Romans 8: E1 Declared "Not Condemned"

Jacob Creighton: Hey everybody, we are back with the Forms Podcast with a new series through our Romans 8 series that Chris has been going through on Sundays. Chris, I'm super pumped about this series. We're back. Romans 8. We're back in a new spot. Yeah. Trying a new setup. We are in Steel City Cafe. Yeah, we are. It's where we're at. here in the side room in our in our church building that is recently purchased. It's our building. Yeah, it is our building. It's nice to be in the same room with you. Yeah, I know. Seriously. Instead of looking at each other on a screen, we're trying something new. Yeah. So see how it goes. But today we're in Romans eight. Yeah. we'll be in here for the next eight episodes. So yeah, just follow along, join in with us. We're excited to have these conversations just off of just where we've been on Sundays and and some follow-up conversations with that. So Chris, to kick us off, do you wanna go ahead and read Romans? Yeah, I mean, before I read it though, I think it's just it's crazy to like study Romans eight. You know, there's yeah, we we're doing eight weeks in Romans eight, so you'll see eight podcasts coming, but yeah, it's one of those things I've kind of figured out. We we could take like the Puritan take on it and go like through every single word. I mean, it's just so rich. So I'm excited about what we've got coming. So we started our first sermon series, declared not condemned. With Romans 8, 1 through 4. And it says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. For the law, the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and of death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was in the flesh, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for our sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk. according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. Romans eight, our series, we're we're titling the series Romans eight, Living the Declarations of Romans eight. So yeah, there's a lot to unpack, even in these four four verses that Chris just read. Chris, let's dive right into it. Yeah, let's go, man. Let's dive right into it. you said on on Sunday is an important thing for us From the start of Romans eight is to receive the verdict that we're not condemned. Yeah. Receive the verdict that we're not condemned. I'd love for you to just unpack that for us. Yeah, you know, it's it's one of those things I think so often I he starts after, you know, Paul's going through Romans one through seven and basically is like making this almost like legal argument. I mean, there's some legal experts that have said that some of Paul's legal arguments or some of the best legal arguments. Ever made. And so then he gets to Romans eight and it just takes this turn of you're in the courtroom, the the the jury comes back with a verdict. It's kind of like, is it or isn't it? Right. And then here we get the verdict of you are not condemned. And it it's just this humbling thing to sit in when you kind of consider, okay, what is condemnation? In a especially a s a spiritual sense. And we we said in a spiritual sense it's declared spiritually guilty by a just God. So we can't live up to the requirements of God. And and we I think we feel this. Yeah. You know, we're we're always like carrying some level of shame or some level of guilt we're experiencing for something we've done in the past, or maybe even something that happened to us, or or a a a spirit of fear, right? I I'm just scared to death of what may happen. There's no security. There's no definitive like what is coming. Yeah. And so here we we are essentially declared spiritually guilty before a just judge. Yeah. And we experience that in different ways. And because of the our sentence, we're sentenced to a spiritual punishment and eternal separation from God. Yeah. And it's like that's not easy to. Process through, but then here comes Paul like off the top rope saying, not condemned. Yeah. And it's like, wait a minute, but I feel the shame. I feel the guilt. I feel the fear, but I'm not condemned. The verdict is you were not condemned. Yeah. And it's, I think you have to start asking yourself, well, wait a minute. Why am I not condemned? And I don't know about you. Yeah, 'cause I yeah, even before we kinda even keep going forward, to to kind of say what you said, to to sin or to feel something that has happened, or to feel the deep sense of shame. Yeah, the verdict that immediately pops up is man, like my condemned, my condemned, my condemned. So you're like the human state is constantly wondering. Yeah. And where I stand before God, what is it really? Yeah. Or where do I even even if I don't believe in maybe the God of the Bible, like where do I stand in my like after life opportunities? Like I mean any anything we look at, it's like, man, I've we we're we're all carrying this burden of am I good enough? Have I done enough? Am I altruistic enough? Am I benevolent enough? Am I nice enough? Am I What am I successful enough? Am I am I good looking enough? There's always this, am I something enough? And it it Yeah, does my good outweigh my bad? Is that gonna like tend to scales for me? Yeah. there's so many ways that we try to solve this problem of condemnation. Uh-huh. And we want the verdict of no condemnation. Yeah. And so But when we get it. What do we do? Right. Can you even accept it? I mean, it's like the, it's like the it's like the if there was someone who was definitively guilty, they put in a guilty plea. Yeah, every piece of evidence ports t points towards their guilt. They know that whatever sentence is coming down the line, and then all of a sudden the verdict come back not guilty. Yeah. And you're like, Wait, what? How did I get here? Yeah, I gotta say something about this verse, Romans eight one specifically. when I was in high school, I like somebody asked me the question last year, like are you closer to God or further from God? And I was like, And then I like, I better start reading my Bible. So I was like in high school, like late at night, just reading through Romans. And I'm like, I get to this verse, I'm like, Are you kidding me? Yeah. This is crazy. This is crazy stuff. So it's just one of those cool moments in scripture for me where, like, you know, reading it and the Holy Spirit's doing what he's doing. I knew nothing as a high schooler, but reading this, like, are you kidding me with all that I've done? Well, it's funny you say that, because I I mean, I would say I started to like really understand this verse my freshman year in college. I had a I had a buddy. He's now a pastor. I love him dearly. If you want to ask who he is, I'll tell you because he would love to talk to you. But yeah. But he he had some things that happened in his life that that he was carrying that shame and that guilt for. And I remember saying to him all the time, I would say, therefore there's now no condemnation except for you though. Except for you. Except for you. Like obviously you this isn't for you. This is just for Everybody else for all of time. It's not for you. But it, you know, it it's it's one of those things for me. I can like I can like help someone else receive the verdict. Yeah. But if you ask me to receive this verdict, I'm struggling. Maybe back then sometime, but not now again. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Yeah. For the hundred thousandth time that I've done the thing, you know. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's cool. I mean Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. you talked about a lot of the ways that we kind of just self fill in that gap of our of our verdict. but the important kind of qualifier is that it's for those who are in Christ Jesus. Yeah. Yeah. And so yeah, you kinda hit to to point two. your your point was stop paying the debt that Jesus already paid. Yeah. Yeah, Paul makes it clear in the very first verse. And that's what I love about Paul is I think it's like he knows his listener. I mean we we talk about later, you know, changes tenses to like you, but here it's like he knows who he's talking to. And it's like I'm gonna say who it is, and then I'm gonna say it again, and then I'm gonna say it again, and I'm gonna say it again. And so he's, you know, therefore there's now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. And then he goes in this like beautiful kind of just just I don't know, expression of laying it out. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin of death. For what the law couldn't do, we because it wasn't the flesh, that's where we feel helpless. Like we we can't get ourselves out of our guilt, out of our fear, out of our shame. Nothing we do can seem to scratch ourselves out of this hole that we've dug. And then it says, God did. Yeah. And he did that. Well, how did he do it? Well, he sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. We know that Jesus came as a man. With with similar conditions that we have, but he came as an offering for sin to condemn sin in the flesh. And so that that word offering is so important. Yeah. Because we look at like the legal ramifications of sin in verse one. Here we're starting to look for the payment of sin. Because just like in our justice system, a wrongdoing requires like some time served or a payment paid or something like that. Here we see the just requirement of the law. was fulfilled through him. It was his offering that did that. And so it's like there are people that I just love dearly. And I love to like needle people. because I like to be needled as well. But one of the there's several people that I needle by paying for their food or something. Like we go out to eat, like I'll cover their bill and it will make them so mad. And it's like, and they're like, well I'll get you next time. And the next time the bill comes and I I figure out a way to pay for the bill. They can't. Just because it makes them so mad. It's good. But it's like if someone gets their food paid for and they're like fighting the right the waitress, like, no, I'm gonna pay for it. And the waitress is like, it's already paid for at some point you just look like an idiot. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, if you go back, I mean, yeah, you look at what Christ did, and he if you were go through like the Levitical practices and the cross, man, you see this exact, like parallel representation of what Christ did in in in in Paying for sin and and atoning sin as a substitutionary sacrifice. And I mean, it's just it's incredible. It's like, then why do we feel like we've got to keep earning our way out of it? If you're not condemned because you're in Christ and you get that option because Christ paid for all of it, then wh why are we still trying to like earn or have this performative faith? Like if I read my Bible enough. That would just magically make me closer to God. But I did feel closer to God because I actually knew who he was now. yeah, absolutely. But it wasn't the duty of me doing it though. He goes, Okay, good. Yeah, you're right. It wasn't the box check. It was the transformative opportunity for your heart in that process. Yeah. Exactly. I I like that you were kind of tying those verses together. Obviously, it's a letter from Paul. They're supposed to be tied together. Yeah. it's something that I think This is one of the clear examples in scripture where we kind of miss a little bit by if we just looked at the chapter eight and the like kept the box of chapter eight that was, you know, added later. Yeah. But it's so closely tied to what he's saying at the end of Romans seven. I think was cool that you went into like, you know, here's Paul saying, Man, I I do the things I don't want to do. I don't do the things I do wanna do. I'm experiencing sin. I've like How many can keep going to be real? And so he's he like you can see it on paper in his mind. He's going like he's trying to self-condemn. He's going, like, I don't do that. Like, what is happening? Who's gonna save me? A wretched man that I am, who can save me from the body from this body of death? And then like the the Romans 8 comes. Yeah. And so Yeah, I think we get a real picture of how that kind of looks in our life. We go, okay, now here's how the verdict applies to us. I I think that's the thing is sometimes we we place Paul on a pedestal, which obviously he should be there. And and he wrote the majority of the New Testament and he did all these incredible things. But Paul, man, will tell you I think if you were to just meet Paul on the road, he'd be like, I'm just a road dude, man. Like I'm just I'm just here, you know. I I am a I am a broken vessel that is redeemed by a holy God. And you know, love like how many times have you had that conversation with yourself? Or you've like. been with a buddy who you've got that like that good accountability relationship with and you're like, man, I've just God did it again. You know, and it's like, and you're like pouring it out like that. And that that's what Paul is I don't think he's just doing this as like a performance. I think he's doing this because this is what he is living internally. Right. That shame, that guilt, that fear, that that thorn in the flesh, that yeah. And I cause You know, that is for for instance, one of the things that I always ask when when I'm talking to like younger kids about about coming to know Jesus is is who to you is the worst center in the room? Right. Because when they when they say like my brother, yeah, it's like you might be right, but you know, but from your perspective, who is the like quote worst center in the room? And when they start to realize, man, to me, from my perspective, it's me. It's not someone else, it's me, wretched man that I am, right who can save or set me free from this body of death. I mean, that's a that's an eight year old understanding of this verse here. And then that's when the the offering is, therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. The debt has been paid. And it's it's really a cool thing to like even process on a on a child's level, but how often do we need that on an adult level? Right. Right. Yeah. 'Cause we see it, we feel it, we experience it. Right. Yeah. I c I I like where obviously he goes verses two through four there. How do we kind of take this and live this out? How does it affect our daily lives? How does it affect what we tell ourselves? How does it affect, you know? I'm hoping the listeners will put comments about this in there because I'm still learning this as their as your pastor. you know, the third the third point was walk like you've been set free. Cause if you look at verse four, so they're so the since the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. So essentially, we're at the the verdict is given, no condemnation. Jesus is now Lord. Our hands are open. Yeah. And he's like, hey, I I'm not just giving you a get out of hell free card. Right. And you're just going to get to go to heaven when you die. I'm actually going to indwell you with my spirit. I'm going to implant him inside of you. His permanent residence is now you. And he's going to be pointing me to you. I'm sorry, but he's gonna be pointing you to me. Sorry, that way, right? Unitarian things right there. But he's gonna be the Holy Spirit is going to do everything he can in your heart to point you to my glory and the freedom that you have in me. And so, like, what do we do with all this is we get a chance, like, what does it feel like when we take, you know, if you've ever been hiking and you're carrying this heavy, you know, 40 pounds or something up a up a mountainside, man, you take that thing off and you're just like. like you're exhausted from the carry, but you're also like, man, I can move around. I can I can feel my shoulder. You know, like you begin to like, man, I you loosen up some. Yeah. And I think that's what we're invited into is that feeling of that weight of the shame, that weight of the guilt, that weight of the fear is off of me. Now I can like propel myself forward. I can I can go frolic in the daisies now. I can go I can go swim in the creek. I can go explore. I can, you know, I d all that that I've that has shackled me for so long has that has weighed me down. It's gone. It's paid for, it's done, it's covered. Yeah. I can move forward. Yeah. And take steps forward. Yeah. And it doesn't mean that we just, you know, have and Paul talks about this too. He's like, so if if there's grace, then can I just sin however I want to? Well, no, because our We actually get obe we actually get freedom from obedience. Yeah. And that that's the beauty of our God. That's what differentiates Christianity from every other religion is we don't obey as if we're slaves to just hope we earn it. We we obey God because we've already earned the free like the freedom has already been given to us. We're not earning anything. Yeah. So if I were to get like really practical of how to like live this out, yeah. Man, Romans eight one should be in the memory bank and should be just like there at any time. Yeah. You know, it's one of those it verses that is it's true every time. Yeah. It's not like, well this was like I kind of joked of earlier. This isn't true just back then. It wasn't true, you know, when I really experienced deep shame and now it's not as true. No, this is true every time that anytime in myself that I'm feeling this like Man, I gotta justify myself or I've gotta work better or do something to earn this. Yeah. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I'm already set free because of the work of what Jesus has done. Yeah. Yeah. I mean I I kind of I feel like I embody it and and I ref receive this this freedom. I I put a lot of put a lot of expectation on myself. Yeah. There's a lot of as as Keller would say, the you oughts, the aughts, the alts, you all ought to you ought to, you ought to. And I can't I can't even live up to my own alts. Yeah. And when I don't, when I miss a mark, man, I will just devastate myself. I mean, my internal dialogue is sadly in this just confession is is it is filled with like a expletive laced rant towards myself. And I mean that just beats me up and then that breaks me down and then I I turn to coping old coping mechanisms and yada yada yada and then here it comes again. Who's gonna rescue me from this this this this bag of bones of of death? But man, when there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, I don't even get to the alt statement. Right. I'm not condemned. Yeah, I I may have failed. Right. I'm not condemned. He's there like, hey, get up. Come on, take another step. Walk in freedom here. It's paid for. It's done. Right. And man, I have just practically felt so much freedom in that. Yeah. It's been it's and I'm still growing in that. Something I'm still a lot of a lot of more sanctification in that area for sure. Yep. This is the invitation to live the declarations of Romans eight. Yeah. So you were not condemned. Yeah, thanks for thanks for joining us, Chris. Thanks for unpacking all this stuff with us. It's been fun. If you've got comments, leave them. We will we really want to dig in to some of your questions and thoughts. yeah, it'll it'll be great. So leave those in the comment section. share this with your friends, with your family, with your coworkers, neighbors. and yeah, we hope to we hope to see you on a Sunday here at Seal City. Love to have you. Yep. Thank guys for joining us. We'll see you later.