3.27.22 Romans 8:1–4 (EHV)
1 So then, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 Indeed, what the law was unable to do, because it was weakened by the flesh, God did, when he sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to deal with sin. God condemned sin in his flesh, 4 so that the righteous decree of the law would be fully satisfied in us who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.
“No” Is A Beautiful Word. It Set Me Free
The Spirit of life set me free . . . it’s such a strong statement, especially from Paul. If anyone was seemingly free, prior to his conversion, it was Paul. He had freedom to worship when he wanted and where he wanted. He had the power to go and arrest Christians and bring them to trial. Yet here Paul described himself as if he were living in prison at that time.
How so? There are different kinds of imprisonment. A young Ukrainian college student was on a cramped bus with people getting car sick, but she wasn’t complaining about it. She said, “Around me is a beautiful sunset. Today was a very beautiful day and just some cool nature and some cool people. I was terrified of this when the war started, when I got to thinking about it. But the moment I go to do things. I have a task. I have to buy my things. I have to go to the railway station. I have to find the train. As long as I have these little tasks, the fear doesn’t exist. Right now I am calm as long as I don’t think about the future. Now it is fine. I’m not scared.” It was kind of an amazing thing that even though she was in terrible conditions, in the middle of a war, she still found beauty in life. She didn’t let her conditions completely defeat her.
What’s the opposite? I think of the couple that just can’t stop arguing with each other. All they see are the faults in their spouse. They’re locked up by anger. I think of the disgruntled young mother who feels locked up in her life by her children that she has to constantly feed and take care of. The elderly person who feels locked up in an old body. The drug or alcohol addict who is locked up by their desire. The child who is addicted to social media. What does it take to set them free? It depends on the circumstances. Usually it takes a miracle.
That’s what happened for Paul. He was on the way to Damascus to persecute Christians. In a spiritual way, he was locked up with a self righteous attitude and a desire to get rid of Christianity. He was convinced he was doing the right thing by locking up Christians. Jesus showed up on the way. Scared him to death. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” That confrontation, along with a few days of living in blindness, a baptism, and Paul was set free from his old mind set.
The jailer at Philippi had been abusing Paul and Silas. The jail doors flew open. If the prisoners escaped, the jailer would be put to death. He was ready to kill himself. Then Paul gave him good news. “We’re all here! Don’t harm yourself!” Scared the jailer to death, but also gave him life. “What must I do to be saved?” Repent and be baptized! The jailer was set free by the one who was in jail.
Think about the Gospel lesson for today. The young man who wanted to get free from his father’s house was imprisoned with the idea that if he was free from his father he’d be happy to do whatever he wanted. He probably felt as free as a bird when he left home at first. Little did he know how enslaving his sins would be. In the meantime the other son was just as enslaved as he stayed at home. He seemed like he had life together and as free as could be. Yet he only looked at his life of duty as slavery. He didn’t take time to enjoy anything while at home. One was a slave to the sin of entertainment. The other was a slave to the sin of pride and duty.
Do you have an imprisoned mentality? “If only I didn’t have to live at home any more. If only I didn’t have this job. If only I could get my back fixed. If only I would just die . . . I’m scared now that my spouse has died. I’m angry. I’m lonely. I need to get this paid off . . . I need to find a new relationship . . . ” The list goes on. We always seem to be trying to escape something, fight something, get rid of something, enjoy something - to get our minds off of the sinfulness of life, the disappointments, the health problems, the sorrow, the misery, the death. Paul tried to rise above sin and death through an exemplary lifestyle, through a dedication to his rabbinic religion and faith. All it did was enslave him.
Paul lumps all of this enslavement under two laws. The law of sin and death. They go hand in hand. The wages of sin is death. The scary thing was that Paul thought he was living freely until he met Christ. He was convinced that he was right. The Prodigal Son was probably convinced that freedom was just beyond his father’s walls. No more duties. No more limitations. No more laws. “I can live how I want to live. Do what I want, when I want.” Unfortunately such seeming freedom still leads to the same pig pen of death in the end.
Think of this freedom aspect when it comes to our United States. There are different states with different laws and regulations. One of my classmates was a pastor in California. He said that they weren’t allowed to worship indoors for many months because of Covid regulations. I think too of what’s going on in Canada with their laws against freedom of religious speech. Many people are moving to Florida because they say that they have more freedom down there. Usually people don’t want to move where there are more laws and regulations.
God lives above all these laws, even the laws that He makes for us. He doesn’t have to answer to anybody but Himself. He has freedom of power, freedom of knowing what’s right and wrong, and freedom of perfection. Everything He does is always right. He can do whatever He wants whenever He wants and however He wants, and nobody can stop Him. You can complain about it all you want, but it won’t change Him or who He is.
Isn’t it an amazing thing that Jesus CHOSE to come down here and live under these laws? He CHOSE to be bound by the laws of gravity, time, and space. He CHOSE to live under the Roman government and within the Old Testament regulations. He submitted Himself to the same religious system of worship that He had laid out for the Israelites.
Yet even while living under the law, Jesus wasn’t bound by these laws either. He walked on water and stilled storms. He healed on the Sabbath, even though they felt He was sinning. He called out their hypocrisy, even though they hated him for it. He was living with the spirit of LIFE while living under the laws. When the High Priest demanded the truth, He told them He was the Christ. He wasn’t bound by a fear of death or the truth, and they crucified Him for it. But that’s what Jesus chose to do. The Author of life, the One who created life, the One who beamed with life, came down here to be punished with breaking the law of sin and death, even though He never sinned. Why? So that He could come forth from the grave and conquer death. So that He could fulfill God’s law and the punishment that the world of sinners deserved. So that in the end we could all be SET FREE from it all and LIVE.
When Paul was confronted by Jesus, he suddenly realized that all of his anger, all of his chasing after Christians, all of his sense of right, was wrong. In trying to please God and do what was right, he had only managed to anger God and persecute His children. If anyone deserved to be damned, it was Paul. Talk about the road to hell being paved with good intentions, that was it. If anyone needed mercy and grace and forgiveness, it was Paul.
There’s always something confronting us as well, the law of sin and death. A well deserved guilt aching at your soul. Embarrassment that burns on the inside in your quiet hours. Something said in anger. A disgusting thought that floats across your mind. High cholesterol. Heart disease. A bad back. An empty chair at the dinner table. An empty bank account. Sin and death is always trying to lock us up.
So Paul starts off this chapter with this wonderful little statement that is meant to breathe life into our souls. So then, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. How much condemnation? Not some condemnation. Not a little being saved for the final judgment. Not ANY condemnation. NO condemnation AT ALL. Imagine standing before God and having NONE of your past sins brought up. Imagine Him being HAPPY to see you, ecstatic to see you, running to see you. That’s the picture that Jesus paints in the Gospel lesson. There was no condemnation for that son who had made such a mess of his life and wasted his inheritance. When the other son wanted to bring it up, the father would have none of it. There is NO condemnation. When? Right NOW - for you, for me, for all of us.
Well, let’s be more specific. For those who are in Christ Jesus. That’s a big little word, “in.” It’s one thing to be near someone. Think of Peter standing OUTSIDE in the courtyard, warming his hands by the fire. But he couldn’t get IN to the trial area. Think of the people who could never go IN the temple during the Old Testament. Only the priest could go into the Holy of Holies, once a year. I think of the seven sons of Sceva who were chasing out demons “in the name of Jesus.” But the demons denounced them as frauds. They didn’t really know Jesus. They were only using His name as a sort of magic charm. It’s one thing to watch a game on a video screen. It’s another thing to actually get into the game.
So how do we get IN Christ Jesus? The father wraps the son in one of his own beautiful robes. The son feels welcome again, brand new, back home. How did Paul say it happens? Look earlier in chapter 6.
Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
Paul describes it in such a vivid way. In your baptism, he says, God regards you as having been baptized INTO HIS DEATH. God takes your sinful nature and puts it on the cross with Jesus, crucifies it with Jesus, and buries it with Jesus. He buries YOU with Jesus, as if you were already crucified and buried. Talk about being put INTO Jesus, that’s how He wants you to view your baptism, no matter how long ago it was or how old you were.
But then He also raises you together with Jesus. You come forth from your watery grave as an entirely different person with an entirely different goal and purpose. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in your soul. He breathes spiritual life into you. He binds you to the living Jesus. He says, “You look holy in my sight. You are precious. I see you as my adopted child. I love you. Continue to believe in me. Continue to receive my body and blood. You are not as far from me as you think. You are in me.”
And what happens when you think this way and you believe this way? Your mind, heart, and soul, are now changed. You see Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You see Him raised from the dead, having purchased a place for you in heaven. Everything you are, everything you see, everything you do, you do it all to the glory of God, out of thanks for what Jesus has done for you. My children are Jesus’ children. My calling is a gift from God. My spouse is a gift from God. My pains are for some hidden purpose. God always has my salvation in mind. My whole life and mindset is immersed in Jesus. I am not free to live for Jesus, since He lived and died for me.
Think of the Prodigal Son when he got back. How might this story have played out in your mind? He would have been embarrassed over how KINDLY the father was treating him. He deserved none of it, the robe, the calf, the party. But he certainly needed it. He didn’t deny it. He enjoyed it. He appreciated it too. He had a whole new look on life at home with the father, because now he knew how gracious and merciful his father really was, how good he really had it.
Do you realize how GOOD you have it? You’re forgiven. You’re protected. You’re paid for. God has your life planned in order to get you to heaven. Do you look at life and say, “How GOOD has God been to me! I don’t deserve any of this!” Or are you locked up in the other son’s mindset? Are you afraid that it’s too good to be true? Have you stayed away from confessing your sins out of fear that you’ll only be condemned and never accepted again for what you’ve done? Look at the father again. He RUNS to the son. Listen to Paul again. There is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That means you too.
We don’t usually like to say “no” to people. It’s kind of a dirty word. We live in a yes world. You be you. You do you. No judgment. We like that “no.” It means we can do whatever we want whenever we want. But the law of sin and death says “no” to that mind set. The wages of sin is death. “You shall NOT” rings through the Ten Commandments. Life is full of NOTS. When Paul was going to Damascus to persecute more Christians, Jesus said, “Oh no you’re NOT!” The law of sin and death is a huge NO to us. The soul who sins is the one who will die. You will NOT live forever. You will die. You deserve it.
But here is a blessed and a beautiful “no” from Paul. It is all because of Jesus in what He did for us on the cross, to pay for our sins. So when we do die as sinners, we have a beautiful promise, as baptized and repentant believers in Christ. There is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. NONE. ZIP. NADA. Nothing. No condemnation. No. It sets us free from sin and death. What a beautiful thing. Amen.
