Why am I often not sure

The reading is from Romans chapter 7, starting at verse 15, and going to Romans chapter 8, verse 4.

Romans 7 · chapter mention Romans 8:4

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good.

So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.

For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being.

But I see in my members another law, waging a war against the law of my mind,

and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then I myself served the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I served the law of sin.

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 condemns 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.

Well, good morning everyone.

We're going to be on week two in our series called Safe and Secure in Christ.

A series that's really going to focus on assurance.

So I want to start this morning with just a statement to you as my Christian brothers and sisters.

And it's this.

God wants you, as a Christian, to have assurance of your salvation.

Let me say it again.

God, it's our Father's intention that Christians like you and me are totally certain that

we have been forgiven for our sinner rebellion,

that we now enjoy a relationship with God,

that he will never change his mind about us or abandon us,

in spite of our ongoing failure and disobedience,

and that finally we will make it home to heaven or glory forever.

Our Father wants us to understand that, to experience that.

Now the question is, do you believe it?

Do you even dare to believe this?

A question may already be forming in your mind.

If God wants me to be absolutely sure about being Christian,

then why is it that I'm often, so often, anything but sure?

No doubt some of you here this morning are struggling with a massive lack of assurance,

massive doubts, loads of doubts.

And no doubt you'd love to be able to believe it,

but just somehow or other it eludes you.

Your scam alert goes off in your mind saying,

well, if something sounds too good to be true,

then it probably is too good to be true.

And given my experience of life as a Christian,

it's too good to be true.

Some of you may actually be living with a lack of assurance

because you think it would be arrogant or presumptuous,

like sinful pride for a Christian, any Christian,

to say they're certain of being a Christian.

I've known people like that over my ministry years.

Some of you may be lacking assurance

because your thinking is all wrong.

And your actual thinking is robbing you

of what God wants you to see and experience.

So lack of assurance is a big thing for Christians

for all different reasons.

But the Lord says to each Christian here this morning

that assurance of salvation is his gift to us

to know and experience.

Even better, as we move into Romans 8,

even better, he actually gives us a series of reference points.

If you know about navigation and triangulation,

then you fix your bearings by triangulating

different reference points.

Well, that's what God gives us here in Romans 8

in respect of assurance,

a series of reference points

which when properly triangulated or used together

ensure we have our bearings right

in terms of assurance of our salvation.

And the first reference point this morning,

in the first four verses of Romans 8,

the first reference point is the unmerited

and unchanging love of God in Christ

and his objective work.

His objective work on behalf of his guilty, sinful people.

Let's have a look at Paul's statement in verses 1 through to 4.

Verse 1, Don's already opened up.

There is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Now Dave and I didn't collude,

but Dave's introduction picked up my next sentence.

The idea of condemnation is horrible.

In a courtroom,

the convicted criminal may know of his guilt,

but to hear the verdict or condemnation

is an extra layer of awfulness

even for the guilty criminal.

Condemnation expresses the awfulness of the crime.

Condemnation expresses the finality of the sentence.

And when we think that in this courtroom,

this is the courtroom of the holy God of the universe,

the idea of condemnation is even worse,

if that's possible to imagine it.

God's courtroom, God is the holy judge.

That it says there in verse 1,

therefore now no condemnation implies a time

when these same people were under condemnation.

Now we need to go back through the argument of Romans

to understand what's been said here.

If you go back to chapter 1 verse 18,

where Paul's argument starts,

Paul argues from there right through chapter 2 and chapter 3,

he's really saying,

look,

all people are condemned by God

and stand under his wrath and guilt,

under his condemnation.

Why?

Because no person

at any point in this universe

has ever lived consistently

with what they know about God.

Let's call it the law of God.

Paul's saying,

everybody is condemned

because nobody

lives according to the law of God.

Now that law of God

came to different people

in different ways.

For some,

in chapter 1 of Romans,

Paul says,

all they had,

the law of God,

was what they could observe

in nature

and what was built

into their conscience

in a real sense

of right and wrong.

And Paul says in chapter 1,

these things scream out

the truth about God,

that he exists,

that he's powerful.

That he's just,

that he's good.

That there's right

and there's wrong

and there will be accountability.

That's what the law of God

spelled out to these people

just by looking at nature

or by observing their conscience.

But,

says Paul,

people reject that level of law

and he says in chapter 1,

they actually choose

a domesticated God

of their own making.

They ignore their conscience

in determination

to do as they please.

So they stand guilty

before God.

And then he goes on

to talk about the Jews.

Well,

they have the law of God

in a different form,

clearly spelled out

in the Mosaic law,

the Ten Commandments.

They were so proud

of this privilege,

says Paul.

But they also stand guilty

before God

because they didn't

actually obey the law.

They twisted it

to make it suit themselves.

Paul's conclusion,

Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

No one is righteous.

All stand guilty

and condemned

before God.

None live in the light

of what they know about God.

So,

how is it possible then,

chapter 8,

verse 1,

to speak about

those who now

escape God's condemnation?

Well,

we have it here,

chapter 8,

verses 1 and 2.

It's the result

of the gospel.

There is,

therefore now,

no condemnation

for those

who are in Christ Jesus.

In Christ Jesus

is the key

to escaping

condemnation.

for the law

of the spirit

of life,

which is just

another way

of talking about

the gospel,

I think,

in simple terms.

You can go back

and check that term out

where it first appeared

in chapter 7,

verse 6.

For the law

of the spirit

of life,

or,

in other words,

the result

of the gospel

is that you've been

set free

in Christ Jesus

from the law

of sin and death.

death.

In other words,

it's the result

of the actions

of Jesus

for and on behalf

of his people

who are now

in him,

that is united

with him.

It is that

which allows

this new

pronouncement

of no condemnation.

a bit more detail,

the death

of Christ

actually changes

the way

God views us.

He now views us

in Christ.

So,

it's a really

important thing here.

We often think

that the gospel

is about

how our view

of God

has changed.

And there's a truth

in that.

Our view of God

does change

when we become

Christians.

But the heart

of the gospel

is far more

important than that.

The heart of the gospel

is that God's view

of us has changed.

That's the really

crucial part.

And we're told

through Romans

that we have

a totally new

standing,

a totally new

status before God

and it's called here

in Christ Jesus.

That's a reference

to how our status

now,

how God views us.

We are now

united with Christ.

Chapter 5

of Romans.

Our being

and future

is now

tied to Christ.

Chapter 6

and 7

of Romans.

And because

God could never

push away

his own son,

there can never

be a possibility

that God

will push us

away because

we are in Christ.

And the death

of Christ

has actually

freed us

from the guilt

and power

of sin.

Verse 2,

for the law

of the spirit

of life

has set you

free.

You're no

longer obligated,

you're no longer

under obligation

to or in debt

to the law

of sin

and death.

Jesus' death

and resurrection

has set us

free.

But the question

is then,

how does a

person

be set free

from the law

of sin

and death

or the guilt

which demands

condemnation?

Well,

verse 3

tells us,

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 other words,

we're set free

because the

death of Christ

has dealt

with the very

things that

brought God's

judgment upon us

in the first place.

That brought

separation from God

and condemnation

from God

in the first place.

So,

once they're dealt

with,

we can be restored

into relationship

with God

by means of the

death and resurrection

of Jesus.

Guilty,

condemned rebels

are legally

released

from condemnation.

Now,

again,

I'll dig into it

a little bit more.

Verse 3,

for God has done

what the law

weakened by the

flesh could not

do.

That's the same

sort of theme

as was through

chapter 7

we saw two weeks

ago.

And it works

a bit like this,

you see,

the law of God

and that means

all levels of

God law

going back to

the Gentiles

whether it's

just the law

of nature

or for the

Jews,

the Mosaic law

in all its

detail.

In either case,

the law of God

was meant

to prompt

obedience

and therefore

life or good

relationship with

God.

God's law

that

because people

are both

unable

and unwilling

to obey

God's law

or to live

in the light

of what they

know about

God

or to

seek after

God's

standard,

then the law

effectively just

is reduced

as we saw

two weeks

ago.

It's reduced

to the role

of exposing

failure,

exposing

rebellion,

exposing guilt

and ultimately

demanding

condemnation.

It can't

actually help

us.

It just

exposes us

and condemns

us.

So the law

that was meant

to promote

good life

actually brings

about condemnation.

Well,

through the

sacrificial death

of Jesus,

God does

for me

what I could

never do

for myself,

that is,

deal with

the legal

requirements

of God's

justice.

The law

says you

should be

living like

this.

God demands

that.

Death of

Christ,

in the death

of Christ,

Jesus satisfies

God's anger,

God's wrath

at our

disobedience.

He pays

the penalty

for my

disobedience

demanded by

the justice

of the law.

And not

only that,

but he lives

a life of

perfect obedience

into the

future,

which is

essential for

acceptance by

the Holy

God.

The result,

verse 3,

sin is

condemned.

In other

words,

all the legal

requirements to

properly deal

with my sin

have been

taken out

on Jesus

instead of

me.

Even more

amazing,

look at

verse 4.

in order

that the

righteous

requirements

of the

law

might be

fulfilled

in us

who walk

not according

to the

flesh,

but according

to the

spirit.

The great

transfer is

completed

when Jesus

actually takes

upon himself

my sin,

my guilt,

my requirement

to fulfill

the law,

and instead

gives me

his righteousness,

his perfect

life of

obedience,

his perfect

fulfilling

of the

law,

is given

to me.

And that

means

I now

both have

the desire

and the

ability

to obey

God's

law

at every

level

and to

bring glory

to God

as the

law was

originally

intended to

do.

So that's

what the

gospel does

for us.

It's a

great

transfer.

It moves

us from

one realm,

the realm

of condemnation

and guilt,

to the

realm of

acceptance

and new

ability and

desire and

attitude to

do that which

the Lord

actually originally

created us to

do, and that

is live in a

way that

brings him

glory through

obedience to

his law.

And all of

this in

these verses

and Paul's

argument right

through the

first eight

chapters, all

this is

God's

initiative.

And so

the wonderful

thing that

comes to

his assurance

is that

God didn't

cut corners.

God didn't

ignore my

sin.

He didn't

play it

down.

He didn't

say it was

less than

what it

really is in

terms of

being offensive

to him and

being a

judicial problem

for him in

relating to

it.

No, God

dealt with

it fully and

honestly and

justly and

completely.

But he

did so in

the death and

resurrection of

Jesus.

So the

fact that

God has

done it

right first

time round

means that

we can

have

assurance

that he's

not going to

have to

revisit it,

that it's

not going to

have to be

redone in

the future,

that somehow

or other

the judgment

will be

called into

question again

and there

be a

retrial.

Since the

demands of

justice have

been fully

met, I

can never

be accused

again.

Verse 1,

there is

therefore no

condemnation for

those who are

in Christ

Jesus.

I am totally

secure,

totally guaranteed

as a Christian

never to be

condemned.

Now friends,

if you don't

hear anything

else this

morning,

then hear

this next

sentence.

The first

reference point

in assurance,

the first

step in

finding assurance

of your

salvation is

looking away

from yourself

and your own

performance and

looking to what

God has done

for you in

Christ.

That's the

only place you're

going to find

assurance.

Why do I

emphasize that?

Because so

often our

own thinking

is the

greatest

hindrance to

our assurance.

Repeatedly we

fall into

traps that

actually rob us

of assurance,

that very thing

that God wants

us to have,

wants us to

experience,

wants us to

enjoy.

Two, I want

to mention this

morning, we

don't take God

at his word.

my friends,

this is God's

word to us in

Romans chapter

eight, verse

one.

There is

therefore now

no condemnation

for those who

are in Christ

Jesus.

God has

spoken clearly.

God has

spoken clearly

about our sin

and about what

he has done

in Jesus to

deal with our

sin and guilt

and about our

being renewed

by his Holy

Spirit and

about going

home to

heaven.

God has

spoken clearly

spoken clearly

about all

these things.

Surely, my

friends, it's

a simple

thing to say

that when the

Lord speaks,

then we should

listen and be

comforted by

his promise.

Of course, we

hear politicians

making grandiose

promises all the

time, but you

see, that's the

fact.

They're just

people like you

and me and we

often realize they

can't deliver their

promises.

They might want

to, but

sometimes they

just can't.

But when God

speaks, then we

should listen and

be comforted by

his words, by

his promise.

You see, so

often our own

thinking about

some particular

sin in the

past just robs

us of that

assurance.

Because if you're

like me, then you

might think,

well, okay, I

can understand that

I'm forgiven for

these things and

these things and

these things, but

when I go back in

time in my life,

there's one

particular sin that

nobody else even

knows about.

I just can't get

past that sin.

That one's just

too big, too

bad to be

forgiven.

And so I get

robbed of

assurance because

I think, well,

okay, I can

understand God's

grace and

forgiveness, but

there's going to

have to be an

accounting one

day for that

particular sin.

perhaps I'm

convinced that the

Lord will hold

that particular

sin against me.

Nobody else

knows about it.

But if the

Lord's going to

hold that

particular sin of

all the sins

against me, then

my assurance is

gone.

I'm done for.

You see, that's

contrary to what

God says.

it's contrary to

what he says

about sin, being

removed as far

from east as

from west.

It's contrary to

what he says

about Jesus

having dealt,

completely dealt

with everything

that breaks the

relationship in the

first place.

It's contrary to

what he says about

my end point,

being in Christ.

It's contrary to

what he says about

the nature of sin,

that the little

white lie, as we

call it, is just

as offensive as

the greatest

mass murder in

God's eyes.

Sin is sin is

sin.

So we get

ourselves trapped

there and messed

up.

The second point

we often fall

into the trap is

we focus on our

own experience

rather than what

Christ has done

for us.

In a very

immediate way,

Romans 8,

1-4,

Romans 8,

the whole chapter,

answers the

desperate question

of verse 24,

the previous

chapter.

What an awful

creature I am.

I want to do

good things,

I want to do

what pleases

the Lord,

but I find

myself doing

the very

opposite,

repeatedly.

I'm locked

into this

struggle and

it's just

wearing me

down.

Who can

deliver me?

Who will

rescue me from

the power of

sin that

operates in me,

driving this

endless,

painful struggle

within me?

The answer

is look to

Jesus.

becoming a

Christian

frees us

from all

guilt of

sin,

but doesn't

free us

from all

connection to

sin.

In fact,

chapter 7,

as we saw

two weeks

ago,

becoming a

Christian

actually starts

a massive

struggle

against sin

as we

determine to

act according

to our new

desires,

our new

attitudes,

trying to

say yes

to righteousness

and trying to

choose to

say no to

sin.

It's a

struggle.

It's a

painful,

ongoing

struggle.

And we

repeatedly

trip ourselves

up and

fall over.

But you

see,

the problem

with that

is the

harsh reality

of the

daily

experience

of struggle

robs many

Christians of

any sense

of assurance

because deep

down they

believe that a

true believer

should not

have to

struggle.

So they're

looking at

their experience

of life as

this daily

struggle and

repeated failure

and they

think,

well this

can't be

right if

I'm a

Christian and

because it

is right

therefore I

can't be a

Christian.

They want

to be like

Christ,

they want

to be

obedient to

God's

word,

so what

do they

do?

Well,

they try

even harder.

They try

even harder

to rid

themselves of

the struggle

and be in

a place where

they can say,

yep, I've

got it right

today.

And so my

experience of

life today

leads me to

feel confident

that I'm a

believer.

And the

result of

that, I've

seen it so

many times,

is a boom

or bust

performance

treadmill type

of assurance.

Focused on

feelings,

when you're

going really

reasonably well

in daily

Christian life

then, you

feel quite

confident and

assured that

you're a

believer and

that you're

safe.

But the

inevitable

spiritual fall

comes.

I say

inevitable.

The

spiritual fall

comes and

then they

crash and

burn.

Worried,

sick about

whether they're

saved or not

because, well,

if I'm doing

this and this

and this,

if I've

failed in

this way and

this way and

this way,

then I

couldn't

possibly be a

Christian.

And so that

cycle is up

and down,

up and down,

it's very

tiring.

Cycle of

extremes from

joyful confidence

to black

despair.

Other

Christians get

tripped up in

a slightly

different way.

They focus on

their immediate

circumstances in

life.

And so they

might say,

well, if I'm

really a

Christian and

God is

secure as a

Christian,

then when I

look at my

ongoing illness,

my financial or

business problems,

my marriage

difficulties,

my health

problems,

then surely

that's evidence

that God's

punishing me or

holding me

accountable in

some way still

for my sin.

And therefore,

gosh, if these

things are real in

my life, then I

can't really be

sure that I'm a

Christian.

do you see

the problem?

It's losing a

distinction between

the secure status

we have in

Christ, no

condemnation,

perfectly acceptable,

perfectly secure,

bound for glory.

It's losing the

distinction between

that and our

experience of life

as Christians,

which is a

struggle, a

struggle with

repeated failures.

Wanting to do the

right thing,

finding ourselves

doing the

opposite.

And if we

blur those two,

again, we're

cooked, we're

done for.

Justification is

being saved,

or sorry,

justification or

being saved is

what God has

done for us in

the past and

which completely

qualifies us for

heaven.

Gives us a new

status before God.

We're now adopted

children.

Justification means

that once saved,

we cannot ever be

more acceptable to

God than what we

now are.

But our

experience of this

new status or

relationship with

God is struggle.

Struggle to be who

we now are in

Christ, to live out

the mind of Christ

in daily life.

And that struggle

will show that

we're always

imperfect,

incomplete.

The struggle will

be different from

person to person

this side of

heaven, but it

will be real.

And it's

precisely because

of this changing

experience of

Christian living

that we must

base our

assurance on

our standing in

Christ.

I'd even go

further and say

that that struggle

is part of our

assurance.

I don't know

many non-Christians,

I don't know any

non-Christians,

who worry

themselves,

whose desires are

to obey God's

law.

They just do what

they want.

The struggle in

itself is evidence

of a changed

life, working the

Holy Spirit within

us.

And we'll see more

of that next week

as Rob takes us

through the next

few verses.

Christians.

We've got to be

looking at what

Christ has done

for us.

And again, this

struggle with sin

and a wrong focus

on our experience

often causes

Christians who

start off with a

notion of grace

and salvation,

often causes us

just to default

back to a form

of legalism

again.

That is, we

default back to

our old pre-Christian

way of living,

convinced that we

are more acceptable

when we do

religious things

to please them.

But that is

driven in a sense

of us having

control and us

through control

feeling better

about ourselves

before God.

And it feels

like a good

solution for the

struggle because

as I say, it

takes back control

of our salvation.

We don't have to

trust God's promise

of no condemnation

because I'm

actually doing

things that God

must take notice

of and think

more highly of me

for because.

It means I don't

have to entrust

myself to Jesus

and to something

he offers me as a

free gift.

And so we have

this false sense

of security.

And it is a false

sense of assurance

and security based

in what we're

doing and the

results of that

in terms of

relationship with

God.

and it puts

us back on the

performance

treadmill, only

in a slightly

different trajectory.

My friends,

the performance

treadmill is so

tiring.

So tiring in the

short term and

ultimately destructive

in the long term.

I'll tell you

why.

The performance

thing of mixing

these two things

up and basing

our assurance on

our own efforts

means that

eventually we

will collapse

in failure

because it

will dawn on us

one day that

for all our

efforts we're

unable to keep

God's law

consistently.

And we'll

crash and burn.

Or we'll live

in constant

fear.

Fear that we

haven't done

quite enough.

We're doing

reasonably well

but in the

end have I

done enough

to get over

the line,

to get into

heaven, to

be acceptable

to God?

And that

fear will

crush us.

Or another

alternative that

people use in

this, who

fall into this

trap, is they

simply change the

standard of

acceptance.

They simply

dumb down

God's word

and they

reduce it to

a level where

they can

achieve it for

themselves.

And so they

tend to say

well okay,

God's standard

means I need

to keep

myself from

the big

sins in

life.

I need to

make sure I'm

not guilty of

adultery, I'm

not guilty of

murder, not

guilty of

massive theft.

And we list

all these things

and we tick

ourselves off and

think well yeah,

I've avoided

those so I'm

secure, I'm

doing alright.

Not realizing

all we've done

is just shift

and dumb down

God's standard

while we live

comfortably with

impure thinking,

undiscovered

lies, acceptable

sins, not

seeing those as

offensive to

God.

Friends, if

we're to know

assurance, if

we're to know

the assurance that

God wants us to

know as a

saved people, we

must not focus on

how we live,

but on how

Christ died for

us.

We must focus

not on our

struggle for

obedience, right

and proper as

that is, but

focus on our

standing in

Christ.

Let me pray.

Lord, this is a

massive issue for

us, we struggle

with repeatedly.

We pray, Lord,

that in this

series that you

might speak to

us tenderly and

speak to us

clearly and

change our

hearts, change

our thinking

where it's

wrong, Lord,

so we might

know and

experience the

assurance of

salvation.

You want us to

know and

experience in

Christ Jesus.

Help us, Lord,

to look away from

ourselves and to

look to the work

of Jesus when it

comes to that

first reference

point.

Lord, and

thereby, Lord,

knowing our

security in

Jesus, have the

energy and the

desire and the

freedom to bounce

back from there

to struggling

again, to do

that which we

now want to do,

honour you and

obey you at every

point in life.

I pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.