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[0:00] Our scripture reading for this morning before our message is from Romans. We'll start in chapter 7, verse 21. And we'll read through chapter 8, verse 8.

[0:18] And where the NIV says sinful nature, I will be reading the words the flesh, which is another translation of that.

[0:35] We'll start in Romans 7, verse 21. This is the living and active word of God. So I find this law at work. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

[0:50] For in my inner being, I delight in God's law. But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

[1:06] What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[1:17] So then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the flesh a slave to the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

[1:42] For when the law was powerless to do, for what the law was powerless to do, and that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

[1:58] And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

[2:13] Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

[2:25] The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

[2:39] Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. Let's hear God's Word preached to us. Well, this morning we are transitioning, I guess is what I'm trying to say, from a series on great texts of the Bible, single verses or short portions, to one of the greatest chapters in the Bible.

[3:14] We may return at any time to deal with a single text. That's all Spurgeon ever did his whole life of preaching. But today we take up the study of Romans chapter 8, what some have called the greatest chapter in the Bible.

[3:33] Indeed, Martin Luther said, every Christian ought to memorize this book. It is the closest thing that we have to a systematic theology in our Bibles that teaches us in a systematic way the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[3:49] And right in the middle of this glorious book is this chapter, Romans 8. So someone has likened the whole book to a ring. Chapter 8 is the diamond on the ring.

[4:03] A godly old saint was on his deathbed, nearing the end, his eyesight gone, and so he asked his daughter to open his Bible and to put his finger on that text where it says that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[4:27] Neither life nor death can separate us from that love. And she did. And so he died with his finger on that verse and his faith in the God who promised what was said in that verse.

[4:46] And Romans 8 is full of precious truths for you and me to live and die on. What a chapter. It begins no condemnation.

[4:57] It ends no separation. And everything in between is just sweet comfort, assurance, reason for hope and confidence, no matter what's happening in our lives.

[5:13] Romans chapter 8. Let's get to know it more familiarly together Father and more importantly, the God of Romans 8 who is here revealed to us, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

[5:32] So we come to these first four verses. I've given the title to each verse. And the first point this morning is no condemnation. Verse 1.

[5:44] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And we're going to ask several questions of the text. And the first question is, what is this therefore, therefore?

[5:59] What is it connecting us to? What is it pointing us to? And I believe it not only points back to chapter 7 of Romans, but chapters 1 through 7, everything that has been said up to this point.

[6:11] Therefore, since that is true, now he's going to draw some summary statements for us. More on that in a moment. But the next question, what does condemnation mean?

[6:26] Well, this word takes us right into the courtroom. The courtroom. It's a legal term. It's the verdict that a judge comes to when having examined the evidence, he finds the man guilty and he condemns him as guilty, as deserving of punishment.

[6:45] The man stands condemned before the law of the land. He's under condemnation, under judgment. Now, earlier in the book of Romans, we find out that you and I are the ones on trial in this courtroom.

[7:01] That God is the judge and Paul is the accusing, prosecuting attorney and the charges against us is that we have sinned against God. We've broken his law.

[7:14] And so, Paul starts out by showing that God's our creator and our good and loving creator and that means we should have been thankful to him. We owed him that much.

[7:26] We should have loved him and trusted and obeyed him and worshipped him and lived for him. But we didn't. None of us have.

[7:36] Instead, we've disobeyed his laws and lived for ourselves. And so, from chapter 118 right through chapter 3 and verse 20, Paul is like a cowboy rounding up all the sinners in the whole world and he brings them into this great corral and he pronounces the verdict of God over them.

[7:57] Here's a few of the verses that announce God's verdict. Romans 3, 23 All have sinned. Jew, Gentile, those with a Bible, those without a Bible, you and I, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[8:14] Chapter 3, verse 19, The whole world is found guilty, condemned before God. Chapter 5 and verse 18 reminds us that we were all condemned the first day we were born.

[8:26] We were condemned in Adam because the result of his one trespass was condemnation for all men. He was our representative in the garden and when he fell, we fell under condemnation and it's not like we'd have done any better because we've added our own sins.

[8:47] And chapter 6 and verse 23 has told us that the wages of sin is death, including the second death, that of the eternal lake of fire. So that's the verdict.

[8:59] Jesus said in John 3, 18, whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already. And that's what we were, condemned already, like men on death row, already condemned, already judged, hopelessly, awaiting the day of execution.

[9:19] And so we go into our homes condemned, we went to work condemned, we went to school condemned, we went to church condemned, we were already condemned.

[9:31] That's the state of all men before this judge and that's his verdict of us. And it's a double condemnation is what we see this morning.

[9:44] In this present life, we were condemned to remain a slave under the reigning power of sin. And that's a condemnation, that's a judgment, to be left under the power of sin, to be a slave.

[9:59] But we were also under the condemnation in the future to suffer the eternal penalty of sin in hell. So that we were condemned to live out our days as slaves to sin's power and then to suffer the eternal penalty of sin.

[10:18] But then Romans 3.21, right on through chapter 7, went on to tell how Jesus Christ came to save condemned sinners. We've sung of it this morning.

[10:30] How he saves from both its penalty and its reigning power. And that's what Paul is referring back to when he says, therefore, therefore, you've seen in chapter 5 this great exchange of Christ's righteousness, his obedience becoming yours.

[10:49] So that your sins were put to his account and he was condemned that you might not be condemned. You've seen all of that. He's laid it out in chapters 3 through 7.

[11:01] And therefore, there's now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Not the condemnation of remaining a slave to live out your days under its reigning power nor the condemnation to suffer its eternal penalty in the next life.

[11:17] Now, this is amazing good news. This is why I say that the chapter is just packed with things to give us confidence and assurance. I say it's good news for those who were under condemnation to hear this verdict.

[11:32] There is now no condemnation. No condemnation. Now, let's ask a question. To whom does this verdict belong? We've seen the earlier verdict.

[11:42] All of us condemned. Who receives this verdict? No condemnation. Well, it's clearly not for everyone. It says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and only those.

[11:59] They are in Christ like Noah was in the ark. Outside was condemnation and death. Inside was no condemnation and life.

[12:11] So how did these people get into Christ? Well, Paul's already laid that out in chapter 3 and 4. It's by faith. It's not by works of righteousness.

[12:23] It's by faith in what Jesus has done. These people have put their trust in him alone to save them and so they're joined to him. They're put into Christ. And one with him means that whatever he did is counted as if they did it.

[12:38] So the death he died is counted our death to sin. And the life he lived, the resurrection life he lived, is counted our newness of life. Union with Christ.

[12:49] On the cross, all the condemnation we deserve fell on him so that none falls on those who are in him. Now, it didn't matter what kind of animal got into the ark.

[13:02] It was safe. And it doesn't matter what kind of sinner you have been. If you get into Christ, you are safe. There's no condemnation there because it's already fallen on him.

[13:13] And that's what Jesus says, whoever believes is not condemned. Not condemned. No condemnation for all who are in Christ Jesus.

[13:24] So that becomes the most important question this morning that I have to ask you. Are you in Christ Jesus? And we'll see further descriptions of the one who's in Christ Jesus.

[13:35] But let's ask the question, when is this happy condition enjoyed of no condemnation? When is it enjoyed? And you notice there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[13:51] This is a present reality. So dear believer, you don't have to wait to the final judgment to find out what the judge's verdict is going to be. It's already been pronounced.

[14:05] And that's no small part of the joy and peace that comes from believing. To know what that awesome day is going to be when each one of us must stand before the judge and give an account of our lives.

[14:19] We know the verdict right now is no condemnation. if we are in Christ. He was condemned on the cross that I might never be.

[14:33] Not a drop of wrath remaining in the cup. He drank it all for me. There is no condemnation left for me. None whatsoever. And so in Christ, you see, there is no condemnation.

[14:47] So we don't have anything of the wrath of God in hell hanging over our heads. We don't need to invent a purgatory where we can pay for our sins before we get into heaven.

[14:58] Jesus has paid them all. There is no condemnation left for us. And so in Christ, we're saved from the eternal penalty of sin.

[15:12] We'll never fully know what it costs Christ to give us that verdict of no condemnation because it meant his condemnation. But there's more.

[15:23] For in Christ, we're also saved from the reigning power of sin in this present life. The right now applies to this life as well of sins, power, broken.

[15:36] Right now, for those who are in Christ, there's no more bondage to sin. It is no more my master that I have to obey it. Christ has freed us both from the penalty of sin and the slaving, enslaving power of sin.

[15:51] And it's the latter one that is now the focus of the following verses. And so I've labeled verse 2, freedom from sin's reigning power.

[16:01] We have freedom. If we are in Christ, no condemnation. Number 2, if we are in Christ, freedom from sin's reigning power.

[16:15] So we ask, how is it that we who are in Christ have been set free from the condemnation of living as a slave all of our days under sin ruling over us?

[16:26] And verse 2 says, because in Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death. Once again, notice that this blessing is due to being in Christ Jesus.

[16:40] The NIV says through Christ Jesus. It's the same word as in verse 1. In Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit of life has set me free. And so as Ephesians 1 says, the heavenly Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

[16:56] So with this blessing of being freed from sin's reigning power. Now, if we're to understand verse 2, we need to understand how the word law is being used here.

[17:08] Sometimes in the Bible, the law refers to a set of commands like the law of Moses, the law of God. Other times, it's used as an active power like the law of gravity, an operative power.

[17:26] And that's the use of the law here in verse 2. Paul jumps from one use to the other. The law of God, the law of gravity, the active power kind of law.

[17:38] If you just look back to chapter 7, verse 21 to 23, you see the way he jumps back and forth in the way he uses the word law. But he speaks of indwelling sin.

[17:50] The sin that lives in us is an active power like the law of gravity. The law of sin is a powerful, active principle within.

[18:01] So I find this law, verse 21 of chapter 7. I find this law at work that when I want to do good, evil's right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God's law.

[18:15] There it's commands. But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner to the law of sin at work within my members.

[18:32] You see, the law of sin is this active, powerful principle within. So here in our text, verse 2 of chapter 8, Paul speaks of two laws, two laws, two active powers operating within.

[18:49] First, there's the law of the spirit of life. That's the Holy Spirit's active, operative power inside. And that leads to what? To life.

[19:02] Life that is really life. But there's another law within. It is the law of sin and death. And this is sin's active power, which leads to death. We read it in James 1, 15, that sin, when it is finished, leads to death.

[19:18] So two laws, two active principles, powers, operating and leading to two opposite destinies. Life, death.

[19:30] So before we were united to Christ, before we were in Christ by faith, we were in bondage to the law of sin and death. We were sin's slaves.

[19:41] It was the powerful master that controlled us, that ruled over us as slaves. It gave the orders and we marched to them.

[19:52] We willingly obeyed. We had no contrary power or desire in us to resist sin's commands. Indeed, Titus 3, 3 says, we were enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

[20:09] So we were in bondage to sin. Even as it was leading us to death. Oh, how well sin disguises itself, promising this is the way to life when it's leading to death.

[20:21] That way that seems right to a man, it's leading to death. And we were following. Even, and so we were slaves, even though we thought we were free.

[20:32] We thought we were free people, free to do my own thing. Oh, but what was my own thing? It was sin's thing. Exactly what sin wanted me to do. And I didn't see it and didn't know it, but sin had its hook in my nose and I was going wherever he led me.

[20:46] I was a slave to sin. It was my master. As Jesus says in John 8, 34, everyone who sins is the slave of sin. And that was us under the enslaving power of this law of sin and death at work within us.

[21:04] But when by faith we were placed into Christ, we received the gift of his indwelling Holy Spirit. And the law of the Spirit of life is the Holy Spirit's active power now operative in my life.

[21:21] He is now the predominant power and force, the third person of the Trinity now at work in me. So verse 2 says that in Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from that law of sin and death.

[21:41] The law of sin is still living in me. It's still tempting me. It's still alluring me. It's still threatening me. But it's not reigning in me anymore. It's remaining, but it's not reigning.

[21:53] A stronger operative power has come and set me free from sin's enslaving power. And that is the law of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of life.

[22:06] Let me illustrate it this way. Think of the law of sin as the law of gravity. Gravity is an active power that is pulling us downward.

[22:17] Now most of the time you're not aware of it, but it's acting right now. It's why you're not floating up into the air. It's holding you on your seat. And if you jump off your house, the roof of your house, you find that it's operating.

[22:30] You go down and not up. The law of gravity, it's a downward pull upon you. It's an active power ever at work.

[22:40] Now when you go to the airport and you board a plane, is the law of gravity still at work? Yes it is. It's what's holding the airplane down on the ground.

[22:51] But there is another law, another active power operating in the plane, powerful engines enabling it to arrive at a speed whereby it overpowers the forces of gravity that are pulling it down.

[23:08] And so you're able to lift up and go up into the air. Two forces at work, gravity pulling down, but a stronger power lifting up.

[23:18] that's what it is for the Christian. Yes we still have the down drag of sin, that law of sin, that principle of sin within us.

[23:29] But we have a greater power. It is the power of the Holy Spirit himself that has set us free from the power of sin and death.

[23:43] So we can now please God. We can now obey him. We can now do what he wants us to do and we're no longer led about as slaves to sin who can do nothing but sin.

[23:59] Our obedience is not yet perfect as we would like it to be, but it's real. So here's encouragement for the Christian in our ongoing struggle of sin.

[24:09] Paul's just talked about it in chapter 7. That's enough to make you depressed, but he's wanting you to be encouraged. you're not what you used to be. And if you were what you used to be, you wouldn't just have a struggle with sin, you would be a slave.

[24:25] Oh, but in Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit as this greater power than the power of sin and death. I'm not saved yet from sin's presence, from its influence.

[24:40] It remains to harass me and to retard my progress in holiness. But the law of the spirit of life is now the dominant power within setting me free from the law, the enslaving law of sin and death.

[24:55] Now, all of this is in Christ Jesus. Oh, what do we owe to our Savior Jesus? It's only because of him, through him, and being in him that the Holy Spirit becomes ours and comes to dwell in us.

[25:10] It is through him who breaks the power of reigning sin and sets the prisoner free. So we've seen these two encouragements. No condemnation for those who are in Christ, and secondly, freedom from the reigning power of sin for those who are in Christ.

[25:27] Now, the third point is that God the Father condemned sin. Verse 3, God the Father condemned sin. And what we see is that our salvation is a Trinitarian salvation.

[25:39] we've already hit all three of the persons of the Trinity as we come to verse 3. They're all actively involved. And verse 3 tells us what God the Father did through his own son.

[25:52] He condemned sin. Verse 3, For what the law was powerless to do, in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering, and so he condemned sin in the flesh.

[26:09] We're told that what the law could not do, God did. Well, what we're talking about now is the law of commandments.

[26:20] What the law of God alone could not do, God did. What is it that the law could not do? Well, it couldn't save us.

[26:33] It couldn't save us from condemnation to hell. It couldn't save us from condemnation to under the power, the reigning power of sin, to live a life under sin's power.

[26:45] The law can and does inform us as to our duty. The law does command us, but it can't empower us.

[26:56] There's no power to enable us to do what it says. No amount of do's and don'ts will ever bring us into line with its requirements. In fact, Paul has already said in chapter 7 that the law is so far from breaking sin's power over us that it actually stirs up the passions of sin within us.

[27:16] The law does that. So take the 10th commandment, for instance, you shall not covet. What does Paul say? When that law came to him as an unbeliever, what was its effect upon him?

[27:28] Chapter 7, verse 8, sin seized the opportunity. That sin principle woke up inside of me and seized the opportunity afforded by the commandment and produced in me every kind of covetous desire.

[27:44] You see, when I heard you shall not covet, I found my heart coveting everything. It's kind of like you sit down on the airplane and the way the person announces to disable a smoke detector is a federal offense punishable by fines.

[28:02] And you say to yourself, I never even thought about doing that until you told me I can't do it. And now since you told me I can't, there's something in me that wants to.

[28:13] It stirs up a desire within. And that's what Paul says. The response of a sinful heart when God's loss comes and says, you shall not.

[28:24] There's something that awakens sin to say, just because you said I won't, I will. We see it with Eve as she fell and we all follow in the same thing.

[28:35] And that's what Paul says. You see, the law was not able to give us the power to obey it. It rather stirred up sin within us. So the weakness is not due to some fault in the law.

[28:49] You see that? This weakness was that the law was somehow to be charged with a fault. No, the law is good. It's righteous.

[29:00] It's holy. There's nothing wrong with God's laws. It's the best thing there is. It's indeed, as we read in James 1, 25, it's the law that gives liberty. Rather, the weakness and inability is due to man's flesh.

[29:15] We were in a hopeless condition. When you mix God's law and my flesh, it only leads to more sin. What the law was unable to do.

[29:27] God did. Chapter 7, verse 5, when we were controlled by the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies so that we bore fruit for death.

[29:43] So the law is no savior for sinners. Paul's, that's a big point in the book of Romans, isn't it, for Paul to make? Because all of us think that if we just do something, we can make ourselves right with God.

[29:54] And he says, what the law could not do, it can't save you. But what the law couldn't do, God did. God did. And he did it by sending his own beloved son, his son from eternity.

[30:11] The father paid an enormous price to set us free from sin's penalty and power. He didn't withhold his son, but he sent his one and only son to save us from sin's tyranny and reign of death.

[30:31] You see how Paul traces all the initiative of our salvation back to the heart of the father. God so loved the world that he gave his son, you see.

[30:42] And that's where he's going to end up in Romans chapter eight. And nothing can separate us from that love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. In Christ Jesus.

[30:53] It starts in the father and it ends up this love of God in Christ Jesus. What humiliation that he sent his son in the likeness of sinful men.

[31:08] That the eternal holy son of God would humble himself and come clothed in the true humanity of sinful man. becoming as closely identified with us sinners without becoming sinful himself.

[31:24] But a body that was weak, a body that needed rest, that needed food and drink. He who is the great I am is now in a body that gets sick and needs to sleep and needs to refresh and rest and all the rest.

[31:41] A real body. And why? Why was he sent as a man? Well, it was for sin. For sin. If it wasn't for sin, he wouldn't have needed to come.

[31:52] No, it was for sin that he came. He was sent to deal with sin. Christ died for sin. First Peter 318. And you'll never understand why Christ has come unless you see it's because of sin.

[32:04] It was sin that sent him from the father to us. He came to deal effectively with sin. To judge it. To condemn it.

[32:15] To break its condemning and reigning power over us. The law couldn't do that. But God could and did. You see, this is good news, folks.

[32:26] This is good news. And so he, the father in the son, he condemns sin in the flesh, in the humanity, the human nature of Jesus Christ.

[32:41] Man had sin. Sin was condemned in a man, the perfect man, Jesus Christ. The eternal word was made flesh, flesh and blood, true humanity.

[32:52] John 1 14 says. And so God sent his son who was made man for us. And then he made him sin for us.

[33:04] And then he was made a curse for us. He was condemned for us as he stood in our place as that substitute man. It was damnation for him that there might be no damnation for us.

[33:21] He endured our hell that we might enjoy his heaven. He was condemned that I might never be. But there's something more being taught here. Not only is that true when it says God condemned sin in the flesh.

[33:35] God condemned sin. Sin was judged on the cross. God condemned sin. He overthrew its power.

[33:47] What does sin do? It has the power to condemn us. But God judged sin. And condemned sin so that it no longer has any condemning power for those who are in Christ and it no longer has any ruling power for those who are in Christ.

[34:06] He strips sin of its reigning power over his people. He's already spoken of that in Romans 6. But our old master sin that held us in bondage was itself condemned to free us from slavery to it.

[34:21] So you see there is freedom from sin flowing from the cross where God judged sin in his son. As Jesus says if the son will set you free you'll be free indeed.

[34:32] not only free from condemnation of the penalty but freedom from the condemnation of its reigning power in your life here. Now why did God do all of this?

[34:45] Why would he give his son? Why would he condemn sin in his son? Why set us free from our enslavement to the reigning power of sin?

[34:59] What's his purpose? What's what was his design in all of this? What was he after? What's the result that he's seeking? Why did he do this? Well here it is our last point number four.

[35:12] So that his law might be obeyed by us. Verse four says it. He did all this in order that here's the purpose. The righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not live according to the flesh but live according to the spirit.

[35:32] Not according to the the active powerful down drag of the principle of sin but but live according to the greater active principle of the law of the spirit and life.

[35:46] You see God didn't set us free from the law of sin and death to have us wallow around in our sins as we did before to go on living according to the flesh. He didn't condemn sin in his son to see it continue to reign over us.

[35:59] He didn't put his spirit into our hearts to see his righteous laws continue to be trampled upon. No he did it to honor and magnify his law by having us obey it.

[36:12] He did it to restore the righteous image of Christ in us to make men and women like his son who love and obey his law. And I'm afraid there's this this point is little understood by professing Christians in our day at least in the West.

[36:29] So let's not miss it. The end goal you see of this great salvation of Christ coming and and God condemning sin in him.

[36:40] The end goal is to see a new humanity living according to God's righteous and good laws doing his will here on earth as it is done in heaven and all that he might be glorified by our willful willing obedience.

[36:58] So how do we keep the righteous requirements of the law? Where do we find active power to produce obedience to God's commands? We saw it's not in the law. What what the law couldn't do God did and he did it by giving us his Holy Spirit.

[37:15] The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. life. And we no longer live according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

[37:29] That's who we are. I want you to see that. That is not a command. You're not here being told in verse 4 you need to live according to the spirit and not according to the flesh.

[37:40] That's this is no command. It's it's a description of those who are in Christ. It's a description of those who have been set free from the law of sin and death. It's a description of those for whom Christ died and freed from the condemnation of sin's penalty.

[37:55] They don't live according to the flesh anymore like they used to. Now they're living according to the spirit. It's a description of those who have no condemnation.

[38:12] And it's not saying that we do that perfectly. No he's just he's just laid that out in chapter 7. We don't do anything perfectly and like we wish we did but we do it really.

[38:25] We are following Christ. That's what a disciple is. We are obeying his commands. And when we don't we confess it and we turn from it.

[38:40] That's the description of a Christian. We'll see more of that as the next section of Romans 8 unfolds. But this is all part of the present tense now. Right now. Those who are in Christ are living according to the spirit and not according to the flesh.

[38:57] That's good news. The good news you see is that we're not left on our own to to live this way. No. What God requires God enables.

[39:09] What kept us from from obeying God's law as a sinner? Well it was that inward power of sin that reigned over us. The power of lawlessness. So God's law said do this and we had this inward power of lawlessness that kept us from obeying God.

[39:28] And that's why at the cross God condemned that sinful power in us. He stripped it of its reigning power over us and set us free from that power of lawlessness in order that we might live according to his laws.

[39:44] It was sin that that law of gravity that pulled us down and demanded its way over God's way and so that's why God put his own omnipotent Holy Spirit in us.

[39:57] With a power greater than the down drag of remaining sin in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us. And this is exactly what God promised in the Old Testament that he was going to do in the new covenant.

[40:13] The new covenant that is in Jesus blood. This is exactly what he said would happen. Listen in Ezekiel 36 27. I will. This is what God will do.

[40:24] It's something that the law couldn't do but it's what God does in Christ. I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and to be careful to keep my laws.

[40:36] I will do that. And the New Testament sees those promises fulfilled in Christ. It's God who is at work within you giving you both the will and the power to act according to what pleases him.

[40:54] Galatians 4 4 and 5 says Jesus Christ was born under the law to redeem those who were under law. The law came to us and we were under it but the law couldn't save us.

[41:04] So the lawgiver was born of woman and born under the law that he might become the law keeper and give that perfect obedience to us law breakers and make us by his spirit law keepers like himself.

[41:24] Salvation Jesus came to bring is a salvation from sin. That's why he's called Jesus. He will save his people from their sins from its penalty. Yes.

[41:36] In hell. Saves us from that but also from its reigning power in this life and one day from its very presence Paul's emphasizing the important place of the law of God in the believer's life.

[41:49] We can now obey it because we've been given the spirit of God. We don't keep the law in order to become saved. It's exactly opposite. We are saved in order that we might obey it.

[42:02] This is what pleases the Lord. Find out what pleases the Lord and by the spirit you now have power over sin so that you can obey it as you walk according to the spirit.

[42:15] His righteous law defines the new life that he's called us to. His righteous laws define what pleases him and how we are to glorify him. But we're not left to do it on our own.

[42:29] That's the good news of Romans 8. The spirit of God is given that the law of God might be fulfilled. And so through the gospel of Christ God did what the law alone could not do.

[42:41] To run and work the law commands. Yet gives me neither feet nor hands. But better news the gospel brings it bids me fly and gives me wings.

[42:56] What God requires he provides. He's not like Pharaoh who required the same quota of bricks but withheld the straw.

[43:08] No if God requires obedience to his laws because he's enabled us by his spirit to live a new life a resurrection life by the power of Christ in us by his spirit.

[43:22] So are you under God's verdict of condemnation or are you one of these in Romans 8 1 of whom it said there is now no condemnation ever.

[43:38] Well they're described for us. Those people are described for us here in our text in several ways. They're in Christ. Are you in Christ? Have you come to Christ and trusted in him alone to save you?

[43:52] Turning from your way coming and putting yourself at his disposal trusting him to save you. They're also described as those who are set free from the law of sin and death.

[44:04] Because they're indwelt by a stronger power. The power of the spirit. Is that you? Is the third person of the Trinity alive and working in your life so that you're not what you used to be?

[44:17] They're described as those whom the righteous requirements of the law are being fulfilled. Is that you? That God's law means a lot to you and you order your life according to it because that's what pleases him.

[44:30] And they're described as those who do not live according to the flesh but according to the spirit. You have the list of those things. What the flesh produces and what the spirit produces in Galatians chapter 5.

[44:42] Read it and see which list describes you. Do I live according to the flesh or according to the spirit? So are you one of whom it said no condemnation?

[44:54] Don't deceive yourself. None are in Christ who do not live according to the spirit. None are in Christ that do not by the spirit obey God's law. And let me say this before we close.

[45:06] If you are not in Christ every moment you remain outside of Christ you're a breath away from eternal torments. Oh it's an urgent matter.

[45:17] You need to get into Christ. To get into him by faith. And what you find when you do is you get everything you need in Christ. The answer is if I'm not in Christ the answer is not well I've got to try harder to keep God's law.

[45:31] No the law will not save you. You need to run to Jesus and receive him. And when you receive him you receive everything you need. The Holy Spirit to live powerfully in you.

[45:44] And to move you. To keep God's commandments. So come to him. Come to him. You don't need to fix yourself. In fact he won't receive you if you fix yourself first.

[45:54] Because you're not coming to be saved by him. You see he's the savior. You're the sinner. That means he must do all the saving. So you must come just as you are. And tell him I'm a sinner. And I live for myself.

[46:06] And I don't know anything about this power. That enables me to live a new life in Christ. I don't know that. I don't have that. I'm not in Christ but I want to be in Christ. I don't want condemnation hanging over my head.

[46:19] I don't want to live as a slave of sin. And he'll receive you. Trust him. Take him at his word. It's he's just that good. And that's why Romans 8 is such a precious chapter in our Bibles.

[46:32] And if you're in Christ by the Holy Spirit walk worthy of your high calling. As one who's been set free from condemnation. The condemnation of sin's penalty.

[46:44] And sin's reigning power. Can it really be? Can these things really be true? That's what we sing in our closing hymn. And can it be? Stand and sing with me from the overhead.

[46:55]  Please stand and sing with me from the overhead.