My text is Romans 7, verses 24
through chapter 8 and verse 1. Here's the title of my message.
Wretched, but not condemned. As you know, the chapter and
verse divisions in our English translations of Holy Scripture
are given by our translators. They are not inspired in any
way at all. They are usually helpful in locating scripture
readily, helpful in memorizing portions of scripture, helpful
in fixing passages in our minds. They are usually, not always,
but usually fairly instructive as to showing us proper divisions
of a passage, moving from one subject to another. But that
can be dangerous, because we tend to fix in our minds the
idea that whenever you see a chapter division, then you are moving
from one subject to another. The writer is moving from one
thing to another, having concluded one thought, now he's going to
another thought. And in that case, the chapter
and verse divisions are cumbersome, and we need to be aware of it.
Clearly, the division between Romans chapter 7 and chapter
8 is an unfortunate division. The first verse of chapter 8
shows us that there is a clear connection between these two
chapters. Look at verse 1. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The word
therefore shows us clearly that Paul is talking still about what
he has been discussing in at least the preceding chapter,
if not more than that. Now let's read verse 24 of chapter
7 through verse 1 of chapter 8 together. 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, no break. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. I have often heard preachers
and others make statements like this. We need to get out of Romans
7 and into Romans 8. What nonsense. What utter nonsense. There's no getting out of Romans
7 and getting into Romans 8 because the two are one. If you're in
the one, you're in the other. They're talking about our personal
experience of the grace of God in Jesus Christ while we live
in this world. I thank God I thank God with
all my heart that there has never been a time in these last 37
years that I have known what it is to be out of either Romans
7 or Romans 8. You see, that which I read in
these two chapters is what I know to be the truest possible expression
of my soul's experience day after day. It could not be expressed
more accurately or more truthfully. I constantly struggle with sin,
inward corruption, and wretchedness. Constantly. And at the same time,
I rejoice. how I rejoice in complete, free,
absolute, unconditional justification in Jesus Christ, even as I bitterly
confess my sin. After saying, so then, with the
mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law
of sin, Paul goes on to say, without a break, without a pause,
there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
You see, the fact is, believers are in a state of perpetual conflict,
but not in a state of condemnation. At the very time when the conflict
is the hardest, When it is the hottest, when it is the heaviest,
at the very time when the conflict is most bitter, justification
and complete absolution in Christ is sweetest, is it not? When your soul is heaviest with
the load of sin, is it not then sweeter than at any other time?
to know absolute forgiveness through the precious blood of
Jesus Christ the Lord. Our Savior declares, blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. He said,
blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. Those who know nothing about
bitter mourning over their sin, know nothing about the sweet
comfort of grace. Those who know nothing about
the pangs of hunger and thirst after righteousness know nothing
of the sweet satisfaction of Christ's fullness. None but those
who struggle with their own corrupt nature and sin, none but those
who know their utter wretchedness before God can ever enter into
this blessedness. No condemnation. No condemnation. No condemnation. Now don't fail
to observe the fact that Paul is writing to us in the present
tense. You'll lose much of the beauty
and sweetness of the text if you miss this word now. There
is therefore now no condemnation. Paul is showing us distinctly
the non-condemnation and that it is utterly consistent with
the mingled experience of bitter wretchedness. Oh, wretched man
that I am. Not, oh, wretched man that I
was. Oh, wretched man that I am. And then he immediately says,
there is no condemnation. There is therefore now, in this
state of wretchedness, in this bitter conflict, even now in
this horrid warfare. Oh, wretched man that I am! There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. The passage describes things
that the unregenerate man cannot know anything about. This is
not Some kind of a psychological experience Paul's going through.
Some of you will sit there and think, well, this is talking
about the inner conflict that all men have and the psychologists
try to work them through it. No, no, no. Others of you will
sit there and your eyes will glaze over and you'll think,
that sounds strange to me. What on earth is the preacher
talking about? And then some of you, your hearts
will weep and rejoice together at the same time as you are reminded
again of your sin and of God's free grace in Jesus Christ, the
Lord, by which we are justified from all things. Every believer
readily identifies with Paul's words here. We make no attempt
to hide what we are. This is what we are. Sin. Brother Don, don't you want to
qualify that? Not at all. Sin. How bad can you Portray that. That's what we are. Sin. Nothing but sin. We frankly and
honestly confess our sin before God and do so with the sweet
assurance of complete forgiveness in Jesus Christ the Lord. We're
not offended when folks talk to us about our sin. It hurts,
but we're not offended. We're not offended when the preacher
exposes our pride, our corruption, our depravity, the evil of our
hearts, the vileness that's within us. It hurts, but we're not offended,
because that's what we are. And we'll take no other ground
before God. No other ground. I dare not come
to God on any grounds except a sinner. That's all. Mercy is
for sinners. Grace is for the guilty. We find
no hope given anywhere in this book to anybody except those
who are sinners, who know and acknowledge their sin and make
no excuse for it. Reading these verses with the
emphasis upon their present tense, our hearts sing with joy. with
all the watching and warring, with all the fear and trembling
that I experience, I rejoice in the Lord, even now being assured
of no condemnation. Now, let's dive into this text. May God the Holy Spirit graciously
seal it to our hearts. The text begins with a word of
lamentation. is my lamentation. Oh, wretched
man that I am. The phrase is an expression of
one who is weary, worn out, just beat, just whipped. Not physically, but it is so. because of constant conflict.
I was talking to Doug last night,
little Will, had a long day swimming, learning to swim, and he got
ready to go home and he told the daddies that I'm more slap
out. That's the expression. My God, I'm more slap out. Oh, wretched man that I am. The phrase might be translated,
oh, miserable, miserable I. Not an expression of one who
is weary with things in the world
or unhappy with life. No, no, no, no. Not the morbid
cry of depression or anxiety. No, no. the honest acknowledgment of
a warrior who's weary with the battle. Victory sure, but weary
with the battle. The enemy defeated, but weary
with the battle. War slap out. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5. Let
me see if I can make this thing real to you. I'm talking about a struggle
that makes me long to be clothed with immortality in life. We know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, and soon it shall be, we have
a building of God immediately. A house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven.
If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened. Not for that we would be unclothed. We're not trying to just escape
troubles and woes. We're not running from our difficulties.
No, that's not it. People, so many times you go
through difficulties, you know, and we try to hide it and you
ought to. You ought to try to hide it,
but we get to feeling real sorry for ourselves, you know. Oh,
I just wish I could die like Jonah, like Job, curse the day
of our birth. That's not what we're talking
about here. That's not what we're talking about. No, no, no, no. We're not trying
to escape difficulty, we're trying to escape sin, ungodliness, wretchedness. In this we groan earnestly desiring
to be clothed upon with our house from heaven. Verse 3, if so be
that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that
are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened, not for that
we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. Now watch this, that mortality,
you know what mortality is? It's dying. It's dying. I die daily. That dying, might be swallowed
up of life. Now, he that hath wrought us
for the selfsame thing is God. What? Ron, if you can get her
into this, Paul said God did that for you. He that hath wrought
us for this selfsame thing is God, who also hath given us the
earnest, the pledge, the seal, and the spirit. Paul says, I
know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. And that's just the way it is.
That's just the way it is. I wish it weren't so, but I know
it is. And honesty compels me to acknowledge
it. Do you know what I'm talking about? This I know, every soul
born of God acknowledges I am black. Black with sin. I am black. Astonishment has
taken hold on me. True faith acknowledges and confesses
I am black. Those people who are born of
God, charged by the world as we are, charred by the self-righteous
religionist as we are with many evils, know ourselves to be far
more loathsome than any others could ever accuse us of being. I'm black in myself by nature. I am black in the eyes of others
because of my actions. I'm much more black in my own
eyes because of what I know I am. You see, true faith makes no
attempt to defend itself, to cover the evil of our nature,
of our deeds, of our thoughts. It doesn't seek any excuse for
the ungodliness that's in us. True faith acknowledges and confesses,
behold, I am vile. I abhor myself. Turn to Psalm 51. This is David's
great psalm of repentance. Psalm written after the Lord
had declared the forgiveness of his sin in the matter of Uriah
and Bathsheba. Now listen to this psalm and
look at it carefully. Beginning at verse 4. David's appealing to God's loving
kindness and his righteousness. for forgiveness. And as he makes
that appeal, he begins to give God reasons for forgiving him. Against thee, thee only have
I sinned and done evil in thy sight. I deliberately left out
that italicized word this, because David is not confessing just
an act of sin. Lord, against you and you only, have
I sinned and done evil. Nothing but evil in your sight. Nothing else. Nothing else. Is that an argument for forgiveness?
Oh yes it is with God. It is with God. Pardon my iniquity,
O Lord, for it is great, the psalmist said. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be
justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Whatever you do with me is right. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me, and that's all I am. Daniel
had the vision of our Lord Jesus in his glory, and he said, I
was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained no
strength in me, for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption,
and I retained no strength. The fact is, any sinner who sees
Christ in His glory as Isaiah saw Him, who sees Him in the
glory that He possesses, having accomplished redemption by the
sacrifice of Himself, any sinner for whom God Almighty has been
pleased to take the live coals of Christ's burning sacrifice
and touch His lips, pronouncing Him clean, immediately and constantly
cries, Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips. Oh, wretched
man that I am. Sin. That's all. We look within ourselves and
see nothing else. John Newton who wrote Amazing
Grace also wrote another hymn. It expresses things I commonly
don't think are good to be expressed because it wouldn't do anything
to encourage doubt and unbelief in any way. He said, "'Tis a
point I long to know. Often it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? When I turn my eyes within, Come on now. Be honest. Be honest. Nobody but you and
God now. Nobody else. Nobody but you and
God. No point in putting on a show.
No point in hiding behind a mask. No point in finding a refuge
of lies. God sees through it all. Just
you and Him. When I turn my eyes within, all is dark and vain
and wild. Filled with unbelief and sin,
can I deem myself a child? If I pray or read or hear, sin
is mixed with all I do. You that love the Lord indeed
tell me, is it so with you? Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
find my sin a grief in thought, Would I grieve for what I feel
if I did not love it all? Could I joy his saints to me?
Choose the ways I once abhorred? Find at times the promise sweet
if I did not love the Lord? Yes, I do love Christ. We love Him because He first
loved us. He has created within me True
love for him. I don't act much like that. Just don't. But I love that lady
there. And I don't act much like I do
much of the time. Before God saved you, did you
ever think You could love Him so little as you do. I pray. I try to. Sometimes I think maybe I really
do pray. Grace has put prayer in the hearts
of God's people. But I never dreamed prayer could
be such a burden as I find it to be. before God saved me by
His grace. I do bow to God's will. I trust
His wise and good providence. But before God saved me, honestly
I never imagined, the thought never came into my mind that
it was possible for a believer to be such a rebel as I am. to
grumble and complain of what God does like I do. Thank God
He has set my heart on Christ, on heaven, on things above. Oh,
how I grovel after the toys of vanity in this world. That's
just the fact. That's the way it is. Sin is
so much a part of me. It's mixed with everything I
do. I despise it, but I won't deny it. No wonder our Lord said,
take heed to yourselves. We know ourselves to be such
sinners and have great reason to constantly
give thanks to him, acknowledging salvation is his work alone. Here I am. I've told you just as honestly
as I can what I am. But I'm a sinner saved by God's
free grace. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Oh, how I thank God for his boundless
grace in Christ Jesus. How I thank God for an all-prevailing,
ever, ever interceding advocate in heaven, Jesus Christ the Lord,
my righteousness. Alright, that's my lamentation. Look at the text again. This is my desire. Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death. And when Paul talks about the
body of this death, he's not talking about the physical body,
though certainly there's no deliverance from the body of this death except
deliverance from this physical body. What he's talking about
is this body of death, the body of sin that's described in chapter
6 and verse 6. That is our old corrupt nature. That's natural self with which
we struggle. I don't have any doubt that Paul
had this in his mind. Excuse me. It's a picture the
Romans would have been very familiar with. Romans had, they were real
good at inventing ways of torturing people, punishing them. And one
way by which they punished capital offenses is they would take a
murderer and take the victim he had murdered and attach him
permanently to his body so that everywhere he went, the murderer
had the dead corpse of the one he had murdered with him. When
he got up in the morning, there he was. As he walked through
the day, there he was. When he sat down to eat, that
dead corpse was with him. When he lay down at night, he
lay down with that dead corpse with him. Always with him. The
foul, obnoxious thing, rotting and decaying, attached to him.
What a heavy, heavy, obnoxious burden to carry. It poisoned
everything. Poisoned the air. Everything's
corrupt. The stench is horrible. And he
carries it with him. All the time. All the time. until at last the corpse has
finally decayed and is gone and is no more. That's the case with
us. You see every sinner, every son
of Adam is a murderer, a murderer, a soul murderer. his own murderer. This is what God says in Hosea
13, thou hast destroyed thyself. And when God the Holy Spirit
convinces us of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, we are made
thoroughly acquainted with the plague of our own hearts and
made conscious that we are carrying within us this body of death,
haunted constantly with the obnoxious thing. That thing we have made
by destroying ourselves. Oh, how I long to be free from
the body of this death. Look at verse 19, Romans 8. For
the earnest expectation, the earnest anticipation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Paul said
we're sons of God, we're heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.
Nobody knows it yet, but that's fact. Nobody looking at us would
think that's the case, but that's fact. For the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has
subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself shall
be delivered from bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but we ourselves, ourselves also, which had the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
for the adoption to with the redemption of our bodies, waiting
for the resurrection. I long to be free. from the body
of this death, from sin, from unbelief, from myself. Yes, I know, as Paul did, and
rejoice as he did, in the fact that deliverance is both complete
and sure. But this inbred evil that's in
me is something with which, bless God, I can never be content. These are blessed discoveries
of grace. These are things nobody knows
except those who know them by experience. Now, look at verse
24 and 25 together. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? And when he asked
that question, Paul is not expressing doubt. He's not expressing uncertainty. He's not expressing any lack
of assurance or confidence. Only a great desire to be free
from sin and death altogether. The question was raised rhetorically.
Now he gives us his confident answer. 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. This is my confidence. Christ
has delivered me. He is delivering me. And he shall
deliver me from the body of this death. Turn, O my eyes, away
from yourself. Turn, O my soul, turn away and
look to Christ alone. He has delivered me. from sin,
death, and condemnation by the sacrifice of himself. He has
delivered me from the bondage of death by the gift of his grace. And because he has delivered
me Because He has delivered me. Because He has delivered me.
Blessed be His name. I have absolute confidence. He shall deliver me. Altogether
and completely. I shall soon be delivered from
the body of this death. Now, look at verse 1 of chapter
8. Here's my joy. You remember in Philippians where
Paul talks about the joy of faith? Here it is. There is therefore. There is therefore. Thank God
through Jesus Christ my Lord. He has delivered me. He is delivering
me. He shall deliver me. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh
But after the Spirit. Now, look at what it says. Paul does not say there is no
corruption in them that are in Christ Jesus. There's plenty. He does not say there's no correction
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Bless God, there is. He chastens
us. He corrects us that we might
not be judged with the world. He does not say that there is
nothing in us that deserves condemnation. Nothing in us that's damnable.
No, he simply says no condemnation because the fact is everything
about me is damnable. Everything. You too. Everything. Our goodness is just
filthy rags. Our righteous deeds are but obnoxious
rags, filthy rags. Everything about us is damnable,
deserving of eternal damnation. But be sure you don't miss this.
I like this. Paul does not simply say there
is no condemnation to me, that is to him. He does not say there
is simply no condemnation to this particular believer or that
particular believer. had he named himself alone. And
you'll notice he moves from chapter 7, he's talking about me, I,
I, I, this evil that's in me. Now he speaks in general terms
concerning all believers. If he had just said there's therefore
now no condemnation to me, or if he had just said there's no
condemnation to Peter or James or John, we might interpret the
passage as it is commonly interpreted. To make it read like this, there
is no condemnation to some certain distinct believers who have attained
high degrees of grace and holiness and sanctification as they have
walked in the Spirit and improved their standing before God by
their mighty goodness. Oh no. This is an assured declaration
of grace. This is the declaration of a
privilege that belongs to every man, woman, or child in the universe
who believes on the Son of God. Oh, the preacher, can this be mine? I have such little faith. That's not what he said. Can
this be mine? My faith is so mixed with unbelief. That's not what he said. Can
this promise be mine? I cannot speak as others do of
great faith in Christ. No, no, no, no, no. This is the
promise to every sinner in the world who, like that woman with
the issue of blood, says, if I could just touch you. If I could just touch Him. And she actually touched Him
and was made whole. Do you believe on the Son of
God? Is He alone your hope before
God? Is He alone your redemption,
your righteousness, your sanctification? Is Christ alone the one you look
to for grace and salvation? There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Have you got that? In Him. What's he talking about? In Him. As our federal head and representative
described in chapter 5, who died as our substitute by his obedience
has made us righteous in Him. in Him by a vital living union
of faith described in chapter 6 so that we live in Him and
move in Him and walk in Him and have our being in Him. In Him
as one wed to another as described in chapter 7. One who is united
so that now we are born of His born and flesh of His flesh.
One with Him. One with Him. In Him. You remember
the city of refuge in Old Testament? Those cities were set aside for
the manslayer, the man who was guilty. The law says, kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Brother! He killed your brother! Go kill
him! Kill him! He's worthy of death! And the
law says if he gets to that city, you can't touch him. Christ is
our city of refuge. And we're in him. Now picture
the man in that city. He's surrounded. by the walls
of that city. Completely engulfed in that city. And the manslayer can't touch
him. If he goes in that city and kills him, he's worthy of
death. He's guilty of death. I am in
Christ, my city of refuge, engulfed in Him. And justice shall never
touch me in Him. I am in Christ. The Lord Jesus
is pictured in that ark that God made Noah to build, and God
shut him in the ark. And there the storm of God's
wrath fell upon all the world, and Noah went through the storm
of God's wrath, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, but
it never touched Noah. The ark absorbed all the flood
and terror of God's wrath. When that dove was let out, She
flew about and looked upon this sin-cursed earth, and she found
no place for a rest, to rest her foot. And she comes back
to the ark, and Noah reaches and takes her into the ark, and
there she rests. Oh, my soul, this is my rest. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Oh, Satan, he accuses me. He accuses me. But that's all
right. There's no condemnation. Others
accuse. That's all right. There's no
condemnation. I got a real sweet letter from
a good religious fellow a few weeks ago. He was praying that
God would judge me. And I kind of laughed just like
I did then. There's no condemnation. No condemnation. No condemnation. Doesn't matter what others say.
Doesn't matter what others do. If you read the rest of this
chapter, You'll find that Paul, as he gets to the end of this
chapter, sings to mount the white stallion of a victor, and rides
through Zion crying triumphantly, who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. He makes all heaven and earth
and hell to reign with the daring challenge, who is he that condemneth? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? In the broadest imaginable terms,
this blessed, blessed word from God sweeps across the whole of
our experience in this world of time and woe and sin. It says there's no condemnation.
You've all seen the picture of someone waiting at a trial for
the verdict to be read. Some of you have seen one in
court. You've all seen it on television or movie screen and
the person's sitting there waiting. Sometimes you can't look at the
jury. The courtroom's tense. And then the verdict is read.
Will you hear me? I'm not waiting for the verdict.
The verdict is in and it says not guilty. Not guilty. My soul is free! No condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation for my past. No condemnation for my present. No condemnation for my future.
No condemnation for what I have done and have been. No condemnation
for what I am and do. No condemnation for what I know
I will be and will do. No condemnation. Oh, preacher,
you can't tell people that. You can't do that. That will
make folks want to go out and live like hell. I'll tell you
what, if that makes you want to go out and live like hell,
go on out and live like hell. You don't have any idea what
I'm talking about. You don't have any clue what I'm talking
about. Oh, you who have been whipped by the devil, dragged
by the heels of your sin and corruption until you're broken
and crushed and mourned over what you are, here is sweet good
news. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. in Christ. Well, what does that
mean? Look at the next line. Look at
the next line. To them that walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. To walk after the flesh is to
seek righteousness and acceptance with God, salvation and eternal
life, by my own doing, by my own works of righteousness, by
my own repentance, by my own personal goodness. So, Pastor,
how can you be sure that's what he's talking about? The next
verses tell you. To walk after the Spirit is to
seek eternal life by Jesus Christ alone. Let's see if that's not
what he's saying. Verse 2, 4. What's he talking about? He's
explaining what he's talking about. 4. 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 the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. How? In Christ. We fulfill the law, believe in
Him. Fulfilled in us who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.