the law is spiritual. That means
it reaches to the heart. It doesn't just forbid what I
do and don't do. It forbids evil thoughts. It forbids evil motives. It forbids evil desires. It even
forbids things that I don't do. There's the things that I omit
doing. And he says, but I'm carnal,
sold under sin. Now this is the Apostle Paul,
and you know some people can't take that. Paul's carnal, you
know what carnal means, it means fleshly. Sold under sin, slave
to sin. And so some people, when they
come to verse 14, they say, well Paul must be talking about before
he was converted. Because surely you wouldn't say
that about somebody who's saved. Well let me tell you something,
if you go back and you study this, From Romans 7 verses 1
through 13, Paul's using the past tense verb. He's talking
about past tense in Romans 7, 1 through 13. But he changes
in verse 14 and all the way to the end of the chapter to the
present tense. I want to tell you something.
He's saying, this is what I am right now. I'm carnal, sold under
sin. What's he talking about? This is the same end. Jump across
the page to verse 14 of chapter 6. Think about this one. He says
in verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, you're
not under the law but under grace. Now the same man who says sin
shall not have dominion over you says over here in verse 14
of chapter 7, I'm carnal, sold under sin. Has Paul gone crazy? No, he's talking about two different
things. In Romans 6, 14, he's talking about what we are in
Christ. legally before the justice of
God. No condemnation. I'm not under
the dominion of sin. Sin cannot condemn me. Sin cannot
be charged to me in the eyes of God's law and justice. But
in Romans 7 14, he's talking about himself on this earth and
what he is in himself. I'm still a sinner. And look
at verse 15 of Romans 7, he says, for that which I do I allow,
now I don't approve of what I do. I don't even approve of it. He
said, for what I would that I do not, I want to be like Christ.
I want to love God perfectly. I want to love my neighbors myself.
I have that desire. God the Holy Spirit put it there.
That desire, the knowledge of Christ, the life of Christ, the
spirit of Christ, the desire, that's what some people call
the new nature and that's fine. I don't have any problem with
that at all. Now some people take that way too far and they
develop this whole system of sinless perfectionism that goes
crazy. And I'm not going that way. But
he said, what I want to do, I don't do it. But what I hate I do. The things I hate, I do. He says
in verse 16, if then I do that which I would not, I consent
unto the law, that's good. I'm not gonna blame God for it.
When I sin, I'm not gonna blame the law. I'm gonna blame me.
I'm not gonna blame the little devil sitting on my shoulder.
I'm not even gonna blame the old nature. We have a sinful
nature. Paul said, I'm gonna blame me.
I'm gonna blame Paul the apostle. I'm gonna blame Bill Parker.
He says in verse 17, now then it is no more I that do it but
sin that dwelleth in me. Now Paul's not passing the buck
there. He's just simply tracing it to its source. He's simply
telling you that I still have sin within me and that's the
cause of this whole thing. That's the cause of it. But now there's therefore now
no condemnation to them who are in Christ. We'll look back at
verse four, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us. How is the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us? I'll
tell you exactly how. When the spirit of God, under
the preaching of the gospel, by his power in the new birth,
brings you to see righteousness fulfilled by Christ. That's how. That's when the righteousness
of the law is fulfilled in you. not when God enables you to keep
the law because if that's the case the righteousness of all
has not been fulfilled in you or me but when he shows us that
it has been fulfilled already by Christ it's when we are submitted
to the righteousness of God in Christ for Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe. My
friend, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in me and
in you when you see Christ as the Lord, your righteousness. And then what do you do as a
result? Here's the fruit. You walk not
after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now, let me just say
a few things and I'll close, but I want you to read this and
I want you to think about it and pray about it. I told my Sunday school class
this morning, I said, you know, the Bible in 1 Corinthians chapter
2 says that we who are saved, we who are in Christ, we have
the mind of Christ. Well, how do we have the mind
of Christ? Well, we have it in two ways, I believe. We have
the revelation in the word. This right here from Genesis
to Revelation is the mind of God. So if you wanna think like
God, go to the scriptures. Don't have a one-on-one discussion. Don't have a think tank or an
opinion session. Go to the word of God. This is
what God thinks. This is how God judges. This
is what God holds valuable and what he says is sinful. So we
have the revelation of God, but we also have the spirit of Christ
who has regenerated our spirit the dead see we're born dead
in trespasses and sins our spirits are dead until God the Holy Spirit
in the new birth regenerates our spirit we have the spirit
that gives us a desire to think like Christ in the word to submit
to what he thinks so when you go to passages like this now
this this is what I'm talking about all right you go to a passage
like it and said so now those who are in Christ Those who are
freed from the law of sin and death, they don't walk after
the flesh, they walk after the spirit. Now when you hear that
term, walking after the flesh, what do you think of? Where does
your mind go? And walking after the spirit,
what do you think of? Where does your mind go? Well
normally, now the natural man, his mind would go, people walking,
his mind would go to the dregs of society. The people who don't
go to church. The people who frequent the bars
and the brothels and the drug dens. That's the kind of people
that walk after the flesh to the natural man. And let me tell
you something, I'm in full agreement with them. They do walk after
the flesh. But if you limit your mind to
that, you're not thinking like Christ. You don't have the mind
of Christ. When you read this, think about Saul of Tarsus. Go over there and read that in
Philippians chapter 3, what he was doing. He wasn't going to
the bars and the brothels and the drug dens. He was going to
synagogue. He was reading his Bible. He
was studying the scriptures. He was praying. By all that time,
all of his religion, and all of his morality, and all of his
dedication, he was seeking to establish a righteousness of
his own. He, too, is walking after the
flesh. Think about Cain and Abel. Here's
Cain, working hard, tilling the fields, bringing forth a great
crop, and gives the first fruits, the best that he could do, to
worship God at the altar. Cain was walking after the flesh.
Abel brought the blood of the Lamb. Abel came as a sinner seeking
mercy. He was walking after the Spirit.
You see what I'm saying? When you read passages like this,
don't just relegate it to the dregs of society, the off-scourings,
what you read in the paper. But look at the person who's
doing their dead-level best to keep the law. join a church,
but all that time trying to establish a righteousness of their own.
And listen to this, he says in verse 5, listen, he says, for
they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
They may be the most moral, dedicated, religionist, they may be a preacher
behind the pulpit, But if they're not preaching salvation totally
by the Lord Jesus Christ and the grace of God in His blood
and righteousness alone, they're walking after and minding the
things of the flesh. But he says, but they that are
after the Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, they mind the things
of the Spirit. Now what are the things of the
Spirit? the things of the spirit he said in john chapter sixteen
will look at this next week he said he takes the christ said
the holy spirit takes the things of mine and shows it on the you
wanna mind and walk after the spirit mind the thing look to
christ rest in him follow him yes seek obedience not to be
sad but because you already are by His grace in Him. All right. Let's sing as our closing hymn
to God be the glory, hymn number 449.