No Condemnation

Father, your Son has just warned us that there's different ways for us to hear your Word.

And Father, we know the devil never misses church.

And so, Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask that he would be silenced and bound this morning in our midst.

And we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would enter into our lives,

that your Holy Spirit would make us good soil so that as your words enter into our lives,

you will turn our hearts into honest and good hearts,

and that you would use your Word in our life to bear much fruit for your world to your great glory.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, I didn't receive the original thing myself directly,

but I became aware of, through an email, of somebody who heard something that our church was doing,

and they basically completely and utterly condemned us.

Well, more me, because you folks, me and a couple of others,

because most of you aren't directly involved with it.

But from the sounds of it, it was a full-scale condemnation of me

and, I guess, a couple of other leaders who were involved in this particular thing.

And, you know, in a sense of being a conversation which condemned me and several others,

it means that charges were made against us,

we were found guilty,

and our judgment was, in a sense, spelled out,

and all in a very, very hostile and emotional type of way,

and not pleasant for the person who had to be the immediate receiver of this.

Why is it that often Christians seem to be so prone to condemn each other?

Like, why is it that we often seem to be so prone to condemn each other?

Because this condemnation came from people who went to another church.

Now, in fact, you know, if you think about it for a second,

I think, and I don't know, we have people here, you know,

praise God from all sorts of different stages in their walk with Jesus,

and maybe there are people here who are just trying to figure out

who this Jesus person is and what Christianity is all about.

But for many people in the world, if they think of Christians,

many people in Canada nowadays,

they think of Christians,

they think of people who are very quick to condemn,

that, in fact, condemnation of others' behavior is part of our DNA.

That would be a very common, I'd say, stereotype of Christians,

but as sometimes happens with stereotypes, there's some truth.

Probably every single one of us here has been the recipient

of great condemnation from other people in the church.

Maybe, hopefully, not this church, but maybe from other Christians.

So the Bible passage that we're going to look at today

has a lot to say about this topic of condemnation.

And, you know, one of the things about condemnation,

just before we get into the text,

it's going to be Romans 8, verse 1,

Romans 8:1

if you want to sort of try to find it in your Bibles, Romans 8, 1.

But one of the things about condemnation

is that often those of us who are very, very prone

to have a great condemnation of others are blind to it ourselves.

In fact, many of us, by this introduction,

we're probably thinking of times

that we have received this condemnation,

but probably very few of us think of the times,

maybe even just within the last 24 hours,

when we've unleashed condemnation on others.

Like, it's a very curious thing about us

and our human hearts, isn't it?

That we often immediately, when we think of this,

think of the times that we've been the victim.

But we probably rarely think of the times

that we've been the perpetrator of condemnation.

And in fact, not to put too much of a point on it,

the problem of condemning others is a human problem.

It's not a particularly Christian problem.

It's very clear if you read The Citizen or The Post

or other newspapers,

that there seems to regularly be complaints

about how with social media and Twitter and other things

that people who make some odd comment

can be flooded and overwhelmed

with hateful, condemning rhetoric.

And yet, at the same time that people do this,

outside the church,

they often don't realize that they themselves

maybe are filled with condemnation.

Maybe even condemning Christians,

they've passed judgment on you and me,

but they somehow think that they're doing that

is not a sign of condemnation,

it's somehow accurate.

And in other words,

that we can pass condemnation on others

and be blind to the fact that we've done it

and only see ourselves as victims.

Don't you think that's really a human problem?

So the Bible's going to say some real wisdom about this

for those of us who are prone to condemn others

yet see ourselves only as victims.

And yet, at the same time,

we often live with great wounds of condemnation

that have been leveled against us.

So it would be a great help to me

if you open your Bibles

and you turned in your Bibles to Romans 8,

and we're going to begin at verse 1.

Romans 8, verse 1.

Romans 8:1

And I know it's sort of in the middle of the book,

and it's been, I think, six or seven weeks

since we've looked in Romans.

I'll give you a bit of a background in a moment.

But let's at least start with this stark opening phrase.

In fact, actually, Andrew, could you put it up?

Or Rebecca, could you put it up on the screen?

I'd like you to all read this with me.

Nope, that's Romans 8, 1.

Could you say this with me?

There is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

I can't remember how many words it is in the Greek.

Thirteen words in English.

These are very, very, very, very powerful words.

And most of us either forget it in a Christian life

or we, in fact, think it's wrong.

But if you get nothing else out of this sermon

other than to have this stick in your head,

then this is a good thing.

Can you say it with me again?

There is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

It's a very, very, very powerful, powerful text.

Now, you'll notice it says

there is therefore now no condemnation.

It's chapter 8, verse 1.

That means there's been seven chapters beforehand.

And I don't expect people to always remember these things.

It's hard enough for me to remember them myself.

But the way the book of Romans is written,

and we're going through the book of Romans,

is that the way the book of Romans is written

is Paul is writing this letter,

which is now considered to be scripture from God, the Bible,

and he wrote it around the year 56 or 57.

So he wrote it about 35 years or so,

25 years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And he's writing it to a group of churches,

a group of Christians in churches

in the capital city of the empire in Rome.

And Paul knows a few of these people,

but he's never actually been to Rome.

So he doesn't know most of the people.

And so in this letter,

he sets up the great themes of the Christian faith,

the great themes of the gospel.

And the way he writes the letter

is in the first six or seven verses,

he gives a very standard,

well, extended form of the standard greeting

in Roman letters,

grace and peace, et cetera, et cetera.

And then he goes and he spends about seven or eight verses,

basically just saying a few things about himself.

You know, I'm sort of finishing up some stuff here.

I've always meant to see you and come and visit you.

And I hope to be going somewhere else.

And on my way to going somewhere else,

I hope to drop in on you.

And then Paul does something

which is a bit unique in the ancient world.

He writes in verses 16 and 17,

he writes what we would now call an abstract

or a praesi of the entire rest of the letter.

Those of you who are still in school

or those of you who remember when you were in school

in academic papers, in journal articles,

there usually is an abstract that goes with it.

And the abstract describes the content of the paper.

In fact, when I was in university,

I had friends who wanted to pad their bibliography.

Basically, they pad their bibliography

by reading a whole pile of abstracts

and then listing it in their bibliography

as if they'd read the entire article,

which I'm not encouraging you folks to do

to pretend you've read articles that you haven't.

But that's how a lot of modern papers are.

And that's how Paul actually writes the book of Romans.

He, in verses 16 and 17,

he sets out a praesi of everything

he's going to talk about for the rest of the letter.

In fact, actually, could you put this up

and why don't we say it together again?

Because this is going to be important.

Romans 1, 18.

There we go.

Can you just say this with me?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel,

for it is the power of God for salvation

to everyone who believes,

to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in the gospel,

the righteousness of God is revealed

from faith to faith.

As it is written,

the righteous shall live by faith.

And as I'm going to tell you about in a moment,

we're going to see how this fits in.

But Paul then writes,

he tells us that's a whole book

is all going to be an unpacking of this phrase.

And then immediately he goes in verse 18

to try to sell the problem.

Why is it that we need a power of God

to make us right with himself?

And then he describes what Jesus does

upon the cross for us.

And that sort of goes from the last half of chapter 3

up until the end of chapter 6.

He describes the positive and negative aspects

of what Jesus does for us on the cross.

And then in chapter 7,

he talks a little bit about

what it means to be human.

And then he comes to chapter 8, verse 1,

after having talked about all of these things,

and he begins.

Could you put verse 1 up again?

Chapter 8, verse 1.

Could you put that up again, Rebecca?

You're having to really work hard this morning.

Can you say this with me again?

There is therefore now no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Most Christians don't really believe this.

Most of us believe that we're maybe tourists

in this place where there is no condemnation,

but that once we've come to be in Jesus,

that it actually describes the entire rest of our life

that we can never be out of condemnation,

that we are always in a land, in a place, in a realm

where there is now,

there is therefore now no condemnation

if we have put our faith and trust in Jesus.

There might still be people who condemn us,

but God who sees every human heart

and sees us perfectly

and knows everything there is to know about us,

with nothing left over.

And every act of evil,

whether done something that we've done

or every good thing that we should have done

that we didn't do,

which is also wrong,

that every act of evil

is also an act against God

and he is the true judge

who knows us truly and perfectly

and completely and thoroughly.

He knows the times

that we really have done something wrong.

He knows those times

when we've been doing something right,

but while it's technically right,

we've been doing it so we can boast

or for our own glory

or for our own power

or to manipulate people,

which is another day of power.

And he knows every single thing

there is to know about us,

but that when we are in Christ Jesus by faith,

there is no condemnation ever,

ever,

for all eternity.

That's what this text says.

So Paul immediately sort of goes into

a little bit of just going to unpack it.

The rest of chapter 8,

he's going to continue to,

to describe what that means

and the power and the importance of this

in the Christian life.

But if you listen,

he goes,

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.

I'm just going to read this again.

Remember that the big point,

the shocking point,

I'm not encouraging people

to get tattoos,

but if you got a tattoo,

maybe 8 verse 1

would be a good thing

to get tattooed

somewhere on your body

so you could read it for yourself.

There is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And then it says,

for the law of the spirit of life

has set you free

in Christ Jesus

from the law of sin and death.

And this version of the Bible

that I'm reading,

it likes to keep

the same Greek word

the same Greek word

all the way through a text.

But in the book of Romans,

the word law

actually has different types

of meanings

depending on the context.

And in this particular case,

it doesn't mean

a set of rules

of the Holy Spirit.

What it means

is it means

that there's a type of logic

and power

to the work

of the Holy Spirit.

A type of logic

and power

of the work

of the Holy Spirit

and that this law,

this sort of logic

of how the Holy Spirit works,

this power

of how the Holy Spirit works

is that the Holy Spirit

always works

in such a way

that the Holy Spirit,

even before you are a Christian,

the Holy Spirit

is working in your life

to come,

to try to get you

to come to a place

where you will put

your faith and trust

in the person

and the work of Jesus.

who he is

and what he did

for you on the cross.

And the logic

and the power

of the Holy Spirit

to lead you

to this faith

in Jesus

and what he does

for you on the cross,

it's not just a logic

and a power

that works

until you become

a Christian

and then after

you've given your life

to Jesus,

it has some other plan.

Paul is saying here

that throughout

your entire Christian life,

the logic

and the program

and the power

of the Holy Spirit

will always continually

be bringing you back

to the person of Jesus

and what it is

that he does

for you on the cross.

That that's what

the Holy Spirit's project is,

its first and primary

and recurrent project

in our lives.

And then in verse 3

it says,

for God has done

what the law,

and now here he means law

as a set of perfect rules.

See, he's taking it

for granted

that in what we call

Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus, Numbers,

and Deuteronomy

that that comes from God

and that it's a perfect

set of rules

to prepare people

to understand

their need for Jesus

and how it is

that they are to live

in covenant with God.

And he's saying,

for God has done

what a perfect 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.

Remember I told you

just before the sermon began

I asked you to pray for me

because the book of Romans

is so stretching

and I don't know

if I can even do justice

to it here

but it's something

that can't be

just gulped down.

It keeps demanding us

to pay attention

to the details.

And so what the text

is saying is this.

Okay, here's the thing.

We all know

that knowing better rules

doesn't help you

to live a better life.

I mean, every one of us

knows that maybe

the other night

I passed out to people

in my family

those little tiny bags

of chips.

They'd been on sale

at Costco.

And, you know,

each one of them

you know,

there's a little tiny

I don't know if you've ever seen them.

You get a big box

of small bags

of Doritos

and potato chips

and Cheetos.

And, you know,

some of us just ate one

and some of us ate

way north of one.

And everybody knows

that it's not healthy

to eat way north

of three.

I'm giving you

a little bit of leeway.

You know,

you don't need to have

a big flashing sign

in the living room

that comes up

you know,

or the kitchen.

Eating more than

three bags of Cheetos

in one sitting

is probably not wise

for your waistline

your cholesterol levels

you know,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

We all know that.

We don't need

a flashing light

to tell us that

but it's so easy

to do it, isn't it?

I mean,

many of us know

how we could be

better off financially.

We all know

many of us know

how we could be

better off physically.

Many of us know

how we could be

better off spiritually.

We don't need more laws.

There's something about us

that even when laws

are very, very wise

and rules and advice

is very, very wise

that we just can't keep it.

And Paul has shown earlier

that what the purpose

of these things is

is to try to make us

come to the point

to say one moment

it can't be that religion

and spirituality

has to be about

more and better

and more perfect laws

because there's something

in me

that just can't

keep these laws.

And unless

God does something

I can't keep

doing these things.

And I can't

leave myself

to fix myself.

And it doesn't matter

if there's

a hundred

or a thousand

or a thousand million

or several billion

people

who are all

exactly like me.

You multiply

people like me.

You just get

more of like me.

And you can't just

unless

God does something

I can't

fix myself

in terms of

my relationship

with him.

I just cannot

unless God

does something.

And so here it says

for God has done

what the law

what perfect laws

weakened by

who we are

the flesh

we could not do it.

And what did he do?

He sent 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.

And what does this mean?

it means

if you go back

and you read

the gospel of John

later you'll see

that the very very

first time

that Jesus

comes into the story

that it's John

the Baptist

the greatest

and the last

of all the prophets

and he points to

he's with his friends

his disciples

and he points to Jesus

who's walking along

and he says

behold the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

That's how Jesus

is introduced.

Behold the Lamb of God

that guy

right over there

yeah yeah

the guy with the hair

down you know

halfway down his back

yeah I know

he needs a haircut

and the beard

behold the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

And in this text

what it's saying

is that God

sends his son

the second person

of the Trinity

and the second person

of the Trinity

while remaining God

he takes into himself

our human nature

and he comes

and walks amongst us

and he lives

a perfect life.

he's made

of the same stuff

both body and soul

of you and me.

He's made a man.

Likeness here

is a technical

philosophical term.

It doesn't just mean

he appears to look human

it's actually a way of

a technical way

of describing

that he's both

fully human

but at the same time

that he's

it's creating

a little bit

of a distance

from the fact

that he's going to

whether or not

he's going to sin or not.

And so it's saying here

that Jesus comes

and lives a fully human life

and the purpose

of his coming

to earth

is to die

for sin.

Notice that in verse 3

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.

Some of your versions

there might say

and as a sin offering

and it's

it's what

it's a technical word

and in the Old Testament

for the Jewish people

who are familiar

with this

and all of the pagans

even if they weren't

familiar with the Old Testament

they understood

the nature of sacrifice

and it's a technical language

of a type

of offering

and imagine here

that I have a nice

imagine here

that I have a nice

little lamb

and in the Old Testament

it would require

that there is

a lamb

that's perfect

in terms of

it has no blemishes

and the lamb comes

and there's this offering

where you put your hands

I would put my hands

on the head of the lamb

and then the lamb

would be sacrificed

and would die

and the image

is that in a sense

when I put my hands

on the lamb

all of the things

for which I can be condemned

all of the things

that I've done

that are wrong

all of the right things

that I should have done

that I didn't do

everything that keeps me

far from God

every part of my project

to be like God myself

I in a sense

by touching the lamb's head

that is transferred

from me

to the lamb

and at the same time

there's something else

that goes on

is that as I touch

the lamb's head

and in a sense

I'm giving the lamb

all of the things

that I've done

that are wrong

the lamb's

innocence

is transferred

to me

and so that

when the lamb dies

the lamb dies

bearing the punishment

that I deserve

and I walk away

bearing the innocence

that was the lamb's

and so what the bible

is saying here

it's reminding us

how when Jesus

was introduced

is the lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

Paul is hoping

that people understood

that sacrifices

are pointers

to something

that only God

that God needs to do

that we can't do

for ourselves

because we have to

keep going

and doing these sacrifices

time and time

and time

and time again

but Paul is saying

what if God

provided the lamb

what if God

provided the lamb

and God

in a sense

is shameless

when I gave

my life to Jesus

when I was in grade 12

I didn't really

understand any of this

all I understood

was that there was

this great

lack

and inadequacy

and

bentness

in me

and that

Jesus would

accept me

and he would

deal with it

that's sort of

all I really

sort of understood

but what the bible

is saying here

is that God

is shameless

when we

in a sense

come to the point

where we realize

that unless God

does something

we

have no real hope

that we need

God to do

what I cannot

do

and only he

can do

that it doesn't

matter about

my rituals

my spirituality

my rules

my membership

I'm going to die

and I'm separate

and distant

from him

and so I reach

out to Jesus

and call for Jesus

and what this text

is saying

is that Jesus

then reaches

down to me

and he

puts his hands

in mine

and when

my hands

go in the hands

of Jesus

and the hands

of Jesus

go in my hands

even though

I don't understand

maybe

that he is

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

I am touching

the Lamb of God

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

is touching me

and at that moment

even though

I am not complete

and I am not aware

of it at all

maybe some of you are

but many of us

are not even aware

of it

it is exactly

the same

as if I have

placed my hands

in that image

on the Lamb

and at that moment

that I put my hands

out to Jesus

and he reaches

across that

infinite distance

to put his hands

in mine

and take

his hands

in mine

and my hands

are in his

at that moment

there is

an exchange

and his purity

and innocence

becomes mine

and my

all that

I can be condemned

for

becomes his

and that

Jesus' death

upon the cross

is not just

an act

in history

that happened

once

but because

Jesus

is

God

the Son

of God

it is

an act

that is

always

available

for every

human being

even those

who come

after

and so

it is

and could you

put up the

first point

Rebecca

Jesus

was the Lamb

of God

who takes

away the

sin of the

world

so by

faith in

him

there is

therefore

now

no

condemnation

there is

therefore

now

no

condemnation

if I

preach a

good

sermon

there is

therefore

now

no

condemnation

if I

have done

a really

poor

job

this

morning

there is

therefore

now

no

condemnation

if I

do a

really

really

really

good

job

of

resisting

sin

this

week

there is

therefore

now

no

condemnation

If I do a poor job, there is therefore now no condemnation.

If I go through a period of great depression,

in a couple of months, a season of darkness,

there is therefore now no condemnation.

If I go through a season of profound apparent success in ministry,

there is therefore now no condemnation.

No matter what you want to put before or after,

when you put your hands in the hands of Jesus,

and he takes your hands in his,

there is therefore now no condemnation.

Forever.

That is the gospel.

Could you put that up for us?

Could we say it together?

Could you put up verse 8-1?

Could you say it with me?

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

So what on earth does this mean in terms of how we live our lives?

In verse 5, which comes after what we've just read,

the Holy Spirit causes Paul to write something which is both

a description of how we live our lives

and a litmus test as to whether or not we've put our hands in the hands of Jesus.

It's a very, very clever type of thing

because, of course, it's easy for some of us to hear this

and take it in a way which really actually doesn't mean that we're calling out to God,

but we're presuming upon God.

Let's read it, and then I'll try to give you an analogy to explain it.

Could you?

We'll read it.

It's verse 5.

In fact, if out of this sermon you only get two things,

if you memorize chapter 8, verse 1 and memorize chapter 8, verse 5,

you've done a good thing.

The rest of chapter 8 is going to try to start to continually unpack verse 5,

but this verse 5 is both a litmus test and also a description.

Here's how it goes.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,

but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

And here the word flesh doesn't mean like sex.

You know, often we refer to sins of the flesh,

and we really mean that you drink too much and look at pornography

or do naughty things in that direction.

I'm not saying that drunkenness isn't a sin or that pornography is not a sin.

I'm not saying that.

What I'm just saying is that the devil uses that language to make us blind to our pride,

arrogance, anger, envy, condemnation, hypocrisy, greed, laziness, etc., etc.

We can become completely and utterly blind to all of these other sins

because we can become...

The devil uses it to get us fixated on a couple.

But here the word flesh means basically from an earthly perspective,

from the perspective of just the way that people just generally talk.

And that if our minds are set on this,

the logical consequence will be that it will just continue to get what the earth gets,

which is death.

But if our minds are set on the Holy Spirit,

it will end up leading to life and to peace.

Increasing peace with God, experienced and lived, and increasing life.

And the rest of it's going to work.

It's going to explain a little bit more about what that means.

But what's going on here with the text?

Well, the first thing is...

Could you put up the next point for me, please?

The Bible isn't saying that when we put our hands in the hands of Jesus

that we stop becoming human beings and now live perfect lives.

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

As I tried to give it with an illustration,

if it means I perform...

If I, Lord, have mercy upon me,

if I do some horrible act of sin next month,

there is therefore now no condemnation.

If I do some unbelievable act of generosity and spiritual sacrifice

that leads to great glory to God,

well, there is therefore now no condemnation.

The Bible doesn't say that when we put our hands in the hands of Jesus

that Jesus now instantly turns us into something other than a human being.

Chapter 7 has shown that we live in the already-not-yet

with a divided and contradictory self.

We live in the already-not-yet with a divided and contradictory self.

That even before we become a Christian,

the already-not-yet means that Jesus is risen from the dead and he's going to come again.

That's the already-not-yet.

It means other things as well.

And the divided and contradictory self is, as we say,

on one hand, we maybe know that we should lose some weight,

save more money, be more generous.

You can make a whole long list of different things.

Even if you're not a Christian,

you know that there's a whole pile of these things,

but you also know that there's forces within you

that make you want to do the opposite,

and that even after the Holy Spirit,

the logic of the Holy Spirit starts to work in your life,

there's a bringing you to Jesus,

and there's going to be like a type of pressure to walk with Jesus,

but at the same time,

I'm living with a divided and contradictory self,

and I'm going to have a divided and contradictory self

until Jesus comes again.

It's going to be just the way I am.

And that's why when you take these two things together,

it's to deliver us from the play-acting of Christian legalism,

whereby we can pretend that everything is all right and all perfect,

and we're living perfect lives,

all by our own efforts.

And you can also be protected from this tendency to just say,

well, it doesn't matter if I'm doing all of these bad things

because there's therefore now no condemnation.

It's protecting us from this type of legalism

and just dispensing with all human laws.

But I said verse 5,

remember I said verse 5 was like a litmus test.

For those who live according to the flesh

set their minds on the things of the flesh,

but those who live according to the Spirit

set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

It's possible to hear this,

there is therefore now condemnation,

by just responding

that I can do whatever bad things I want.

And if that is how we respond,

it's a litmus test that we haven't really called out to God

for him to do what we cannot do.

Maybe here's a bit of an illustration.

I have to watch my time.

I've been a minister for quite a few years

and one of the things I've discovered about being a minister

is I can't predict when I do a marriage

whether the marriage will somehow hold

or whether it will break up and divorce.

I've done marriages where I thought this is,

you know, I've even told my wife,

this is a really great young couple.

They really seem to be deeply in love.

They seem to be really keen.

And then a year later,

the marriage is broken up.

I can think of one preeminent marriage that I did.

And this is quite a few years ago

when I was in another city.

And I met this,

the young woman went to my church

and this fellow didn't.

And he was a bouncer at one of the roughest bars

in the entire Ottawa Valley.

Not making up,

a bouncer at one of the roughest,

toughest,

regularly big fights.

He was a bouncer there.

And when we met,

he,

I mean,

he swore and cursed

and used foul language

all the way through our meeting.

I mean,

he was really,

really rough.

And I,

and she was this like

really sweet young thing.

And I,

I went home to Louise

and I said,

wow,

I don't,

I just can't,

I can't understand this.

Like this is,

this is a disaster.

20 some odd years later,

they're still married.

And,

um,

he was completely transformed.

Like when he entered into the marriage vows,

he meant it.

And he,

he stopped being a bouncer.

He set up several businesses.

He became relatively prosperous.

And the foul language

and all of that other stuff,

it all started,

it didn't change overnight,

but there started to be

the,

the,

the,

the,

the,

the importance of the marriage vow

and the importance of that woman

started to change him.

See,

some people

take the marriage vows

as an excuse

that they no longer have to try.

Well,

we're married,

you can't do anything about it,

so I can be just as big a jerk as I want.

And other people,

not,

I mean,

obviously everybody has times

when things are bad,

but the marriage vows

somehow become a means

by which our life starts to change

for the better.

And that's what Paul is saying here.

Because remember,

what the Holy Spirit does,

the logic or the power of the Holy Spirit

is it leads us to a faith in Jesus.

it leads us to this point where we realize that I need God to do what only God can do.

I have come to the end of the Lord,

I have come to the end of the Lord,

I have come to the end of my rope.

And you call out to Jesus.

And Jesus reaches down across that infinite space that we cannot bridge ourselves.

And he takes our outstretched hands symbolically.

I mean,

we probably don't maybe necessarily reach our arms out,

but he takes our outstretched hands in his,

and he takes us to himself.

And he has been our sin offering when he died upon the cross.

He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And even though I do not realize it,

when my hands go in his,

all of the condemnation that is due on me

has fallen on him.

And all of his purity and life and innocence

is somehow bestowed upon me.

And there is therefore now no condemnation.

And the Holy Spirit will continually lead us back to the gospel.

And as the Holy Spirit leads us back to the gospel,

and as we become disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel,

the gospel starts to become,

and the other teachings in light of who it is that Jesus is

and what he's done for us on the cross,

it becomes the ground upon which we start to live

and how we understand things.

And the actual gospel itself starts to shape us.

And as the gospel grips us,

and as it grounds us,

and it starts to shape us,

and it starts to nudge us to do things

that we hadn't thought of doing before,

and it draws us to do things

that we hadn't thought of doing before.

And as we think about the fact that

in Jesus there is now therefore no condemnation,

and all of a sudden as that starts to grip us,

we start to realize,

we know maybe I shouldn't condemn others.

As the gospel grips us,

and knowing that Jesus died upon the cross,

and this profound act of generosity,

you know what?

Maybe I should be a bit more generous.

And as we realize that all of the things

that we've done that are wrong have been laid on him,

and his purity and goodness is given upon us,

then all of a sudden,

the shape of maybe living a life

where we forgive others

starts to make some sense,

that we're drawn to that,

that we're nudged by that,

that we're standing in a place

by which we can understand

that maybe forgiveness,

and turning the other cheek,

and being one that swallows evil,

and be the place where the cycle of evil stops,

that maybe that makes sense.

That maybe if God,

through Jesus,

that he,

Jesus sets aside all of his riches,

so to speak,

in heaven to become poor for me,

well, maybe this odd thing of tithing,

maybe that starts to make sense.

Maybe that makes sense.

And so you see,

like in those marriage examples,

it could be that when we hear

what Jesus has done for us on the cross,

we think, oh good,

I can do whatever I want,

which is wrong,

and God's not going to do anything about it.

And all that means is that

we really haven't given our lives to Jesus.

And others of us,

as our minds are set on

what the Holy Spirit's mind is set on,

which is first of all,

Jesus and what he's done for us on the cross,

it starts to free us.

It starts to free us.

And we start to have peace.

Now, some of you might say,

George,

do you know,

I've been a Christian all these years, George,

and do you know what goes through my mind?

Do you know sometimes

the violent and dark thoughts that I have?

Do you know sometimes,

George, I don't know,

I'm not like you,

you look like you think about

all these holy things,

and you read all these books,

and if you just saw the rage I have,

if you just saw how angry I am,

if you just knew the hold that money had on,

if you just know,

if you just knew how I sometimes

can't sleep at night

because I just can't get my mind

off of what that person said to me,

can you put the scripture back up?

You know what I have to say?

Why don't you say it with me?

There is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Say it with me again.

There is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

If you're really, really, really successful

at dealing with all of these things,

there is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

If you're having a real problem

with rage or greed

after you've given your life to Jesus,

there is therefore now

no condemnation

for those who are in Christ Jesus.

the Holy Spirit

is going to keep bringing you back

to that.

I've run out of time in my sermon.

The other points I was going to say,

we can,

it'll be online, but

this verse 5

isn't just saying

that if you don't do it perfectly,

you're not in Christ Jesus.

it's telling you

that whether it's just

every once in a while,

you just realize

that it's,

it's telling us

this bit of a mystery

that setting our minds

on the Spirit is,

I mean, we should call out in God,

we should say,

Father, please make me

a disciple of Jesus

gripped by the gospel

who's living for your glory.

Father,

my mind is completely

and utterly fixated

on this lust,

on this anger,

on this rage,

on this,

on this desire for revenge,

on this wound from the past.

My mind is complete.

Lord,

help me to set my mind

on the things

that the Holy Spirit's mind

has set on.

That the thing is,

it's,

it's not telling us

that unless we keep this perfectly,

we're under condemnation.

everything in the text,

even this thing

to call out for God

to help us

to have our mind

on the thing,

everything in the text

flows from

there is therefore

now no condemnation

for those who are

in Christ Jesus.

It's always about

the power of God.

The Christian life grows

out of humble gratitude.

The Holy Spirit

will lead us

increasingly

not to think

of how profound

we are as spiritual athletes,

but how we are beggars

in need for that

which only God can do.

Please stand.

Bow our heads in prayer.

Father,

if there are any here

who have never put

their hands

in the hands of Jesus,

Father,

silence the devil

from telling them

that they should think

about this more

before they put their hands

in the hands of Jesus

and may your Holy Spirit,

the logic

and the power

of the Holy Spirit

come upon each one

so that they know

there is no time better

than right now

to call out

to the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

To take their hands

in his hands.

And we thank you,

Jesus,

that you know

every single thing

there is to know

about us.

You know everything

about our past.

You know what our life

was like even in the womb.

You know,

Father,

what terrible things

were visited upon us

in the womb.

and you know everything

that happens to us

every moment of our life.

That you know

even the dreams

that we have at night

that we don't remember

when we wake up.

And you know everything

about our future.

You know whether we are

going to live another 70 years

or whether we aren't

going to live

another seven days.

And you know

every single thing,

Father,

about everything

that we've done

and haven't done.

That you know

every single thing

there is to know

about us,

Father.

And we thank you

and praise you

that in Jesus

those are all dealt with.

That he,

Father,

we thank you

that he is the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

We thank you,

Father,

that there can be

nothing in our future

that catches you

by surprise.

We thank you

that when we put our hands

in the hands of Jesus

that he takes our hands

and that there is

therefore now

no condemnation

for us.

We ask,

Father,

that your Holy Spirit

would move in our lives

to make us disciples

of Jesus,

gripped by the gospel,

learning to live

for your glory,

learning to live

by grace,

learning to live

and be fed

by your grace.

Father,

pour out your Holy Spirit

upon us

and make us disciples

of Jesus,

gripped by the gospel,

who are learning

to live for your glory.

This we ask

in Jesus' name.

Amen.