Introduction:
We want to please God! When we were born again, God implanted within us a new nature. This new nature desires to live in accordance with God’s Word and will. But the old sinful nature, constantly seeks to reassert itself in our lives. What generally results is a sense of exasperation and confusion. What is going on? Why am I struggling? Why can’t I seem to get the victory? Why is this happening to me? Have I failed God? Am I missing something? Is there a way to be free?
We know that Paul also experienced this struggle, because he describes it in Romans 7: He says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."
Paul struggled with the same conflict you and I experience. It was the struggle of his attempt to live for Jesus. And here he openly shares that struggle with us. By being transparent, he seeks to be an encouragement. By sharing his struggle, he hopes to free us from ours. He had come to the end of his rope. He says in verse 24, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" It is apparent that Paul had come to see his own self-effort for what it was. And it was not enough! Now he will share with us the key to being free at last!
Turn in your Bible’s to Romans 8:1-4,
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." PRAY
I. Sin Cannot Claim You! (Doing)
The first thing we need to understand is that sin cannot claim us. Let’s look at verse 1&2, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." The Bible teaches that, because we are sinners, we are under condemnation. We deserve judgment. But the Bible also teaches that, when we come to Christ, we are forgiven. The guilt of sin is lifted. We are now free!
But knowing we are free, and walking in that freedom is difficult. Our primary difficulty is dealing with the old nature. It is the struggle. The struggle itself causes us to feel condemned.
The word for condemnation in this verse is an interesting one. Not only does it have to do with judgment, it can refer to a piece of land on which there is a prior claim. Sometimes we feel like that. We feel that perhaps the title search was not thorough enough in our lives when we committed ourselves to Jesus. Maybe there is still a lien on our lives. Paul is saying that sin cannot claim us because Christ has set us free. Jesus Christ has set us free!
The law no longer has any jurisdiction. We are free in Jesus Christ; free from the bondage to sin, free from the law of death. We are set free now to live in a dynamic relationship of living union with Christ. We are free in Christ Jesus!
The truth of what the Scripture is saying is that in Christ we have been set free. That is the truth. It is the truth whether you believe it or not. It is the truth whether you feel it or not. This is the key. God is not calling upon us to act on our feelings, but on the truth of His Word. What we really need is a new self-image; one that is based on the truth of God’s Word, not a self-image based on how we feel. We must know our standing in Christ!
We are personally free in Christ. Sin cannot claim us. We are in Christ, and Jesus Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death. Sin cannot claim us because we are personally free in Christ.
II. Sin Cannot Condemn You!
Let’s look at verse 3, "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man."
The next thing we need to see is that sin cannot condemn us. We have just read that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because Christ condemned the sin, not the sinner. By Christ’s work on the cross, he judged sin. He paid the penalty for sin. He released us from the condemnation of sin, by His death. Jesus did what we could not do. It says here, "For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did."
What Jesus Christ did when He went to the Cross could be called the greatest transaction in history. There He made a complete payment for our sin. Jesus Christ took our sin on Him on the Cross. The things you have done wrong, the things you are ashamed of, the things you have struggled over, the things you have been guilty over, Jesus bore on the Cross. Sins of actions, sins of attitudes, our willful rebellion against God, our wrong relationships with one another; Jesus bore all of them on the Cross. Through His death, He paid the penalty for our sin. He was judged instead of us. And so, because He was judged for our sins, we can now go free!
That is awesome! Not only did Jesus bear every sin we have ever committed, but Jesus bore every sin we shall ever commit. Now that does not give us a license to sin, but it means that when Jesus died on the Cross, the sins of humanity were judged there. All sins, past, present, and future, have been judged. The penalty has been paid! And we enter into that freedom as we begin to understand it and walk in it by the Spirit.
Someone once said, "The only way to survive is to know that God loves me as I am and not as I should be, that He loves me beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity; that He loves me in the morning sun and in the evening rain, without caution, regret, boundary, limit, or breaking point; that no matter what I do, He can’t stop loving me. When I am really in conscious communion with the reality of wild, passionate, relentless, stubborn, pursuing, tender love of Christ for me, then it’s not that I have to, or I must, or I should, or I ought: suddenly I want to change because I know how deeply I’m loved.
The biggest mistake I can make is to say to God, "Lord, if I change, you will love me, won’t you?" The Lord’s reply is always, "Wait a minute, you’ve got it all wrong. You don’t have to change so I’ll love you; I love you so you’ll change." I simply expose myself to the love that is everything and have an immense, unshakable, reckless, raging confidence that God loves me so much He’ll change me and fashion me into the child that He always wanted me to be.
III. Sin Cannot Control You!
Let’s look at verse 4, "And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."
Finally we need to understand that sin cannot control us. We struggle with sin, but we have the victory. We have the victory because we are in Christ, and also because God is presently at work in us. It is not simply because of something that happened 2,000 years ago on the cross of Calvary that we are able to live in freedom. God is now at work in us! Sin cannot control us because God is at work in us to change us!
Part of God’s work in us is to conform us to Christ’s image. God desires for our character to be like Christ, and that we would live our lives like Jesus lived His. That is what it means to walk, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means that we live our lives in utter dependence upon the leadership of God. We see this clearly in the life of Jesus. How did He live?
(Being) In John’s gospel, we hear Jesus continually emphasizing that He lived by direct dependence on the Father’s guidance and power. John 5:19 says, "Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing: for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.’" John 8:28 says, "I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me." These kind of statements Jesus makes over and over in John’s gospel. He lived by dependence on God’s leadership in His life. And so must we! This is what the New Covenant is all about.
The Old Covenant typified by the Law, is man working his way to acceptance with God. We failed miserably at that, and we still do. Yet, that is what so much of the church in our contemporary society is all about. It is performance based. But the New Covenant is exactly the opposite. The New Covenant means that everything comes from God, and nothing comes from me. The New Covenant frees us from the tyranny of having to be perfect. It frees us to walk by the leadership of the Spirit.
Walking in the Spirit means we consult with God about our priorities. Walking in the Spirit means that we can give up trying to do it on our own. Walking in the Spirit liberates from the clamoring demands and expectations of others.
Walking in the Spirit means our one priority in is to please God, not by being perfect, but by being His.
By Christ’s death on the Cross He has freed us to be His!
Conclusion: Object illustration (2 white cloth towels, one that has written on it: habits, money, lust, anger, etc... with "self" written in the middle. And one with Jesus written in the middle. Explain that usually what happens is that we want to give God things but our "self" is still in control. Show that what God wants is the other cloth were we give Him ourself and He is in the middle)
Ultimately we need the filling of the Holy Spirit so that we may glorify Christ. But how do we glorify Christ? We glorify Christ when we live for God---trusting, loving, and obeying Him. Jesus said, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). Paul said, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31). What a concept-- everything we do should glorify God!
And yet this brings us to the heart of the problem. Why do we need the fullness of the Holy Spirit? Because only in the power of the Spirit can we live a life that glorifies God and free us from the bondage of sin. We cannot be victorious over sin or glorify God in the energy of the flesh. Remember Paul’s cry in Romans 7: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . . I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do" (Romans 7:15, 18, 19). In the power of the Holy Spirit we can live a life that increasingly glorifies God.
In verses 24 & 25 Paul says, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God---through Jesus Christ our Lord!" God the Holy Spirit gives us power for a purpose---power to help us glorify God in every dimension of our lives.
(Object) Which one represents you today?
Do you need the fullness of the Spirit today? Do you need to be set free today? "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." Do you want to be free right now? "Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation." Are you beating yourself up over your performance for God? "Therefore, there is now condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Are you tired? Are the burden’s to much to bear? Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
The promises of God could go on and on, but ultimately it is up to you to decide if you are tired of living a defeated Christian life! There is a better way!
Please bow your heads and close your eyes. If your tired and weary, why don’t you come to this alter this evening and let me pray with you, so you can leave here today with victory in your life!
Benediction:
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy---to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
