Free At Last, …I’m Free From Sin
Romans 8
“There is not even one bit of condemnation” because of my perfect inner life in Christ (8:1). The opposite of condemnation is justification. There is no waiting for the punishment for us because our punishment has already been paid in full by Jesus Christ.
Works says that we must perform and then God will be impressed with us.
Legalism is obsessed with trying to impress God.
Grace and grace alone enables us to live the Christian life.
Grace sets us free.
Neil Anderson has well said, “Satan will try to convince you that you are an unworthy, unacceptable, sin-sick person who will never amount to anything in God’s eyes.” God says to every believer, “There is therefore no no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1).
We have been set free from the law of sin and death (8:2).
(8:2). “GOD + ME = A WHOLE PERSON.”
(8:3). The Law was powerless to deliver us from sin. It could only convict us of our wrongdoing. It could not come to our aid and give the strength and power to overcome the very sin it convicted us of doing. It could not lend us a hand. It could not deliver us.
However, what the Law could not do, God did by sending His Son to die for us. The second person of the God–head became man, in doing so became our representative and died in our place on the cross. Jesus was sinless. He was made in the “likeness of sinful flesh.” He never experienced personal sin, but He was willing to take the responsibility for our sins. He paid the penalty of our sins and died in our place on the cross. He bore our penalty as our substitute. He became a sin offering on our behalf.
I am free to be habitually dominated and controlled by the Holy
Spirit (8:4).
(8:4). Because Jesus Christ satisfied the justice of God, the Holy Spirit now resides at the control center of my life. He lives in me to produce the very things the law demanded but could not produce.
Beginning with Romans eight there is no further talk of defeat. Christ is the victor.
This new inward principle of action by the Holy Spirit operates as a law in the believer who yields to the Spirit. That principle always works. This new principle of action which the Spirit of Christ has opened up within us sets us free to live the Christian life. He empowers us and sets us free to serve Him. We overcome sin by abiding in His presence. We do the impossible by yielding to Him.
Are you tired to trying to live the Christian life by yourself? Yield to the Holy Spirit. “God helps those who help themselves,” is the most pagan statement you can find as a Christian. God helps those who depend upon Him.
The requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit (v. 4). Just think of it. As you yield to the Holy Spirit you produce “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Christian holiness is the life of the Holy Spirit producing His fruit in my life. He reproduces Himself in us. He reproduces those graces which were seen in perfection in the life of Christ. Take a long hard look at Jesus Christ and you see the fruit of the Spirit. Only when we walk in the Spirit do we fulfil the Law.
We are set free from the Law as a way of acceptance with God. However, it is still our standard of conduct.
Some Abiding Principles and Practical Applications
1. When you believe on Christ as your Savior God gives you perfect peace and there is now no condemnation. Do you carry a burden of guilt?
2. When you are set free by the Holy Spirit to live Christ, He gives you the power to make daily choices that will please God. Under His leadership, you do that which is pleasing to God. Will you consecrate your life to Christ right now? “I choose to please you Lord, Jesus.” “I choose righteousness.” “I choose to put Jesus Christ and God’s righteousness first in my life.”
3. When you choose daily to allow the Holy Spirit to control your life, you choose to live. I choose daily to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of my life. I choose to submit to Him and let Him live His life through me. It doesn’t happen automatically. I pray that you will do likewise.
(8:5). The “flesh” mindset is dominated by I, ME, and MINE. It is selfish in outlook. Everything is centered on self and how we can satisfy ourselves. His mind is set on power, position, prestige, passion, and possessions.
In this passage Paul uses the word “flesh” to describe that weaker element in human nature that yields to sin.
letting the mind dwell on something, it is the seat of intellectual and spiritual activity. It denotes the whole person thinking, feeling and choosing.
Here Paul is contrasting the two ways of thinking. Here the word for “mind” signifies the strong bent of the mind regarding the object desired.
The writer of Proverbs saw this fact when he said, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (Prov. 23:7).
(8:6). There is a consequence for this life style. Paul repeats the warning in v. 13, “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die.”
(vv. 7–8). It is in open rebellion toward God.
The Apostle John defined this mindset: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”
The problem for the believer has always been how to be in the world and not buy into its philosophy of life. The person controlled by the flesh is hostile toward God. He refuses to submit to God’s will.
No matter how hard we try to please God while we are acting in the flesh we cannot.
The Christian lives in a physical body like other people, but they are not obliged to it. They belong to another realm, or another dimension. The Holy Spirit has taken up residence within us. He is a permanent dweller. The Spirit of God has come to live in believers.
(v. 13) The only payday sin has is death.
What is the fruit of this mind-set? Cf. Galatians 5:19-21
(8:1) Verse one is like a breath of fresh air. We can never lose our salvation because it does not depend on us but on God. Once we are in Christ by faith, it is the Lord who keeps us there forever. In Romans 8:35-39 Paul gives us a list of things that can not rob us of our salvation. It covers everything.
Do you wake up every morning and say to yourself, “I am a child of God. I have been forgiven of my sins. I am accepted in God’s family. He has marked me out as His own. He has put His Spirit within me, releasing to me the full–life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every power that Jesus Himself had to perform His life upon earth, I have in Him. I am equipped to handle whatever comes today. I can take whatever life throws at me because I have Him and all the fullness of His life.” This is where the believer finds his identity, security, significance and sufficiency. It comes from Christ dwelling within us by His Holy Spirit.
(v. 5). Romans 12:2, says, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” You see, we now have a choice. We are no longer slaves to the flesh. We do not have to let sin rule our lives. We have been set free. We have a new master.
II Cor. 10:3-6 also stresses this battle of the mind. “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”
(v. 6b). John Stott observes: “Many of us would pursue holiness with far greater zeal and eagerness if we were convinced that the way of holiness is the way of life and peace.” It is a whole different life style. Jesus said, “My peace I give to you.”
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3). J
esus said, “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
In John 10:10b, Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Men search in vain in every other location. We find life and peace in Christ alone.
(v. 9). Every born again believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him. He doesn’t have some of the Spirit, or a portion of the Spirit. He has all of Him. We don’t need more of the Spirit we need to yield ourselves to Him without any reservations.
When you read His Word and there is the pull on the heart by the Spirit or inner prompting and prodding we must yield to His leading.
When He points out sin in our lives we need to confess it and stop doing it.
When He points us to a great promise or illumines our mind as to who we are in our position before God we need to believe Him.
Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). This is an intimate love relationship with Christ. It is walking in the Spirit. It is a humble submission to Him.
The Apostle Paul said the same thing, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. . . If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-17, 25).
(v. 10). It is true our physical bodies remain subject to physical death. However our inward man is being renewed into the everlasting image of Christ. In II Cor. 4:16 Paul write, “we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”
(v. 11. Now we have a choice, and the power to act on it (6:11). Before we became Christians we were slaves to sin, but now we have been liberated and we have the power to live it because the Spirit of Christ lives within us.
v 12 We have a debt. Negatively, not to live according to the flesh. Not that we can ever pay for our salvation. But we owe a debt of gratitude. Paul stresses our responsibility
Mortify means cut it off, put it to death. Living the Christian life is serious business.
The severity of the responsibility is seen again in Paul’s language in Galatians 5:24. “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
1. Are you absolutely sure about your relationship with Christ?
2. Is your mind set on the flesh, or the Spirit? One way you will know for sure is by examining the fruit of your mind set. If your mind is set on the flesh you will reap the works of the flesh. If you are focusing on the Spirit–controlled mind set you will produce the fruit of the Spirit.
v15 Adoption was the legal action by which a person takes into his family a child not his own with the purpose of treating him as and giving him all the privileges of his own natural child. An adopted child was legally entitled to all rights and privileges of a natural-born child.
In the Old Testament God adopted the people of Israel as His own peculiar people. They enjoyed a special relationship as the chosen people of God. They were God’s people by adoption.
Why did God choose Israel and not Babylon, Egypt or Assyria? They were much larger and more powerful than Israel. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 tells us it was an act of God’s grace.
When the Apostle Paul speaks of our spiritual adoption by God he uses the word huiosthesia - (huios - a son) (thesis - a placing), to place as a son, the place given to one to whom it does not belong. A believer under grace is placed as an adopted son in the family of God. Galatians 3:26 says, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” He is an adult son of God. This spiritual adoption takes place at the time one is saved and thus becomes a child of God.
Jesus told Nicodemus a Jewish religious leader, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” There are no exceptions. We all must be born into the family of God.
What does adoption teach us? God, in His mercy, has brought us into His absolute possession.
This relationship with God gives us freedom. We are no longer slaves. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’” (v. 15).
The Holy Spirit delivers the believer from the bondage of fear. How? By adoption, by actually adopting the believer as a son (child) of God. The Holy Spirit bears witness that we are the children of God. The Holy Spirit quickens our hearts with the perfect knowledge and the complete confidence that we are children of God.
God’s love for the adopted Child is as great as God’s sovereign power. God will do everything for the believer who is His adopted child.
There is assurance for the believer event though he is called upon to suffer for His Lord.
· There is assurance in the fact that we have received the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9, 11).
· We are being led by the Spirit (v. 14).
· We have been adopted (v. 15).
· We have the inner witness of the Spirit that we are the children of God (v. 16).
· We are heirs of God (v. 17a).
· We have the assurance that nothing happens outside the will of God. There are no failures (8:28). Nothing in this world happens outside the will of God. (v. 17b). Suffering is going to be a part of the road test. Becoming a Christian does not mean you are going to have a life of ease and be exempt from its pressures.
John H. Jowett told young preachers going into the ministry, “Preach to the hurting pew and you will always have a congregation.”
What is the benefit of suffering? Paul says it is the joy of glorification. The Lord uses our trials and tribulations to purge us of sin, to bring us closer to Himself, to conform us to the image of His Son, and prepare us to minister to others who are hurting.
John 14:1–3. Jesus said, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” The Apostle John reflected on those words of Jesus and later wrote, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is” (I John 3:2). When we focus our eyes upon Jesus and what He is doing for us in preparation for that great day then our suffering for Him is of short duration. The New Testament writers saw Jesus viewing His suffering in the same manner. He endured the pain so He might receive the glory in heaven. Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation” (I Peter 4:12–13).
Suffering causes us to groan for something better than what we have presently. Paul says there is evidence of this groaning all about us. There is evidence from the groaning of creation (v. 19).
This groaning is only temporary in comparison to the glory of eternity (v. 19).
This groaning is the consequence of the fall of man when Adam sinned (v. 20).
The groaning is not the end, but the means to an end (vv. 20–21).
God’s goal is to prepare us for eternity. This groaning is universal in scope (v. 22).
Nothing in the universe is exempt from the fall of man. It too longs for its redemption.
But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it” (vv. 24–25).
We long for our complete redemption––our glorification.
“For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked” (II Cor. 5:2).
There is the groaning of the Holy Spirit within us (v. 26-27).
He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (vv. 26–27).
(v. 28). Nothing in this world happens outside of the will of God. Nothing. We can never fail now.
One of the great mysteries of life is prayer. Prayer is more than just asking God for things. It is an attitude, a way of life.
Why did Jesus pray? He prayed to maintain the intimate love relationship with the Father.
Where did Jesus pray? He prayed everywhere:
What did He pray for? He prayed for Himself. He prayed for the disciples to know spiritual truths.
Speaking in tongues, or praying emotionally ecstatic meaningless syllables is not what Paul is talking about in Romans 8:26.
God’s way of producing His fragrance is to take the pot off the shelf, break it and pour out the fragrance.
A. W. Tozer: “It is doubtful God can bless any man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.”
Or as Alan Redpath once said: “When God wants to do an impossible task he takes an impossible man and crushes him.”
Paying is hard work.
The word for “intercedes” is found only here in the New Testament. It means, “meet, to turn to, approach, appeal, petition.”
poem by Wendy Welch which she wrote it just before her death.
I asked the Lord to heal me and to make me whole, But he lamed me to teach me humility.
I asked him to make me rich,
But he impoverished me to teach me to trust him.
I asked him to let me run my life and do his wishes tomorrow,
But he admonished me that there may never be a tomorrow.
I asked him to let me enjoy the sin of pride in material things,
But he took them away to make me dependent upon him alone.
He gave me nothing that I asked for, and everything that I wanted.
I have no choice but to trust him with everything, from now to eternity.
five steps: He foreknew, He predestined, He called, He justified and He glorified.
God’s goal is that we be like Jesus (8:29).
Roger Simms, hitchhiking his way home, would never forget the date. It was May 7. His heavy suitcase made Roger tired. He was anxious to take off his army uniform once and for all. Flashing the hitchhiking sigh to the oncoming car, he lost hope when he saw it was a black, sleek, new Cadillac. To his surprise the car stopped. The passenger door opened. He ran toward the car, tossed his suitcase in the back, and thanked the handsome, well-dressed man as he slid into the front seat.
“Going home for keeps?” “Sure am,” Roger responded. “Well, you’re in luck if you’re going to Chicago.” “Not quite that far. Do you live in Chicago?” “I have a business there. My name is Hanover.” After talking about many things, Roger, a Christian felt a compulsion to witness to this fiftyish, apparently successful businessman about Christ. But he kept putting it off, till he realized he was just thirty minutes from his home. It was now or never. So, Roger cleared his throat, “Mr. Hanover, I would like to talk to you about something very important.” He then proceeded to explain the way of salvation, ultimately asking Mr. Hanover if he would like to receive Christ as his Savior.
To Roger’s astonishment the Cadillac pulled over to the side of the road. Roger thought he was going to be ejected from the car. But the businessman bowed his head and received Christ, then thanked Roger. “This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”
Five years went by, Roger married, had a two-year-old boy, and a business of his own. Packing his suitcase for a business trip to Chicago, he found the small, white business card Hanover had given him five years before. In Chicago he looked up Hanover Enterprises. A receptionist told him it was impossible to see Mr. Hanover, but he could see Mrs. Hanover. A little confused as to what was going on, he was ushered into a lovely office and found himself facing a keen-eyed woman in her fifties. She extended her hand. “You knew my husband?” Roger told how her husband had given him a ride when hitchhiking home after the war. “Can you tell me when that was?” “It was May 7, five years ago, the day I was discharged from the army.” “Anything special about that day?” Roger hesitated. Should he mention giving his witness? Since he had come so far, he might as well take the plunge.
“Mrs. Hanover, I explained the gospel. He pulled over to the side of the road and wept against the steering wheel. He gave his life to Christ that day.” Explosive sobs shook her body. Getting a grip on herself, she sobbed, “I had prayed for my husband’s salvation for years. I believed God would save him.”
“And,” said Roger, “Where is your husband, Mrs. Hanover?” “He’s dead,” she wept, struggling with words. “He was in a car crash after he let you out of the car. He never got home. You see––I thought God had not kept His promise.” Sobbing uncontrollably, she added, “I stopped living for God five years ago because I thought He had not kept His word!” (Why Christians Sin, J. Kirk Johnston, Discovery House, 1992, p. 39-41).
The word “foreknew” ( proginosko) means “to know beforehand.” “
The word “foreknew” in our text is synonymous with “chose.” God first chose those who would believe.
God selected His goal beforehand, in eternity past, that we should like Christ.
The verb horizo means “to mark out the boundaries or limits” of a place or thing, “to determine or appoint.” The prefix pro means “before.” Therefore, the compound verb signifies “to put limits or boundaries upon beforehand,” thus “to pre–determine.”
The child is the eikon of his parents. The believer is the eikon of Jesus.
How would you recognize one if you saw one? Galatians 5:22-23 gives us a perfect picture.
What predestination is not. It has absolutely nothing to do with going to hell. It is not God looking over mankind and saying, “Inni-minni-mini-mo. This one is going to hell, and this one is going to heaven.”
Predestination has nothing to do with election. No where in the Scriptures do we find predestination controlling the destiny of the unsaved.
Predestination has to do with our being like Jesus. His goal is to mold us in the image of His Son.
Those whom God foreknew and predestined to be like His Son He now calls. The Holy Spirit begins to draw us and open our minds and create an interest in our hearts for the things of God. The “effectual calling” is the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin and need for God to save us.
John 6:65 Jesus said, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” The Holy Spirit, with an internal and effectual calling, makes us “want to” turn to Christ and be saved.
The Westminster Shorter catechism reads, “Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, and received by faith alone.”
This is the eternal position to which the believer has been brought through God’s grace.
The one saved is perfected forever in the sight of God as being in Christ. This removes works salvation.
The purpose of God’s sovereign grace is to create a new people in which to display His glory.
Romans 8:17 tells us that as God’s children we suffer with Christ “in order that we may also be glorified with Him.” The Apostle reminds us in verse 18, “The suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Even creation awaits the revealing of this glory (v. 19, 20).
Paul speaks of this future glorification as if it has already taken place. Why does Paul use the same past tense for this as he does for the foreknowing, predestinating, calling and justifying? As a matter of experience, we have yet to be glorified. However, as far as the decree of God our glorification has been determined from all eternity.
Why does Paul seemingly pass over our present daily experience of progressive spiritual growth? He jumps from justification to glorification leaving out sanctification.
I think Bruce has an excellent grasp of it when he says, “. . . the difference between sanctification and glory is one of degree only, not one of kind. Sanctification is progressive conformity to the image of Christ here and now (cf. II Cor. 3:18; col. 3:10); glory is perfect conformity to the image of Christ there and then. Sanctification is glory begun; glory is sanctification completed. Paul looks forward to the completion of the work––a completion guaranteed by its inception: ‘whom he justified, them he also glorified’” (Bruce, p. 178).
In the process of sanctification we actually begin to change and begin to be like Christ in our attitude, thoughts and behaviors.
God will not lose a single person. Everyone He justified He also glorified!
The sovereign grace of God should cause us to worship Him with all our heart.
Is there anything that can defeat God’s eternal purpose? “No!” “Nothing!” “No, in all these things we are super–conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Five unanswerable Questions:
“If God is for us, who is against us?” (v. 31)
Our English word “if” gives the idea of possible doubt, but the original language implies no doubt. The “if” here is a first class condition indicating certainty. It has the idea “if as is the case,” or “since.” Would you like a great verse of Scripture to write down on your 3x5" card and memorize this week? “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? (Psalm 27:1).
If God graciously gave His Son for us, will He not freely give us all things? (v. 32).
The cross proves the generosity of God. God gave up His most treasured possession in heaven for us. The words “for us” have the meaning “in the stead of” here.
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect?” (v. 33)
Christ our Advocate pleads our case before the Father. Our conscience accuses us, the Devil never ceases, carnal Christians grumble, we blow it, etc. There has never been a shortage of enemies to make accusations against God’s people.
“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?
But God is the Judge and He is completely satisfied in the righteousness of Christ.
And when we sin what should we do? God has provided a bar of soap for us and we should use it often! “ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us” (I John 1:9–10).
Who shall condemn us? (v. 34)
Sometime our heart condemns us, but it is Christ, not our heart, that matters in the final resort.
The only one who has the right to condemn us is Jesus Christ and He died for us! Moreover, He was raised from the dead to live again for us. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven interceding for us.
Who will separate us from Christ’s love for us? (v. 35)
Who is more powerful than Christ? Who is sufficient to come and remove you or me from the hands of God? Turn to John 10:27–30. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
“Tribulation” is the strong pressures in life, like the treading of grapes in a winery. These are the pressures that burst and trouble us.
“Distress” is hardship, outward affliction plus inner stress, anguish. The word was used to describe being caught in a tight place between high rocks.
“Persecution” is to be hunted down like an animal and killed.
“Famine” and hunger are brought on because of draught or persecution.
There is “nakedness” or lack of clothes because of no means of getting them.
“Peril” is dangers, perils of any sort.
The “sword” of judicial execution because of being a Christian.
What is my attitude toward the pressures, circumstances, chances and changes that come in my life?
Some blame God and whine life away. Others yield these sorrows to Him and are drawn to a sweeter more intimate walk with Christ.
We are “super–conquerors” (hypernikomen). He doesn’t say we are copers, but super–conquerors. The word is made us of nikao, to conquer, to carry off the victory, come off victorious,” and huper which means “above,” thus, “to come off more than victorious, to gain a surpassing victory”
“I am persuaded” is perfect tense in the original. “I have come through a process of persuasion to a settled conclusion” (Wuest). Is that your evaluation of life? Can you say it with conviction?
The word “powers” may be referring to mighty works of power, miraculous works, or spiritual powers above or below the level of the earth. Paul is saying God is sovereign and nothing in all of His creation is outside of His control.
Are you a created being? Yes, no even you can separate yourself from God.
