What in life do you find hard to believe?
When we came to the states almost four weeks ago, we arrived at London Heathrow with a mountain of luggage. We were flying with Air India and their luggage rules were a little vague, and I was looking at this mountain of luggage and trying to make sense of the luggage rules. In theory we would be fine, but there was this small voice within that kept saying, “surely not”. It really was a lot, and it did not seem right for a budget airline to be so generous. On the trip to the airport I was thinking what bits I could leave behind, or how much I was prepared to pay in excess.
Needless to say, we arrived at the airport, checked in, and all our luggage was accepted. Despite my feelings of doubt when I looked at our luggage mountain, we were fine.
The reality differed considerably from the feeling.
As a Christian this morning, do you feel guilty even though Jesus death and resurrection has covered your sin? Do you continue to punish yourself because you feel unworthy of the grace you have received in Christ Jesus?
Well, Paul is with you brother!
Paul could be anyone of us as he struggles with the feeling of inadequacy in this passage.
Ch 7:22 reads, “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.”
Paul has been transformed by his radical encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road and knows he has eternal life in Christ Jesus. There is no question that Paul is in Christ, and there is no doubt that he knows his salvation comes through grace by faith.
But his problem is this…
Why do I go on sinning, when I really do not want to!
This is a position common to all Christians, yet we like to think we are the only one. We look at ourselves and think that surely no one else is struggling with sin. Surely everyone else has come to Christ and got their lives sorted. Therefore, I best keep my struggles to myself so not to reveal myself as the one sinner in the church.
Of course, this is a lie the devil wants us to believe.
Do not suffer alone!
Paul is the super apostle who took the gospel to many people, wrote many great things, helped so many people: past, present and future to grow in love and understanding of God. Paul helps us to realise what our salvation really looks like.
Yet, Paul is saying that he struggles with the knowledge of being saved in Christ not matching up with his experience of ongoing sin in his life.
See how Paul cries out in Ch 7:24…
“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?”
It is a real problem for Christians, there is no need to deny the struggle. It is the guilt and feeling of condemnation that leads us away from God, his church, and the fullness of life. The guilt makes us resentful of other people who seem to have it all sorted. The feeling of condemnation stops us from living as freed men and women.
For me it manifests as this feeling that when I sin, I jeopardize God’s plans for me and my family. It is a fear that God will stop loving me because I am hopeless at living a righteous and pure life.
Paul describes that our bodies are the battle ground of spiritual warfare. It is the draw of the sinful nature of the flesh which leads us to distrust God. It makes us think that God’s ways for us are not good. The sinful nature tells us that purity is stifling, it would be much better to live a little. The sinful nature tells us that integrity is a waste of time because everyone else is doing what they can to get ahead by whatever means.
Paul describes our experience that when we try and do good, sin is right there with me. And the guilt makes us feel as if we are still condemned. We think that this sin in our lives is evidence that we have not been freed and still face condemnation.
Paul is writing to secure his readers in an understanding of the gospel that will not disappoint. He has built up this real situation that the Christian encounters… how can I have any certainty of salvation when the sinful nature appears to be ruling in my life?
And see how he responds in Ch 8 verse 1:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Paul want’s his readers to know that without a doubt, in light of everything that comes before, despite our sinfulness and the feeling of failure as we battle with sin in our lives…
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Not less condemnation.
Not partial condemnation.
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
This is arguably the climax of Romans.
Paul has laid out the state of humanity. Humanity is fallen, wicked. Our hearts are inclined away from God.
Yet God is faithful and loves sinners.
Notice how Paul, in response to the question “Why do I go on sinning, even though I don’t want to”, does not give his six point plan to a sin free life, he does not say “well you’re probably not saved, or it’s because you don’t pray enough”, and he does not explain away the sin or claim it does not matter to God.
Instead, a bold exclamation of the truth…
“There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”
Let’s think about this together…
Firstly, how can I really believe there is no condemnation. How can I really believe my sins are forgiven?
After all, we cannot see God, but we can see our sin.
The penalty for sin is death. That is seen from Adam, a spiritual death was immediate and a mortal death was gradual. Since then every human has been born spiritually dead and destined to die. Paul describes it as being a slave to sin. We are in bondage to sin, sin is our slave master. In order to be set free there is a payment to be made, a redemption fee. And that fee is our death. That is the penalty price for our sin.
For Jesus to be born in the likeness of sinful flesh, means he is mortal like us, but only likeness of flesh because he is fully obedient to God. Therefore, when Jesus died on the cross, he was a suitable representative. The messiah, our champion.
When he died on the cross that payment for sin was made.
A few months ago I got a parking fine. I exceeded the hour limit outside a shop and I received a fine from a parking firm hired to ensure the parking rules were adhered to. In the case of my parking fine, I had to pay the fine myself.
But imagine, if the son of the parking firm company, the heir to the business came and paid it for me. The penalty paid, nothing left for me to do.
That is the exchange made on the cross. The heir, the son of God, comes down to earth in human likeness to die in our place. The penalty is paid in full and the son returns to the father to rule over heaven and earth.
The law was powerless to put us right with God. The law tells us the mind of God, and what God expects. But it cannot put us right with God, not because there is a problem with it, but there is a big problem with me.
All my sins, past, present and future have been dealt with once and for all in Christ’s death on the cross. The price has been paid, justice has been made.
When our day does not go according to plan, it is not the condemnation of our sin. Because there is no condemnation.
If we fall ill, we are not being condemned. Because there is no condemnation.
If life is not turning out the way you intended, we are not being condemned. Because there is no condemnation.
Later in chapter 8 Paul declares that we are more than conquers through Jesus. Paul tops and tails chapter 8 in this certainty, a confidence in salvation because of what Jesus has achieved on the cross.
He says, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Not a failed exam… not a dead-end job… not a bad relationship with your parents, children or spouse…
Nothing.
Despite my feeling of guilt, I have certainty of salvation because there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
[PAUSE]
Secondly, I want to briefly consider what it looks like to live without condemnation. Especially when it can often not feel that way.
When the Holy Spirit comes into your life, it is like entering into a dusty basement with a torch. Amongst the dust there is a lot of stuff to be cleared out until the basement can be made useful. As you shine the torch around you come across another bit of the basement that needs sorting.
The Holy Spirit leads us to declare Jesus as Lord, causing us to admit our sin. We become aware of how far from God we are and how much in need of his mercy we are.
As we admit our sin, God is faithful to forgive. And as we continue to submit our lives to the power of the Holy Spirit, that torch light continues to unearth areas that are covered in dust and in need of a clear out, it can feel like we’re getting nowhere, but the truth is that it is all progress toward being where God needs us.
That’s what Paul means when he says in Ch 8:4 it is by living in the spirit the righteous requirements of the law will be met. Our desire to please God, regardless of our sin, comes from the spirit who has taken residence inside of us. The desire to please God is evidence.
The spirit enables us to win the spiritual battle that is going on inside the life of the believer. Our part is to admit our sin and submit to being transformed by the Holy Spirit.
Here’s a cultural analogy I’ve been working on… last week when the Pirates were losing against the Giants there reached a point at which it became obvious the game was lost. Imagine that at this point, the spirit of Babe Ruth entered the Pirates Dug-out and into everyone of their players. Then as they came out to bat and field, a radical transformation, they began to play guided by the spirit of Babe Ruth. They hit home run after home run, and the outcome of the game was changed.
The yes of Christ on the cross, becomes our ‘yes’ by the power of his spirit. The grace we have received is personal to the state we are in, it covers us, it is forgiveness of our sin. And that goes on today, because the spirit is present with us today.
When someone is wretched, which is the word Paul uses to describe themselves, it means to be in a very unhappy or misfortunate place. There is a need to recognise that we cannot help ourselves, if we could then the cross would not have been necessary.
Both salvation and transformation are dependent on the gift of the Holy spirit.
When we, like Paul, struggle with sin in our lives our response needs to be to admit we are unable to do anything about it, submit to being transformed by the Holy Spirit and commit to trusting that there is now no condemnation.
If we trust that on the cross Jesus did it all, and we are convicted that there is no more punishment required, then we will know that nothing we do will make God love us more and nothing we do will make God love us less. Everything we do becomes a response to the grace we have received.
How does this impact our lives?
No matter what you’ve ever done, there is no condemnation in Christ. He sits at the Father’s right hand, not as an accuser, but as an advocate willing to give his life for you.
In our careers, being passed over in promotion is not a result of you being condemned. That’s liberating, you don’t need to worry about the rights and wrongs of your past, but focus on how you can fulfill God’s purposes for you wherever your career is taking you.
In our relationships, arguments, fallings out, relatives you would prefer not to be related to. It’s not condemnation. It is not the certain outcome of your sinfulness. Holding to that truth we can begin on the pathway of reconciliation. You are in receipt of abounding grace which will overflow to all those around you, it may take time, but the spirit effecting your life will affect the lives of those around you.
God began the work to bring you back into his presence long before you were born. God knows you can’t make the journey home on your own, so while you “were still helpless” Christ died for you.
[PAUSE]
Despite my feeling of guilt, I have certainty of salvation because there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
[PAUSE]
Moved to admit that we are abandoned to the radical grace of God all we can do is love him for it.
