Back in the 1990s there was a scandal that rocked the political world. There was a 20-year-old intern who was discovered to have had a sexual relationship with the President of the United States. Her name was Monica Lewinsky… and when the scandal hit the news, she found herself being scorned, ridiculed and hated. She later noted “The ground completely crumbled in that moment. I felt so much guilt, and I was terrified. There was a point for me… in the first several hours where I would be hysterically crying and then I would just shut down. And in the shutdown period, I remember looking out the window and thinking that the only way to fix this was to kill myself, was to jump out the window. And I felt terrible. I was scared, and I was mortified...”
And she said, "The shame stuck to me like tar.”
What do you do when your past with its sins and failures … just refuses to go away. What do you do when your guilt and shame stick to you like tar? What if you can’t fix what you’ve broken and undo the things you’ve done?
Well, Romans addresses that. Paul writes: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who does it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Romans 7:15-24
DOES THAT SOUND CONFUSING? Well, I think it’s supposed to! Paul is confused. He wants to live a sinless life… but he just can’t quite get it done. He just kept falling short – he keeps messing up.
Earlier in Romans, Paul said: Romans 3:23 “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” And the Apostle John wrote 1 John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
And here in Romans 7 Paul writes: “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want… THAT’S what I keep on doing.”
But now, why should it bother Paul that he’d messed up once in a while? Well, because we serve a righteous God. In Isaiah 45:21 God said “There is no other god besides me, a RIGHTEOUS God and a Savior.” Paul realized that while God is righteous he (Paul) was NOT righteous!
And Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Paul knew that Jesus was without sin… but he (Paul) was NOT without sin.
It frustrated him - that he couldn’t always do the good he wanted to do. And there had been times that he had said, thought or done something that shamed him. His actions, thoughts, words were “inappropriate” and it bugged him! He realizes he couldn’t measure up, and so he cried out: “Wretched man that I am! WHO WILL DELIVER me from this body of death?” Romans 7:24
So, WHO would deliver Paul? Well, that would be Jesus! Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Now, how does that work? How can we be assured that there would be no condemnation?
Well, John wrote: “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (I John 2:1) Notice - our objective is to NOT sin. But if and when we do sin (i.e. we’re guilty) we have an advocate. What is an advocate? An advocate is a lawyer – someone who understands the law.
ILLUS: Someone reported seeing a billboard ad for the law office of Larry L. Archie: “Just because you did it, doesn’t mean you’re guilty.” (funnyordie.com)
Ehhhh… I’m not so sure about that! I’m pretty sure that if you did it – you’re guilty. But what that attorney was promising was this: even if you did do it he could get you off. He could promise that because he KNEW the law, and he was declaring that - when he was done - you would be found NOT GUILTY in that courtroom.
ILLUS: A man dreamed of being in court. He was seated at the table as the defendant. His lawyer seemed kind and gentle, but as he looked at the “prosecutor” he saw a man who was so evil that it made him shudder. When the time came… the prosecutor rose and said, “My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.” And he proceeded to tell of the lies that man had told, the things that he’d stolen, and the ways he’d mistreated people. And Satan continued to tell of other horrible perversions that were once in his life - sins that the man had even completely forgotten about. And the more Satan spoke, the further down in his seat the man sank. But as upset as he was at Satan for saying all these things about him, he was equally upset at his own lawyer… who just sat there. The defense attorney didn’t even try to offer any kind defense. The defendant later said: “I knew I’d been guilty of those things but I HAD done some good in my life. Couldn’t my lawyer at least brought up some of the good I’d done to balance out some of the harm I’ve committed? BUT NO… MY LAWYER JUST SAT THERE!”
Finally, Satan finished and turned and pointed at the defendant, “This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise." And then he sat down.
Then the man’s defense attorney approached the bench… and it became obvious who this was no ordinary lawyer … this was Jesus. He stopped in front of the bench and softly said … “Hi Dad,” Then he turned to address the court. “Satan is correct in saying that this man has sinned and I won’t deny any of these allegations. And yes, the wages of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished. But I died on the cross so that that man might have eternal life and he has accepted me as his Savior by believing in me, repenting of his sin and by allowing himself to be buried in the waters of baptism. So he is Mine. He belongs to Me! His name is written in the book of life and no one can snatch him away from me. This man is not to be given justice… but rather mercy.” At this the Judge slammed down His gavel and said: “This man IS guilty… but the penalty has been paid in full. This man has been set free! Case dismissed.”
You see, when you and I feel guilty and condemned by our sins, Jesus says: “Just because you did it… doesn’t mean you’re guilty.” I can get you off… because YOU belong to ME!
So, this is the first reason there is no condemnation for our sins - we have an advocate/a lawyer - Christ Jesus who died for us. His blood has covered our sins so that… those sins no longer exist. We are guiltless before the throne.
Now Romans 8 says there’s another reason why there’s no condemnation for us. Romans 8:2 says “The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” And a few verses later it says “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5
Jesus is our advocate - His job is to clear our names, and present us before throne of God as being righteous by His blood. Jesus’ blood COVERS our sins. But the Spirit’s job is to help us start cleaning up the mess we’ve made in our lives. Galatians 5:16-18 says it this way: “WALK by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are LED by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
In other words – as new Christians we are to be LED by the Spirit so that our lives will change. And how do we do that? How do we walk by the Spirit? Well, in Galatians - Paul starts by describing the works of the flesh. These were behaviors that some Christians do - and when they do them they prove they’re not walking by the Spirit: “the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (and on and on and on). And then Paul says “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” THEY’D GO TO HELL! We don’t want to go there!
But then Paul says “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh (the works of the flesh) with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
You see - that’s what we’re shooting for. That’s our goal as Christians. We want to “keep in step with the Spirit” so that our lives reflect the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace etc.) If we’re being led by the Spirit, we will start looking like people who have the fruit of the Spirit.
But what if I mess up? What if I slip back into a sinful behavior? Is it OVER for me? Well, no! That’s where I John 1:9 comes in: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
You see, God offers us a mulligan… a "do over." Confess your sins and God will make it as if you’ve never sinned. You see, a relationship with God isn’t based on a SIN-less life - it’s based on a life where we sin-LESS. The Spirit leads us so that we become more skilled at walking in righteousness… and less skilled in walking in sin.
A man named John Smithson said it this way: “Before I came to Christ, I practiced sin and committed acts of righteousness. Now, I practice righteousness and commit acts of sin.”
ILLUS: Think about it this way: Have you ever skated? When you first started to skate did you ever fall down? (Yeah, you probably fell down a lot). But if you were to go skating today, do you think you’d still fall down? Yeah… you’d probably still fall down… but you’d fall down LESS than you did when you first learned to skate.
Now, have you ever watched a professional skater? Have you ever seen them fall down? Of course, they fall down… occasionally. But when they fall, they fall down doing tricks that would kill us. Professional skaters spend so much time skating that’s it like walking for them. It’s become so natural for them that they rarely fall down.
You see, the more time we spend walking by the Spirit, the less likely we are to fall down. But even then… the most righteous Christian will still fall once in a while. And when that happens – they need to be like those professional skaters: they should pick themselves up (they need to confess their sin) and go back to walking in the Spirit.
Years ago, I listened to a song that explained Romans 7 and 8 in this way:
ILLUS: “Sittin’ by my window on a rainy afternoon, everything inside my head was playin’ outta tune. I was thinkin’ of the fool I’d made of me the night before. In front of God and everyone I’d sinned and sinned some more. Well, I thought of all the things I’d done I winced at things I’d said. I wallowed in self-pity, and I hung my worried head
And right when I was so far down that even up looked wrong. (CHORUS) That’s when Jesus gave to me the chorus of this song. He said, Satan, the accuser has been whisperin’ in your ear. You just tell him you’re forgiven, he’s got no business here, cause it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, it matters what you’ll be. There is no condemnation when the Son has set you free. (next verse) Now I could say that right away the sun bursts through the clouds. And I just started singin’ on that chorus right out loud But actually I moped around and blew another day before I let myself accept the words I’d heard Him say. (Chorus) He said, Satan, the accuser has been whisperin’ in your ear. You just tell him you’re forgiven, he’s got no business here, Cause it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, it matters what you’ll be. There is no condemnation when the Son has set you free.”
(“There Is No Condemnation” – Don Francisco)
THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION WHEN THE SON HAS SET YOU FREE!
CLOSE: Now, that brings us back to the story of Monica Lewinsky. She messed up… royally. In front of God and everyone, she’d sinned and sinned some more, and the shame clung to her like tar. But what could she have done to repair what she’d broken? She could have clung to the promise from Romans: “Wretched (wo)man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
CLOSE: I want to close with the story I read about a successful evangelist who “slipped away” from God. He drifted into a life of sin, for several months. His behavior eventually became public knowledge and even made the headlines in that small community. At first, all he could think of was that he had been ruined for life, but, finally, he realized what a fool he had been, and – like the prodigal son he came back to God. Finally, after a period of waiting, he felt led to return to the pulpit in another area. Yes, he was afraid that his sin would be brought back up again, but it seemed that people either didn’t know, or had forgotten what he’d done, and so he went back to preaching. But one night, when he was about to get up on stage and preach, he was given a sealed letter. It was unsigned. But it described the shameful life he’d lived, and then the letter said, “If you have the gall to preach tonight, I’ll stand and expose you.” He spent the next few minutes in prayer, and later, from the pulpit he read the letter to the audience - from start to finish. Then he said, “I want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I’m ashamed of what I’ve read, and what I’ve done. I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven.” From that day on, he preached about God’s forgiveness and he used that letter to draw people to Jesus Christ. (“Hearts of Iron, Feet of Clay”, By Gary Inrig)
