Let's turn to Romans 7. Romans 7. I will make reference to more of the
context of what I read this morning, but for the sake of time, I want
to begin in verse 24 of Romans 7. Read down through 8 and verse
4. Paul is continuing here, of course,
but he says these words. Pay heed to what he says. O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? 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. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son,
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that that righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. My title is this. no condemnation. Now even in light of the believers
groanings under his wretchedness and even in light of the believers
knowledge and experience of the continual service of his flesh
to the law of sin. Do you hear what I say? Even so, Paul sounds forth that
there is presently, now, that's the context. Don't let the chapter
division confuse you and don't let men who try to make this
big division between seven and eight confuse you. Even then,
Paul sounds forth that there is presently a total lack of
condemnation. There is therefore now, even
in light of what he just said in chapter 7, even therefore
now. How much condemnation? Not much. No. No condemnation. In other words, Paul starts where
the believer is as he sees himself as a whole. That's where he starts. And yet,
he has no condemnation. In me, in my flesh, dwells no
good thing. There is therefore now no condemnation. But my mind, I serve the law
of God. But my flesh, it serves the law of sin. There is therefore no condemnation. Then Paul describes
how in chapter 8 verse 1 and 2 and why in chapter 8 verse
3 and 4 that the believer can enjoy such a blessed state. Now, true, all the context is
there, but those verses, 24 through 8, 4, sum the whole thing up,
and therein is the context. Two, there is therefore now no
condemnation. The triune God, as Paul would
put it here, God the sender, God the sent. and God the life-giving
authority and principle, the spirit of life. The triune God
is engaged in bringing honor to the law and to justice and
to righteousness in saving a sinner. Saving who? A sinner. A believer? Yes. None but a believer, but
the believer still is a sinner. Even the great apostle as writing
this epistle said Oh wretched man that I What am and if you
change that to anything else you've missed the point? Oh Wretched
man that I am and yet there is therefore now There's therefore now No condemnation. So again I say the triune God
is engaged in bringing honor to the law, to justice, and to
righteousness in saving a sinner. So let's follow Paul here. This is not intended to be a
verse by verse, but rather a point by point. First of all, I only
have two points this morning. First of all, Listen to what
I say here. True believers are brought to
experience some things. True believers are brought to
experience some things. Let me add, every true believer,
all true believers, are brought to experience these things the
apostle Paul talks about here. Now someone says it doesn't say
that. This whole book teaches that. Paul didn't have, Paul's talking
about himself. But Paul said I was an example
of how God Almighty saved sinners when he wrote to Timothy. He
says I'm the prototype. Every true believer is brought
to experience these things. Let me just give you six of them
here. What Paul says here. Some of them are in the verses
I read. Some of them are in the surrounding
context. Here's number one. Here's what every true believer
is being brought to experience. God's law is holy. And the commandment holy and
just and good. And in the inward man, the believer
loves God's law. Do not confuse love for God's
law with legalism. Legalism is the attempt to do
the law for a standing before God. Love for God's law is to
acknowledge God's law for what it is, holy. And the commandment,
holy and just and good. I'm afraid there are some professed
believers of free grace who think you're supposed to hate the law. No. As a matter of fact, Matter
of fact, this is true of every believer's experience as well.
Number two, God's law shines perfect light on the corruption
of my flesh. It still does today. The law still shows me how corrupt
my flesh is. And somebody says, well every
believer doesn't have to come to these things, experience these
things. They will. Yes sir. If I were to come to you and
tell you, you don't have to believe in the virgin birth, don't worry
about it, don't matter. What would you say to me? Yeah.
You're drunk. Well most would be like, I guess,
really Bridger? But if I come to you and told
you that Jesus Christ said I die for my sheep, and he told some
people you're not my sheep, and you gotta believe that just as
well, now who, what, where you gonna put that at? When it comes to the person and
work of Jesus Christ everything is essential doctrine When it
comes to the person and work of Jesus Christ everything is
cardinal doctrine Now it's not that we're right
on every doctrine, but God is correcting us He's showing us
the truth even as Paul said God showed me the truth about the
law and He did not truly understand the law at one time. But when
the commandment came, sin revived, and he said, it killed me. God's
law, this is the second thing that Paul says, that every true
believer is being brought to experience. God's law shines
perfect light on the corruption of my flesh. And it's still true
today. When God says, thou shalt not
steal, that doesn't mean after He saves you, it's alright to
steal now. And yet the law is not my standard
of life. The law is a declaration of my
death. As one brother said it in a message,
we, probably most everyone from here, the law is a letter of
indictment. It's not a standard by which
I try to conduct myself, though I wish I could. It is an indictment
against me in my nature and my flesh. Number three, every believer,
every true believer is brought to experience this. I cannot
do the law as the law demands. To will is present with me, but
how to perform that which is good. I find not. And that's still true today.
And nevertheless, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. But the law is fulfilled in us,
that's right, in us, not by us. God don't save you so that you
can fulfill the law by yourself. The law is fulfilled in you,
not by you. That's the third thing. I cannot
do the law as the law demands. I will. I will too, but I don't
find the know-how, the ability to do so. Here's number four.
I am a wretched man or a wretched woman. If you think well of yourself,
you're not a true believer. I'm not trying to be mean. That's
the truth of God. Do you remember those Jews bragged
on that one fellow? Lord, you ought to do this miracle
he's asking for because he's built us a synagogue. He told
the Lord, that doesn't matter. I'm not even worthy for you to
come under the roof of my house. No matter how much everybody
else bragged about him, he knew better. Right? And he acknowledged that. I am
a wretched man. And that's still true right now. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. I am a wretched man. The true
believer is being brought to experience this. And someone
must save me. Yes, sir. That's right. Some
what? Oh, wretched man that I am, who? Not what. It has nothing to do
with any what's. Exactly. It has to do only with
a who. Amen. And I remember what the
preacher once said. Can't think of his name now,
right off. But he said, Paul, run up on his who. That's good
when you run up on your who. Amen. There you go. I am a wretched
man and someone must. Yea, someone has delivered me. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So every believer is being brought
to experience that I am a wretched man and someone must save me. Yea, I know who that someone
is. It is Jesus Christ, my Lord, and I thank God for Him. If you're not there, God never
brought you there. If God's never brought you there,
if you've not experienced and are experiencing these things,
you are not a true believer. Maybe God is bringing you to
that end, but you are not a true believer up to this point. But
those who have experienced these things thus far, and yet are
experiencing these things, they are true believers. And in spite
of all they are in themselves, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Here's number five. The believer
does not move out of Chapter 7 into Chapter 8 and leave Chapter
7 behind. I was taught that many, many
years ago when I was in religion. The way out to get out of Chapter
7 is to get into Chapter 8. No, the only way of hope for
people in Chapter 7 is the truth declared in Chapter 8. Well,
if you're going to be in chapter 7, even as a true believer, until
the day you die, and you awaken his likeness,
or until he comes again and changes you. The believer does not move
out of chapter 7 into chapter 8. The believer can rest in the
truth of chapter 8 while he struggles constantly with the truth of
chapter 7. I don't agree with that. Well,
then you've not experienced the free reigning grace of God in
Christ. Up to this point, you've not
experienced it. Because you will constantly cry
until the day you die. Oh, wretched man that I am. I serve with my mind. I serve
the law of God. But with the flesh, what do I
serve? The law of sin. My flesh thirst after sin like
a thirsty deer thirst for a cold water brook and it'll just suck
it down and suck it down and suck it down i need to get beyond
that you can't yeah you're right somebody has to raise you above
that and even when they do you're still going to realize i am that
you're right that's it That's number five. Here's number six.
One of the six things here that every true believer is being
brought to experience. This is the experience of not
walking after the flesh, but after the spirit. This is that
experience. For, you see it? For, chapter
8 verse 2, the law, that is the authority, of the Spirit of life. That's the principle. For the
law, the authority of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath
made me free from the law of sin and death. Four. That's concerning who? Who walk
not after the flesh but after the Spirit. You see, I was taught
again years ago that walking after the Spirit means you put
away all immorality and you're no longer an immoral person.
You get rid of all your things that are wrong. Even if you can and some people
can a drunk some drunks can pull away a bottle Right some dope
fiends can put away their dope, but it still doesn't change what
you are in here Christ said the problems not with the outside
of the cup the problem is with the inside of the cup and It's not just what we say that's
the problem. It's that evil wicked heart that's
in us that's so corrupt that it flows forth with all this
abomination and that's why the mouth talks like it does. This is what it means to walk
not after the flesh but after the Spirit. To acknowledge what
you truly are in Adam and in yourself. That's walking after
the Spirit. It's not some moral state that
you rise unto. That's the how. Look. There is
therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.
Who? Not because. It doesn't say because we walk.
No, that's not what it says. It says who? This is a description
of who was in Christ Jesus. Who walked not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For. Here's the reason. Here's the how it took place.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. God Almighty. breathed into you and into me
the very spirit principle of spiritual life. And it freed
us from the law of sin and death. From its presence? No. When I
would do good, evil is present with me. From its influence? No. What I would do, I do not. What I don't want to do, that's
what I do. But it does free me from its dominion and its condemnation. Chapter 8. What Chapter 8 says. I'm no longer dominated by that,
but it's still in there. It's still in there. And it sometimes
still has a very bad influence on me. I know that in me that
is in my flesh dwelleth what? No good thing. That's the how. That's the how, but what about
the why? Listen to me, here's number two. The experience of
the believer, these six things, and there are more there. I understand
that, there are more there. You could come up with, not come
up with you, you could even see more, but they're all based,
these six things kind of summarize everything Paul's talked about
in chapter seven. But the experience of the believer
did not and shall never satisfy divine justice nor the law. In
other words, sin must be dealt with. This is the grounds or the why
which brings honor to justice and the law. Verse 3, for what
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh.
Do you see it? In other words, what God has
done to you, what God has done, we could say, in you, what God
has done upon you, what God is doing, these things never satisfy
divine justice and the law of God. Had God merely changed,
had God merely said, and given us spiritual life, we could walk
after the flesh, not after the spirit, and we still have to
perish because of our sins. Sin must be dealt with. And that's what Paul says, for
what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Here's the result
of that, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. So again I say the experience
of the believer did not and shall never satisfy divine justice
or the law. Sin must be dealt with. This
is the grounds which brings honor to justice and the law, the death
Jesus Christ, but much more than just the death because had it
just been his death he could have died a natural death Right Right he could have just
lived out a full old age and just died for us would that not
have been all right? But it's more than that Because
sin has to be dealt with yes, sir. Do you see it? Do you see
it? I hope to God you see it. I hope
to God I see it like it ought to be seen. I am persuaded I
see it by faith. Think about it. The sender dealt
with sin in full condemnation against it. Why? Because the sender condemned
sin in the sinless flesh of the sent. That's what he says right
here. the sender fully condemned sin
in the sinless flesh of the sin of the scent how can both be
true they just are They just offer Christ according to Peter, and
I will give one reference outside of this here cry as I'll give
one reference outside of the the the text I read in the context
of it. Peter put it this way, and let
us hear the words. Concerning Jesus Christ, he bore
our sins in his own body on the tree. He didn't just die for
our sins, though he did. He died because Our sins were in Him when He
hung on that tree. For what the law could not do,
the law wasn't the problem, I was the problem. If I didn't have
a problem, God could have said, do this and live. It would have
been there. But my flesh is weak and this
is an absolute weakness, not a relative weakness. for what
the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. He
had not sinful flesh. He had no sinful flesh. But He's
sending Him in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. That
is on account of sin and not as some read as a sin offering.
It ain't a sin offering and for sin. Because God sees sin in
the Son. God condemned sin in the flesh
of His Son. That's the flesh He's talking
about. Years ago, again, when I was in religion, they taught
us that this being Jesus Christ came and preached against sin.
He condemned sin in the flesh. He was in the flesh, the likeness
of it. He condemned sin in the flesh. He preached against sin.
That ain't what Paul's talking about here. He's talking about
the sender The senders, the one that did the condemning here,
condemning sin in the sinless flesh of His Son. Both of those
things existed. When He was on that cross, both
of those things existed at the same time. I don't have to explain
it. I'm here to declare it. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. Think of it, Paul says here,
The result of that is that the righteousness of the law might
be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the
spirit. So this lets me know Jesus Christ did this just for
those people. That's right. Right? Yes sir.
The same who walk not after mentioned in one is also mentioned in four.
That's exactly right. Now I know it's not there in
the two oldest texts but a lot of stuff ain't in the two oldest
texts. That's exactly right. In the high percentage of the
90's The who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit is
in both chapter 8 verse 1 and in both chapter 8 verse 4. I'll
go with that. Even in the quotes from men of
long ago. They knew this is here. It's
all here. Why? Because this is not a description of how you
get out from under condemnation. But who has no condemnation? As long as I'm one of the elect,
that's not what it's about. It's about having this life principle,
this authority giving Spirit of God breathing within you spiritual
life to where your whole world gets turned upside down. And
you realize how corrupt you are and how in absolute need you
are of a Redeemer, a Savior. That's what it means to walk
not after the flesh but after the Spirit. There are people
out there that that are so naive concerning the truth of God,
they think this means you give up cigarettes. Now I'm serious. They really think that's what
that means. What it means is to be able to cry out at the
same time, oh, wretched man that I am, but I thank God for the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it's about. That's
where it's at. The sender condemned sin in the
sinless flesh of the sent. That's what he says here. Christ
bore our sins. Think of it, he bore the sins
of every believer and every future believer. Isn't that what John
3.16 says? God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever is born, might have
ever, no, that whosoever believeth on him. That's what it says.
Christ died for believers and believers only. Now granted,
some were not believers yet, but they would be. They would
be. He died for believers. He died
for those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. That's what this Paul says here. In other words, Christ bore the sins of every
believer and every future believer when He was on that tree. And
God thus justly condemned sin there. Sin was actually punished
in Him there. Turn to the 69th Psalm. Here is why. We see how it happened. God does all these things to
us, right? But here we're looking at why
it happened. The foundation of the how, Joe,
is the why. Look at verse 69. Now, so that
we know this is Christ, if you read verse 4, they that hate
me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head. That's
Christ. Look at verse 9, for the zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up. That's Christ. And look what He says, Save me,
O God, for the waters are come in unto, what? My soul. I sink in deep mire, where there
is no standing. That's why He said in chapter
22, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Christ, when
He hung on at three, had no standing before God. God seeing our sins
in His own body. And God Almighty the Father,
God the Father, the sender, turned His back on the scent. I come into deep waters where
the floods over. The whole thing here, granted
this is metaphorical language, but Christ here is expressing
the magnitude of what He went through when He hung on that
tree. I am weary of my crying, my throat is dry. That's quite
literal. Mine eyes fail while I wait for
my God. No, he was not personally disobedient,
but he experienced what we should have experienced. Look, they
that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my
head. There was a vast multitude gathered that day, wasn't there? more than the hairs of my head.
They that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I restored that." Then I
restored that which I took, not away. Oh God, thou knowest, and
this is something that I cannot, I don't have an illustration
to give you for this. This is Christ himself saying,
oh God, thou knowest my foolishness. Personal foolishness? No. but
ours being born by Him inside Him. O God, Thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from me. But listen to what he prayed
while this was going on. Let not them that wait on Thee,
O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that seek Thee
be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Why? Because that
He was and is our hope. Because for Thy sake, there's
what it was for. This is still him praying to
God the Father. Because for Thy sake have I borne
reproach. Shame hath covered my face. Isaiah says the Lord put him
to grief. Made his soul an offering for
sin. But even in more particular, He made His soul sin. He experienced
it in His... It wasn't just what He experienced
out here, hanging. That was bad. But inwardly, inwardly
He felt the shame and the guilt of my crimes. God Almighty, God
the Father, turned His back on the Son that day. And Christ
did it first of all, and foremost, why? For God's sake. for divine
justice sake and the law's sake. The law demands death under judgment. He did. He did. There's the why. As a substitute for them. Why that? The righteousness of
the law might be fulfilled how? In us. Not, remember, so what
I'll say, don't just know it's not done by you, it's done in
you. That's the glory. In light of this, do you not
understand why Paul would say even in the context, there is
therefore now, right now, No condemnation. Why? The condemnation
has already been meted out. God the sender condemns sin in
the sin. Here's my summary. Two things. Believing, walking after the spirit rather
than walking after the flesh. Believing does not satisfy the
law or justice. It receives Him who did. Exactly. There you go. Secondly, believing
is not righteous perfection. Believing is resting in Him who
is. Father, as we continue and eat
together, Lord, may it be that we fellowship in this truth and
to some degree, Lord, experience the blessing of knowing there
is therefore now No condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. In Christ's name I thank you.
Amen.