Open your Bibles to the book of Romans 8. In Romans 7, Paul ended Romans 7 in verses 24 and 25 with, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of 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. So Paul sees who he is. He's a wretched man, and this is even after he's saved, because now he's got a civil war within him. He's battling the flesh and the spirit, are battling against each other. But look, he says, I have liberty.

I have victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this message brings forth how we are debtors to the mercy of God and the grace of God in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, through his blood and righteousness, has saved his people from their sins. The Word of God became a man, lived the perfect life, and that's where our righteousness comes from, that we're clothed in. As born-again, blood-washed believers, it comes from Christ. Our natural righteousness is not worth nothing. But Christ weaved a coat of righteousness for us and clothed us in it, when he became a man, when the word of God became a man, and his name was the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we, who are saved by his blood and righteousness, we have a sincere desire to serve him, don't we? We have a sincere desire to serve our great God. And we now serve him with gladness. I remember when I was in religion, it was not gladness. There was, you have to do this, you have to do that, this, that, that, dress this way, walk this way, look this way. And there was no gladness in it. It was all about what I was doing.

But when the Lord saved me, it's all about Him. And now, now I serve the Lord with gladness in my heart, beloved. And it comes from the Lord himself. The Holy Spirit rots in us joy, love, peace. Those are the fruits of the Spirit, not the fruit of our doing.

And it's wonderful. So we rejoice in the wonderful salvation that comes through the perfect, and I mean perfect, complete, and I mean complete, sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ in the room and place of his people. It's amazing. So with that, let's read verses one to 12 of Romans chapter eight. Paul writes this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now in the Greek, condemnation is judgment. So I'm gonna read it with that. There is therefore now no judgment to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.

That alone makes us debtors to mercy, doesn't it? No condemnation, no judgment. Why? Why will a believer never be judged again? Because all our sins were judged at Calvary's cross. And just as Moses couldn't smite that rock twice, God will not smite his son and smite us over our sins. It's already bought and paid for. I told someone recently, I'm never going to face judgment ever of any kind.

How can you say that? Because it's true. Because that's what the scripture says. It's not my opinion. It's what the scripture says. Romans 8, 2, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made me free. Look at that. Free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, so that the law being weak through the flesh means we couldn't save ourselves.

So what does God do? Well, look at this. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. There he is, the God-man, the Messiah. Oh my. sent to save his people from their sins. And when he cried, it is finished, that was a cry of victory, beloved. Oh, that's a cry of victory. The work of salvation is completed. Oh, my. Look at this, verse four.

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. And we see that in the contrast of believers and unbelievers. I remember when I was an unbeliever, all I was concerned about was satisfying myself. Oh yeah, get everything I can. Now I want to pour my life out for Christ. That's all God's doing, beloved. That's all God's doing.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity, that's hatred in the Greek, against God. For it is not subject to the law, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh, look at this, cannot please God. See, people are going about trying to establish their own righteousness thinking they're pleasing God by doing that. Thinking they're good, well, wait, they're bad at the great white throne, but it won't. Why? Because they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

That's why you must be born again. You must be born again. Look at this. Paul says this, and he's writing to believers. Born again, blood-washed believers. But you're not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any men have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his. If you're not born again, you're not Christ.

My. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. because of Christ's righteousness. But that the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, also the same Holy Spirit that raised me from a dead condition I was in, the same power raised Christ from the grave, absolutely. Isn't that wonderful? He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you.

Now here's our text. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors. Oh, we are, aren't we? Not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. We're debtors to grace. We're debtors to mercy, the mercy and grace of God. And there's nothing we can do to repay this wonderful mercy and grace. That's not what that means. That just means we're in debt. God saved us based upon nothing in us, because it pleased him to do so.

Oh, now as God's creatures, all are debtors to him, to obey him with our body, our soul, and our strength. And all people born into this world have broken God's commandments. All of us. So in our natural state, we're all debtors. We're debtors to the justice of God. We're debtors to the law of God. And you know what? sinner friend, in our natural state, we owe, we owe so much, a vast amount, which we are not able to pay.

That's why God says, there's nothing the flesh does that pleases him. Nothing. God is only pleased with the perfect work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we preachers say, put your trust in Christ. Flee to Christ. Run to Christ for salvation of your soul. Because that's the only place where it is.

That's what we who are the born-again, blood-washed saints did. By the mercy and grace of God, He made us willing in the day of God's power, and He saved us. Born again, oh, it's wonderful. And then given faith to believe on the great King, the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners. Now, the born-again blood-washed believer, it can be said that we do not owe God's justice anything. Somebody says, how can you say that? You just said everybody owes God's justice. not the born-again blood-washed believer.

In our natural state, we did. Oh, yeah. But for the blood-washed believer who's resting and trusting in Christ for the salvation of their soul, Christ paid the debt that we owe, the debt we could never pay. He paid it all. And for this reason, the believer owes more to the love of God in the grace of God, in the mercy of God. We're debtors to God's grace. We're debtors to God's forgiving mercy. And we who are truly born again, blood-washed people of God, are no longer debtors to God's justice. It has no claim on us. It has no claim on us. No. And God will never accuse us of that debt. of the debt of our sins.

You know why? Because Christ paid it all when he said, it is finished. Christ paid the debt for all the elect of all the ages right there. And by the words, it is finished, it meant that whatever his people owed was wiped away from the book of God's remembrance. Your sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

We say, praise God, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. Christ has to the uttermost satisfied God's divine justice, and the account is settled that was against us, beloved. He took it, nailing it to his cross, the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, he took it, nailing it to his cross. The receipt is given, paid in full. And we are debtors to God's justice no longer. But then, because we are not debtors to the Lord in that sense, we become ten times more debtors to God than we should have been.

Otherwise, my Christian brother and sister, let us ponder these things for a moment. What a debtor we are to divine sovereignty, to the sovereignty of God that chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world and has kept us and will keep us until he takes us home, sent his son to save us from our sins. Oh my. We are debtors to the everlasting love of God, which moved the Father to send his Son, and the everlasting love of Christ for his people, who moved him to die on the cross for them, and the everlasting love of God the Holy Spirit, who regenerated us from the dead state we were in and gave us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us consider how much we owe to God's forgiving grace, that after 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of sins, he loves us as infinitely as ever. Oh, let us consider what we owe to God's almighty power.

It is God, the Holy Spirit, who raised us from our spiritual dead state. We've been born into this world dead in trespasses and sins, and he raises us from that dead state and gives us life. That's why Christ said you must be born again to see the kingdom of heaven. You must be.

Let us marvel at how he's preserved us in our spiritual life. Left alone, we'd have wandered off on our own, but no, he keeps his people, doesn't he? He keeps his people. He keeps us from falling. And though thousands of enemies and thousands upon thousands of enemies come against us, we are, by his power and by his grace, able to hold the way. because he encompasses us roundabout. He's a shield around us, beloved.

Then let us consider what we owe to God's immutability. Although we have changed a thousand times, he has not changed. He has not changed. He's not changed once. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. in his everlasting love that's set upon us in Christ has never changed from eternity.

Men and women who are freed from the condemnation and death from our sins, we will desire to serve Christ. We will desire to walk in obedience. Oh, yes. to whom much is forgiven, we'll love much, won't we? And we obey God because we're motivated by his great everlasting love for us to holiness.

Oh my. And we often think it's not our hold on Christ, it's his hold on us. My. I'll close with 2 Corinthians 5, 14, and 15, which says this, for the love of Christ constraineth us. What does it constrain us from, sin? Otherwise we'd be gone. Constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto himself, but unto him which died for them and rose again. And let us remember, we have the freedom and the liberty now to serve Christ. Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely wonderful. And it's not a duty, it's a privilege. That's amazing. It'll change your whole outlook if we look at it that way. Grace has made the difference in our lives. My oh my. Amen and amen.