Romans 8:1-5 | No Condemnation in Christ Jesus

This is city. Post Church.

We're about three things. Build equipped and send all

under the. Lordship of Jesus Christ.

A small church plant in Fort Worth, TX who decided to do

things a little differently. Adoramos Ajesu Cristo I love

city Post because of the people. It's where I belong.

We truly preach the word. I love City Post because of the

community we've been able to build.

To do ministry like Jesus. For light to push back darkness.

This. Is City Post podcast.

Good morning City Post. It is a joy to be with you guys.

I greet you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ coming all

the way from Dallas also greet you in the name of our church,

Trinity Gospel Church. We're glad to have created this

friendship with. Your pastor.

And Lord willing, you guys will see you again in the future.

Maybe some of y'all will come out to Oak Cliff and.

Do some ministry. With us, we'll see how it goes.

We love to come and hit the streets with y'all if you will.

So again, just send you greetings in the name of the

Lord Jesus. It's it's a privilege to worship

with y'all. Anytime we get the opportunity

to to lift up that name. Man, I got to get that song,

that song. I remember we playing that all

week. And and I tear up as I sing that

song with y'all, not because I so much live into those

realities, but my life at times contradicts those realities.

And he's still merciful and he's still loving and he is so good

to us. Just a powerful song.

As we turn to the scriptures this morning.

Again, by way of introduction, I just want to say that this is

the day that the Lord has made and we're going to rejoice and

we're going to be glad in it. So I I.

Hope that the sermon is encouraging.

And I I do not want us to walk away hanging our heads low.

Our brother read that scripture from Romans 837, and it was

rightly read because Paul can feel heavy-handed sometimes.

And so as we work through the scriptures this morning, I want

us to just kind of settle in and and look for the notes of

encouragement. In the scriptures.

Even though the scriptures call us to something and call us.

To. Obedience with those truths I

want, I want us to be listening for, for all of those things.

Let me read our passage this morning.

Romans 8 chapter chapter 8, verses 1 to 8.

Listen to this from Paul's letter.

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. 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, that their minds on the

things of the Spirit. For to set the.

Mind on the flesh is death, but to set.

The mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

For the mind, that is. Set on the flesh is hostile to

God, for it does not submit to God's law.

Indeed it cannot for those. Who are in the?

Flesh cannot please God, and this is God's word to us.

And all God's people said, Amen. Let me pray one more time.

Father, your word is. Powerful and I pray that our

hearts would just be humble at Your word.

We want you to speak. And so Father, I ask that you

would speak by your Spirit and lead us, Lord, into the ways

that you would have us to follow you in Jesus name, Amen.

So now you've got your place in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

As we make our way there, I want to let.

You guys know I love reading the Bible.

I love. Reading the Bible and doing what

the Bible says, although imperfectly, I still.

Love it I. Hear in its.

Pages, the voice of. God, his voice speaks to me of.

Incomprehensible wonders. He's he's amazing.

And I hope you actually share that same sentiment with me,

because the stories of the Bible and the teachings impress upon

you and me the. Issues that we must come to

terms with. When we read it, we are pulled

into his drama. The Bible pulls you into the

divine. Exchange with God as you read

the scriptures. To read the Bible.

And follow its instruction. Is to experience what?

One scholar says the drama of Scripture.

Scripture tells us the greatest story ever.

Told. I mean, you guys are literally

in Romans. The Gospel points to humanity's

need for God. And salvation, and however such

a. Story if you read it long.

Enough and consistently enough. You come to find yourself caught

within its inevitable tension. Everyone knows that in order to

have a good story, there must be some tension or something

climactic. You've you've got to be drawn

in. And the story of the good news

found in the Bible really is good news of how God saves

sinners. And so however, the tension or

the nuance that. Many of you and.

I face. Over and over again is.

Question. When we're reading the.

Bible, is it true? Or not.

There are so many fascinating stories.

They capture you with this sense of the essence of truth.

The Bible's purpose is about truth.

The Bible's purpose is not, however, to be a book that

makes. You feel good or?

Or to give you personalized Nuggets of wisdom in order to

kind of lifehack your way through personalized seasons of

marriage or parenting or or life's many challenges.

That's that's not what. The Bible's purpose is intended

to do it seems to me that many people.

Are trying to oversimplify life. I mean, you just go to.

Instagram you click on something and you see somebody trying.

To minimize and simplify a whole millennial worth of teaching.

In a in a verse or segment it it just won't do.

You got to. Read the whole book, get into

it. The Bible is God's revelation

and it's it's his truth about who he is and what he's doing in

the world that he has created. The Bible is about Christ Jesus.

The Bible speaks to bring people into a relationship with Christ

Jesus. That's the Bible's purpose.

That's the truth that you get when you come to the Bible

reading it with an. Open heart and a sensitivity to

how the Spirit wants to speak. So along with this revolutionary

truth that God in and through his Son Christ Jesus is

revealing himself and working in the world, are matters such.

As heaven and hell. Angels and demons, life and

death, good and evil, beauty and ugliness.

It's the attractive. Quality of things the.

Bible, the Bible speaks to that as well.

The Bible talks about matters of people and relationships, wisdom

and foolishness, faithfulness and unfaithfulness, condemnation

and approval. So just before we look at our

passage today, I want to illustrate the last two pairs

with an example from John 753 to chapter 8.

Verse 11. Some of you might be familiar

with this story, but I'm going to read it really, really fast

just so that you have it as an example in your mind.

Check it out SO. I'll summarize this for you.

It's not, it's not all my my electronic copy.

So, John. 753 verses 8 to 11 records the story of a woman who

was caught in adultery, and in this story the woman is brought

to Jesus and the people that bring her to Jesus.

Want. Her to be condemned and Jesus

says to the crowd that is looking at this woman, they say

he says to them, excuse me, the one that is without sin.

Casts the first stone. He Stoops down.

He draws a line or. He draw, he writes something,

they say, and nobody knows what he wrote.

But he writes. Something in the sand.

And then they all leave. Jesus turns to the woman who's

been caught in this act of adultery, and he says, where are

they? And she?

Says to Jesus they're. Gone and he says.

Neither do I. Condemn you go and sin no more.

Now it would have been better for me to read the passage so

you could hear Jesus himself speak, but I think you get the

essence of where I'm going with this as we look back at Romans

8. 1. One of the best parts of this

story is how Jesus stands up for the one who is actually

deserving of condemnation. The text literally says that he

stood up and said to them, Let him who is without sin among you

be the first to throw a. Stone at her.

This is the striking story of a woman caught in adultery.

According to Jewish law, she and the other person would have been

on the receiving end of being stoned to death.

That is for those who are not familiar with stoning, it's

actually having a rock picked up and you being hit with these

rocks over and over again until you pass away.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 22, verse 22, if a man

Deuteronomy 22:22

is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall

die. The man who lay with the woman

and the woman, you shall purge the evil from Israel.

So this is how they dealt with people who were condemned.

But does this real life story of the adulterous woman and her.

Partner contradict the law. That you guys have.

Been learning. About in Romans, does it

contradict the law? I don't believe so.

Will men and women commit adultery?

Yes. Does God force them to commit

adultery? No.

They, both the man and the woman, show that they are free

in their own decision to go against.

God's will. The story also shows that God is

free and willing to offer forgiveness when humanity in

defiance and humility actually. Decides to submit to what he

teaches. And I believe that that story is

a great illustration illustration.

And it teaches us that God's intention in Christ is not to

eagerly condemn. No, He's not wanting to eagerly

leave people in their sin. But no, He is desiring to

eagerly deliver. And to set them free from it.

That brings us again. Quickly to our passage this

morning. Why?

Should we care about Romans chapter 8?

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Verses 1 to 8 Why? Why even care?

Why are we sitting here? I believe that Romans.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Chapter 8 if you're a note taker and you like a main.

Point. Here's the main point, because

Romans chapter 8 tells us that for those in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

Condemnation does not exist. And your life can be genuinely

pleasing to God. However, there is a problem for

those who are not in Christ Jesus.

Those who are outside of Christ, you, you don't have a

relationship with Christ God. Does condemn and judge, and your

life is genuinely displeasing to God.

Let's break this down. Real quick, three reasons for

why we should care about not just Romans 81 to 8 is that we

need to be in Christ, We need to be in relationship, united to

him as Lord and Savior. But why?

Why should we care about that? Three reasons for why being in

Christ. The first reason you find in

Romans 81 Condemnation doesn't exist.

That's why you should care about this.

That's why you should care about being in Christ.

Condemnation does not exist there.

In the previous section in Romans Chapter 7, Paul attempts

Romans 7 · chapter mention

to make some sense of the spiritual battle that's raging

within his own. Life.

Because of God's saving work in Paul's life, now he seeks to

live a life that rejects living in contradiction to the law.

He's He's got this wrestle going on.

However, he wrote about this conflict of desire because he

wanted to try to help the Romans understand how a believer's life

really looks. Like.

He said. So I find it to be a law that

when I want to do right, evil. Lies close at hand.

This is that the dual nature, if you will, of wrestling to live

faithfully the the righteous life that God calls us to, but

while at the same time knowing that that you're just not there

yet and sin still has somewhat of an effect.

On your life. The power of sin that enslaved

you to. A life of unrighteousness.

Is broken. But sin is still present.

And we need Christ to continue his progressive work of growing

us in his grace, growing us by the Spirit, producing that that

life of the Spirit of Christ in us.

In other words, what Paul wanted to do is he wanted to obey, but

he found it hard due to the remaining struggles with the old

desires. But again, Jesus breaks the

enslaving power of sin by dying on the cross and fulfilling

God's perfect law so that God commands can be fulfilled.

They can become those things that delight the soul of the

person who trust in Jesus Christ.

Trust in Christ Jesus finished work.

That is what matters. It's absolutely crucial Paul

knew this, and by believing this truth and preaching it so

forcefully, that's what brought about much of his persecution.

He knew this because he was going against the whole

religious culture of those who said live by the law, do what it

says, absolutely what's perfection.

That's the way to gain a right hearing with.

God and. Paul comes on the scene after

his conversion and being saved and filled with the Spirit and

he's like, no, it's not that. It's following and trusting

Christ that matters. However, Paul wasn't the only

one. Who suffered?

Persecution. Do y'all remember Stephen, one

of the early deacons in the church?

Stephen preached A sermon that cost him his life, and he said

to a group of highly emotionally charged religious leaders, You

who perceive the law as delivered by angels did not keep

it. You were the elite of the

religious people. You were quoting the verses from

the Torah. You, you were the ones with the

phylacteries. You were the one in the

marketplace. You were in synagogue.

You were sitting in the pews. You kept the law.

No, you didn't. Steven rebuked him.

He says you didn't keep the law. Why didn't they?

Because the law required. Perfection.

Perfect righteousness. So in other words, Paul and the

early testimony of Stevens show that the law will bring you

either into greater focus with your eyes on the real path of

deliverance, or the law will cause you to reinforce.

Your attempts. To find a path.

On your own, for yourself. You can run toward Christ, or

you can. Run away.

The choice is yours. So then there are those who are

in Christ. That's the point.

Condemnation doesn't exist in Christ.

So then there are those who are in Christ.

And again if we follow the logic there, there are those outside

of Christ. Because of Christ Jesus.

God has removed the threat of condemnation.

This word condemnation means to judge or punish.

But same word used in John 8, same word Jesus uses to say

neither do I condemn you is the same word here, its root is the

same. And the woman in John 8 her sin

would have. Destroyed her under God.

'S wrath and condemnation. But Christ stepped in.

So the first reason why we should care about being in

Christ, why we should care what Romans 8 has to say to us, it is

because the believer is secured from just as a sponge soaks up

water. Christ Jesus, death on the cross

and his resurrection from the dead has absorbed God's wrath

toward you. He has absorbed it forever.

It doesn't exist. You and I are no longer seen

under the eye of judgment to come, but rather we are seen

under God's fatherly. Concern.

We are his. Loved ones.

I don't know. If you're familiar with.

Hall monitors. I had a a recent conversation

with a friend of mine we. Were talking about Hall.

Monitors in in high school and when you go.

In the hall and and you're in the hallway.

And that the the. The hall monitor sees you and

they're like where your past, you know, like where your past,

you know, you know, trying to bother you.

You know, you're like, yo, my past right here, man, like

chill. But many people are like that.

They they seek to be those who are sniffing out sin, sniffing

out a kind of way. They say, I got you.

You're not keeping it, you're not doing it right, but Christ

steps in. Christ is the.

The source of perfection. He's not like the.

Weird hall monitor, I got you. He's.

He says I got. It for those who are in Christ

if we've trusted in Christ condemnation.

Does not. Exist.

The judgment to come doesn't exist.

That should take our breath away.

And the second reason is this. God condemned sin.

He definitely dealt with it, but where did he do it?

He condemned sin in the flesh of his Son Jesus.

Listen to this in Romans chapter 8 after we read that

Romans 8 · chapter mention

condemnation doesn't exist for those in Christ.

The Bible tells us in verse three that his Son was sent in

the likeness of human flesh, sinful flesh.

It's what the Bible says in Romans 8, three.

But did you notice that in verse 2 the Bible says that the spirit

of life is present? And did you know that when the

Bible speaks of sending, He is Speaking of God the Father?

So here, right here in Romans chapter 8, you have the full

Romans 8 · chapter mention

force of the triune God come to deal with your sin.

I mean, we should just be falling out the pews right now

that this is Almighty God, God who exists, as the Bible

teaches, as the one God revealed his Father, Son and Spirit, and

he unleashes his infinite power to condemn sin in the flesh of

his Son. He is right here dealing with

sin, righteously condemning it. And God doesn't wink at sin.

He doesn't turn away his head, He judges it.

He judges your sin, but he does so in Christ Jesus flesh.

Into this world God sent the Son.

The Son willingly came. The Holy Spirit, desiring to see

the Son's death on the cross and His resurrection, given the

glory that it deserves, exerts the power of His presence.

That's why we got the Spirit of life here in verse 2, the text

says the spirit of life has set you free.

This is what God condemning in the flesh, condemning sin in the

flesh looks like it's His power on display.

Beloved, this is not like the the saying of of JFK when he

makes that old statement, ask not what your country can do for

you. Ask what you can do for your

country. Now this ain't that.

This is God saying, I'm stepping in, I've got the power and I'm

going to take care of sin, condemning it in my son's flesh

for you. That's power.

This is why we should care about what Romans 8 says.

You need to say this when you go to your prayer closet and you

get on your face, you say, God, this sin has a hold on me.

Can you get me free? And the answer is yes.

According to Romans 82, the spirit of life has set you free

in Christ Jesus. From the law of sin and death.

The spirit of life will break sins grip off the soul so that a

person can see the strength of God to.

Deal with sin. The religious leaders of Paul's

time show that the law enslaved people.

It says it here. The pressure of the law's holy

and righteous standard weighed down on people.

But beloved God, God in his own power could lift them.

But the Bible says right here in verse 3 for what has what was.

Excuse me? For God has done what the law,

weakened by the flesh, could not do.

Paul is not saying that the law is weak.

He's saying that the flesh is weak and so it rebels each time

the law is brought up because we can't meet the standard of

perfection. We don't want to meet the

standard of perfection, but God. He can lift the weight of the

law by sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and

condemn it. Right there on the cross.

So that the righteous requirement can be fulfilled,

You're tracking with me. Listen to this illustration.

Let me try to help. I don't know if y'all tracking.

I heard one. Yes, listen.

Have you ever been to the gym and has someone help you lift

weights? Right.

You lay down on the bench, let's say you doing the bench press,

You lay down. You like yeah, I got this.

I'm. Going to get it.

You know, you laying down and you go to lift the weight.

This is this is what gym rats called a spotter.

The spotter comes behind you as you laying down and they're

standing over you and they like you got this and they put the

bar over you and you start lifting right?

And then as the weight comes down, it feels heavy, but that's

why you got the spotter. The spotter is somebody who can

spot you, if you will loan you their strength to help you lift

your weight. They're not on the bench.

You are, it's your weight. And the spotter comes over and

it's like I'm a spot you. I'm a spot you my strength, I'm

a loan it to you help you lift your weight.

So. You can get.

Stronger now, it feels good to have a spotter.

Right. Yeah, it feels good.

But have you ever had a spotter come when you underestimated the

weight and tried to lift it on your own?

And then the weight came down so heavy and nearly suffocated you

under your the weight of it all, and you could barely breathe and

it's on your neck and you're trying to figure life out.

And then the spotter comes over and the spotter's like, I got

you and lifts it. Now when you when you've been

underweight like that, all you can say is thank you.

That's what God did, sending his Son to spot us and to lift the

weight of our sin off of us and condemn it.

In his son the. Sending of the Son is the

spiritual spot from heaven God the father knew that you and I

could not lift sin it was suffocating us it was killing us

it had it had already killed us we were dead in sin and he

lifted it gave us life he dealt with it there's.

This one song that reminds me. Of the standard of.

Righteousness that we. See in Christ as he's lifting

sin off of us? No problem.

It's a song by Kendrick Lamar. Y'all heard this song?

Excuse the illustration, I'm culturally contextual.

Right? But it's the song.

He's like, they not like us, they not like us.

He just repeats this, right? I hit my church with.

We not like him. We not like him.

You know, we're not like Christ. He's pure, He's righteous.

He's never sin. We're not like him.

And he lifts sin off of us. He condemns God the Father

condemned sin in the flesh because Christ was perfect and

we needed Him. And if I read this passage

correctly, I find one adjective, and that adjective is righteous

right there in verse 4, 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.

This is the quality that God looks for in order to give His

stamp of approval. Christ alone is righteous and

meets the righteous requirement of the Law.

He, he is the fulfillment of the law itself.

He is certified righteous. You go to the grocery store, you

see the farm to table. Forget that we talking about

from heaven to earth, heaven to earth, a Savior who is

certified, righteous, approved in the Father, sight evil, and

willing to lift sin off of us. When theologian Sinclair

Ferguson makes this observation, he says in response to this

great exchange, Christ's righteousness for our

unrighteousness, he says that what has been accomplished for

us in Christ is not the only thing.

He says there is an exchange accomplished in US by the

Spirit. Unbelief gives way to faith.

Rebellion is exchanged for trust.

That's what happens in us because of Christ fulfilling the

righteous requirement. And that brings me to the third

and final reason for why we should care about.

Being in Christ. And it's this idea how a person

lives says a lot about what they believe.

OK, so do you live according to the Spirit or do you live

according to the flesh? Well, the Bible says that if you

live according to the flesh, then your mind is set on the

flesh. And to do that is death.

That's the end of that. But the mind that set on the

Spirit, set on the Spirit, is life and peace.

If you'll notice you walk through this whole passage, you

see these prepositions. That kind of help.

You understand how to? Orient yourself in life, in

Christ, in Christ. According to according to they

are orienting you to a way to understand how the gospel helps

you to live into the truth that it speaks about.

Do you want life and peace? Then live according to Do you

want to avoid death? Then don't live according.

To the flesh. Allow me to just close with this

idea of this illustration from John 8.

And also with a little point of application.

Going back to the story with the woman called in adultery in

that. Story We see those again.

Religious leaders. Bringing the woman to Jesus.

Why were they doing that? They weren't doing it so that

the law could work. Righteousness within the woman.

They wanted her condemned. Often times when we are spotting

or sin sniffing as one author says, or when we like the hall

monitor, or when we're like the the.

Bad spotter who? Can't even lift the weight.

You know that is is like us with the woman.

Look at your relationships. Do you detect yourself or see

yourself condemning at times? If you do, then you need to

understand that you are not. Reflecting the character of God.

To reflect the character of God is to be like one who seeks to

remove the condemnation, not necessarily to excuse the wrong,

but to rightly and in a gospel way with the truth of God, to

speak the truth in. Love.

And to handle the matter. As Christ would handle the

matter. Not condemning.

We want to give life and peace and to address the wrong and to

address the fault is to really be like Christ.

The Bible shows us here in Romans 8 not only that

condemnation doesn't exist in Christ, but it shows us that God

the Father in Christ condemns sin in the rightful place, and

he shows us his kind. Heart.

But he also brings the warning to those who are living and

setting their mind on the flesh, because the flesh can't please

God. It rebels against.

God's Word. It rebels against.

God's Son for. Those who are in Christ Jesus,

condemnation does not exist. God's righteousness has been

gifted to me, it's been gifted to you, and we can genuinely.

Please. God.

Beloved, do. You want to live forgiven, free

from condemnation and living up living according to the Spirit.

Then look to Christ. To do anything.

Other than that is. To stay outside of Christ.

Unconnected from him without relationship.

And to remain condemned. And to have your life genuinely

displease God, unforgiven of sin.

Under the heavy eternal verdict of God's.

Judgment and living. The Life of a.

Slave to sin and then the final outcome of that is death.

You don't have to be there. You can be in Christ.

We can be like the woman who were caught in our mess and we

can lay at his feet and we can say, God, you've seen my heart.