Romans 8:1-4 – Fly Like an Eagle
There is an old Native American story about an Indian brave who found an eagle’s egg and put it into the nest of a prairie chicken. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them. All his life, the changeling eagle, thinking he was a prairie chicken, did what the prairie chickens did. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. He clucked and cackled. And he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground. After all, that’s how prairie chickens were supposed to fly.
Years passed. And the changeling eagle grew very old. One day, he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
“What a beautiful bird!” said the changeling eagle to his neighbor. “What is it?”
“That’s an eagle—the chief of the birds,” the neighbor clucked. “But don’t give it a second thought. You could never be like him.” So the changeling eagle never gave it another thought. And it died thinking it was a prairie chicken.
Folks, I stand before you here today convinced that God has more in store for us than we could possibly know. I believe there are heights of joy and depths of knowledge that we have not begun to live. I believe that not one of us is living up to all that God has made possible for us to live. Today we are beginning a series called What a Way to Live, from Romans 8. My hope and prayer is that by the end of the chapter, at the end of November, we will have a better grasp of what it means to be walking in grace, walking in love, walking in confidence, walking with God’s Spirit. Let’s read Romans 8:1-4.
Now, I have to admit: this is deep stuff. Heavy theological issues that could bog a person down. But in this is the heart of the gospel, the very message Christ came to preach. So we need to wade through issues where angels fear to tread. On the plus side, it’s worth hearing.
V1 tells us we are not condemned. That’s wonderful. But what would be condemning us? What are we free from? V2 tells us that we are free from the law of sin and death. Now, which law is that? Whose law is that? Why would a law possibly cause us to sin or die?
Well, that law is God’s law. Which of course sounds ridiculous. God, who is all-good, can only make things that are good. And His law, the Bible tells us, is perfect. It is completely good. The commandments of the OT were perfect. The rules and commands were perfect and good.
But the problem was, they didn’t actually improve a person. They themselves were good, but they could not make anyone else good. The rules set the standard of how a person should act, but the law couldn’t provide the strength to do it. The law did great with morals, but not with conscience. They said, “Here is how you should live. Here is the height you should reach. Now, good luck with that.”
Because simply knowing what is right doesn’t actually mean a person wants to do it. Speed limit signs: “That says what I should do, but I might just push it a little.” Wet paint sign: “That sign says I shouldn’t touch it, but I really want to check for myself.” No swimming sign: “I wonder if the undertow is really as strong as they say.” Rules tell us what we should do, but we by nature don’t want to follow them. We learn to pay attention over the years for fear of the consequences, but the desire never really changes. We want to break the laws set before us. We can see it in little kids. If we tell them what not to do, that becomes the thing they most want to do.
So the law of the OT in essence aroused that rebellion, that self-will, that independent spirit, and each one of us broke it. Knowingly breaking God’s law is called sin. Deliberately going against what you know is right is sin. So, even though the law itself is good, it brings about sin. And the Bible says that sin leads to death. Death is the natural result of disobedience. All the way back to Adam and Eve, even up to the present day, every person who sins deserves to die. That includes you and me. That’s why the OT rules are called the law of sin and death.
So what is the solution? The 1st half of v3 sums up what I just said, and the 2nd half provides the cure – v3. Jesus Christ stepped into the world. Simply providing rules obviously did not improve a person. What was needed was some stronger medicine. Dr. James Dobson, noted family counselor, speaker and author, said this about raising kids: “Rules without a relationship lead to rebellion.” God knew this same principle. So He did something to improve the relationship. He sent Himself. God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus Christ, to fix the problem. Here’s what Jesus did.
He lived a perfect life. He obeyed the law down to the last dot. He was spotless, blameless and without fault. And He Himself said that He fulfilled the law. Think of this as if the law, the complete set of commands were written on a huge stone slab, reaching high into the air. You can’t get around it, you can’t escape it, but you can’t climb it either. You are very aware that it exists, but you can’t ever seem to get on top of it either.
Now picture that Christ came, put His back up against this stone slab, and let it fall onto His shoulders. Picture Jesus holding this stone slab, almost horizontal, level with the ground, so that you can simply reach over and touch the top. That is similar to what Christ did. He made a way for us to reach the top, because without Him we never could. Obeying the law is as possible as coming near to Jesus.
Now, there’s another level in the work Jesus did. Because of sin, God has always demanded a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. The OT law demanded the blood of bulls and goats. Their blood was shed in place of people’s blood. One creature died so that another could live. Likewise, Jesus’ blood and His sacrifice were in place of ours. He died so that we could live. Jesus became a sin offering, a sacrifice. He was fully man and fully God, and was able to meet our needs fully and meet God’s standards fully. This destroyed the power of sin over us. That’s what v3 means when it says “condemned sin”. That means more than showing disapproval of sin – the law already did that. No, it means that Jesus’ perfect life and perfect death caused sin’s doom. The only condemnation in a believer’s life is Jesus’ victory over sin and death.
You see? Jesus did this so that we wouldn’t have a huge obstacle to face in coming close to God. He enabled us not to live under what The Message Bible translates as “a continuous, low-lying black cloud.” We are free from the cruel taskmaster of sin. We are liberated from the harsh schoolmaster of the law. Rather, v4 says, we are free to follow the Spirit. The Spirit of God guides and directs us, and we are simply called to get on board with what He is saying. It is a glorious liberty. All that the law offered was “should’s”; the Spirit offers us “can’s”. The Spirit moving in our lives changes our “have-to’s” into “want-to’s”.
The new law, the law of the Spirit, says you can get drunk whenever you want to. It says you can lie, cheat and steal whenever you want to. Not because it’s OK now, but because the Spirit inside of you progressively takes away the want-to of those things. Not necessarily all of a sudden, not all of your vices all at once, not necessarily to the point that you’ll never struggle again. No, rather, as we continue to follow the Spirit, He continues to change us, and we are continually set free from those things which hold us. That is living in the Spirit. That is trust. That is receiving all that God has for us. That is the way to live.
Any religion that stresses all the things you can’t do as a Christian, all the laws, all the “have-to’s”, is no better than the law. Saved from one set of laws and in bondage to another. If that’’ the case, Christ came for nothing, and His sacrifice didn’t matter.
This passage gives us 3 truths to hang our hats on in relation to sin. 1) There is no more condemnation for sin – v1. That is a wonderful thought. Even when we fail and mess up, God is more concerned with our getting back up. And you see what else this means?
We are free from the opinions of others. Those who would put us in boxes and demand certain standards. Those who would remind us of our failures. Including ourselves. This verse shouts the truth: You are not a slave to sin! You are not a slave to your memories! You are not a slave to your weaknesses! You are free indeed if you are walking with Jesus in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
V2 gives us another truth in relation to sin: 2) There needs to be no more control by sin. Sin is not your master. Perhaps you need to know that. With the Christian, there is no “I had to do it”. There are no excuses. You don’t have to sin. Nobody can force you to sin every day or any day. Not to say that you are impervious to sin, that sin cannot tempt or seduce. Rather, even as Jesus was tempted and did not sin, you don’t have to either. Its hold on you is broken. Don’t act as if you are still sin’s slave.
And v3-4 go even further: 3) There should be no more continuance in sin. Although Paul acknowledges that sometimes Christians sin, he has a hard time explaining it. So do I, even though I know it to be true. How can a Christian continue in sin? The process towards godliness is one thing, but there’s another thing for a Christian to disobey deliberately. Paul asks, “How can we who are dead to sin live in it any longer?” I guess, all I can say is what the Scripture says: if you’re not living according to the Spirit – that is, doing what God wants on a daily basis – (v4), perhaps the Spirit didn’t actually set you free (v2), in which case you are still under a condemnation of your own making (v1). If Christ didn’t set you free from sinning on purpose, I’d have to wonder if He set you free at all.
Which brings me back to where I started. Are you living up to all that God has made possible for you to live? Are you walking in victory over sin? Are you walking with a dark cloud over your head, or are you free to please God? Do you live under condemnation, from others, from yourself, from your past, from your memories? Are you living in the Spirit, that is, living to please Him in all things and doing what He wants you to do? Perhaps, you need to take a moment or 2 and say, “Lord, I know what You’re speaking to me about. I know I should deal with it. Would you help me want to change? Could you change my “have-to” into a “want-to”?” After all, the only person who can stop you from doing His will is you.
