Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm glad you could join us. And
if you'd like to follow along in your Bibles, turn to the book
of Romans, chapter 8. Romans, chapter 8. And this is
the second part of a message that I began last week called
The True Christian Life. the true Christian life. And
I wanted you to see how the true Christian life or true Christian
living, in fact, I told you, I said last week that I preached
this message at our church under the title of Keys to Christian
Living. And under this title, I've got
three keys to Christian living as described in one verse here. It's Romans chapter eight and
verse one. which says, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And in that verse,
we have a description of the true Christian life. And I brought
it forth under these three headings. And as I said, I'm gonna pick
up where I left off last week to give you these. So this is
part two. Now, if you haven't heard part
one, go on our website, And it'll be up on the website, or you
can order it on CD or DVD, either way that you want. And this is
the True Christian Life, part two, today. Part one. And last week, it's under three
headings. Number one is standing. That
has to do with the legal standing of true Christians before God. And that's described in Romans
8, 1, the first part, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. To live a true Christian life,
one must be taught by God through the revelation of the gospel,
through the power of His grace, that we are sinners who deserve
nothing but death and hell, we fell in Adam, and based on our
best, but in Christ, by God's grace, based upon His blood and
His righteousness alone, I have a perfect right standing legally
before God. I cannot be condemned. There
is therefore now no condemnation. And I'll tell you, I want you
to see something now. There are denominations who call
themselves Christians, who say that you can be saved, but you
can, by your character and conduct, lose that salvation. My friend,
that's a denial of the gospel. They're not living a Christian
life because they don't have a right standing before God in
Christ. It's based upon their continual
doing. But in Christ, I am legally forgiven. on one ground, on one basis,
the blood of Christ. In Christ, I stand before God
justified. We read that last week in Romans
6 and verse 7, which says, in verse 7, for he that is dead
is freed or justified from sin. The word dead there means that
he's dead from the law. The law cannot condemn him. He's
dead to sin. Sin cannot condemn him. Sin cannot
be charged to Him. Romans 8 and verse 33, it says,
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies. It's God who forgives me. It's
God who declares me righteous in His sight legally. And upon
what basis does He do that? Look at verse 34. Who is He that
condemneth? It is Christ that died. And last
week I dealt with this in our legal standing in Christ. Christ
is my surety. That is, He took responsibility
for my debt of sin. It was all imputed, charged,
accounted to Him, reckoned to Him. And Christ is my surety. Christ was made my substitute. He came to earth and took into
union with His deity a perfect, sinless humanity. Christ is God
in human flesh. and he walked this earth in complete,
perfect, uninterrupted obedience to the law of God, and obeyed
unto death, went to the cross of Calvary, for my sins charged
imputed to him. It's Christ that died, and when
he died, what did he accomplish? Now see, now this is something
you need to understand. The gospel is never related in
the scripture as just a historical fact. that Christ died, was buried
and rose again. Now those facts are included
in the gospel. But if you stop there with only
the historical fact, you haven't heard the gospel. The gospel
lies in what did Christ actually accomplish when he died and was
buried and arose again the third day. And the answer is He accomplished
righteousness which demands and secures the eternal salvation
and final glory of all whom the Father gave Him before the foundation
of the world. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. So Romans 8, 34, who is he that
condemneth? It's Christ that died. I cannot
be condemned because Christ died for me. How do I know He died
for me? Because I'm looking to Him as
the author and finisher of my faith. I believe in Him. If He
died for you, you can't be condemned. How do you know if He died for
you? you will be brought to faith in Christ. That involves the
second thing, but let me get to this first. It's Christ that
died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. So I stand
before God. This is the true Christian life,
number one. My standing before God, and I
know this based on God's word. This is not based upon feeling.
It's not based upon circumstances. It's not based upon how you look
at me and judge me. It's totally by God's Word. You
see, that's what faith is, believing God's Word. God said it, I believe
it. God said it, that settles it,
I believe it. And so I have a right standing
before God. I'm righteous in God's sight. I'm still a sinner in myself,
but I'm righteous in God's sight. Based upon what? Based upon Christ's
righteousness, imputed, charged, accounted, reckoned to me. That's
what God has done. How do you know that God has
done that for you or for me? That brings us to the second
heading. of the true Christian life, keys
to Christian living, and that is the word state, standing state. The third word, remember, is
struggle, and I'll get to that in a minute, but state. Now,
what state are you in in this world? What state is your life
in this world? Well, I mentioned last week at
the end of the message, our natural state as fallen in Adam, as being
born dead in trespasses and sins, is lost and ignorant and in unbelief. That's how we all start, even
God's elect, even true believers. We start out life dead in trespasses
and sins. I read over in Ephesians chapter
2, verse 1, And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. But if you have a right standing
before God in Christ, as pointed by God before the foundation
of the world, at some point in time, you're going to be brought
by the grace and the power and the will of God to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Your state's going to change.
Your standing will never change, but your state before God does.
And you'll be brought, as Romans 8, 1 says, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Now, who
is he talking about? Look at it. Who walk not after
the flesh, but after the spirit. Now, what is it to walk after
the flesh? Well, look at Romans chapter six. Now, this is where
I ended off last week. In verse 17, he'd already said
that all who believe in Christ, that's evidence that they've
been justified, they've been declared not guilty, they've
been forgiven, they've been made righteous by the blood of Christ,
by the grace of God. You see, grace reigns through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans
5.21. Well, look at Romans 6 and verse
17. He says, but God be thanked that
you were the servants of sin. Now this is, he's talking to
believers here. You were the servants of sin.
Now, to call a person a servant of sin is not necessarily to
say that that person is immoral in the eyes of men. You know,
we think of servants of sin, you may think of the drunks and
the whoremongers and the drug pushers and the dregs of society. Well, they are servants of sin.
But it also includes the most religious, the most moral in
the eyes of men. It includes all of us before
God brings us to faith in Christ. A servant of sin is an unbeliever. Mark that down. If you're an
unbeliever, you may be in a church somewhere. They may give you the key to
the city and honor you for your charitable donations. But if
you don't know Christ as the Lord of righteousness, the Lord
your righteousness, if you don't know the gospel and believe in
Him and rest in Him for all salvation, you're a servant of sin. That's
unbelievers. So he says, you were the servants
of sin. That's our state by nature. The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
Neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
But he says, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine
which was delivered you. Now literally that would say
you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine where to
you were delivered. What does that mean? Well it
means that God the Holy Spirit at some point in your life brings
you under the preaching of the true gospel. The gospel that
is the power of God and salvation. Now let me caution you on this. Not all who claim to preach the
true gospel preach it. There is false Christianity run
amuck in this world. And it always makes salvation.
Listen, a false gospel will always make salvation conditioned on
you at some time, some stage, in some way. But the true gospel
states out that salvation is totally conditioned on Christ
and he fulfilled those conditions to secure the salvation of everyone
for whom he died, for whom he was buried, for whom he arose
again. Well, he says you've obeyed from the heart. Now, what do
we know from the Bible about the heart? The natural heart
is deceptive, fallen, legal, blind. But God says in salvation,
what will he do? And when the new birth, you must
be born again, he'll give you a new heart, a new mind, a new
affection, new will. You see, you don't come to Christ
upon your own free will. You don't have a will to come
to Christ. But God changes the wills of his people. He gives
them a new heart. And when that new heart comes,
that form of doctrine, what is that? That's the gospel. The
true gospel. The gospel of the glory of the
person of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? God in human
flesh. God-man. And what did he accomplish
on the cross of Calvary? He put away the sins of his people
so that they cannot be charged. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. And that's what he accomplished. His righteousness is charged,
accounted, imputed to them, and they must be saved. They cannot
go through this life totally lost and die in unbelief. They're
going to be brought under the preaching of the gospel. They're
going to be delivered by God. And he says in verse 18, now
look at verse 18, being then made free from sin, that means
liberated from sin. That doesn't mean you stop sinning
or you stop being a sinner. We're gonna talk about that in
the struggle. That means you're no longer deceived by Satan and
to the glory of God. As to the glory of God in Christ
and how God saves sinners. You now know Christ, you know
the gospel. God has revealed himself to you.
as the God of justice as well as mercy, as the God of grace
as well as truth. He's revealed to you your sinfulness
and your deservedness of damnation. If God were to judge me based
upon what I've earned and deserved, it would be eternal damnation,
even at my best. And then God has revealed to
me His glory in the face of Jesus Christ. And I know now, Christ
is my only hope. Christ is my only way of forgiveness. There's no other way. Christ
is my only righteousness. Christ is my preserver, and He'll
bring me unto glory. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that He's able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. That's when my state changes. And what he says in verse 18,
being then made free, liberated from sin, the deception of sin,
you became the servants of righteousness. Now that doesn't necessarily
mean that you stop being immoral and become moral. I stopped being
immoral long before I knew the gospel. To be a servant of righteousness
means to be a servant of Christ. A willing, loving, bond-slave
of Christ. Look at verse 1 of chapter 8.
It's then that you begin to walk not after the flesh, that is
in unbelief, seeking to establish your own righteousness before
God, but after the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. In other words,
now you are born again by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit,
led by the Spirit. And what does the Holy Spirit
do? He brings a sinner in conviction of sin and depravity. He brings
that sinner to look to Christ. and Christ alone for life, for
forgiveness, for righteousness, for eternal life and glory. You
know how you know if you've been born again of the Spirit, and
if the Spirit indwells you, and if you're living by the Spirit
and by the Word of God? You know how to tell that? Are
you looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith? Are
you looking elsewhere? A lot of people claim to be Christian. They look back to the past. They
look to their decision. They look to their baptism. They
look to their church membership. They look to their morality.
My friend, should we be moral people? Absolutely, we should. But our salvation is totally
wrapped up by the obedience unto death, the merits of the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no righteousness and holiness
before God but Christ crucified and risen from the dead. And
that's my state before God. I'm a born-again sinner saved
by grace. I live by faith and faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It's God-given faith. I didn't muster it up. It wasn't
my free will. It was God's will who changed
my will and sent His Spirit to raise me from the dead with the
life of Christ. And now I believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I rest in Him. And I repent of
all my dead works and all my idolatry. But then, now here
comes the third heading of the true Christian life. Struggle. And I put that, it's really there
in Romans 8, 1. Read it again. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. That's our
standing, if we're a believer now. That standing cannot be
changed. That's all in Christ. Who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. That's walk in faith
by Jesus Christ, trusting him. That never changes. But to walk
after the Spirit and not after the flesh, let me tell you something,
it is a struggle. And from the time that we're
born again by the Spirit and come to faith in Christ, it is
a struggle to walk after the Spirit. How do you walk after
it? You walk by the Word of God and not after the flesh. And
why is that? Because we still have the flesh. that we have
to war against. Over in the book of Galatians,
chapter 5, this struggle is described. It's
really described there in Romans 7, but I want you to see this
first. In Galatians, chapter 5, listen to this. Verse 16 of
Galatians 5. This I say then, walk in the
Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Do you
still have the lust of the flesh? If you're a believer, you do.
Those who claim to be sinlessly perfect in themselves, or to
have a sinless nature in themselves, my friend, they're lying to themselves. A believer is a sinner saved
by grace, still plagued with the flesh. We have the Spirit
of God within us. Our state has been changed. We
have the mind of Christ. We know our sins. We know our
Savior. We know what we should do, but
we still struggle with sinful thoughts, sinful ideas, sinful
motives, sinful ghosts, selfishness. We have to fight every day. Look,
it's a warfare. Look at verse 17 of Galatians
5. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against
the flesh, and these are contrary one to the other, so that you
cannot do the things that you would. Somebody said, well, the
flesh inspires us to do evil. And if it weren't for the Holy
Spirit, we would go the full swing of evil. But he said, but
the spirit inspires us to obey God. And if it weren't for the
flesh holding us back, contaminating everything that we do, corrupting
everything that we do, we could be perfectly like Christ. It's
a struggle. It's a warfare. He says in verse
18, but if you be led of the Spirit, you're not under the
law. Now, if you're led by the Spirit, you're not condemned
by the law, even though you're still a sinner. You say, well,
what is it to be led by the Spirit? It's to be led to Christ. That's
what it is. But go back to Romans 8 here.
He says, not walking after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
describes it in Romans 7, verses 14 through 25. But look at Romans
7, 24. Listen to what he says. Now Paul speaking as a believer
here, some people say, well this refers to Paul's past life. No,
it refers to Paul's present life. All the verbs in Romans 7, 14
through 25 are present tense verbs. And he says in verse 24,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? That's what a Christian is. That's
the true Christian life. The life of a wretched person. But this wretchedness is a blessing
if God the Holy Spirit uses it to turn us to Christ. Look at
verse 25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then,
now here's the struggle. In other words, I am confident
that I'm going to be delivered from even the very presence,
influence, contamination, and corruption of sin that keeps
me from being perfectly conformed to Christ. Why? Because of Jesus
Christ my Lord. Not because of my efforts or
my goodness or my works. but because of Christ, and so
this is the struggle. So then with the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. I
have it in my mind to serve God, to please God, to obey God, to
honor God, to glorify God in everything I think, say, and
do, but I've got a problem, and that's the flesh. And listen
to what Paul says here. He says in verse 21, this is
Romans 7, 20. I want you to notice something
here. He says, I find then a law, that's a powerful principle,
that when I would do good, when I would obey God, when I would
be perfect, like Christ, evil is present with me. I can't get
away from it. That's my struggle. I have a
perfect standing before God in Christ. I'm righteous in Him.
I'm forgiven in Him. My sins cannot be charged to
me. They've been washed off the legal books of God's justice
by the blood of the crucified Savior, the blood of the Lamb.
I'm washed in the blood. I'm righteous in Christ. And
I've been changed by the Holy Spirit. I've been born again.
And I'm looking to Christ for all my salvation. And that's
how I live. That's the true Christian life.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith. But God has given me a desire
to be like Christ and to be perfect in Him. But the perfection that
I desire because of God the Holy Spirit, I cannot find in myself. Why? Because when I would do
good, evil is present with me. Did you notice what he said there?
In verse 21, when I would do good, evil's present with me. Now I can understand a person
saying, well, when I would do evil, evil's present with me.
But Paul says, when I would do good, evil's present. Evil, my
flesh, and that's me now. That's not just somebody else
inside of me, that's me. My flesh, it keeps me from doing
the good that I desire to do. Paul was not an immoral person.
He was not a hypocrite. But he's simply saying this,
the perfection that I desire, I can only find it in Christ.
And I desire to obey God, and I'm going to try to obey God
in everything, but I cannot reach that perfection. I'm gonna walk
after the Spirit, looking to Christ, obeying Christ, honoring
Christ, and not after the flesh. But it's a struggle. It's a warfare. It's a battle. And here's the
point. This struggle, this warfare,
this battle, it cannot condemn me, because my sins cannot be
charged to me. And it cannot separate me from
the love of God in Christ, because that's based upon Christ's righteousness
alone. And it cannot bring me to leave
Christ and forsake Him totally. I may have my moments where I
look away, but He'll always bring me back. Those who are born of
God cannot totally apostatize, totally leave Christ because
they're born of God. His seed remaineth in Him forever. His children remain in Him forever. And why is that? It's because
He keeps us. He preserves us. He won't let
His people go. but they're involved in a struggle.
Now, lost people can be involved in a struggle too, but their
struggles are with natural conscience, legalism, all of that. But a
believer's struggle is to honor God and be like Christ. And the
reason he cannot reach that goal now, perfectly in himself, is
because of the flesh. We still have sin contaminating,
corrupting, influencing everything we do. That's why when we pray,
think about this, when a believer prays, he cannot plead his prayer,
the merit of his prayer, as recommending him unto God. The Bible says
when we pray, our prayers are accepted not because of the beauty,
the sincerity, or the glory of our prayer, but because we have
a great high priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ
the righteous. Because we have Christ as our
mediator, who is seated at the right hand of God, ever living
to make intercession for us. You see, our total acceptance
before God is in Christ. and we struggle with the flesh
to be like Him. But we'll win by the grace of
God. Hope you'll join us next week for another message from
God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, Write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. Contact us
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today and may the Lord be with you.