Romans 8:1-4 - Part 2

Join me in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Our text this morning is Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through 4, for the second time.

Romans 8:1–4

! Very glad to see all of you here this morning. I hope that you're expectant as I am to see what the Lord will do as we open His Word together.

Last week I was very pleased to begin our study of this precious chapter in this most treasured letter in this glorious book that we call the Bible.

We did not manage to make it far into the text as time constrained us, so I'm eager to consider our consideration of these four verses.

Before I read the text, allow me to remind you that this letter so far, Paul has given great labor to show us that everyone is guilty before God and rightly deserves His justice and our due condemnation,

but that we can be justified or declared righteous by grace alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone.

Because of God's loving kindness, we can escape His judgment through faith, because Christ bore the wrath due us on the cross, and He fulfilled the requirement of the law for us.

By believing in Him, we lose our guilt, we gain His righteousness, and not only are we freed from the eternal verdict of our sin, but we are also set free from its power now.

This is the concisest summary I think I can faithfully give you of the first seven chapters of Romans.

Let's press on into the second week of our look at the first four verses of chapter 8.

Before I read them, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's Word to us, written for His glory and our good.

And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,

He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,

who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Last week we spent the majority of our time on verse 1.

But I would be remiss to not spend a little further time on it this morning before looking at verses 2 through 4.

Verse 1 should be emblazoned on our minds.

It needs to remain there.

Some people float through life unconcerned about how they live and the consequences of their living.

However, if you are anything like me,

you may be a person that thinks constantly about how you should or shouldn't orient your life

and likely find yourself issuing sentences and handing out verdicts of condemnation against yourself for your failures.

Chapter 8 and verse 1 is salve for our weary souls.

This verse reminds us that we are not the eternal judge of the cosmos.

We are not qualified to hold the position.

But the one who is says to us,

there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

It's just incredible.

No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Of course, the clear implication is there is condemnation for those who are not in Christ Jesus.

And I spent some time last week talking about that condemnation,

that justice that is due you.

It's the most important thing about you,

whether or not you are in Christ.

The Greek word here rendered,

condemnation,

relates to the sentencing of a crime,

but focuses not on the verdict,

but on the penalty that is due the crime.

Its emphasis is not on the declaration of guilt,

but on the price that must be paid for the crime of rebellion against God.

Paul tells us that for those who are in Christ Jesus,

there is no longer any condemnation.

Beloved,

in Christ Jesus,

no longer condemnation.

Because of the completed work of Jesus Christ,

the sentence that we fully deserve has been commuted.

We have passed from death to life,

from enemies to friends.

We were once estranged,

but now we belong.

Hear me carefully this morning.

This declaration of Paul's,

there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

does not depend on you.

It does not serve at the whim of your emotions.

It depends entirely on God,

so it is sure.

God accomplishes all that he sets out to,

and all of his promises are kept.

Our salvation find its confidence in him,

not in ourselves.

Now, if some of what I just said sounds familiar to you,

that's good.

It means that you were paying attention last week.

That last paragraph was word for word,

what I said last week,

as far as I can remember.

I think that we all need to hear it again.

I know that I did,

and that I do need to hear it,

time and time and time again.

Again,

there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

A wonderful,

wonderful truth.

Let's take a look at verses 2 through 4,

as Paul continues to expand this idea.

I want to ask and answer two questions.

I did that super fast last week,

about verse 1,

and they find the answer here in verses 2 through 4.

In these verses,

we will see Paul coupling the doctrines of justification

and sanctification

in a most concise and helpful way.

So the first question is this,

how is there, therefore, now no condemnation?

We've been saying this.

We've been saying this all throughout the letter.

I have said it last week.

I have said it in the introduction to this morning,

because if you are in Christ Jesus,

you have been justified.

There's not condemnation for you

because you have been declared righteous.

Justification is a legal declaration

that your sins have been forgiven, expunged.

As far as the East is for the West,

God has forgotten them,

as if they never existed at all.

You've been forgiven of your sin

and that you have perfectly kept the law in Christ.

His righteousness has been given to you.

This is the idea, the doctrine of double imputation.

Our sinfulness given to Christ,

His righteousness given to us through faith.

The great exchange, Martin Luther called it.

For the law of the Spirit of life

has set you free in Christ Jesus

from the law of sin and death.

Now, here Paul uses the word law

not in reference to natural law

or the Mosaic law.

And he's going to use it in that way

in the following verses.

And sometimes Paul's writing gets a little confusing

about which particular use of this word he's employing.

Here he's using it as a principle of operation.

So you can think of it in these terms.

There's therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus

because for those who are in Christ Jesus,

the operating principle of the Spirit of life

has set you free from the operating principle

of sin and death.

What now controls us is entirely different.

I love here that the Holy Spirit,

which we can have no doubt Paul is referring to

by reading the rest of the chapter.

We know it's the Holy Spirit he's talking about.

But here he refers to the Holy Spirit

as the Spirit of life.

We should put that in our vernacular

and use it more often.

The Spirit of life.

Paul ascribes this title to him

as he introduces him

in direct opposition

to the consequence of our sin.

Our activity, apart from Christ,

brought death.

But now, in Christ,

the Spirit of life

brings life.

It's a very clever,

perhaps inspired,

play on words.

The emphasis here

is on his work

in spite of ours.

Beloved, God loves us too much

to leave us to ourselves.

Were it not for his saving grace,

we would remain utterly lost.

And he knows this.

But because of his saving grace,

we have great reason

for great confidence

in Christ Jesus.

He has saved us

if we're in him.

Listen to Paul say this elsewhere.

This is 2 Corinthians 3,

2 Corinthians 3:4

verse 4 and following.

Such is the confidence

that we have through Christ

toward God.

Not that we are sufficient

in ourselves

to claim anything

as coming from us,

but our sufficiency

is from God,

who has made us

sufficient to be ministers

of a new covenant.

Not of the letter,

here he's referring to the law,

but of the Spirit.

For the letter kills,

but the Spirit gives life.

And Paul continues

into verse 3

with another 4.

He says,

For God has done

what the law,

weakened by the flesh,

could not do

by sending his own Son

in the likeness of sinful flesh,

and for sin,

he condemned sin

in the flesh.

Now this time,

as I mentioned,

Paul does use the word law

in reference to natural law,

or in reference to

the Mosaic law.

He is talking about

those things

that we can know

are right or wrong

because our conscience

bears witness to it,

or because he has

directly commanded it.

The law can provoke

sin in men

and condemn them for it,

but it cannot deliver them

from its consequences.

Why?

Because our sinful flesh

cannot keep the law.

He says it right there.

For God has done

what the law,

weakened by the flesh,

our very sin nature,

the way in which

we are born,

unable to keep the law.

The law can't accomplish

that purpose

because we can't keep it.

We have rebelled against it

and would continue to do so

without God's intervention.

And so praise God

for this phrase

at the beginning

of verse 3.

For God has done.

What a beautiful phrase.

Beloved, we are passive agents

in God's saving work.

I will never grow tired

of telling you this.

This is not always agreed upon

in our day.

We are passive agents

in God's saving work.

We cannot save ourselves.

We offer nothing

to the equation

but our sinfulness.

We need to hear it.

For many reasons,

we need to hear it.

And not because I think

that it's important

to tell you so,

because it's my particular

theological bend,

it's the camp

that I like to hang out in,

but because God thinks

it's important

to tell us so.

And he tells us again

and again and again.

We are taught in the Bible

that God's saving work

is monergistic.

He accomplishes it.

For God has done.

What you could not do

is the way you could read

the beginning of verse 3.

You can't do it.

God had to do it

for you.

And praise be to God.

He did.

He did.

2 Corinthians chapter 5

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

and verse 21.

For our sake,

God made Christ to be sin

who knew no sin

so that in Him

we might become

the righteousness

of God.

There's that great exchange

in a single verse.

Double imputation.

Christ had to come

and accomplish

what we could not accomplish.

accomplish on our own.

God has done this.

We need to rest

in these truths.

We're going to get into it

towards the end of chapter 8

and on into chapter 9

and then wrestle

with the implications of it

in chapter 10

and chapter 11.

It is glorious

and it is beautiful

and it is true.

Doctrines always taught to us.

High views of these

doctrines of grace

to give us a pillow

to rest our head on.

Not a rock to stumble over

or to pick up and throw

at somebody else.

Right?

It's meant for rest.

Right?

Remember where this started.

There is no condemnation

for those

who are in Christ Jesus.

Why?

Because God has done it.

Because God has done it.

you're going to fail

in your life.

You're going to sin

and you're going to want

to condemn yourself.

But guess what God says

of you.

If you're in Christ

there's no condemnation

for you.

We just sang a song

together

that speaks to this

very truth.

And I don't know

maybe you're like me

sometimes

I sing a song

and I know the tune

and I know the words

and I just sing it

and I don't think

very much

about what

I'm singing.

I hope that's not true of you.

We don't sing

a ton of songs here

but we sing good

true

deep songs

together.

They are

carefully selected.

They're thoughtfully selected.

We sang a song

just before the offering

called Christ

the sure

and steady anchor.

Just listen to its words.

Just in case you weren't

listening to it earlier

you might grab the hymnal

that's with you

and turn to hymn 406.

Christ

the sure

and steady anchor

in the fury

of the storm

when the winds

of doubt

blow through me

and my sails

have all been torn

and the suffering

in the sorrow

when my sinking

hopes

are few.

I will hold fast

to the anchor

it shall never

be removed.

And you might say

but look

but look Nathan

look

there's your work

in it

you're holding fast

to the anchor

what are we doing

what are we holding

on to?

Christ and his

completed work.

We're just remembering

that there's therefore

now no condemnation

for those who are in

Christ Jesus.

He did it.

He accomplished it.

We're simply

holding on to the truth

that it's

been done.

Verse 2

Christ the sure and steady anchor

while the tempest

rages on

when temptation

claims the battle

and it seems

the night has won

deeper still

then goes

the anchor

though I justly

stand

accused

I will hold fast

to the anchor

it shall never

be removed.

Christ the sure

and steady anchor

through the floods

of unbelief

hopeless

somehow

oh my soul

now lift your eyes

to Calvary

this my ballast

of assurance

see his love

forever proved

I will hold fast

to the anchor

it shall never

be removed.

What Christ has done

what he accomplished

on Golgotha

Christ the sure

and steady anchor

as we face

the waves of death

when these trials

give way to glory

as we draw

our final breath

we will cross

that great horizon

clouds behind

and life

secure

and the calm

will be the better

for the storms

that we endure.

Christ the sure

of our salvation

ever faithful

ever true

we will hold fast

to the anchor

it shall never

be removed.

God has done it

he's accomplished

the work

if you are in Christ

it's because

of him

he's sure

to keep

his promises

to you

and he did it

by sending

his own

son

in the likeness

of sinful

flesh

himself

not sinful

the implication

in that phrase

there is not

that he was

in fact sinful

like we are sinful

not

as our sinful

flesh

but like

our sinful

flesh

and for

sin

he condemned

sin

in

the flesh

he condemned

our sin

in the flesh

of Christ

and he condemned

it

so that there

would no longer

be condemnation

for those

who are in

Christ Jesus

how are we

in Christ Jesus

by grace

alone

through faith

alone

in Christ

alone

oh the rest

oh the peace

oh the joy

when we lay down

our striving

and accept the reality

that we cannot

save ourselves

but have a God

who is gracious

and merciful

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

that's Psalm

145

and verse 8

to be in Christ

Jesus means

that we receive

all the benefits

that he has purchased

and also that he has

taken all the curse

that we

have purchased

herein we see

the doctrine

of penal

substitutionary

atonement

and I have said to you

and I will continue

to say to you

you lose this doctrine

you lose

the gospel

Christ took

our penalty

in our

place

and therefore

made peace

with God

John Owen

in his work

the death of death

in the death

of Christ

which you may have

heard referenced

in verse 3

of that last song

that we sang together

written by Matt Boswell

and Matt Papa

the Mats are reading

Owen I do believe

he said this

quote

the death

and blood shedding

of Jesus Christ

hath wrought

and doth

effectually procure

for all those

that are concerned

in it

eternal redemption

consisting in grace

here

and glory

hereafter

if you want

the Nathan

simple English

of that

Christ's work

accomplished

our salvation

right

so that's

justification

that we see

here in the text

but we also

see

sanctification

in the text

and a proper

view of

sanctification

is often called

progressive

sanctification

and we always

hate to have to

modify words

like this

but there are

a lot of

erroneous views

of sanctification

out there

but the doctrine

of progressive

sanctification

simply means

that once

we've been

saved

we will

progress

bit by bit

towards

Christ likeness

this doesn't

happen with

perfection

it's an up

and a down

but we will

be moving

toward holiness

so my second

question is

why have we

been set free

in Christ

Jesus

and it's

so that

we might

be

sanctified

justification

sanctification

necessarily

leads to

sanctification

it

guarantees

it

God has

began this

work

he started

it and he

will bring

it to

completion

we must

be continually

clear on the

relationship

between the

law

and the

gospel

this gets

confused

often in

people's

thinking

what is the

relationship

between the

law

and the

gospel

the law

helps us

to see

our sin

perhaps

helps

produce it

in us

Paul

makes the

case

it

condemns

us

in our

sin

aiming at

Christ

taking us

to

the

gospel

the gospel

sets us

free from

the condemnation

that the

law brings

and

sets us

free

to obey

it

so the

law

doesn't

get done

away

with

altogether

it now

comes

as an

instructive

helper

to us

it's still

good

for

our

living

perhaps

those who

have gone

before us

can help

us

at this

point

we've been

reciting

together

the

heidelberg

catechism

this is a

helpful

instructional

tool

it's been

around for

hundreds of

years

question

60

asked

how are

you

righteous

before

god

we

answered

this

a

couple

of

weeks

ago

the

heidelberg

answer

to that

question

is

only

by

true

faith

in

jesus

christ

although

my

conscience

accuses

me

that

i've

grievously

sinned

against

all

god's

commandments

have

never

kept

any

of

them

and

am

still

inclined

to

all

evil

yet

god

without

any

merit

of

my

own

out

of

mere

grace

imputes

to me

the

perfect

righteousness

and holiness

of christ

he grants

these to

me

as if

i had

never

had

nor

committed

any

sin

and as

if

i

myself

had

accomplished

all

the

obedience

which

christ

has

rendered

for

me

if

only

i

accept

this

gift

with

a

believing

heart

how are

you

righteous

before

god

by

faith

in

christ

question

61

why do

you

say

that

you

are

righteous

only

by

faith

the

answer

not

that

i

am

acceptable

to

god

on

account

of

the

worthiness

of

my

faith

for

only

the

satisfaction

righteousness

and holiness

of christ

is my

righteousness

before god

i can

receive

this

righteousness

and make

it

my

own

by

faith

only

then

you

recited

three

today

but

why

can

our

good

works

not

be

our

righteousness

before

god

or

at

least

a

part

of

it

answer

62

because

the

righteousness

which

can

stand

before

god's

judgment

must

be

absolutely

perfect

and in

complete

agreement

with

the

law

of

god

whereas

even

our

best

works

in

this

life

are

all

imperfect

and

defiled

with

sin

one of

the

references

for this

answer

comes

from

isaiah

Isaiah 64 · chapter mention

chapter

64

and

verse

6

which

says

we

have

all

become

like

one

who

is

unclean

and

all

our

righteous

deeds

are

like

a

polluted

garment

we

all

fade

like

a

leaf

and

our

iniquities

like

the

wind

take

us

away

question

63

but

do

our

good

works

earn

nothing

even

though

god

promises

to

reward

them

in

this

life

and

the

next

answer

63

this

reward

is

not

earned

it

is

a

gift

of

grace

question

64

does

this

teaching

not

make

people

careless

and

wicked

no

it

is

impossible

that

those

grafted

into

Christ

by

true

faith

should

not

bring

forth

fruits

of

thankfulness

and

you

all

know

how

much

I

love

John

Bunyan

and

you

may

be

familiar

with

the

fact

that

he

was

imprisoned

for

being

a

preacher

of

the

gospel

without

a

license

from

the

government

and

while

he

was

there

he

was

given

occasion

to

stand

in

the

courtyard

and

preach

and

people

would

gather

around

the

outside

of

the

jail

walls

simply

to

hear

him

and

at

night

time

when

he

was

put

back

into

the

dungeon

there

was

another

group

of

Christians

who

were

also

there

for

preaching

without

a

license

although

of a

much

different

theological

persuasion

and

they

said

Bunyan

if you

keep

telling

people

of

God's

love

for

them

they'll

live

however

they

want

to

there's

that

question

does

this

teaching

not

make

people

careless

and

wicked

and

he

responded

no

if

I

teach

God's

people

about

God's

love

for

them

they'll

live

however

he

wants

them

to

you

see

the

distinction

right

so

very

careful

the

scripture

texts

that

are

cited

for

answer

64

are

texts

like

Matthew

7

in

verse

18

Jesus

says

a

healthy

tree

cannot

bear

bad

fruit

nor

can

a

diseased

tree

bear

good

fruit

and

Luke

6

45

the

good

person

out

of

the

good

treasure

of

his

heart

produces

!

good

and

the

evil

person

out

of

his

evil

treasure

produces

evil

for

out

of

the

abundance

of

the

heart

his

mouth

speaks

where

our

affections

lie

is going

to

produce

the

way

in

which

we

live

so

if

we

belong

to

God

in

Christ

we're

going

to

find

a

growing

holiness

in

us

now

we

see

in

verse

4

that

this

is

happening

in

order

that

the

righteous

requirement

of

the

law

might

be

fulfilled

in

us

and

this

phrase

might

be

fulfilled

is one

of

those

places

I

go

you

all

know

I'm

not

a

Greek

scholar

but

I

go

and

use

my

tools

and

I

look

at

it

it's

a

single

Greek

word

might

be

fulfilled

and

I

go

oof

I

don't

know

if

that's

the

best

way

to

translate

this

but

I

also

have

no

idea

how

I

would

translate

it

it's

a

very

interesting

word

the word

means

to

and I

quote

to be

or become

satisfied

concerning

the

requirements

or

expectations

of a

contract

I

don't

know

how

you

would

make

that

flow

in

the

middle

of

that

verse

but

what I

can

tell

you

this

contextually

Paul is

communicating

that because

of Christ's

satisfaction

of the

law

the

righteous

requirement

of the

law

the

possibility

of our

fulfillment

of the

contract

exists

and

we

will

see

as we

continue

to

study

the

chapter

that

God

will

graciously

work

in

us

to

bring

about

its

completion

we

will

fulfill

the

righteous

requirement

of the

law

when

we

are

fully

and

finally

sanctified

at a

point

in our

history

that we

call

glorification

we're

going to

get there

and we're

going to

wring all

of that

out

I

promise

and I'll

reference

back to

verse 4

as we

do so

so

here it

is

it

exists

and

God

is

going

to

make

it

happen

in

our

lives

again

if

we're

justified

this

necessarily

leads

to

sanctification

if

you

are

in

Christ

then

you

walk

not

according

to

the

flesh

but

according

to

the

spirit

and

this

idea

of

walking

refers

to

the

habitual

pattern

of

our

life

what

will

be

generally

true

of

us

is

that

we're

going

to

live

our

lives

in

the

power

of

the

spirit

and

not

in

the

power

of

the

flesh

so

if

you

are

in

Christ

you

walk

according

to

the

spirit

and

in

the

coming

weeks

we

will

study

what

it

means

to

walk

according

to

the

spirit

this

is

exactly

where

Paul

is

going

he's

setting

up

his

case

for

what

it

looks

like

to

walk

according

to

the

spirit

but

I

want

to

conclude

our

time

today

by

also

setting

us

up

for

the

coming

weeks

and

issuing

to

you

a

warning

many

in

our

day

make

too

much

of

the

Holy

Spirit

and

we

can

err

and

make

too

little

of

him

I'm

not

saying

that

that's

not

also

possible

but

we

can

also

err

and

make

too

much

he

is

the

third

person

of

our

triune

God

he

is

to

be

reverenced

and

he

is

to

be

relied

upon

significant

way

in

which

God

works

in

our

lives

he

is

not

to

be

relegated

but

neither

is

he

to

be

elevated

to

a

position

that

he

would

not

want

to

hold

the

Puritans

called

him

the

shy

spirit

and

his

primary

function

apart

from

other

working

but

his

primary

function

is

to

magnify

Christ

this

is

the

primary

thing

that

the

spirit

does

in

Romans

8

9

Paul

calls

the

spirit

the

spirit

of

who

Christ

right

the

spirit

of

Christ

working

to

magnify

Christ

some

months

ago

many of

you probably

weren't

here

we were

having the

Lord's

Supper

together

and at

the

conclusion

of a

song

a lady

broke

out into

unintelligible

language in the

back corner

of this

room

and would

not

stop

and I

asked her

to stop

I told her

it wasn't her

turn to

speak

a couple

of times

and some

guys

very kindly

escorted her

out of the

room

very kindly

spoke to

her

she was

furious

we were

quenching

the spirit

she couldn't

believe it

she left

we've never

seen her

again

and some

people ask

me

just

honest

you know

well intended

question

should you

have asked

for an

interpretation

and I

said no

because I

can tell

you that

was not

the spirit

of Christ

why do I

know this

because we

were in the