WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Where is the worst place to be when disaster strikes? 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.000 ! I think many of us try to plan and prepare for that day. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.000 ! We make preparations. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:17.000 I want to remind us of a story, one that we probably have long since forgotten. 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:30.000 It's the story of Harrison Okene. He's a Nigerian guy. In 2013, he found himself in a disaster. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.000 He was unprepared. He was in the bathroom. 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:41.000 The disaster that he faced was he was working on a ship, a tugboat. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:54.000 He was working as a ship's cook. And an errant wave came and washed the tugboat and it fell over and it sank to the bottom of the ocean. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:06.000 And Harrison, trapped in the bathroom, who dreamed of one day owning a house on the ocean, was trapped at the bottom of that ocean. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:13.000 As the ship settled beneath the ocean surface, a hundred feet below, it settled on the ocean's floor. 00:01:13.000 --> 00:01:19.000 And as he groped his way to the door to try to get out of this tugboat, it was locked. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:23.000 And so he swam and made his way back to an air pocket. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.000 Not in the bathroom, but a small other office. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:32.000 And there he was for three days, trapped at the bottom of the ocean. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.000 He survived on only sardines and a can of Coke. 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 He got desperate. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:41.000 He was running out of air, but he sat waiting. 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.000 He tried again and again to go open the door. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:47.000 He tried to save himself, but he couldn't do anything. 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.000 The door was jammed shut. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:57.000 Eventually, he came to the end of himself and just sat and waited. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:02.000 Air slowly going out of that small air pocket. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Survival was unbelievable that he survived three days. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:10.000 Rescue, of course not. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:12.000 He's at the bottom of the ocean. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.000 It was unlikely. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.000 He was lost without hope. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:18.000 Waiting. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.000 Helpless. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:21.000 Helpless. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:26.000 That feeling of helplessness is one that we are familiar with. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:28.000 Maybe not at the bottom of the ocean. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.000 Maybe not trapped under a car. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:33.000 I guess most of us have not been trapped on a desert island. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.000 Or found ourselves in a shipwreck. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 Or trapped at the bottom of the ocean like Harrison. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:45.000 But all of us, like Paul, have felt that sense of helplessness. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.000 Not when it comes to being at the bottom of the ocean. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:51.000 But when it comes to our own sin. 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:55.000 We think to ourselves, I am wrestling with this. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.000 I don't know what to do. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:04.000 The struggle between sin, the battle that we have between the spirit as Christians. 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:07.000 And doing what we don't want to do. 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:10.000 Because we're not yet in glory. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.000 Because we still have sin. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:15.000 And we feel helpless. 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:16.000 We feel trapped. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.000 We feel like we're running out of air. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:22.000 We're like Paul at the end of chapter 7. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.000 As we march our way through Romans. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.000 If you were with us last week. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.000 Romans 7, the end of it. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:30.000 Paul is undone. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:31.000 And he cries out, 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:33.000 Oh wretched man that I am. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:34.000 He's helpless. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:35.000 He needs a rescuer. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:39.000 Not in the form of a salvage diver that rescues Harrison. 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:41.000 But he needs something more. 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:44.000 He needs rescue from his own sin. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:49.000 And all of us are like that. 00:03:49.000 --> 00:03:52.000 Stranded and exhausted. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:57.000 And we're all like Paul. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:59.000 Feeling that sense of hopelessness. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:03.000 If we're fighting against sin and we want victory. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:06.000 But it's not yet come finally and fully. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:09.000 We can identify with Harrison. 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:14.000 And we know from this text this morning that we all battle against sin. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:16.000 That's how Romans 7 ends. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.000 But here in Romans 8, there is rescue. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:21.000 There is hope. 00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:25.000 There's not the sense of sinking. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.000 There's not frustration of knowing what is right and not doing it. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.000 There's not discouragement. 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:32.000 There's not discouragement. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000 Because we've not yet beat that sin. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.000 That continually drags us down. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:41.000 Again and again. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:46.000 But there's rescue in the spirit. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.000 Freedom in the spirit. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.000 That we're united with Christ. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.000 There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:57.000 As Paul reminds us. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:58.000 As we heard earlier. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:01.000 That blessed promise. 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.000 That's the focus of what Paul's talking about. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:06.000 Because he's felt this sense of hopelessness. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:09.000 And now there's this sense of deliverance. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.000 We have in Romans chapter 8. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.000 Trying and failing. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:16.000 And if you're a Christian this morning. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:17.000 You know that battle. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:23.000 And the answer to that battle is in this text as we mentioned. 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.000 The spirit sets us free in Christ Jesus. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.000 Free from the law. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.000 Free through the flesh. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.000 And then free to fulfill the law. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:35.000 We'll talk about that at the very end. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:37.000 Seems like a contradiction. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.000 First, free from the law. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:40.000 That's really obvious. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:42.000 There's in verse 1. 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:45.000 He says there's no condemnation. 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:48.000 Therefore, there is now no condemnation. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.000 He's linking it back to what we talked about last week in chapter 7. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:06:01.000 He's very clearly connecting to that struggle that he articulated. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:03.000 That we know as Christians. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:07.000 That it's a war with our flesh over and over again. 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.000 Fighting and winning. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.000 Sometimes fighting and losing. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.000 He describes it as a war. 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:17.000 He describes it as being in bondage and slave to sin. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:22.000 And Paul comes to the end of himself and cries out. 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:26.000 It should point us in this fight against sin. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.000 That there is a struggle. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.000 But yes. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.000 There is punishment for sin. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:34.000 But the Christian. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.000 As Paul reminds us in verse 1. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:40.000 There is now no condemnation. 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.000 That seems really wordy. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:46.000 He's saying that if you have faith in Jesus, you're justified. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.000 Condemnation means there's punishment. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:49.000 There's a guilt. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.000 There's a verdict against you. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:54.000 But he's saying that doesn't exist anymore. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.000 Because you've been justified by Christ. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.000 That you're united with him in faith. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.000 And now there is no condemnation. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:07.000 It's the exact opposite of justification. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:09.000 Condemnation. 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:10.000 The guilt. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:11.000 The shame. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:13.000 But they are no more. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:19.000 It's a crowning moment of this build up of this tough sled. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:21.000 Through Romans 7, yes. 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.000 But through Romans in its entirety. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:26.000 Think about how we have marched through. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.000 Romans 1 through 3. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:30.000 Like everybody has sin. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:32.000 And we need a savior. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:39.000 But then there's this glorious promise that has echoes of what we see in Romans 8 and chapter 5. 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:45.000 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:49.000 The connections don't end there. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:55.000 Paul is reiterating this idea of the freedom that's found in knowing Christ. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:59.000 And that's fueled by life in the spirit. 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:03.000 That's what he walks us to in verse 2. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:12.000 For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:18.000 If you remember, the starting point of chapter 7 is something like this. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:27.000 But we are now released from the law, having died to what held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the spirit. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:30.000 And not in the old way of the written code. 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:35.000 Life in the spirit is life in the freedom of Jesus. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.000 And Paul continues that rationale in verse 2. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:47.000 He's pulling forth that contrast between the law of the spirit of life and the law of the spirit of death. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:49.000 Sin and death. 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:54.000 It's not a law in the sense of Moses' word is law or God's word is law. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.000 It's law in the sense of general principle. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:58.000 We saw that last week. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:09.000 And here he's saying the spirit's application of the person and work of Jesus to your lives happens through the spirit. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:16.000 And through that the Christian has been granted freedom from the law of sin and death. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.000 We're freed from that because we're justified. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.000 We're free from that because we have the spirit. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:30.000 So not only is the Christian free from condemnation, guilt, shame, the punishment of sin. 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.000 But instead, the Christian is indwelt by the spirit. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:36.000 The spirit lives inside of us. 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:41.000 So that same power that raised Jesus from the grave now lives inside of us. 00:09:41.000 --> 00:09:48.000 And that's the means by which we fight against sin. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:53.000 The power of the spirit is the controlling principle. 00:09:53.000 --> 00:09:56.000 Not the law of sin and death. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:02.000 If you notice in 7, if you have your Bible and you're reading through it or you've been walking through us. 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:08.000 Paul gets to this point where it seems like he's describing his own experience. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.000 And we can say, yeah, I know that too. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:13.000 I know what it's like to struggle against sin. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:18.000 And he's describing something that we felt and that we've walked through. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:24.000 And here, some of your Bibles, most of us, have a Bible that will say, you. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.000 It changes from him, Paul, to now you. 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:33.000 Now whether it says that explicitly or not, Paul is talking about our common experience. 00:10:33.000 --> 00:10:36.000 That we're all free if we have faith in Jesus. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.000 Free from the law of sin and death. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:41.000 And we should be encouraged in that. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.000 It's not first person anymore. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:45.000 It's not just Paul. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:46.000 It's you as well. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:52.000 Many of you have had this experience. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:58.000 Whether it's at work and you're presenting to your boss and he comes to you and says, oh, that's great. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:01.000 But tell me what it means. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:09.000 Or if you've turned in a paper at school and you've tried to write an essay and your teacher says to you, but what does it all mean? 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.000 Why does that matter? 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:19.000 Or if you're in the military, we teach young soldiers, young officers to give the so what. 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:23.000 Synthesize information and give why it matters. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:24.000 The same is true in preaching. 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.000 We try to do that week after week. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.000 What is the so what of this text? 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:37.000 The so what of chapter seven, the struggle that Paul has against sin is here in verse one and two. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.000 It's here at the beginning of chapter eight. 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:46.000 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:51.000 That's the so what against the battle against sin. 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:56.000 Christian, you are free from the penalty of sin. 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:59.000 It's great news. 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:04.000 If you struggle as a Christian with sin, you might not feel that freedom. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:10.000 You might say, I see what Paul is saying, and I don't feel that freedom at all. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:16.000 In fact, I look at the life of Paul and I think, gosh, that looks like hard work. 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:20.000 That sure sounds burdensome. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.000 But deliverance from sin is one of those parts of union with Christ. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:37.000 That's a concept that we talked about in Romans chapter six, that when we're united with him by faith, we get the benefits of who Jesus is and what he has done. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:42.000 But often we skip too quickly past Jesus himself and think about benefits. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:46.000 We think about salvation or freedom being free from punishment. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.000 Like I don't want to be punished. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.000 Of course not. 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:52.000 We think about the Christian life as fire insurance. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.000 I don't want to burn. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:59.000 But we miss the fact that in the gospel, we get God. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:01.000 We get fellowship with him. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:10.000 And when we're united with Jesus by faith and indwelt with his spirit, I have fellowship with the almighty. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.000 Yes, I get all those benefits and those are great. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:16.000 And those are worthy. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:19.000 But I miss the fact that in the gospel, I get God. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:21.000 I get Christ Jesus. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:25.000 Paul reminds us of this fact later in the New Testament when he says, 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:35.000 Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God. 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:40.000 Romans eight verses one and two remind us of that. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:46.000 They remind us that we get fellowship with God himself. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.000 That's the so what of chapter seven. 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:53.000 That's the so what of what we've read so far in Romans. 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:57.000 In verse one is the crown jewel of this idea. 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:02.000 There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:05.000 Christian, you are free. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:08.000 You are no longer condemned by the law. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:15.000 A Christian is free from the law, but you're also freed by the flesh. 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:16.000 Think about that. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:17.000 That's a curious phrase. 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:19.000 If you look at verse three, you'll see what I mean. 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:28.000 For God has done with the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.000 He condemns sin in the flesh. 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:38.000 This verse is one of the clearest explanations of the tension between the law and sin. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:45.000 The law could grant life, but it can't because it's compromised with sin. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:50.000 The thing could never save because of sin. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:51.000 It brings death. 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:52.000 It brings futility. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:57.000 We know that experience, but God did something outside the law to bring life. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.000 He sent his son. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.000 And that's glorious. 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:05.000 And that reality gives rise to the good news of the gospel. 00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:13.000 The law's inability to grant life is overshadowed by the coming of sending his son in the flesh. 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:18.000 Sending his son to secure our salvation. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:21.000 To give us freedom from the law of sin and death. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:23.000 And he did so in a curious way. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:25.000 He sent him in the flesh. 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:31.000 Now, up until this point, we know that flesh is kind of a code word for sin, for that struggle. 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:36.000 But here, Paul speaks in a way that he doesn't earlier in chapter seven. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:41.000 He says in the flesh, rather the law was weakened by the flesh. 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:44.000 So the law can't grant life because of sin. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:45.000 It's not going to work. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:50.000 But now he sends his son in the likeness of sinful flesh. 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:53.000 His son came in the flesh. 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:55.000 It's a play on words. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:16:00.000 It's a great reversal that the law weakened by flesh no longer can grant life. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:07.000 And now flesh is the means by which the son comes and gives us life. 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:13.000 Him coming fully God and fully man. 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:19.000 Now you might ask, why does it say in the likeness or some, some Bibles might say in the appearance of the flesh. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:27.000 Paul is making the point that he comes in the flesh, but he is without sin. 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:31.000 So it looks like sinful flesh, like you and me are flesh. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:40.000 But instead, it's in its perfected form, without sin, without the stain of sin, without the hint of sin. 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:42.000 But yet he was fully human. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:52.000 It's that great truth we confessed earlier from the Nicene Creed, that he came incarnate for us and for our salvation. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:17:02.000 And so when we hear that, we know that God coming in the flesh in the form of Jesus was with an eye towards the end, towards his death for us. 00:17:02.000 --> 00:17:12.000 It arises in this text as well, but it does so a little more subtly with this phrase for sin. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:25.000 When Paul uses that phrase, he's calling forth all these ideas throughout Leviticus and Isaiah, that sin and the sacrifice for sin is really the reason that Jesus came. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:35.000 And he's pointing back to all those realities and saying, the blood of bulls and goats can never satisfy, but my son is the ultimate sacrifice. 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:40.000 My son came in the flesh to be put to death. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.000 It's kind of unlikely if you think about it. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:52.000 There's one part of Harrison O'Kanee's story that I didn't tell you, that after he went through that, what did he do? 00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:02.000 He became a salvage diver and went under the ocean again and again for the rest of his life and is continuing to do so to this very day. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:07.779 The thing that almost took his life, the thing that scarred him for the rest of his life, 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:16.799 he now does for work. It's his great life's work. It's a reversal of unfathomable 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:24.660 understanding. Why would he go back to the ocean to do that thing? I would never even go in a 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:29.799 swimming pool again. I wouldn't go near the beach. I wouldn't want a house by the ocean. 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:38.460 And he's done all of these things and more. It's the same way with the flesh in which Jesus comes. 00:18:38.919 --> 00:18:47.919 The flesh that causes us to sin is now in perfect form and it's reversed and it gives us life. In 00:18:47.919 --> 00:18:57.720 fact, it is the sacrifice for sin. The same flesh that was weakened or that weakened the power of 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:05.380 the law to save in its perfect form now offers salvation to all who follow after him. That's 00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:12.380 the core message of the gospel. It's unlikely. It's a reversal of epic proportions. That's the truth 00:19:12.380 --> 00:19:18.200 of the gospel. That God gives us his spirit and opens our eyes to the beauty of scripture, 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:25.860 to the beauty of Jesus. So it's no longer silly or fanciful or unbelievable. 00:19:27.019 --> 00:19:32.799 This morning before I came in here, I got a text from, I won't call him a friend, but he's a former 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:39.539 co-worker, a guy who used to mock my Christian faith. When we first met, he said he graduated from 00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:44.880 Virginia Military Institute. And when you graduate from VMI, you get two things. You either get a Bible 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:51.300 or you get another book or you get another book. And he very clearly told me and reminded me when he 00:19:51.300 --> 00:19:59.920 graduated, he got that other book. We had discussions about the gospel over years. I never thought he 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:08.060 would come to faith. He often mocked me for my faith. We had different priorities in life. I had kids. 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:16.440 He wanted his freedom. He wanted to travel the world. That's not a bad thing. But he didn't want 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:25.079 anything to do with God. But by his spirit, he's been working in him. I haven't seen him in three or four 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:34.679 years. But he's come to faith in Jesus. God works in unlikely scenarios and reverses course. The man who so 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:44.740 wanted his freedom has now found freedom in Jesus Christ. God is at work to show all of us the reality 00:20:44.740 --> 00:20:52.279 of his son and how he works to deliver us from the punishment of sin. So if you're here this morning, 00:20:52.380 --> 00:20:58.360 that sounds new or it's a fresh in a new way. I'm glad that you're here, but God is calling you 00:20:58.359 --> 00:21:05.399 to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ for the freedom, not that this world can provide, 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:15.199 but freedom from the law of sin and death that will alienate us from God. Believe in my son who bore 00:21:15.199 --> 00:21:23.399 the punishment for your sin. Come to him. God calls us to freedom, freedom from the law, 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:30.000 freedom secured by Christ, and freedom to fulfill the law. Now wait a sec. I thought you just said we 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.820 were free from the law. I'm saying what Paul is saying. Look with me at verse four. 00:21:37.560 --> 00:21:44.340 In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. The script has been 00:21:44.340 --> 00:21:52.060 flipped as kids say. Paul tells us that we're free from the law, we're freed through flesh, 00:21:52.059 --> 00:21:59.000 and now we're free to fulfill the law. Let's look at this verse slightly out of order. The condition 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:04.779 that changes as at the back half. Those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the 00:22:04.779 --> 00:22:11.740 spirit. There's a status change in the Christian that you're no longer laboring and toiling under the 00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:18.299 law to try to earn your salvation, but instead you're walking according to the spirit. And when that 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:26.740 happens, there's freedom in that. One theologian wrote that the relationship to Jesus is the constant 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:33.700 tenor throughout all of this section. And then when we understand that, we can understand how to relate 00:22:33.700 --> 00:22:45.419 to the law. Has your relationship to Christ changed your view of the law? William Cooper, the hymn writer 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:50.820 that we talked about a little bit last week, he wrote this about that relationship. To see the law by 00:22:50.820 --> 00:23:00.580 Christ fulfilled, to hear his pardoning voice, changes a slave into a child, and duty into choice. The law 00:23:00.580 --> 00:23:09.220 didn't change. The status of the Christian did. Went from under the penalty of sin and death to united by 00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:16.559 faith in Jesus. Now to that beginning part of verse four. Paul writes from this flow of thought. Jesus 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:22.079 condemned sin in the flesh. He made it no more in order that the righteous requirements of the law 00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:28.759 might be fulfilled in us. That status change that we just talked about changes how the Christian relates 00:23:28.759 --> 00:23:34.779 to that. It's the fulfillment of all those Old Testament promises about the gospel. Think of Ezekiel. 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:42.279 I'm going to give you a new heart. I'm going to put a new spirit within you. Those great gospel 00:23:42.279 --> 00:23:49.399 promises point us to this reality. There's something that changes inside of us so that we can have faith 00:23:49.399 --> 00:23:57.379 in Christ, yes, but also our relationship to the law. But what about that righteous requirement part? 00:23:57.619 --> 00:24:04.200 It's kind of a euphemism. Paul uses as a code for this. One of the greatest parts of the greatest 00:24:04.200 --> 00:24:10.559 commandment to love God, yes, but also pointing us back to others. He summarizes like this in Galatians. 00:24:10.700 --> 00:24:16.059 For you were all called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, 00:24:16.640 --> 00:24:23.000 but through love serve one another. For the law is fulfilled in one word. You shall love your neighbor 00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:31.759 as yourself, freed from the law to fulfill it. As Augustine wrote, the Christian is given grace 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:38.579 that the law might be fulfilled. Obedience to the law. Far too often we think about Jesus 00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:44.400 and our life of faith as stumbling through the dark, not knowing what to do now that we've been saved. 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:51.099 But God has given us a roadmap. In fact, he's kind of hardwired it into our faith. He's given us a car 00:24:51.099 --> 00:24:58.079 with a new GPS and the destination in it. It's not like he sets us on a trajectory not knowing which 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:03.679 way is north or south or east or west or how to drive a car at all. He tells us what we're going. 00:25:04.599 --> 00:25:11.159 And that roadmap is the law. It's the law of God. It's the path to holiness. It's the path to joy and 00:25:11.159 --> 00:25:16.339 a fulfilled life. It's not seeking out the world's freedom in all of its experiences. 00:25:16.339 --> 00:25:22.459 It's realizing our status, our relationship to the law has changed. 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:31.859 We don't get salvation through the law. We do it out of joyful obedience because we've been changed 00:25:31.859 --> 00:25:42.379 from a slave into a child. Freed from the law. Freed by the flesh and freed to fulfill the law. 00:25:42.380 --> 00:25:50.740 If you have faith in Jesus, that's your mission. Not standing under the law's demands because those 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:59.560 have been paid by Christ, but instead delighting in that freedom. Delighting in walking by the spirit 00:25:59.560 --> 00:26:04.820 of freedom that's found in Christ Jesus. Paul asked us this morning, will we follow, 00:26:04.819 --> 00:26:13.879 will we live in that freedom? Let's pray. Lord, we're thankful that this day for the freedom that's 00:26:13.879 --> 00:26:19.859 found in knowing Christ. We pray that you might work into our hearts a sense of joyful obedience, 00:26:20.419 --> 00:26:26.179 but more than that, Father, we would see the freedom from the law's demands have been paid by Christ. 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:34.019 Paid by his coming as a man, fully God and fully man, coming in the flesh as we confess this morning. 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:44.339 To die upon a cross, a death that we deserved, but instead he has paid it for us. And Father, 00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:52.259 may we live and walk in holiness, holiness and joyful obedience to your word. And we pray this in Jesus' name. 00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:52.859 Amen.