Father, your Son has just warned us that there's different ways for us to hear your Word.
And Father, we know the devil never misses church.
And so, Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask that he would be silenced and bound this morning in our midst.
And we ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would enter into our lives,
that your Holy Spirit would make us good soil so that as your words enter into our lives,
you will turn our hearts into honest and good hearts,
and that you would use your Word in our life to bear much fruit for your world to your great glory.
And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, I didn't receive the original thing myself directly,
but I became aware of, through an email, of somebody who heard something that our church was doing,
and they basically completely and utterly condemned us.
Well, more me, because you folks, me and a couple of others,
because most of you aren't directly involved with it.
But from the sounds of it, it was a full-scale condemnation of me
and, I guess, a couple of other leaders who were involved in this particular thing.
And, you know, in a sense of being a conversation which condemned me and several others,
it means that charges were made against us,
we were found guilty,
and our judgment was, in a sense, spelled out,
and all in a very, very hostile and emotional type of way,
and not pleasant for the person who had to be the immediate receiver of this.
Why is it that often Christians seem to be so prone to condemn each other?
Like, why is it that we often seem to be so prone to condemn each other?
Because this condemnation came from people who went to another church.
Now, in fact, you know, if you think about it for a second,
I think, and I don't know, we have people here, you know,
praise God from all sorts of different stages in their walk with Jesus,
and maybe there are people here who are just trying to figure out
who this Jesus person is and what Christianity is all about.
But for many people in the world, if they think of Christians,
many people in Canada nowadays,
they think of Christians,
they think of people who are very quick to condemn,
that, in fact, condemnation of others' behavior is part of our DNA.
That would be a very common, I'd say, stereotype of Christians,
but as sometimes happens with stereotypes, there's some truth.
Probably every single one of us here has been the recipient
of great condemnation from other people in the church.
Maybe, hopefully, not this church, but maybe from other Christians.
So the Bible passage that we're going to look at today
has a lot to say about this topic of condemnation.
And, you know, one of the things about condemnation,
just before we get into the text,
it's going to be Romans 8, verse 1,
if you want to sort of try to find it in your Bibles, Romans 8, 1.
But one of the things about condemnation
is that often those of us who are very, very prone
to have a great condemnation of others are blind to it ourselves.
In fact, many of us, by this introduction,
we're probably thinking of times
that we have received this condemnation,
but probably very few of us think of the times,
maybe even just within the last 24 hours,
when we've unleashed condemnation on others.
Like, it's a very curious thing about us
and our human hearts, isn't it?
That we often immediately, when we think of this,
think of the times that we've been the victim.
But we probably rarely think of the times
that we've been the perpetrator of condemnation.
And in fact, not to put too much of a point on it,
the problem of condemning others is a human problem.
It's not a particularly Christian problem.
It's very clear if you read The Citizen or The Post
or other newspapers,
that there seems to regularly be complaints
about how with social media and Twitter and other things
that people who make some odd comment
can be flooded and overwhelmed
with hateful, condemning rhetoric.
And yet, at the same time that people do this,
outside the church,
they often don't realize that they themselves
maybe are filled with condemnation.
Maybe even condemning Christians,
they've passed judgment on you and me,
but they somehow think that they're doing that
is not a sign of condemnation,
it's somehow accurate.
And in other words,
that we can pass condemnation on others
and be blind to the fact that we've done it
and only see ourselves as victims.
Don't you think that's really a human problem?
So the Bible's going to say some real wisdom about this
for those of us who are prone to condemn others
yet see ourselves only as victims.
And yet, at the same time,
we often live with great wounds of condemnation
that have been leveled against us.
So it would be a great help to me
if you open your Bibles
and you turned in your Bibles to Romans 8,
and we're going to begin at verse 1.
Romans 8, verse 1.
And I know it's sort of in the middle of the book,
and it's been, I think, six or seven weeks
since we've looked in Romans.
I'll give you a bit of a background in a moment.
But let's at least start with this stark opening phrase.
In fact, actually, Andrew, could you put it up?
Or Rebecca, could you put it up on the screen?
I'd like you to all read this with me.
Nope, that's Romans 8, 1.
Could you say this with me?
There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
I can't remember how many words it is in the Greek.
Thirteen words in English.
These are very, very, very, very powerful words.
And most of us either forget it in a Christian life
or we, in fact, think it's wrong.
But if you get nothing else out of this sermon
other than to have this stick in your head,
then this is a good thing.
Can you say it with me again?
There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
It's a very, very, very powerful, powerful text.
Now, you'll notice it says
there is therefore now no condemnation.
It's chapter 8, verse 1.
That means there's been seven chapters beforehand.
And I don't expect people to always remember these things.
It's hard enough for me to remember them myself.
But the way the book of Romans is written,
and we're going through the book of Romans,
is that the way the book of Romans is written
is Paul is writing this letter,
which is now considered to be scripture from God, the Bible,
and he wrote it around the year 56 or 57.
So he wrote it about 35 years or so,
25 years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And he's writing it to a group of churches,
a group of Christians in churches
in the capital city of the empire in Rome.
And Paul knows a few of these people,
but he's never actually been to Rome.
So he doesn't know most of the people.
And so in this letter,
he sets up the great themes of the Christian faith,
the great themes of the gospel.
And the way he writes the letter
is in the first six or seven verses,
he gives a very standard,
well, extended form of the standard greeting
in Roman letters,
grace and peace, et cetera, et cetera.
And then he goes and he spends about seven or eight verses,
basically just saying a few things about himself.
You know, I'm sort of finishing up some stuff here.
I've always meant to see you and come and visit you.
And I hope to be going somewhere else.
And on my way to going somewhere else,
I hope to drop in on you.
And then Paul does something
which is a bit unique in the ancient world.
He writes in verses 16 and 17,
he writes what we would now call an abstract
or a praesi of the entire rest of the letter.
Those of you who are still in school
or those of you who remember when you were in school
in academic papers, in journal articles,
there usually is an abstract that goes with it.
And the abstract describes the content of the paper.
In fact, when I was in university,
I had friends who wanted to pad their bibliography.
Basically, they pad their bibliography
by reading a whole pile of abstracts
and then listing it in their bibliography
as if they'd read the entire article,
which I'm not encouraging you folks to do
to pretend you've read articles that you haven't.
But that's how a lot of modern papers are.
And that's how Paul actually writes the book of Romans.
He, in verses 16 and 17,
he sets out a praesi of everything
he's going to talk about for the rest of the letter.
In fact, actually, could you put this up
and why don't we say it together again?
Because this is going to be important.
Romans 1, 18.
There we go.
Can you just say this with me?
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
For in the gospel,
the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith.
As it is written,
the righteous shall live by faith.
And as I'm going to tell you about in a moment,
we're going to see how this fits in.
But Paul then writes,
he tells us that's a whole book
is all going to be an unpacking of this phrase.
And then immediately he goes in verse 18
to try to sell the problem.
Why is it that we need a power of God
to make us right with himself?
And then he describes what Jesus does
upon the cross for us.
And that sort of goes from the last half of chapter 3
up until the end of chapter 6.
He describes the positive and negative aspects
of what Jesus does for us on the cross.
And then in chapter 7,
he talks a little bit about
what it means to be human.
And then he comes to chapter 8, verse 1,
after having talked about all of these things,
and he begins.
Could you put verse 1 up again?
Chapter 8, verse 1.
Could you put that up again, Rebecca?
You're having to really work hard this morning.
Can you say this with me again?
There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Most Christians don't really believe this.
Most of us believe that we're maybe tourists
in this place where there is no condemnation,
but that once we've come to be in Jesus,
that it actually describes the entire rest of our life
that we can never be out of condemnation,
that we are always in a land, in a place, in a realm
where there is now,
there is therefore now no condemnation
if we have put our faith and trust in Jesus.
There might still be people who condemn us,
but God who sees every human heart
and sees us perfectly
and knows everything there is to know about us,
with nothing left over.
And every act of evil,
whether done something that we've done
or every good thing that we should have done
that we didn't do,
which is also wrong,
that every act of evil
is also an act against God
and he is the true judge
who knows us truly and perfectly
and completely and thoroughly.
He knows the times
that we really have done something wrong.
He knows those times
when we've been doing something right,
but while it's technically right,
we've been doing it so we can boast
or for our own glory
or for our own power
or to manipulate people,
which is another day of power.
And he knows every single thing
there is to know about us,
but that when we are in Christ Jesus by faith,
there is no condemnation ever,
ever,
for all eternity.
That's what this text says.
So Paul immediately sort of goes into
a little bit of just going to unpack it.
The rest of chapter 8,
he's going to continue to,
to describe what that means
and the power and the importance of this
in the Christian life.
But if you listen,
he goes,
there is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus,
for the law of the spirit of life
has set you free in Christ Jesus
from the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law,
weakened by the flesh,
could not do
by sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh.
And for sin,
he condemned sin in the flesh
in order that the righteous requirement
of the law might be fulfilled in us
who walk not according to the flesh,
but according to the spirit.
I'm just going to read this again.
Remember that the big point,
the shocking point,
I'm not encouraging people
to get tattoos,
but if you got a tattoo,
maybe 8 verse 1
would be a good thing
to get tattooed
somewhere on your body
so you could read it for yourself.
There is therefore now
no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And then it says,
for the law of the spirit of life
has set you free
in Christ Jesus
from the law of sin and death.
And this version of the Bible
that I'm reading,
it likes to keep
the same Greek word
all the way through a text.
But in the book of Romans,
the word law
actually has different types
of meanings
depending on the context.
And in this particular case,
it doesn't mean
a set of rules
of the Holy Spirit.
What it means
is it means
that there's a type of logic
and power
to the work
of the Holy Spirit.
A type of logic
and power
of the work
of the Holy Spirit
and that this law,
this sort of logic
of how the Holy Spirit works,
this power
of how the Holy Spirit works
is that the Holy Spirit
always works
in such a way
that the Holy Spirit,
even before you are a Christian,
the Holy Spirit
is working in your life
to come,
to try to get you
to come to a place
where you will put
your faith and trust
in the person
and the work of Jesus.
who he is
and what he did
for you on the cross.
And the logic
and the power
of the Holy Spirit
to lead you
to this faith
in Jesus
and what he does
for you on the cross,
it's not just a logic
and a power
that works
until you become
a Christian
and then after
you've given your life
to Jesus,
it has some other plan.
Paul is saying here
that throughout
your entire Christian life,
the logic
and the program
and the power
of the Holy Spirit
will always continually
be bringing you back
to the person of Jesus
and what it is
that he does
for you on the cross.
That that's what
the Holy Spirit's project is,
its first and primary
and recurrent project
in our lives.
And then in verse 3
it says,
for God has done
what the law,
and now here he means law
as a set of perfect rules.
See, he's taking it
for granted
that in what we call
Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy
that that comes from God
and that it's a perfect
set of rules
to prepare people
to understand
their need for Jesus
and how it is
that they are to live
in covenant with God.
And he's saying,
for God has done
what a perfect law
weakened by the flesh
could not do
by sending his own son
in the likeness
of sinful flesh
and for sin
he condemned
sin in the flesh.
Remember I told you
just before the sermon began
I asked you to pray for me
because the book of Romans
is so stretching
and I don't know
if I can even do justice
to it here
but it's something
that can't be
just gulped down.
It keeps demanding us
to pay attention
to the details.
And so what the text
is saying is this.
Okay, here's the thing.
We all know
that knowing better rules
doesn't help you
to live a better life.
I mean, every one of us
knows that maybe
the other night
I passed out to people
in my family
those little tiny bags
of chips.
They'd been on sale
at Costco.
And, you know,
each one of them
you know,
there's a little tiny
I don't know if you've ever seen them.
You get a big box
of small bags
of Doritos
and potato chips
and Cheetos.
And, you know,
some of us just ate one
and some of us ate
way north of one.
And everybody knows
that it's not healthy
to eat way north
of three.
I'm giving you
a little bit of leeway.
You know,
you don't need to have
a big flashing sign
in the living room
that comes up
you know,
or the kitchen.
Eating more than
three bags of Cheetos
in one sitting
is probably not wise
for your waistline
your cholesterol levels
you know,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
We all know that.
We don't need
a flashing light
to tell us that
but it's so easy
to do it, isn't it?
I mean,
many of us know
how we could be
better off financially.
We all know
many of us know
how we could be
better off physically.
Many of us know
how we could be
better off spiritually.
We don't need more laws.
There's something about us
that even when laws
are very, very wise
and rules and advice
is very, very wise
that we just can't keep it.
And Paul has shown earlier
that what the purpose
of these things is
is to try to make us
come to the point
to say one moment
it can't be that religion
and spirituality
has to be about
more and better
and more perfect laws
because there's something
in me
that just can't
keep these laws.
And unless
God does something
I can't keep
doing these things.
And I can't
leave myself
to fix myself.
And it doesn't matter
if there's
a hundred
or a thousand
or a thousand million
or several billion
people
who are all
exactly like me.
You multiply
people like me.
You just get
more of like me.
And you can't just
unless
God does something
I can't
fix myself
in terms of
my relationship
with him.
I just cannot
unless God
does something.
And so here it says
for God has done
what the law
what perfect laws
weakened by
who we are
the flesh
we could not do it.
And what did he do?
He sent his own son
in the likeness
of sinful flesh
and for sin
he condemned
sin
in the flesh
in order
that the righteous
requirement of the law
might be fulfilled
in us.
And what does this mean?
it means
if you go back
and you read
the gospel of John
later you'll see
that the very very
first time
that Jesus
comes into the story
that it's John
the Baptist
the greatest
and the last
of all the prophets
and he points to
he's with his friends
his disciples
and he points to Jesus
who's walking along
and he says
behold the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
That's how Jesus
is introduced.
Behold the Lamb of God
that guy
right over there
yeah yeah
the guy with the hair
down you know
halfway down his back
yeah I know
he needs a haircut
and the beard
behold the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
And in this text
what it's saying
is that God
sends his son
the second person
of the Trinity
and the second person
of the Trinity
while remaining God
he takes into himself
our human nature
and he comes
and walks amongst us
and he lives
a perfect life.
he's made
of the same stuff
both body and soul
of you and me.
He's made a man.
Likeness here
is a technical
philosophical term.
It doesn't just mean
he appears to look human
it's actually a way of
a technical way
of describing
that he's both
fully human
but at the same time
that he's
it's creating
a little bit
of a distance
from the fact
that he's going to
whether or not
he's going to sin or not.
And so it's saying here
that Jesus comes
and lives a fully human life
and the purpose
of his coming
to earth
is to die
for sin.
Notice that in verse 3
For God has done
what the law
weakened by the flesh
could not do
by sending his own son
in the likeness
of sinful flesh
and for sin.
Some of your versions
there might say
and as a sin offering
and it's
it's what
it's a technical word
and in the Old Testament
for the Jewish people
who are familiar
with this
and all of the pagans
even if they weren't
familiar with the Old Testament
they understood
the nature of sacrifice
and it's a technical language
of a type
of offering
and imagine here
that I have a nice
imagine here
that I have a nice
little lamb
and in the Old Testament
it would require
that there is
a lamb
that's perfect
in terms of
it has no blemishes
and the lamb comes
and there's this offering
where you put your hands
I would put my hands
on the head of the lamb
and then the lamb
would be sacrificed
and would die
and the image
is that in a sense
when I put my hands
on the lamb
all of the things
for which I can be condemned
all of the things
that I've done
that are wrong
all of the right things
that I should have done
that I didn't do
everything that keeps me
far from God
every part of my project
to be like God myself
I in a sense
by touching the lamb's head
that is transferred
from me
to the lamb
and at the same time
there's something else
that goes on
is that as I touch
the lamb's head
and in a sense
I'm giving the lamb
all of the things
that I've done
that are wrong
the lamb's
innocence
is transferred
to me
and so that
when the lamb dies
the lamb dies
bearing the punishment
that I deserve
and I walk away
bearing the innocence
that was the lamb's
and so what the bible
is saying here
it's reminding us
how when Jesus
was introduced
is the lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world
Paul is hoping
that people understood
that sacrifices
are pointers
to something
that only God
that God needs to do
that we can't do
for ourselves
because we have to
keep going
and doing these sacrifices
time and time
and time
and time again
but Paul is saying
what if God
provided the lamb
what if God
provided the lamb
and God
in a sense
is shameless
when I gave
my life to Jesus
when I was in grade 12
I didn't really
understand any of this
all I understood
was that there was
this great
lack
and inadequacy
and
bentness
in me
and that
Jesus would
accept me
and he would
deal with it
that's sort of
all I really
sort of understood
but what the bible
is saying here
is that God
is shameless
when we
in a sense
come to the point
where we realize
that unless God
does something
we
have no real hope
that we need
God to do
what I cannot
do
and only he
can do
that it doesn't
matter about
my rituals
my spirituality
my rules
my membership
I'm going to die
and I'm separate
and distant
from him
and so I reach
out to Jesus
and call for Jesus
and what this text
is saying
is that Jesus
then reaches
down to me
and he
puts his hands
in mine
and when
my hands
go in the hands
of Jesus
and the hands
of Jesus
go in my hands
even though
I don't understand
maybe
that he is
the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world
I am touching
the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world
is touching me
and at that moment
even though
I am not complete
and I am not aware
of it at all
maybe some of you are
but many of us
are not even aware
of it
it is exactly
the same
as if I have
placed my hands
in that image
on the Lamb
and at that moment
that I put my hands
out to Jesus
and he reaches
across that
infinite distance
to put his hands
in mine
and take
his hands
in mine
and my hands
are in his
at that moment
there is
an exchange
and his purity
and innocence
becomes mine
and my
all that
I can be condemned
for
becomes his
and that
Jesus' death
upon the cross
is not just
an act
in history
that happened
once
but because
Jesus
is
God
the Son
of God
it is
an act
that is
always
available
for every
human being
even those
who come
after
and so
it is
and could you
put up the
first point
Rebecca
Jesus
was the Lamb
of God
who takes
away the
sin of the
world
so by
faith in
him
there is
therefore
now
no
condemnation
there is
therefore
now
no
condemnation
if I
preach a
good
sermon
there is
therefore
now
no
condemnation
if I
have done
a really
poor
job
this
morning
there is
therefore
now
no
condemnation
if I
do a
really
good
job
of
resisting
sin
this
week
there is
therefore
now
no
condemnation
If I do a poor job, there is therefore now no condemnation.
If I go through a period of great depression,
in a couple of months, a season of darkness,
there is therefore now no condemnation.
If I go through a season of profound apparent success in ministry,
there is therefore now no condemnation.
No matter what you want to put before or after,
when you put your hands in the hands of Jesus,
and he takes your hands in his,
there is therefore now no condemnation.
Forever.
That is the gospel.
Could you put that up for us?
Could we say it together?
Could you put up verse 8-1?
Could you say it with me?
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So what on earth does this mean in terms of how we live our lives?
In verse 5, which comes after what we've just read,
the Holy Spirit causes Paul to write something which is both
a description of how we live our lives
and a litmus test as to whether or not we've put our hands in the hands of Jesus.
It's a very, very clever type of thing
because, of course, it's easy for some of us to hear this
and take it in a way which really actually doesn't mean that we're calling out to God,
but we're presuming upon God.
Let's read it, and then I'll try to give you an analogy to explain it.
Could you?
We'll read it.
It's verse 5.
In fact, if out of this sermon you only get two things,
if you memorize chapter 8, verse 1 and memorize chapter 8, verse 5,
you've done a good thing.
The rest of chapter 8 is going to try to start to continually unpack verse 5,
but this verse 5 is both a litmus test and also a description.
Here's how it goes.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
And here the word flesh doesn't mean like sex.
You know, often we refer to sins of the flesh,
and we really mean that you drink too much and look at pornography
or do naughty things in that direction.
I'm not saying that drunkenness isn't a sin or that pornography is not a sin.
I'm not saying that.
What I'm just saying is that the devil uses that language to make us blind to our pride,
arrogance, anger, envy, condemnation, hypocrisy, greed, laziness, etc., etc.
We can become completely and utterly blind to all of these other sins
because we can become...
The devil uses it to get us fixated on a couple.
But here the word flesh means basically from an earthly perspective,
from the perspective of just the way that people just generally talk.
And that if our minds are set on this,
the logical consequence will be that it will just continue to get what the earth gets,
which is death.
But if our minds are set on the Holy Spirit,
it will end up leading to life and to peace.
Increasing peace with God, experienced and lived, and increasing life.
And the rest of it's going to work.
It's going to explain a little bit more about what that means.
But what's going on here with the text?
Well, the first thing is...
Could you put up the next point for me, please?
The Bible isn't saying that when we put our hands in the hands of Jesus
that we stop becoming human beings and now live perfect lives.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
As I tried to give it with an illustration,
if it means I perform...
If I, Lord, have mercy upon me,
if I do some horrible act of sin next month,
there is therefore now no condemnation.
If I do some unbelievable act of generosity and spiritual sacrifice
that leads to great glory to God,
well, there is therefore now no condemnation.
The Bible doesn't say that when we put our hands in the hands of Jesus
that Jesus now instantly turns us into something other than a human being.
Chapter 7 has shown that we live in the already-not-yet
with a divided and contradictory self.
We live in the already-not-yet with a divided and contradictory self.
That even before we become a Christian,
the already-not-yet means that Jesus is risen from the dead and he's going to come again.
That's the already-not-yet.
It means other things as well.
And the divided and contradictory self is, as we say,
on one hand, we maybe know that we should lose some weight,
save more money, be more generous.
You can make a whole long list of different things.
Even if you're not a Christian,
you know that there's a whole pile of these things,
but you also know that there's forces within you
that make you want to do the opposite,
and that even after the Holy Spirit,
the logic of the Holy Spirit starts to work in your life,
there's a bringing you to Jesus,
and there's going to be like a type of pressure to walk with Jesus,
but at the same time,
I'm living with a divided and contradictory self,
and I'm going to have a divided and contradictory self
until Jesus comes again.
It's going to be just the way I am.
And that's why when you take these two things together,
it's to deliver us from the play-acting of Christian legalism,
whereby we can pretend that everything is all right and all perfect,
and we're living perfect lives,
all by our own efforts.
And you can also be protected from this tendency to just say,
well, it doesn't matter if I'm doing all of these bad things
because there's therefore now no condemnation.
It's protecting us from this type of legalism
and just dispensing with all human laws.
But I said verse 5,
remember I said verse 5 was like a litmus test.
For those who live according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit
set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
It's possible to hear this,
there is therefore now condemnation,
by just responding
that I can do whatever bad things I want.
And if that is how we respond,
it's a litmus test that we haven't really called out to God
for him to do what we cannot do.
Maybe here's a bit of an illustration.
I have to watch my time.
I've been a minister for quite a few years
and one of the things I've discovered about being a minister
is I can't predict when I do a marriage
whether the marriage will somehow hold
or whether it will break up and divorce.
I've done marriages where I thought this is,
you know, I've even told my wife,
this is a really great young couple.
They really seem to be deeply in love.
They seem to be really keen.
And then a year later,
the marriage is broken up.
I can think of one preeminent marriage that I did.
And this is quite a few years ago
when I was in another city.
And I met this,
the young woman went to my church
and this fellow didn't.
And he was a bouncer at one of the roughest bars
in the entire Ottawa Valley.
Not making up,
a bouncer at one of the roughest,
toughest,
regularly big fights.
He was a bouncer there.
And when we met,
he,
I mean,
he swore and cursed
and used foul language
all the way through our meeting.
I mean,
he was really,
really rough.
And I,
and she was this like
really sweet young thing.
And I,
I went home to Louise
and I said,
wow,
I don't,
I just can't,
I can't understand this.
Like this is,
this is a disaster.
20 some odd years later,
they're still married.
And,
um,
he was completely transformed.
Like when he entered into the marriage vows,
he meant it.
And he,
he stopped being a bouncer.
He set up several businesses.
He became relatively prosperous.
And the foul language
and all of that other stuff,
it all started,
it didn't change overnight,
but there started to be
the,
the importance of the marriage vow
and the importance of that woman
started to change him.
See,
some people
take the marriage vows
as an excuse
that they no longer have to try.
Well,
we're married,
you can't do anything about it,
so I can be just as big a jerk as I want.
And other people,
not,
I mean,
obviously everybody has times
when things are bad,
but the marriage vows
somehow become a means
by which our life starts to change
for the better.
And that's what Paul is saying here.
Because remember,
what the Holy Spirit does,
the logic or the power of the Holy Spirit
is it leads us to a faith in Jesus.
it leads us to this point where we realize that I need God to do what only God can do.
I have come to the end of the Lord,
I have come to the end of my rope.
And you call out to Jesus.
And Jesus reaches down across that infinite space that we cannot bridge ourselves.
And he takes our outstretched hands symbolically.
I mean,
we probably don't maybe necessarily reach our arms out,
but he takes our outstretched hands in his,
and he takes us to himself.
And he has been our sin offering when he died upon the cross.
He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And even though I do not realize it,
when my hands go in his,
all of the condemnation that is due on me
has fallen on him.
And all of his purity and life and innocence
is somehow bestowed upon me.
And there is therefore now no condemnation.
And the Holy Spirit will continually lead us back to the gospel.
And as the Holy Spirit leads us back to the gospel,
and as we become disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel,
the gospel starts to become,
and the other teachings in light of who it is that Jesus is
and what he's done for us on the cross,
it becomes the ground upon which we start to live
and how we understand things.
And the actual gospel itself starts to shape us.
And as the gospel grips us,
and as it grounds us,
and it starts to shape us,
and it starts to nudge us to do things
that we hadn't thought of doing before,
and it draws us to do things
that we hadn't thought of doing before.
And as we think about the fact that
in Jesus there is now therefore no condemnation,
and all of a sudden as that starts to grip us,
we start to realize,
we know maybe I shouldn't condemn others.
As the gospel grips us,
and knowing that Jesus died upon the cross,
and this profound act of generosity,
you know what?
Maybe I should be a bit more generous.
And as we realize that all of the things
that we've done that are wrong have been laid on him,
and his purity and goodness is given upon us,
then all of a sudden,
the shape of maybe living a life
where we forgive others
starts to make some sense,
that we're drawn to that,
that we're nudged by that,
that we're standing in a place
by which we can understand
that maybe forgiveness,
and turning the other cheek,
and being one that swallows evil,
and be the place where the cycle of evil stops,
that maybe that makes sense.
That maybe if God,
through Jesus,
that he,
Jesus sets aside all of his riches,
so to speak,
in heaven to become poor for me,
well, maybe this odd thing of tithing,
maybe that starts to make sense.
Maybe that makes sense.
And so you see,
like in those marriage examples,
it could be that when we hear
what Jesus has done for us on the cross,
we think, oh good,
I can do whatever I want,
which is wrong,
and God's not going to do anything about it.
And all that means is that
we really haven't given our lives to Jesus.
And others of us,
as our minds are set on
what the Holy Spirit's mind is set on,
which is first of all,
Jesus and what he's done for us on the cross,
it starts to free us.
It starts to free us.
And we start to have peace.
Now, some of you might say,
George,
do you know,
I've been a Christian all these years, George,
and do you know what goes through my mind?
Do you know sometimes
the violent and dark thoughts that I have?
Do you know sometimes,
George, I don't know,
I'm not like you,
you look like you think about
all these holy things,
and you read all these books,
and if you just saw the rage I have,
if you just saw how angry I am,
if you just knew the hold that money had on,
if you just know,
if you just knew how I sometimes
can't sleep at night
because I just can't get my mind
off of what that person said to me,
can you put the scripture back up?
You know what I have to say?
Why don't you say it with me?
There is therefore now
no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Say it with me again.
There is therefore now
no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
If you're really, really, really successful
at dealing with all of these things,
there is therefore now
no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
If you're having a real problem
with rage or greed
after you've given your life to Jesus,
there is therefore now
no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus.
the Holy Spirit
is going to keep bringing you back
to that.
I've run out of time in my sermon.
The other points I was going to say,
we can,
it'll be online, but
this verse 5
isn't just saying
that if you don't do it perfectly,
you're not in Christ Jesus.
it's telling you
that whether it's just
every once in a while,
you just realize
that it's,
it's telling us
this bit of a mystery
that setting our minds
on the Spirit is,
I mean, we should call out in God,
we should say,
Father, please make me
a disciple of Jesus
gripped by the gospel
who's living for your glory.
Father,
my mind is completely
and utterly fixated
on this lust,
on this anger,
on this rage,
on this,
on this desire for revenge,
on this wound from the past.
My mind is complete.
Lord,
help me to set my mind
on the things
that the Holy Spirit's mind
has set on.
That the thing is,
it's,
it's not telling us
that unless we keep this perfectly,
we're under condemnation.
everything in the text,
even this thing
to call out for God
to help us
to have our mind
on the thing,
everything in the text
flows from
there is therefore
now no condemnation
for those who are
in Christ Jesus.
It's always about
the power of God.
The Christian life grows
out of humble gratitude.
The Holy Spirit
will lead us
increasingly
not to think
of how profound
we are as spiritual athletes,
but how we are beggars
in need for that
which only God can do.
Please stand.
Bow our heads in prayer.
Father,
if there are any here
who have never put
their hands
in the hands of Jesus,
Father,
silence the devil
from telling them
that they should think
about this more
before they put their hands
in the hands of Jesus
and may your Holy Spirit,
the logic
and the power
of the Holy Spirit
come upon each one
so that they know
there is no time better
than right now
to call out
to the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
To take their hands
in his hands.
And we thank you,
Jesus,
that you know
every single thing
there is to know
about us.
You know everything
about our past.
You know what our life
was like even in the womb.
You know,
Father,
what terrible things
were visited upon us
in the womb.
and you know everything
that happens to us
every moment of our life.
That you know
even the dreams
that we have at night
that we don't remember
when we wake up.
And you know everything
about our future.
You know whether we are
going to live another 70 years
or whether we aren't
going to live
another seven days.
And you know
every single thing,
Father,
about everything
that we've done
and haven't done.
That you know
every single thing
there is to know
about us,
Father.
And we thank you
and praise you
that in Jesus
those are all dealt with.
That he,
Father,
we thank you
that he is the Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
We thank you,
Father,
that there can be
nothing in our future
that catches you
by surprise.
We thank you
that when we put our hands
in the hands of Jesus
that he takes our hands
and that there is
therefore now
no condemnation
for us.
We ask,
Father,
that your Holy Spirit
would move in our lives
to make us disciples
of Jesus,
gripped by the gospel,
learning to live
for your glory,
learning to live
by grace,
learning to live
and be fed
by your grace.
Father,
pour out your Holy Spirit
upon us
and make us disciples
of Jesus,
gripped by the gospel,
who are learning
to live for your glory.
This we ask
in Jesus' name.
Amen.