Would you turn back to Romans
chapter 8? While you're turning there, we're going to have a
baptism tonight. Mark Moore is going to confess Christ in believers
baptism. And baptism is the believers
public confession of Christ. And if you want to confess Christ
in baptism, let me know and you can be baptized tonight. I'd like to read the second verse
of Romans chapter 8 again. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. What in the world does that mean?
The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free
from the law of sin and death. What does that mean? We'll turn back to Romans chapter
5, and I'd like to read verses 18 and 19 that I think will help
us by way of introduction to what Paul means. And it says
in verse 18 of Romans chapter 5, therefore, as by the offense
of one, that's talking about Adam's sin, Adam's transgression,
Adam's fall. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men and the justification
of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,
so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Now according to that passage
of scripture that I just read, when Adam sinned, two things
happened to you and I. Number one, you and I were condemned. And number two, you and I have
inherited his evil nature. That's what it says, by the fence
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Now, when
Adam fell, you fell. When Adam was condemned, you
and I were condemned. Now, I know somebody thinks,
well, how can it be fair for me to be held responsible for
somebody else's sin? I understand that response, so
let's just forget Adam for a second. How have you done on your own?
Let's say you're not charged with Adam's sin. Well, it doesn't
do you any good, does it? Because you still have sinned
yourself. But here's an explanation for why you are the way you are,
Adam. When Adam sinned, you sinned. You were in him. When he sinned,
you sinned. And you were made a sinner. By
one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. The reason
you sinned is because you were made a sinner. You were given
his nature. That's why you are the way you
are. You don't become a sinner when you sin, you sin because
you're already a sinner. You have this evil nature you've
inherited. I have this evil nature I've
inherited. The reason we're sinners is we're
born that way. That is why we sin. Now, we're very much like a man
on death row with a heart disease. where he needs a transplant.
This is an illustration of Adam's sin. You and I are like somebody
condemned on death row. We're going to be executed because
of our sin. Justice calls for it. The law
demands it. And we also have a heart disease if the only way
we'll live is if we're given a new heart, a heart transplant. That's our condemnation. That's
our sinful nature. What I need, I need pardon. and I need a new heart. It won't
do me any good at all to be pardoned only because I'll still die of
the heart disease. I need a new heart as well. It
won't do me any good at all to be given a new heart if I'm not
pardoned. I need both. I need both. Now that is our state condemned,
and needing a new nature, a new heart. And that will be helpful
in thinking about that in considering this second verse of Romans chapter
2. Now, we're recording Scripture.
May the Lord give you and I the grace to really see this. I was
condemned by what Adam did. Do you believe that? It's what
Scripture teaches. You were condemned, I was condemned,
held responsible for what Adam did. And secondly, I was born
into this world with his fallen sinful nature. We were made sinners. Condemned and made sinners. Now, Paul says in Romans chapter
8 verse 2, For the law, the law of the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath, means it's done this, it hath made me free from the
law of sin and death. Now, the first thing that I would
want us to consider is what is meant by the word law. The law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death. Well, in Romans chapter seven,
the word is used in two different ways. Look in verse one of Romans
chapter seven. Know ye not, brethren, for I
speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion
over man as long as he liveth. And there he's talking about
the written law of God that gives the law that God established
regarding marriage. Now, The law is what God has
written down in His Word. A law is something that is written. If it's not written, how can
I know it's law? It's written down in the Word of God. The
Ten Commandments. The Torah. The Pentateuch. The Word of God. The written law of God. But the
word also means a nature. Look in Romans chapter 7. But
I see, verse 23, but I see another law. in my members, waring against
the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members." Now there he's talking about
in nature, kind of like a lion eats meat. You know why? It's
his nature. He doesn't eat grass. That goes
against his nature. He obeys his nature. A cow eats
grass. That's his nature. He's not going
to eat meat. It would go against his nature.
We obey the laws of our nature. Very much like physical laws,
the law of gravity. What goes up must come down.
It's a physical law of nature. So the word law in Romans chapter
7 means both that which is written, the law of God, and a nature. You obey the law of your nature. Now the written law, a law written
down that if it's disobeyed condemns, and if it's not written down,
there's no law to break. It's authoritative because it's
written down. Now that's the first meaning of the word law.
Here's an example. I bought a car in the last couple
of months. I bought a Toyota Avalon. Good
car. What if when I drove it off the
lot, A policeman stopped me and said, you're under arrest. And
I said, what for? Well, it's against the law to drive to August. Show me where that's written.
Well, I can't. Then that's no law. You can't
arrest me. It's got to be written down. God's law written down. The law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus. And then there is the law of
nature. Like Paul said, I see another
law warring in my members, the law of his evil nature. Now, notice Paul says in Romans
8, 2, 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, and the law of sin and
death. What is meant by that? What is the law of sin and death?
Well, it's understood in both of those senses I just spoke
of. The law of sin and death is talking
about the Ten Commandments, that which is written, God's law,
it's called the law of sin and death. Now, why is it called
the law of sin and death? Well, notice what verse three
says. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh. Now there are some things the
law cannot do. It can't save you. It can't justify you. It can't
forgive you. It can't give you power to obey.
It can't produce in you love. Nobody ever loves because of
the law of God. It can't produce in you faith.
It can't produce in you repentance. All it does is expose sin and
sentence you to death. That's it. That's all God's written
law does. It gives you no power to obey.
It gives all it does and that's its purpose. It exposes my sin
and it sentences me to death. Hence the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death is also
the nature of the natural man. Remember we talked about first,
the law is something written. Secondly, the law is a nature.
Ephesians 2, 4 says we were by nature. Ephesians 2, 3, we were
by nature, the children of wrath, just like everybody else. That
was our nature, dead in trespasses and sins described in Genesis
chapter 6 verse 5. And God saw, and this is what
God sees. God sees this when he looks into
my heart and your heart. God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, that's
the nature of man. Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 13,
23, Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? No, he can't. You can't change
your nature. You're never going to see a cow
eating carrion. Why? It's against his nature. You cannot change your nature. You've got a nature of sin and
death. Now we read of the law of sin
and death, both the written law All it does is expose sin and
sentence to death and the law of our nature. It's a nature
of sin, a nature of death, dead in trespasses and sins, unable
to save ourselves. And then we read of the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus that makes me free from
this law of sin and death. I love the language Paul uses. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath. I love that. It hath. Not it
will if. It hath. It hath made me. free from the law of sin and
from the law of death. Now once again, a law is something
written down. Aren't you thankful for the written
word of God? I'm so thankful that God wrote
this book and he's given us this book. And you can try what I'm
saying to see if it's according to the scriptures. You don't
have to just believe it because I said it. Oh, don't do that. See if
what I'm saying is true according to the scriptures. That's all
that counts. I'm thankful for the written
word of God. The law is a written word. And I'm so thankful for this
written word. 1 John 5, verses 11 and 12. This then is the record. This
is the written word. This is recorded, written down
so that all can see. This then is the record that
God has given to us. Eternal life, and this life is
in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Now, the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. Now, remember how I was talking
about how all the law does is expose sin. Ten commandments. You and I have broken every one
of them, and we haven't kept one commandment one time, not
perfectly. And if I don't keep it perfectly, that means I've
disobeyed it. There's no such thing as partial obedience. Do
you understand that? There is no such thing as partial
obedience. You've either kept it perfectly or you've disobeyed
it. Now, regarding how the law exposes
me, as a sinner, the laws, the spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from that law of sin and death. I have life before the written
law of God. It's called in Romans chapter
five, verse 18, justification of life. And the reason there
is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus is because
there's nothing to condemn me for. I stand before that law,
holy blameless, spotless, and pure because of the spirit of
life that's in Christ Jesus, because of the gospel. My sin was placed in the Lord
Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. He became guilty of my sin, and
He put it away. And His perfect righteousness,
His law-keeping, His obedience is given to me and God looks
at me and he sees somebody without sin, without guilt. without anything to condemn me
for. The law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. There's nothing to condemn me
for. That law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which is
the gospel, it's made me free from that law of sin and death.
Now all the law does, you take every commandment, it looks me
over and says there's no guilt. There's no gift, there's nothing
to condemn him for. Christ so effectually put away
my sin that I have no sin. Christ so effectually kept the
law for me that I personally have kept the law. It's called
justification of life. The law is written down. This
is the gospel. See in the scriptures, it's written,
the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the law of sin and death. Look at verse 3 of Romans
chapter 8. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh. The problem wasn't with the law,
the problem was with the sinfulness and weakness of the flesh. What
the law couldn't do, God did by sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and forced him to condemn sin in
the flesh. Now look at the words here, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. In us. Who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit, which is believing the gospel.
God's holy law is fulfilled in us. So, that man on death row
that has the heart disease, what he needs is he needs a pardon
and he needs a new heart. Well, first of all, here we see
his pardon. Better than a pardon, he's justified. He's justified. He has perfect right, not just
simply forgiven, although he is, but he is justified. Now, That's what that man needs. First of all, he needs justification
before that written law of God so that the written law of God
pronounces him not guilty without sin. And that's what the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus does. It makes me free. It hath made me free from the
law of sin and death. But the word law and the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus also means the nature.
The nature of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This is God
the Holy Spirit coming in a man and doing something for him.
The nature of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me
free from the nature of sin and death. Because that's really
what the word law means. First of all, it's that which
is written and recorded. If you don't keep it, you're
in trouble. But secondly, the law of nature. The nature of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the nature of sin and death. Now, remember that man? Not only
was he condemned by the law, but he also has a heart disease. And if he's justified, it won't
do him any good unless something is done about his heart. Something
be done about his weak nature, his sinful nature. Now, what
God does is not only justify that individual, he gives them
a new heart. He gives them a new nature. A nature that was not there before. The nature of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has made me free from the nature of sin and death.
Now, look in Romans chapter 8 verse 6. Here's what we are by nature. For to be carnally minded, All
that means is fleshly minded, the way we are by nature, for
to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace, because the carnal mind, the fleshly mind,
what we have by nature, the way we're born into this world, is
enmity against God, for it's not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be. It can't keep the law. So then
they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Like the man on death row with
a deadly heart disease, not only do we need pardon, but we need
to be given this new nature or we will die. We're held captive
to a sinful nature and we can't escape. Do you find that so concerning
you? I mean, does this line up with
your experience? I know you see it in the scripture. Does it
line up with your experience? You have a sinful nature from
which you cannot escape and you must be made free from that sinful
nature. You can't anymore believe by
nature than you can create a world. You can't anymore repent, then
you can call the stars to stop shining. You can't do those things
by nature. You can't change your nature
unless God is pleased to give you a new nature. The law of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the
law of sin and death by giving me a new nature. Look in 2 Peter
chapter 1. Verse 4. Whereby are given unto
us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature. Now did you hear that? Partakers! Sharers! of the divine nature. That's what happens in the new
birth. We are given the divine nature. That which is born of
the spirit is spirit. Now, what's glorious about this
nature is it's written down as well. It's written in our hearts. Remember that scripture Hebrews
chapter 8 verse 11? He says, let's turn there. Hebrews
chapter 8. I want you to see this. Verse 10, for this is the covenant
that I make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord, I will put my laws into their mind and write them
in their hearts. Now this is written as well.
And what I think is glorious about this, it's almost like
the Lord has given every believer a new DNA, a new nature, a new
nature has been written in their hearts. The divine nature. that must be obeyed. You must
obey your nature. And you're given a new nature
that you must obey. Now, laws written in the heart,
laws written in the nature. You'll notice he said, I'll write
my laws, plural, into their heart. He's not talking about the Ten
Commandments because you were born into this world with that already
written in your heart. You were born into this world
knowing you ought not lie, knowing you ought not kill, knowing you
ought not commit sexual sin. Everybody's born into this world
knowing those things. And that's why it always, I find
it curious when people say, well, we need to be taught to live.
You already know how to live. You do. You already know. You
know all that stuff. You're born into this world knowing
that stuff. You don't need to be taught to
leave. You need to be taught how God saves sinners. That's
what I need to be taught. Oh, may the Lord be our teacher
as we consider these laws of the new nature, the law of the
Spirit, God, the Holy Spirit of life. This new life in Christ
Jesus has made me free from the law, the sinful nature of sin
and death. I'm freed from my sinful nature.
Now, what do you mean by that? Do you mean you don't sin anymore?
No, I don't mean that at all. I don't mean that at all, but
let me tell you exactly what I do mean. Or not what I mean, but what
the Bible means by this, the laws of the new nature. If you
have a new nature, if you have a spiritual nature, you have
these laws operating in you and you obey this nature. And here's
the first one. I find there's six different
laws in the New Testament. Romans chapter nine, verse 31,
we read of the law of righteousness. The law of righteousness. And
you know what that is? No believer, no one who has this
new nature given to them by God, can be satisfied with anything
short of perfect righteousness as to why God would accept them. I can't be satisfied with anything
else. I can't be satisfied with doing my best. I can't be satisfied
with my sincerity or my good intentions or my faith or the
doctrine I believe or I can't be satisfied with anything that
has me in the equation. The only thing I can be satisfied
with that gives me assurance that God will look in mercy on
me and save me is if I have before God perfect righteousness, even
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I've got a law in me that won't
let me be satisfied with anything else but His righteousness. Do you have that law in you?
to where you cannot be satisfied, you can't find rest, you can't
find comfort, you can't find assurance in anything, but the
righteousness and the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, all
I can rest in is His obedience, all I can rest in is justification,
His justification. That's what the Bible's about,
how God can be just and justify the ungodly through the righteousness
of Christ. All I can rest in is Christ's
righteousness being mine. That's my nature. I can't be
satisfied with anything else. Then Paul, I've already read
this scripture, Paul spoke of the law of sin, which is in my
members. Romans 7, 23, the law of sin, which is in my members. Now, it takes a new nature, a
holy nature to see this. But if you have a holy nature,
you perceive a law, a nature of sin, which is in your members. You cannot get away from being
a sinner. As I said a few weeks ago, Romans
7 is the portrait of the truly holy man. He has a holy nature
that recognizes the old nature for what it is. A law of sin,
which is in my members. And you know what the blessing
of this is? You say, how could that be a blessing? To see this
sinful nature that can't get any better, that can't change
itself, that's so horrible and evil. And I see it in me. What's
good about that? I'll tell you what's good about
that, so to speak, is that it prevents me from looking anywhere
but Christ. It surely does that. I got nowhere else to look. All I have to look to is Christ
Himself and His righteousness. Now, everybody that's a partaker
of the divine nature, they're the only ones who really see
this law of sin, this nature of sin that's in their members,
that they can't change, that they can't improve. It's there. And we see it. The law of sin
which is in our members. And then the third law that we
read of in the New Testament, it's found in Romans 3.27, where
is boasting then? It's excluded. By what law? Works? Nay, but by the law of faith. The law of faith. Do you know that if you're a
believer, you cannot not believe? Try it. Try it. Can you not believe that Jesus
is the Christ? Can you not believe that what
he did is enough to save you and you don't need anything else?
You need no other argument. You need no other plea. It is
enough that Jesus died and that he died for me. It's the nature
of the new nature to believe the gospel. And all it does is
believe. Now, the old nature never believes. That's why that man cried in
Mark chapter 9, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. My old
nature never believes and my new nature always believes. It's the law of faith. It's the nature of a believer
to believe. I love that because I know even
in my experience, there was a time I can remember thinking, what
does it mean to believe? I hear the preacher say, believe.
How? What do I do? How do you believe? I mean, I believe in God. I believe
that Christ died on a cross. But what does it mean to believe? I couldn't figure it out. And
then one day I found myself believing. I found myself believing the
gospel. God gave me a nature to believe. This is the law of faith. It's the nature of a believer
to believe. The old nature never believes.
The new nature always does. You see, faith is a supernatural
thing. It's not found in the natural
man's heart. It's the gift of God. By grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Here's
what a believer finds himself saying. I know whom I have believed. And regarding this one whom I
have believed, I am persuaded. I am convinced that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day, the day of judgment. I know whom, not what, but whom. You see, what you believe
is determined by who you believe. If you believe Him, the Christ
of Scripture, you're going to believe everything about Him.
I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded, I'm convinced.
But He is able to keep that which I've committed to Him. And I
love thinking about this even right now. While I'm preaching
to you, I have committed the entire salvation of my soul to
Him. My hands are off. I'm relying
completely on who He is and what He did to make me clean before
God. That's faith. That's what people
who believe do. They trust Him. It's the law
of faith. The nature of faith. And then in James chapter 2 verse
12, talking about the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. In James chapter 2 verse 12, we read of the law of liberty.
The law of liberty. Now the Lord is that spirit,
and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ is made us free. Now what is
this thing of the law of liberty? Well, when Paul said stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free and be not entangled
again in that yoke of bondage, what's he talking about? The
yoke of bondage is the yoke of salvation by law. Salvation dependent
upon something you do. There is no freedom in that. There's no liberty in that. The only thing that a believer
finds liberty in is Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. The only liberty that I find
is found in these words, it is finished. Finished. It's already done. There's nothing for me to do
because it's already been done. And you know what I find in that? Liberty. freedom. And I can't find liberty or freedom
in anything else. I've got a nature that must have
liberty, must have freedom. You put me under law and I'm
in bondage and I can't handle it. I can't, I don't want to
have anything to do with that. I simply want the liberty that
is in Christ Jesus. If the Son hath made you free,
you're free indeed. The law of liberty. Then a couple
of times in the book of James, James chapter 2 verse 8, the
royal law of love. Now, this is the nature of a
believer, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that
freed me from this law of sin and death. When I was in my nature,
what I am by nature, I couldn't love God. I didn't love God.
As a matter of fact, I was in enmity with God. But when he
gave me a new nature, I've got a nature that actually loves
God, and I love Him for who He is. I love all of His glorious
attributes. You know, I love the sovereignty
of God because I love the God who is sovereign. I love the
holiness of God because I love the God who is holy. I love the
justice of God because I love the God who is just. I love the
grace of God because I love the God who is gracious. It's who
He is and we love Him for who He is. If there's any part of
God that I don't love, not that God has parts, He doesn't have
parts, but if there's anything concerning God that I don't love,
I don't love Him at all. But if I love Him, I love all
of Him. I love his way of salvation.
I love his way of salvation by grace. I love his son. I love
his spirit. I love his people. He that loveth
him that beget loveth also him that's begotten of him. It's
the nature of a believer to love God, to love his people, to love
his gospel. Now, the old nature could not
do this, but the new nature has been set free. It's made me free
from this nature of sin and death. Would you turn to Galatians chapter
six for just a moment? You'll notice in verse two it
says, bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. We've got the law of righteousness,
the law of sin, the law of faith, the law of liberty, the law of
love, and the law of Christ. Well, just what is that? Look
in verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, Can you understand how a man
can be overtaken, overcome in a fault, in a sin? You see that man overtaken, overcome,
whipped by some sin. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, My marginal reading says, although
a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual. Now who is a spiritual person?
Anyone with a spiritual nature. It's speaking of every believer.
Only the believer is spiritual. You know, people use this, I'm
a spiritual person. I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual.
No, that's a, if you're a spiritual person, you have the Holy Spirit.
You have a spiritual nature. You have, you've had God do something
for you. You which are spiritual, restore
such in one in the spirit of meekness. considering yourself,
lest you also be tempted." Now, this is the attitude I'm to have
with regard to that brother who is overtaken in some fault or
some sin. I'm to understand that if I'm
tempted like he is, I will fall like him. There isn't anything
that he does that I would not be worse if God doesn't prevent
it. You build that about yourself
with regard to whatever that brother is doing. If you're tempted,
you won't be better. And you restore such a one in
the spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens. Now does that mean I'm supposed
to tell you all the problems I have and you're to listen to
them and we share each other's troubles. Well, that's really
not what it means. I mean, if you feel like a need
to tell somebody about your problems, go ahead and do it. And if it
helps you, I'm not saying anything against that, but what he's saying
is, is put up with one another. That brother's sin is a burden
to him. It's a burden to him. It's a
heavy burden that he hates. Are you going to look down your
nose at him? Bear ye one another's burden.
Put up with one another. And so fulfill, what? The law of Christ. That's the law of Christ. You
want to know what the law of Christ is? There it is. Consider yourself,
lest you also be tempted bear ye one another's burdens, and
so fulfill the law of Christ. Now, I hope this gives us some
understanding of what this means. The law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. The written down gospel, that
which was recorded, has made me free from the written down
law that condemned me. I'm now justified. The law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus, that new nature he has given me, has made me
free from the law, the old nature of sin and death that prevented
me from believing, that prevented me from loving, that prevented
me from repenting. I now believe. I now love. I now repent. because the law
of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus have made me free from
the law of sin and death. Now remember that fella that's
on execution road with a heart disease
where he needs a heart transplant. In the gospel, He's justified,
all sin is pardoned, all sin is put away, and he's given a
new heart that enables him to believe the gospel. Let's pray
together.