Romans: No Condemnation, No Separation

Everybody doing good? It's good to see you guys. Hey, I'm just excited to be

back. I'm amped. Just to be honest, I'm amped for this week.

There's so much happening in the life of our church. I'm just excited about it.

There's nothing greater than seeing God just move.

God, God draw people himself. It never gets old. We got an all-timer passage

in the book of Romans we're looking at today.

But before we get too far along, I'm going to make sure that you guys know about Van Knights, all right?

September 27th, that's next Sunday at 530. It's at the stables in Yukon.

There There's an event space that is right next to Cajun Corner.

Cajun Corner is going to be catering the event.

VAN is just an acronym for Volunteer Appreciation Night. So September 27th,

we just want to honor all the people who serve here at Refuge.

Every week here, there are teams of people that are working together to make Sundays happen.

And some of you guys, like our worship team, they get up here and lead us in

worship. I'm so glad that we have talented people that can do that.

Because if it was me, I'd be singing, it'd be joyful, but it wouldn't be good, right?

And so there's people that serve with the kids so that the young kids can have class.

There's so many people that come together to make this happen each and every

week. And we just want to honor those people who use their time,

talent, and treasure to serve Jesus.

So every week, we're not just making a service happen.

I want to make sure we get that. We're not just doing this so that we have a worship experience.

We are creating an environment where people feel welcomed, where kids feel safe

and they have fun, and most importantly, where we proclaim Jesus boldly. Can I get an amen?

That we share his love with everybody who comes in through those doors.

And here's the, it takes all of us to make that happen. So if you are serving

at refuge, we want to serve you on van night.

Romans 12, 10 says this, love each other with genuine affection.

Take delight in honoring each other.

And so I am delighted to get the opportunity to honor you, that you are using

your gifts and abilities to serve Jesus.

It is a completely free event next Sunday, but the only cost is that you RSVP.

So text VAN, just V-A-N. You don't need to add anything else to it,

all right? V-A-N to 405-777-4637.

It'll send you a link. You can RSVP there and you'll be on your way.

All right, that's the end of my Van Night commercial.

Come have fun with us next night it's going to be at a minimum free food and,

maybe just some bad dad jokes right but no it's going to be a great time it's

going to be your time come have some fun with us all right right now let's get

our hearts ready for what god has for us this morning uh would you put your

arms out with your palms up,

Take a deep breath.

And remember, God is just as near as the air you're breathing.

Let's pray. God, today, would you guide us closer to you?

Help our minds put away the frustrations of the past week, put away the distractions

of the coming week. We want to fully focus on you.

Now, we come empty with nothing to offer but surrender. Fill us up as only you

can. Holy Spirit, move in here today with power.

We believe that in advance, and we ask all these things in Jesus' name,

and all God's people said, amen.

Amen. Amen. Hey, today we're going to be looking at Romans 8,

and we're going to cover all 38 chapters or 38 verses in Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

If you were to ask theologians, maybe you go to like a Bible college or a seminary,

what's the most important book of the Bible? What's the most theologically rich book of the Bible?

Many of them would say the book of Romans.

And if you were to ask them to pick a chapter in the book of Romans,

which is the most important chapter in that book, the most common answer would be chapter eight.

A few years back, we did an entire series. We're in the book of Romans and specifically

in chapter eight for four weeks.

And now I've got about 30 minutes to get through the whole thing.

This is a great time to plug, hey, make sure you get your reading guide and

you're getting into the word because we're going to get into it.

There's so much there that we're going to look at, but I want to make sure that

you're getting into the word personally, because every Sunday we will always

get into the word corporately. That's what we are. We're a church.

But I want to make sure that we are getting into the word personally each and every day.

So today, we're going to be in Romans 8. There's a lot of ground to cover,

and there is a lot of meat on these bones. So buckle up. Let's go.

I'm going to start with a little quote from Charles Spurgeon,

the preacher's preacher, the old-timey London pastor. He says that this wonderful

chapter is the cream of the cream of Holy Scripture.

This is the best. There is so much in here. I would really encourage you guys

to read the whole chapter when you get the time. There's so much in here.

But let's start off with verse 1, Romans 8.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

I thought you guys were nervous because I only read one verse and I'm stopping.

I put my Bible down and we're going to talk about it. I'm going to be here while I got 30 to go.

Hey, Paul is saying, if your faith is in Jesus, there is no condemnation,

that you are no longer condemned by your sin. The only reason you aren't condemned

is not because you are awesome. It's because of what Jesus did for you on the cross.

He paid the price for our sin. Paul talked earlier in Romans about how the wages

of sin is death, that all sin deserves death.

But those who belong to Jesus right here have no condemnation because Jesus

took your sin on the cross.

As a Jesus follower, you are free from the condemnation that your sin brings.

And I wanna be clear here because this is something that sometimes people take

and they run with it in the wrong way.

Jesus is freeing you from condemnation. You are declared right in God's sight.

You are justified with God.

Yes and amen. It is finished, absolutely.

But just because you are free from condemnation with God does not mean you are

free from consequences of your sin.

Those are two different things. Now, let me give you an example.

And I know y'all, so I know this is going to hit a little close.

I'm your pastor, I love you, right? You are driving down the road.

This is just an example. You would never do this, okay?

I know you guys, you would never do this. You're driving down the road,

you're speeding to work, you're weaving in and out of traffic.

You cut somebody off and the person you cut off has a refuge ticker and you

have a refuge ticker. It's like, this is getting too real.

Anyways, that happened this week. That's why they're laughing.

But hey, you're driving down the road. Let's say you're speeding and you get

a ticket and you can't talk your way out of the ticket. You broke the law, right?

You are in Christ. So guess what? There is no condemnation. You're standing

with God does not change even for a moment.

But if you don't pay that fine or show up to court, guess what?

You're standing with the state of Oklahoma is going to look a little different, right?

Freedom from condemnation is not freedom from consequences, okay?

So you are free in Christ. That does not mean you are free of consequences in this life.

For those of us who are Jesus followers, we are free of any condemnation from

God, but we do have consequences, and they aren't consequences from God.

They're really consequences of this world. And I got to go another layer deeper

here because I think this is important. We have condemnation.

We are free in Christ. We have consequences. Sometimes there's ramifications

of our actions in this world.

And then we've got conviction. Conviction.

Jesus doesn't condemn us, but the Bible is very clear. The Holy Spirit will convict you.

If you are a Jesus follower, the Holy Spirit will convict you of the sin in your life.

Conviction is just that feeling of you do something and you feel,

I know I shouldn't have done that.

You feel remorse for that. When you make a mistake, when you sin,

condemnation says you are wrong. Conviction is different. Conviction is not

that you're wrong. It says that was wrong.

Not I am. It's not personal. It's on the deeds, on the action.

Conviction isn't about making you feel less or inferior.

Conviction is about the spirit of God living in you and drawing you closer to holiness.

And that step that you took where you felt that wasn't right.

It's because that was a step away from God. It was away from God and away from holiness.

And the Holy Spirit wants to draw you closer to Him.

That feeling of I shouldn't do that, it's healthy if you're a Jesus follower.

We should be pursuing Jesus and holiness.

There is no condemnation in Christ. There might be consequences,

but conviction is a good thing. Don't mix up conviction and condemnation.

They're two different things.

Verse two, I got eight minutes in. I'm going to have to pick up the pace.

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed

you from the power of sin that leads to death. Paul is saying that because we

have the Holy Spirit, we have been freed from the power of sin.

We've already seen how Jesus, he paid the price for our sin on the cross.

We are justified through the finished work of Jesus.

But Paul isn't saying we are just free from the power of sin for eternity.

He is saying we are free from the power of sin right here, right now,

that as a Jesus follower, you have the Spirit of God living in you that you can resist temptation.

You don't have to fall for it. That when the enemy tries to deceive you,

you have the power to say no because you have the Spirit of the living God inside

you. You don't have to do it.

Let's jump down to verse 5. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think

about simple things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit,

think about things that please the Spirit.

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death,

but letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

For the sinful nature is always hostile to God.

It never did obey God's law, and it never will.

That's why those who are still under control of their sinful nature can never please God.

As I read that passage, there's an obvious question that we have to the answer for our lives.

Who's controlling it? Who is controlling your life? According to that passage,

there's really only two options.

Those controlled by their sin nature, some translation might say your flesh

there, they're dominated by sin. They do the things that feel good, right?

Or those controlled by the spirit, they think about things that please the spirit.

And it says, letting the spirit control you leads to life and peace.

Would you characterize you as having life and peace?

I don't know if you know this. Statistically speaking, we live in literally,

the most restless and anxious time in all of human history.

We did it, y'all. Good work.

But it says a mark of the Spirit is life and peace.

Being controlled by the Spirit of God, being spirit-led, it says it is life and peace.

If you aren't being led by the Spirit, it's because one, maybe you've never put your faith in Jesus.

That's when we get the Spirit, when we put our faith in Him.

Or you're a Jesus follower who's just gotten so used to quenching the Spirit

that you don't feel that conviction anymore. Remember, conviction is a good

thing. That's how you grow.

You've become callous to the ways of Jesus.

Neither one of those is a good place to be.

Where you're not a Jesus follower or you're a Jesus follower,

but you've just gotten callous to the conviction of the Spirit in your life.

You're kind of doing things your own way.

Here's what's cool. They are both looking to the same solution.

Turn to Jesus.

It's not work harder. It's not earn it. It's not perform. It's God,

I can't do this, but you can. Surrender.

In John 6, it says that the Spirit of God draws us to Him. God is eager and

ready for you to turn to Him.

He is never, never going to be disappointed when you turn to Him.

It is always the right time to turn to Jesus.

We have no condemnation in Jesus. We need to be led by the Spirit.

He leads us to life at least, and we need to be bold.

Got to be bold. Verse 14. Look at this. Making up ground now. We're going fast.

Verse 14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children.

Now we call Him Abba Father, for His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm

that we are God's children.

God has not given us a spirit of fear.

He has not given us a spirit of fear. We received God's spirit.

He adopted us as his own children. Abba, it says Abba, Father.

Some translations just say Abba. Abba literally means like father.

When we are God's children, our faith is in Jesus and we have his spirit.

What do you think about this? I know this is really simple. I've got three kids.

Believe it or not, all three of my kids look like they belong to my family.

It's the craziest thing.

They look like me and my wife. Now, I know that's really not hard to imagine,

but your children are literally your heirs. They have your blood pumping through you. They look like you.

God is saying when you put your faith in Jesus, you become a son or a daughter of God.

You call him father. Here's what's been true throughout all of time,

children look like their parents.

Paul is telling us that we have the Spirit of God living in us so that we might

do the things that God would have us to do.

God has not given us a spirit of fear. He wants us to be bold about our faith,

to be bold about what God has done for us because we are his kids and children

look like their parents. They should.

Do we look like our Abba Father? Proverbs 17, six.

I love this verse. As grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged,

parents are the pride of their children. It's a good verse.

When you were a young kid, as a young child in school and there was a disagreement

between you and your buddy, your friend, do you remember how those conversations ended?

Like, do you remember the nuclear option when you like the argument wasn't going anywhere?

Well, my dad's stronger than your dad, right?

Like that's how elementary kids, like little kids argue.

When we put our faith in Jesus, he gives us the Holy Spirit.

Paul is saying the Holy Spirit affirms when we have the Holy Spirit,

it is affirming us that we are children of God.

We get to call him father, the creator of the universe, the one who said he

spoke everything into existence.

And we get to call him father.

And he isn't some just impersonal, distant parent.

Now that word, Abba, means father. It actually has some weight to it.

Like it's a word that would be used by children and adults to talk about dad.

There's kind of two tones to it.

It carries some intimacy. Like there is a meaningful relationship there.

It also carries like respect. There was honor and value given to dad.

Because of what Jesus did for us, we are called children of God. He is our father.

What a blessing to be a son or a daughter of God.

There is also a responsibility to live like a child of God, to walk in His Spirit,

which is not a spirit of fear.

Walk boldly and share your faith with those around you.

Verse 17, and since we are His children, we are His heirs.

In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God's glory.

Most of us would like that verse. Go back. Don't show that one yet.

Most of us would like the verse to end right there. It doesn't,

as you just saw on the slides.

We would like it to end there. We are his children and we are his heirs.

It's like, come on, I'm listed in the will of God. He owns cattle on a thousand

hills. Let's go. I'm heirs to his glory. I am his heir. Let's go.

And it's not because of anything we've done. It's simply because we're his children. We are his heirs.

We are to share in his glory, but the verse doesn't end there.

It keeps going. Look at this.

But if we share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Didn't get any amens on that one. Did you notice? That one hurts a little bit.

Too often it gets twisted on being with Jesus and everything is going to go

right now. Everything's going to go perfectly.

The truth is we are to endure suffering. We got to get our cues from Jesus on this one.

Jesus loved you so much that he gave his life. He was nailed on the cross.

He hung up there until he took his last breath. That is suffering.

And he did no wrong. He was perfect, spotless, without sin.

Sin had broken our world. we still see the brokenness that sin has led our world into.

Jesus didn't back away from our sin or our world's brokenness. He stepped into it.

Often suffering can be thought about in the context of, well,

I did something wrong and now I got to pay a consequence to that.

Sometimes that's how it feels.

And there's times that may be true, but other times suffering is just a product

of a broken world that we live in. It's broken because of sin.

It's not because of any particular thing that we did or didn't do.

Suffering is just a part of the package.

In the broken world we live in right now, it's just the truth.

You will experience suffering.

Sometimes doing the right thing has a cost. That's true. It certainly costed

Jesus to do the right thing to save us.

Sometimes it's just life on a world that is broken and suffering hurts.

And Jesus isn't telling us to run from the suffering. He is actually trying

to tell us in our suffering to run to him. We got to run to him.

About 30 years ago, there was a large bridge built in Honduras.

It's called the Chaluteca Bridge. I could be saying that wrong,

but that's how I would pronounce it.

I think in many ways, this bridge is an accurate picture of so many people's faith.

The Hondurans, they built this bridge, goes over the Chaluteca River.

It's why it's called the Chaluteca Bridge.

They spent years and millions to build a bridge across this river.

And they developed a bridge that would withstand the wind and the rain.

It could handle the storms that were going there.

They didn't want to have to rebuild it because it was really expensive.

It connected these things. It was a long way around it.

And a hurricane came and the bridge, believe it or not, it did exactly what it was supposed to do.

It held strong. It did not waver against the wind and the rain and the moving water.

But something happened during Hurricane Mitch. Look at this.

I know it's a little low there.

There's the bridge that used to go over the river and there's the river to the side of the bridge.

The storm, the bridge made it, but the storm moved the pathway of the water.

And now for like 30 some odd years, the Hondurans have had this literal bridge to nowhere.

Here's where I think this applies to us.

Many people operate like that.

Their faith is a good bridge in the easy times, but it's a bridge to nowhere in the hard times.

It's a faith that can't handle suffering.

It's a faith that's built on everything falling your way and everything being perfect.

That's not what we see here in Scripture. Church, you are going to experience

suffering this side of heaven. That is just the truth.

Don't let that suffering affect your walk with Jesus. He's the one who gets

you through it. Let's keep going. Acts 8, verse 17.

Acts 8:17

And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ,

we are heirs of God's glory.

But if we share His glory, we must also share His suffering.

I know we just read that, but look how Paul finishes it in verse 18.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

Can I read that back in the Logan Key translation?

It's gonna be worth it. God is so much bigger than our present temporary suffering.

The suffering you experience is nothing when you compare against the glory of

God. It's the glory of being with God forever, being in eternity with the creator of everything.

Life can be hard. There can be challenges without a doubt, but we get to be with him forever.

No more tears, no more suffering, no more pain, forever. That's huge, it's huge.

He's so much bigger than any suffering we could currently be going through.

Verse 24 says, we were given this hope when we were saved. If we already have

something, we don't need to hope for it.

But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.

So we have hope that Jesus is coming. That's kind of what he says in the verses

in between there, that he's going to restore everything to its right order without sin.

He's going to destroy the enemy, defeat sin once and for all.

That is our hope. Our hope is coming and it is on the way.

Wait patiently and confidently.

And we see this all throughout scripture, just the faithfulness of God.

But when it comes to trusting him and persevering through suffering,

we can get a little short-sighted if we're not careful.

I can feel like, man, this is going on for a long time. This is hard.

And there's hard things in life. I'm not trying to short-sell that at all.

Waiting patiently and confidently. We've seen him come through.

I don't know how it is at your house, but at my house, we missed a few days

and the Amazon guy knocks on the door and asks if everybody's okay.

We haven't got any boxes.

Everybody looked at my wife. It's a mutual problem. We get stuff for the church as well.

But it seems like stuff shows up almost every day.

This past week, we ordered an inflatable for the church. We're going to use it at the block party.

Block party is October 31st. It's a wobbly man, Jesus, but instead of waving

his whole body, he's just waving at you to come in. It's going to be super great.

We had a planning meeting for the block party. We ordered it.

We ordered it. It shipped. It's in the mail. It's in the mail.

How many times do you think I've worried about that inflatable Jesus getting delivered?

Zero. I haven't worried about it at all. Why? Because Amazon has a long history

of faithfully showing up at my house.

I trust the sender because they always deliver. It's already ordered, but not yet delivered.

It's already ordered but not yet delivered. Don't be trusting Amazon more than

you trust Jesus. Our hope is in Him. We are to wait on Him patiently and confidently.

And he has a much longer and a far better track record of delivering what he promised.

Jesus is our hope. He is. Verse 28.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God.

I had a yellow one on there. We're going to try that again. Help me out with

that word in yellow. And we know that God causes to work together for the good

of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

This verse is quite possibly one of the most encouraging verses for a believer

because God causes everything to work together for good.

It doesn't say that everything is good. It's okay to call something bad.

It's okay to say that's painful.

That's not what it's saying. There's no denying that there are bad things,

but it's saying that God will cause everything to work together for the good

of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

What Paul is trying to say here is that everything you are going through,

every tear, every heartache, everything that you've suffered, none of it is wasted.

That God somehow, I don't claim

to understand it, but that God somehow will work it all out for good.

Not that everything is good, but that God will work it out for good.

I always go back to this because I think it's just so encouraging.

If God can take the death of his son, Jesus, and turn it into the greatest thing

for humanity, he can absolutely redeem whatever heartache or suffering you've

experienced in your life. He can.

He has that power. He will use everything and turn it for good.

Let's keep going. Verse 31.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Since he did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all,

won't he give us everything else?

Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one,

for God himself has given us right standing with himself.

Who then will condemn us? no one for Jesus Christ died for us and he was raised

to live for us and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand pleading

for us when your faith is in Jesus,

Your standing with God is no longer based on what you bring to the table.

It doesn't matter about what you bring to the table.

And that is good news because we fail all the time.

But Jesus is unshakable. He is steadfast. He is perfect. And he has already

given us the greatest gift ever, the gift of salvation.

And it's only possible because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

We experience the love of God because we are his children. and verse.

35, can anything separate us from Christ's love?

Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity or are persecuted

or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened with death?

As the scriptures say, for your sake, we are killed every day.

We are being slaughtered like sheep. No, despite all these things,

we have overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us,

despite all those things.

We have overwhelming victory in Christ who loves us. That was a long list of

troubles, sufferings, and persecution. And Paul in his letter to Rome right here, he is resolute.

Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ.

Jesus is greater than any problem you're currently facing. There is nothing

too big for him to handle.

And there's nothing so small that you don't need to bring it to him.

He can handle it. You aren't going to overwhelm him. He will overwhelm you with

the victory you have in him.

Church, it's time you start walking in the victory of Jesus.

We are not a defeated people. We're not.

We're going to be waiting patiently and confidently on our hope. Our hope is in Jesus.

Last verse of Romans 8, right here. We'll wrap it up.

Help me out with that word in yellow. And I am convinced that nothing,

nothing can ever separate us from God's love. neither death nor life,

nor angels or demons neither our fears for tomorrow nor our fears for today

or our worries about tomorrow not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.

Nothing Romans 8 that first verse that there is no condemnation our right standing

with God never changes and it ends

with there is no separation there's no condemnation there's no separation.

There is no judgment from God. We are covered by Jesus.

There is no distance from God. We're his children. He welcomes us into his arms.

And there is no one or nothing anyone can do to you that would change either one of those.

Nothing. You couldn't earn it. You can't keep it. He has done that for you.

It's in the mail, waiting patiently and confidently for you.

Jesus' last words on the cross were, it is finished.

We can't add anything to what Jesus has already done for us.

It is finished. You have overwhelming victory in Jesus and no one can undo what Jesus has done for you.

No condemnation, no separation from God.

He has truly lavished his grace on us when he sent Jesus.

I know we covered a lot of ground today. There's a lot to take in.

It's about condemnation, consequences, conviction, the spirit, no separation.

If I could just boil this whole chapter down to just one simple truth that you can actually grab onto.

I think it's pretty simple. Trust God because he's trustworthy.

Trust God. Trust God when things are good because, man, that good is a gift

for him. Trust God when things are hard because guess what? He didn't leave

you. He's right there with you.

And he will in time even work that bad situation out for good. Trust God.

Trust God because he is trustworthy.

Patiently and confidently waiting on the Lord.

There's people in here this morning who you are experiencing suffering of some

kind. You are in a storm of life. I don't know the details about doing this.

You can trust God in this season and every season of life. You can trust him.

So before we worship together I just want to invite everybody right where you're

at To just close your eyes, bow your head,

And I just want you to spend a moment praying Just you and pray to God And tell Him that you trust Him,

That even if it seems tough right now You trust Him, even though it might seem

impossible You are choosing to trust God Because He is able Take a moment and just pray,

Talk to your Father Father, tell Him where things are hard, but where you are trusting.

Take a moment right now and just do that.

God, we come before you today. Wow, with so many lives in here,

so many question marks, so many heartaches, so many things that have gone not

the way we wanted. Maybe things are going great.

God, help us to remember whatever season that we are in, you're faithful, that we can trust you.

When things go the way we want, when things don't go the way we want,

God, if we put our faith in you, we are patiently and confidently waiting.

God, give us boldness to step into the path that you lay out in front of us.

To not be fearful, but to live as your children. God, trusting that you are

bigger than any problems this world could throw away.

Help us to walk comfortably into those.

Ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, church, let's stand and worship together.