If you have your Bibles, you can read along. Romans 8:1-13.
As an overview of the whole chapter, this is what BibleRef.com had to say:
In Romans 7, Paul revealed his frustration of trying to do good only to be thwarted by his sin. He begins Romans 8, though, with the triumphant statement that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. We live in the Spirit, and we relate to God as a child does to a father. The Spirit helps us in this season of suffering along with all of creation while we wait for our adoption to be complete with the redemption of our bodies. We are confident, though, that God is for us and nothing can separate us from His love.
Scripture: So let’s take a look at those first verses. Romans 8:1-13
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
There is a lot there, and Paul gets a little wordy and weighty sometimes. In short, what he was saying is that there are two realms by which we live. The first realm is in the flesh, which means our natural, physical bodies, and the second is in the spirit. If we live by our nature, we live in sin. But we, who are Christians, should live by our new nature through the Spirit. A couple of weeks ago, I used the illustration about being a slave in the devil’s field, and then being bought by God, but tempted to go back to the Devil’s field–just for a temporary job now and then, even though God still owns us.
If we lean into the temptations of our old self, we will be brought over to work in the Devil’s fields again, and find ourselves doing what we don’t want to do as a slave to someone who does not own us.
In Chapter 7, Paul talks about that struggle. It was a real struggle for him, and he wanted his readers to know that even he, the famous Paul, the greatest of the apostles, still wrestled with sin, himself. He said––Chapter 7, starting with verse 21 and reading through the rest of the chapter––
“21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”
But then, his very next words are this: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Enduring Word Commentary said: “Since God the Father does not condemn Jesus, neither can the Father condemn those who are in Jesus. They are not condemned, they will not be condemned, and they cannot be condemned.”
It goes on to say that: “The verdict is not “less condemnation” …it’s been completely transformed, changed to a status of no condemnation.”
Charles Spurgeon, who was a Baptist preacher in the 1800s, certainly in the ‘preaching hall of fame’ if there is one, said that God’s condemnation isn’t something that we preachers like to talk about. Going back to the first sermon on Romans, there were some things in that sermon that I really didn’t want to discuss, but I had to because if I’m going to preach on the whole of Romans (and the whole of The Bible), then I have to preach on the wrath of God and how the wrath of God is going to come down on the sins that the world, and even some sins that some churches now, believe to be holy.
I don’t want to be politically incorrect. I don’t want to be hated. But, as Spurgeon pointed out, not only are those who are in Christ not condemned, but “If you are not in Christ Jesus, and are walking after the flesh, you have not escaped from condemnation.” It’s that simple. And it’s that condemnation that has brought many believers to Christ. Not that we should come to Christ out of fear, but out of His love. And that’s what led to the main point of Romans Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2.
God’s love should bring us to repentance.
Here, Christians, as much as we struggle with sin, are to be reminded that we are under the grace of God. We are new creatures in Christ. Romans 8:1 tells us we are free from the guilt of sin. And Romans 8:2 tells us we are free from the power of sin.
Paul was talking about the law in Chapter 7. The law, meaning God’s standards of right and wrong; God’s standards of holiness. And Paul was mentioning that the law could do nothing but tell us how high God’s standards are, and how we were truly unable to obtain God’s standard.
A lot of people today say that they’re good, moral people. A lot of atheists say, “I’m good without God. I don’t need God or religion to be a good person.”
But being a good person is subjective. How good is good? And when it comes to the lawgiver, which is God, then we need to know what God’s laws are regarding how good is good. So, when we look at God’s laws, what do we see?
It just goes to show us how much we are sinners when we compare ourselves to God’s standard of righteousness. God’s standard is absolute perfection, not just beyond what we can obtain, but beyond what our natural instinct towards goodness is. Sure, we have a built-in conscience–and I shared a video about that on my Facebook blog page yesterday. But God’s righteousness goes beyond our own conscience.
I think that’s why a lot of humans just give up on religion. Religion has been too religious. It focuses too much on trying to obtain God’s standard of holiness without the covering of grace.
Another quote from Enduring Word. It said that, “The law can do many things. It can guide us, teach us, and tell us about God’s character. But the law cannot give energy to our flesh; it can give us the standard, but it can’t give us the power to please God.”
And in verses 3 and 4, Paul goes on to explain what gives us the power to please God. I’m going to read these verses and interject the meaning of what Paul is saying.
“3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, [that means The Old Testament law could not accomplish anything because sin was too powerful for us to obey God’s law] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [which means, God’s son came in the image of a man, born of a woman, was fully flesh and bone] to be a sin offering. And so he [God the Father] condemned sin in the flesh, [that is, he made Christ sin in our place] 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us [in other words our flesh is punished], who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit [or for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, who live by the power and mercy of The Holy Spirit have had our sins punished or atoned for on the cross].”
This is God’s love and God’s mercy demonstrated to the fullest.
Paul goes on to explain a little bit more in the next few verses. And then, when we get to verse 10, Paul says, “10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”
I mentioned that last week during our Easter message. And it’s great to revisit again the week after Easter. This should make you rejoice. God himself and God’s power are living in me. The same God and the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
Now the law has no power. But the Spirit of God does! This is what Paul is getting at.
God did not want us living forever in sin, so he actually blessed us with death so that we may be free from this mortal body and be raised in a new, glorious body.
I messaged Barb last week, asking how she was doing, and she said that she’s not doing so well physically, but spiritually, she’s alive and well. I have never met anyone so eager to leave this earth as her. It’s like a child on their way to Disneyland. “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”
In the meantime, the Holy Spirit is there giving life to her spirit as her fleshy body is on its way out. But what about us? Our fleshly bodies are probably going to be around for a while. In the meantime, we too need that spiritual boost, don’t we? Jesus said in John 10:10, one of my favorite verses, 10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Paul wrote this same concept to the church in Corinth.
He said this in 1 Corinthians 6:14: “Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.”
And he said this in 2 Corinthians 4:14: “Knowing that He (God the Father) Who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and will present us with you.”
And if we go back to Romans Chapter 1, at the very beginning, we read in verse 4 in the New Living Translation, “And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit.”
Because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and that he became the punishment of our sins in our place, those of us who have this same spirit within us now have the right to become sons and daughters of God. And as I said in our first sermon on Romans, all it takes is faith. And our faith in Christ will be credited to us as God’s righteousness.
So what are we to do about this? Paul says that we have an obligation. What is that obligation? Verses 12 and 13 say, “12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
In other words, we might be saved through grace, we might receive the power of the Holy Spirit, but as we talked about last week, we cannot go on sinning and living the life we did before. Grace is not a license to sin; and the free gift of salvation is not an excuse to be lazy Christians and take God’s love for granted.
We are now obligated to do something with this gift and this new life that we’ve been given. And the whole rest of The New Testament talks about that in more specific detail, but here Paul says, we are to “put to death” the earthly, worldly, physical, sinful way we used to live; and now live a new life by the Spirit, which gives us life.
John MacArthur explains that “The apostle is not warning genuine believers that they may lose their salvation and be condemned to death…He has already given the absolute assurance that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:1). He is rather saying that a person whose life is characterized by the things of the flesh is not a true Christian and is spiritually dead, no matter what his religious affiliations or activities may be. If he does not come to Christ in true faith, he must die the second death under God’s final judgment.
So, our actions speak louder than words. There are many people out there who say they are Christians, but they make you wonder, don’t they? How can they be Christians and live contrary to the Holy Spirit? I don’t think the Holy Spirit contradicts himself.
The answer is this: they may believe in Christ, but they don’t have the faith that saves them. They believe in God, but they don’t believe the whole Truth of God and have either rejected the saving grace of God and/or the holiness that is required in this passage. You have to accept both.
When we put to death the deeds of the body, we are forcing the sinful flesh to submit to the Spirit. When we are forcing something to do something it doesn’t want to do, it’s a struggle, as Paul talked about in Chapter 7. And unfortunately, it’s a lifelong struggle.
But we can’t do this by our power, we must do it by the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Otherwise, we will become like the Pharisees and we will become hypocrites bound by a law that is too high of a standard for us to obey.
Another Enduring Word quote: Paul tells us that not only are we saved by the work of the Spirit, but we also must walk by the Spirit if we want to grow and pursue holiness in the Lord. We cannot be like some among the Galatians who thought they could begin in the Spirit but then find spiritual perfection through the flesh (Galatians 3:3).
We are, by nature, sinners, and only the grace of God can save us. That grace might be free to us, but it was bought by God at a high price. That purchase of us bought us from Satan’s field to God’s. Now that we are God’s and work in His field, our master requires us to live differently and to work differently. We are to fully do away with our old self, even to the point of considering our old self as dead. Now, our lives are to reflect our master’s standard, though it is impossible to reach.
John MacArthur cautions us – “As one Christian to another, let me warn you that you will be frustrated by your inability to experience the holiness you crave. That is the inevitable experience of every true child of God. In your flesh you will never achieve the level of holiness you want. But press on! Persevere in your faith, and your perseverance will set you apart as a member of the family of God and you will experience what it is to really live in Christ.”
I’d have to say, that’s a hallmark of the Christian life––getting to a point where you realize you’re not satisfied, and are never fully satisfied living the standard that you are in. There’s a step-by-step process on this journey. The further we go, the farther we are from our old selves, yet never at the destination point where we want to be. That’s called death.
Paul, speaking to the Philippian church said this: 13 I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.
15 So let those [of us] who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have already attained and walk and order our lives by that.
So no one is fully there, all the way there. At least no one who is alive on this earth.
C.S. Lewis said that, “It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us; it is the very sign of His presence.”
I wouldn’t say that you should be afraid when you see sin in your life; you should be afraid when you don’t. You shouldn’t be afraid when you feel uncomfortable in your holiness, you should be afraid when you are comfortable. I think one of Satan’s tricks is to get us thinking the opposite, because he knows that it’s natural for us to think that we should be comfortable in our holiness and our walk with God.
We should never be completely satisfied with our walk with Christ. We should never sit down on the side of the road and say, “I think I’m comfortable staying right here.” And you know what, Jesus will let you. He may try and persuade you to come along, but he’ll honor you enough to let you be, if that’s what you want. I’ve known people like that.
Let’s not allow ourselves to be like that. Let’s make it a priority to–even if we do sit down on the side of the road, realize we have done so and say, “wait a minute,” and be like Bilbo Baggins and run along the path saying, “wait for me, I’m going on an adventure!”
Let’s make our journey with Christ an adventure.
Prayer: Lord, I pray that you would be with us as we seek a closer relationship with you. Maybe we’ve put off fighting for righteousness, either because we’ve become complacent or we just need a break from fighting. Lord, I pray that you would draw us to a deeper level of living in your righteousness.
I pray that you would help us use the power of your Holy Spirit that is within us to put to death the old flesh and help us; give us the power to live by the Spirit. Lord, I pray this in everyday situations. I pray that we will be drawn closer to you every day. May we be reminded of your Spirit that is alive and active and willing to help us in living the new life that you want us to live.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Featured Image by Eduardo Domingos from Pixabay
Comments are closed.