All right, well this morning is the first Sunday of May and so we want to spend some time reflecting on the gospel, on the good news of Jesus.
So we're going to push off 2 Timothy and our journey through that till next Sunday.
And we're going to spend some time looking at another passage of scripture this morning.
We're looking in the New Testament letter of Romans.
This is what we're working through as adults in Sunday school, just before the service every Sunday.
And we've already covered this passage here in Romans chapter 8, but I thought that it was worth spending a little bit more time on it and just drinking in the good news of Jesus.
In case you're wondering, what we're about to read in Romans was written a good while before Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy.
It was written before Paul even ever made it to Rome, before his first imprisonment, before his second imprisonment.
And Paul's entire goal in the book of Romans is just to set forth the gospel, the good news of Jesus, so that the people there in Rome can understand it and live in accordance with it.
And he does it in a unique kind of way.
He doesn't tell the story of what happened with Jesus like all the events in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
And those people already know.
And so it's more of an explanation of what's the significance of it.
What has Jesus accomplished through his life and death and resurrection?
And we're just kind of parachuting today right into Romans chapter 8.
But up until this point in the letter, Paul has already covered a lot of ground.
In the first three chapters of Romans, he's made the case that all people stand guilty before God because of our sins against him.
He's made the case that it doesn't matter whether you're a Jew or a Gentile.
We've all sinned.
None of us is righteous in God's sight.
We're all deserving of justice from God, punishment from God.
But the good news of Jesus that Paul's been explaining is that there is a way to be made right with God again.
There is a way to be spared and saved from that punishment.
And it comes through Jesus and what he has done.
And he goes on at length to explain that.
We'll get to hear more of that in just a moment here.
One of the big challenges that Paul addresses here in the church in Rome is the mixture of Jewish and Gentile Christians.
And I'm not going to press too far into this, but the Jewish people tended to view a good relationship with God as something that you had to earn by keeping the law,
by keeping the commands that God had given through Moses.
That's those first books of the Bible.
They saw that as the standard of living by which they could attain righteousness in the sight of God.
And this, of course, was just not true.
And Paul has been laboring throughout this letter to the Romans to make this clear.
Just one quick statement where he makes it clear.
Romans chapter 9, verse 31.
He says there,
The people of Israel who pursued the law as the way of righteousness have not attained their goal.
Why not?
Because they pursued it not by faith, but as if it were by works.
You cannot be made right with God by keeping the law, by keeping commandments.
We've already fallen short of that.
And as we'll see, the law does not even have the ability.
It doesn't give us the power that we need to live up to its demands.
And we'll see that in a moment here.
In chapter 7, Paul has got quite the discussion of this.
He talks about how the law is good, but how there's something going on inside of us that is not good.
Which makes the law almost like fatal to us.
And we'll see that in a moment.
But there's good news, says Paul.
And let's hear what he has to say to us in Romans chapter 8, verse 1.
Paul says,
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law was powerless to do, because it was weakened by the flesh,
God did by sending his son, his own son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, to be a sin offering.
And so he condemned sin in the flesh 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.
These are some of the most precious words in the Bible.
Paul's main point, God's main point through the apostle is simply this.
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
This is a place to pause.
This is a place to reflect deeply.
There is now no being condemned for those who are in Christ Jesus.
There is now no getting what we deserve for our sins for those who are in Christ Jesus.
There is now no death and hell as our final ultimate end for those who are in Christ Jesus.
There is now no punishment from God for those who are in Christ Jesus.
God is telling us that there is a remedy.
There is a way to be saved.
There is a way to be spared what we deserve.
There is a way to have our status with him changed from condemned to not condemned.
Who does this apply to?
Paul says it applies to those who are in Christ Jesus.
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Now you might be wondering, what does that mean?
What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus?
It's kind of a weird way of saying things.
What does it mean to be in a person?
Listen, Paul uses this phrase a lot in his letters.
And we're not going to go all over the place and see how he uses it without getting to all those passages.
To be in Christ Jesus refers to us being united to Christ Jesus.
It refers to a spiritual reality in which Jesus Christ lives in us by his spirit joining us to himself so that we are one with him.
So much so that it could be rightly said that we are in him just as he is in us.
And this is certainly not an easy thing to explain or to describe or to understand.
But this is the reality for those who are born again of God's spirit.
When we repent, when we believe in Jesus, we are born again of the spirit.
We are then united by Jesus through the spirit of God to him.
And if this has become the reality for you, says Paul, then there is now no condemnation for you.
You will not be condemned.
The punishment you deserve is no longer coming to you.
And the next three verses here is Paul explaining how that works and why.
Let's see this starting in verse 2.
He says,
In this verse alone, verse 2, there's two laws.
There's the law of the spirit.
And there's the law of sin and death.
And then if we go to the next verse, there's another law.
It's the law of Moses, the commandments.
But we'll get there in a minute.
Let's look at these first two laws that are mentioned.
The law of the spirit.
And the law of sin and death.
You could argue that the law of sin and death are two distinct laws.
But probably we can think of sin and death as together kind of making up one law.
Because they're very closely related, as we'll see in a moment.
It's important to notice here that Paul is not referring to a specific written law when he says the law of the spirit.
Or the law of sin.
The law of death.
He's talking about a binding principle.
A binding set of principles that always applies consistently and has no exceptions.
Think of the law of gravity.
So let's consider these two laws.
First, what is the law of sin and death?
Well, Paul has just introduced these ideas in the preceding chapter.
In chapter 7.
Let's just go back up and look at that for a moment.
And I'll read it for you.
Look back up to verse 14 of chapter 7.
This is Paul writing.
He says,
We know that the law, that's the law of Moses, the commandments, is spiritual.
But I am unspiritual.
Sold as a slave to sin.
I do not understand what I do.
For what I want to do, I do not do.
But what I hate, I do.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me.
That is in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good.
But I cannot carry it out.
For I do not do the good I want to do.
But the evil I do not want to do.
This I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
And here it is.
So I find this law at work, he says.
Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being, I delight in God's law.
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.
What a wretched man I am.
Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
Now I know there is a lot there.
We could do probably a whole series of sermons right through that passage.
But did you catch Paul's statement about how there is a law at work within us?
It is a consistent binding principle that has us enslaved.
Where even though we know what is good, even though we know what is right, we do the opposite.
We have this gravity within us towards sin.
Away from obedience to God.
And it is powerful.
By this bent within us, we all sin just like Paul describes.
We all do the things that we know are wrong.
And we all fail to do the things we know are right.
This is the law of sin that Paul is talking about.
What is the law of sin?
It is the reality that we are inwardly bound to do that which makes us liable to judgment.
And the punishment for our sins is death.
And so the law of sin at work within us, it inevitably leads us toward that law of death.
That those who break the law will face the punishment that God has decreed for it, which is death.
But now, God has made a way for us to have no condemnation.
And how does it work?
He says,
It's the law of the Spirit.
And the Spirit of God gives life, he says.
Yes, we are hopelessly bound by the law of sin that's at work within us.
And therefore deserve the punishment of death.
But there's a counteracting law by which we can be set free from that.
And it's the law of God's Spirit.
God's Spirit who gives life.
And now Paul is going to explain what that even means.
What is this law of the Spirit?
How does it work?
How does it take away the condemnation that we deserve for our sins?
Well, let's keep going.
Verse 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 God condemns sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us.
So Paul now introduces us to this third law.
He's back to talking about the Old Testament law, the commands that were given through Moses.
All those centuries ago, God gave his law through Moses.
And Paul says here very clearly that the law given through Moses by God,
it was powerless to do something for us.
And we kind of have to skim down to the end of verse 4 to see what it was powerless to do for us.
You can see it there at the end in verse 4.
However, the law was powerless to make us meet its righteous demands.
Its righteous requirements.
So think of the Ten Commandments.
Just pick a commandment.
You shall not bear false witness.
Okay?
So don't...
You shall not lie.
Well, that does two things.
It describes for us what the standard of righteousness is.
Righteousness is never lying.
It's never bearing false witness, especially in a court of law.
And it's not just a description of what's right and wrong.
It's a commandment.
It's actually God telling us, you shall not do this.
You must not do this.
So he's calling us in the command to obey it.
But just calling us to obey it, there's no power in that to help us obey it.
And the reason why is because we have this law of sin at work within us that Paul has been talking about.
So he refers to it again here when he says,
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh.
So there's a bit of a metaphor in there.
It's not that the law somehow got weaker.
It's that its ability to produce the change in us that should have happened,
it was handcuffed, it was tied because there was this law of sin at work within us.
This propensity to disobey, to rebel, to go our own way.
And so he says,
What the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh.
And here's the good news.
God did.
So what the law couldn't do,
it could not give us a right standing with God.
It couldn't get us to meet its demands.
It couldn't make us righteous.
So God did that.
He made that happen for us.
How?
It says he did it by sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh
to be a sin offering.
He sent his son from heaven
into our world
to become one of us,
to become like us.
And we have to read this carefully here.
It's not saying that he became a sinner like we're a sinner.
It's saying that he took on the likeness of sinful flesh.
We're the sinful flesh.
He took on the likeness of us
in that he became human.
He became a man.
He became one of us.
Not only that,
but he became one of us
to be a sin offering.
Some translations say,
and for sin.
And good translators recognize that phrase
that points back to the Old Testament
that was used in the sacrificial laws,
giving sacrifices,
offering them up to God for sin.
That's the same language here.
What God did by sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh
to be a sin offering,
a sacrifice for us.
This is what the sacrifices
in the Old Testament law all pointed to.
They pointed to this reality
that God is just
and that sin must be punished.
In God's mercy,
for a long time,
he permitted the Israelites
to bring an animal
and sacrifice it
instead of themselves
having to die
for the sins that they had committed.
And that innocent animal
functioned as like a substitute.
It was like a stand-in.
It got what the man who brought it
truly deserved
for his sin.
That was provisional.
That was for a time.
All along it was pointing forward
to this day
when God would send
his own son
to be that sin offering
for us.
To stand in our place
and get what we deserved
for our sins
upon himself.
Listen to how Paul explains
the final details
of how this worked
in the case of Jesus.
Jesus.
And so God
condemned
sin
in the flesh
in order that
the righteous requirement
of the law
might be fully met
in us.
These words
are some of the most
amazing words.
And so God
condemned
sin
in the flesh.
What is Paul saying?
God did
condemn sin.
He didn't leave it
forever unpunished.
He did condemn sin.
He did punish
human sin.
He punished
a man
with flesh
like we have
for the sins
of humanity.
He condemned
our sins
in his
son's
flesh.
why?
In order
that the
righteous
requirement
of the law
might be
fully met
in us.
As we've
said,
the law
requires
punishment
for sin.
It requires
death.
And so God
gave the
punishment
that our
sins deserve
to his
son.
Who,
by the way,
was willing
to take that
upon himself.
It wasn't
a forced
thing.
God gave
the punishment
that our
sins deserve
to his
son so
that the
law would
be upheld.
So that
justice would
be done.
And so
Jesus,
the sinless,
spotless
lamb of
God,
received the
punishment we
deserve for
our sins
on himself
so that we
could be set
free
from what
we deserve.
deserve.
So that
God would
not have
to give
us what
we deserve
according to
his righteous
law.
One of the
amazing things
about this
truth is that
this was
God's plan
all along.
Hundreds of
years before
this,
this is what
God spoke
through the
prophet Isaiah
in Isaiah
chapter 53
verse 4.
Surely
he took
up our
pain
and bore
our
suffering
yet we
considered him
punished by
God,
stricken by
him and
afflicted.
But he
was pierced
for our
transgressions.
He was
crushed
for our
iniquities.
The punishment
that brought
us peace
was upon
him.
And by
his wounds
we are
healed.
We all
like sheep
have gone
astray.
Each of us
has turned
to our own
way and the
Lord has
laid on him
the iniquity
of us all.
That's what
the Lord
declared hundreds
of years before
this moment
when Jesus
came.
God
condemned
our sin
in Jesus
flesh.
He
satisfied the
just demands
of his
righteous law
for our
transgressions
in Jesus
death,
in Jesus
body
on the
cross.
And so
let's just
trace this
quickly back
up to the
main point.
if God
has already
condemned
our sins
in the
flesh
of Jesus
in the
death of
Jesus
is there
any
condemnation
now left
for us
who are
in
Christ
Jesus?
Jesus
think about
this.
In our
justice
system
today
every
crime
has its
punishment
or at
least
it
should
and a
good
justice
system
is one
in which
the
punishment
fits
the
crime
where you
only get
what you
deserve
no more
no less.
justice
means that
the criminal
the law
breaker
gets only
what he
deserves
no more
and no less.
So God
has sent
his son
and it
says that
he has
condemned
our sins
in his
flesh
and so
then is
there any
punishment
left
for us
who have
been united
with Christ?
No.
None.
There is
no condemnation
anymore
this is
Paul's
point
for all
who are
in
Jesus
who are
united
with Christ
the sentence
for our
sins
has already
been served
the penalty
paid
the suffering
that we
deserve
the punishment
it's already
been meted
out
and therefore
the law
of God
no longer
condemns us
it no longer
has
authority
or power
over our
lives
over our
future
over our
final destiny
this union
with Christ
that we now
have
by God's
spirit
becomes the
new controlling
reality in
our lives
it sets us
free from
that old
law
of sin
and death
as Paul said
back up in
verse
two
let me say
it another
way
God's
spirit
joins us
to Jesus
himself
making us
one with
him
and if we
are truly
one with
him
then in
him
and through
him
our
sentence
has already
been served
the condemnation
we deserve
it's already
been done
once and for
all at the
cross
which leaves
us no longer
liable to
punishment
of any
kind
from God
the power
of the law
of sin
and the law
of death
is broken
let's just
quickly glance
back up to
chapter 7
where we left
Paul a moment
ago
he said
what a
wretched man
I am
who will
rescue me
from this
body of
that is
subject to
death
thanks be
to God
who delivers
me
through
Jesus
Christ
our
Lord
this is
amazing
this is
wonderful
and what
we notice
here is
that we
did nothing
we did
nothing
to get
this
to deserve
this
to earn
it
I mean
you look
back over
these few
verses
here
in chapter
8
verse 1
to 4
and you
look back
over those
few verses
in chapter
7 leading
up to it
what did
we do
to save
ourselves
nothing
we were
prisoners
it says
we were
like slaves
we were
guilty
we deserve
death
and God's
commands
his law
only helped
us to see
more of how
true that
is
we did
nothing to
fix this
for ourselves
God
did
what the
law
couldn't
do
for us
God
did
what we
couldn't
do
for
ourselves
out of
his own
compassionate
grace
and kindness
he sent
his son
to be the
sin offering
that we
needed
out of
his own
love
and power
he joined
us to
Christ
by his
spirit
so that
what Christ
did
on that
cross
would apply
to us
we
contributed
nothing
all we
do to
receive
this
amazing
gift
is
to
humbly
admit
to God
that we
have
blown
it
we
have
sinned
against
him
that
we're
powerless
that we
deserve
to be
punished
we admit
that to
God
and we
cast
ourselves
on his
mercy
asking
for his
forgiveness
and trusting
that he
will save
us as he
has said
and promised
and he
does
and so
back to
the most
important
question
are you
in
Christ
Jesus
this is
the most
important
question
no
condemnation
is for
those
who are
in
Christ
Jesus
are you
in
Christ
Jesus
all of
these
wonderful
things
Paul talks
about
here
and
throughout
the rest
of the
scripture
being
raised
to
life
someday
after
we
die
is
only
for
those
who
are
in
Christ
Jesus
being
adopted
into
God's
family
as
children
and
heirs
of this
wonderful
inheritance
that he
has
promised
his
eternal
kingdom
it's
only
for
those
who
are
in
Christ
Jesus
are
you
in
Christ
Jesus
or
are
you
still
a
slave
and
a
prisoner
with
God's
dreadful
words
of
punishment
hanging
over
you
if
you
haven't
done
it
I
want
to
urge
you
today
humble
yourself
before
him
admit
that
you're
a
sinner
ask
for
his
forgiveness
believe
be
saved
and
be
joined
to
Christ
and
be
set
free
forever
from
that
law
of
sin
and
death
as
we
come
to
the
Lord's
table
this
is
what
the
Lord's
table
is
meant
to
point
us
to
the
night
Jesus
was
betrayed
before
that
he
sat
down
with
his
disciples
and
he
broke
bread
and
he
passed
it
around
the
table
he
said
this
is
my
body
which
is
for
you
do
this
in
remembrance
of
me
in
a
similar
fashion
he
took
his
own
cup
with
the
fruit
of
the
vine
in
it
grape
juice
wine
passed
it
around
and
he
encouraged
them
all
to
drink
of
it
he
said
this
is
my
blood
of
the
covenant
which
is
poured
out
for
you
for
the
forgiveness
of
do
this
in
remembrance
of
me
what
was
Jesus
saying
in
all
that
he
was
saying
that
God
is
about
to
condemn
your
sins
in
my
body
in
my
flesh
my
blood
is
about
to
be
shed
to
atone
for
your
sins
and
they
watched
as it
happened
the
next
day
an
amazing
gift
of
love
that's
what
we
reflect
on
as
we
come
to
this
table
each
month
as
we
partake
of
the
bread
and
the
cup
if
you
are
in
Christ
I
invite
you
to
partake
with
us
as
we
remember
as
we
reflect
on
this
awesome
gift
if
not
please
refrain
we're
going to
wait
until
everybody
has
been
served
and
then
we'll
partake
all
together
in
unison
so
in
just
a
moment
I'll
invite
and
if
you
don't
want
to
participate
feel
free
to
just
signal
with
your
hand
and
they
will
pass
you
by
so
let's
go
to
prayer
and
let's
reflect
now
mood
into
or
need
to
take
okay
everyone
could
as
can
said
Oh
in
I
can
fly
to
I
can
get
big
I
we
can
go
Amen.
Father in heaven, we say thank you that you have done what must have been horrible in your own heart to do in one sense,
that you condemned your own son.
And caused him to suffer and punish him for us.
Thank you that you have put him forward, the sacrifice that we needed, so that we could be saved, so that we could be forgiven, so that we could have life.
How can we express our gratitude?
How can we express our love?
We give you praise.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.