Sermon 20

No Condemnation

Romans 8:1-11

From Romans 5 we learned that we are justified by faith and thus, have been eternally chained to the Savior. Is this eternal security which we have a license to live in sin? Romans 6 says, "Absolutely not!" We are dead to sin and alive unto God; we are free from sin and the servants of God. Does this mean that we cannot sin? Romans 7 says, "I still struggle with sin!". It teaches us that the law does not keep me from sinning, it only reveals that I do sin. How can I have victory over sin? The answer is in Romans 8, where we have arrived today.

There is a divine resource which will help me in my struggle against sin. That resource is mentioned 19 times in Romans 8 though referred to only 2 times in the first 7 chapters (1:4; 5:5). That resource is the Holy Spirit. Romans 8 brings the ministry of the Holy Spirit into clear focus.

Verse 1 is another verse in Romans which makes a great statement about our eternal security. It is another of the 27 "therefore's" of Romans (see 2:1; 3:30,38; 5:1; 6:12; 12:1; 13:12). The word "therefore" is a connector. It ties what has already been said to what is about to be said. It is a conclusion. The conclusion that Paul draws from what has been said is that there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Paul is speaking here about the Christian, the saved person, the person "in Christ" (76 times) (II Cor. 5:17; I Cor. 1:30; 3:1; 15:19). But Paul clarifies it by emphasizing that it is not simply those who claim Christ with their lips but those who reflect that they are in Christ by their lives. They walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. A Christian is not going to follow the way of the flesh but will indeed follow the way of the Spirit. That doesn't mean that he never stumbles or falls, that he never sins, not the perfection of his life but the direction of his life. There is now no condemnation to the Christian. The unbeliever is "condemned already because he hath not believed" but "he that believeth is not condemned" (John 3:18). Romans 8:1 promises that the believer will never be condemned; he will never experience judgment for sin because he has been made righteous in Jesus Christ.

When Christians sin, God deals with them like a parent (chastening - Hebrews 12:6ff) not like a judge (condemning). The great declaration of "no condemnation" is so fantastic that Paul uses the rest of the chapter to explain it. In verse 34 he asks a rhetorical question, "Who is he that condemneth?" The obvious answer: No one! The highest court - that of God - does not condemn us. Therefore, no one else can rightly condemn us. In Romans 8, Paul is going to show us that the reason why there is no condemnation for those in Christ is because of what the Holy Spirit does on behalf of believers.

The Holy Spirit Makes Me Free, vs. 2-3.

The Holy Spirit is the agent of salvation. He regenerates the believer. Jesus said that we must be born of the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5-6). Paul says here that when we obey the gospel(the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus), we are set free from the law of sin and death. We will never be condemned because we have been set free from the law and its punishment which is death. We are emancipated from the power and the penalty of sin. In re-generation, in the new birth, the Holy Spirit does what the law could not do (v. 4).

The Holy Spirit Enables Me To Be Righteous, v. 4.

By following the Spirit, not the flesh, the Christian is able to fulfill the righteousness of the law. The believer lives a righteous life, not in the power of the law, but in the power of the Spirit. The legalist tries to obey God in his own strength and fails. The Spirit-led Christian yields to the Lord, experiences the sanctifying work of the Spirit, and obedience flows from within. "For it is God who works within you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

The Holy Spirit Changes My Nature, vs. 5-11.

Notice, the contrast given here between the unsaved (old nature) and the saved (new nature). The unsaved has his mind centered on things that satisfy the flesh - the saved has his mind centered on things that satisfy the Spirit, v. 5.

The unsaved person is alive physically but dead spiritually. The inner man is dead toward God and does not respond to the things of the Spirit. He may be moral and even religious but he lacks spiritual life. The saved person is spiritually alive and experiences peace, v. 6.

The unsaved person is at war with God, v. 7.

The unsaved person cannot please God, v. 8.

But salvation transforms us. Verse 9 - We are not in the flesh. We are in the Spirit. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit takes up permanent residence with you, I Corinthians 6:19-20. If you don't possess the Spirit you are not saved. If you are saved, you possess the Spirit. This is one of the assurances of salvation (v. 16, I John 4:13). The Holy Spirit ministers to us. He comforts, guides, teaches, convicts.

What a difference having the Holy Spirit makes in our bodies. Our bodies die because of sin, v. 10. But the inner man is alive because of the Spirit. The same Spirit which raised up Jesus from the dead, lives within us and will one day raise us up in resurrection life, v. 11.

Victory is not possible through the law but it is available through the Holy Spirit. He frees us from sin and death. He enables us to fulfill God's law. He changes our very nature. Therefore, there is no condemnation to those in Christ.