We turn now for our second Scripture reading. The Scripture reading now is found in Paul's epistle to the Romans and the 8th chapter of Paul's epistle to the Romans. This is the Word of God. Come, let us hear the Word of God. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. but ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh, For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye eat through the Spirit to multiply the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led of the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hopeful? But if we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray, for as we ought, But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called them He also justified, and whom He justified them He also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. May God bless His precious. glorious Word to our souls here this afternoon. Before we come to God's Word, let us bow before Him in His presence and ask for His grace and enabling and help, without which, friends, our time is in vain. Let us seek the Lord. Most gracious God, our Heavenly Father, as we have sung, would Thou reveal Thyself O Lord, we also ask that Thou might reveal Thyself to ourselves, and ourselves, Lord, may we know Thee. May we see ourselves for what we are. Lord, may we see Thee for who Thou art. And Lord, I come once again in all of my weakness as a very frail and feeble man, unable to do anything, Lord, for Thee. unable to even utter a word of any prophet. And so, Lord, I ask that Thou would help me to be all that I need to be for Thy people in this congregation here. Lord, we pray, please bring glory to Thy name. May the preacher, Lord, fade away as it were into the background, and may he not be seen. May Christ be seen in all of His loveliness. May our God be glorified. May He be honoured. We thank Thee for what we have heard. And now, Lord, we come to hear Thy Word. Gracious God, have mercy upon us. Look upon us. Thou art a kind and gracious God, and we beseech Thee, Lord, and ask that Thou would have mercy. Thou hast said in Thy Word that Thou delightest in mercy. Gracious God, we ask for that. Ours is to us. and thine is to give. Thy word says a man may receive nothing unless it be given him of heaven. And our gracious God, we come and we ask. Open, as it were, heaven to us. Take away distracting cares and thoughts from our hearts and minds. May we listen in a way that is worship, with the intent to obey, and not merely to be hearers of thy word and to go away and to be deceived. Oh, may we hear now, Lord, make, we ask, Lord, the deaf hear, the blind see, the dead live. Our gracious God and those of us who have been awakened, may our hearts rejoice in thee. glory in thy name. Amen. The congregation turning your prayerful attention once again to those words that I read in your hearing there in the epistle of Paul to the Romans in the 8th chapter. I direct your attention there this evening to those words that I read to you just a few moments ago in taking for my text this evening, or rather this afternoon, the first verse of this glorious chapter of Paul's epistle. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now, you know, you've probably heard it said before that Romans chapter 8 is viewed as the Mount Everest. of this glorious epistle that the apostle has been inspired to write by the Holy Spirit. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God, dear friends, may be truly furnished unto all good works. And here this is an amazing chapter. It is, we could say, the highest peak among the ranges of the mountains here in this glorious epistle. And it has been beautifully said that Romans chapter 8 begins with no condemnation and it ends with no separation. Now therefore is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. So it begins with that no condemnation and it ends with no separation. Look at the closing verses there. Nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. no condemnation, and no separation. And we must say that sin, has it not, it's brought separation between us and Almighty God, a holy God. The prophet Isaiah reminds us in the prophecy of Isaiah that our sin has separated us from our God, that our iniquities have hid His face from us. Sin separates sinful man from a holy God. He is of pure eyes. We read in His Word, to behold iniquity. God is holy. And sin has made a separation. Job tells us, we read in the Word of God there, that though the sun and the moon have not sinned, they are orbits. They are planets. Yet they blush in his sight. How vile is man who is but a worm, a sinful creature. But those who are in Christ There is no condemnation, no separation. Now let me say a few things by way of introduction this afternoon. While the rest of Romans here, chapter 8, tells us what we have in our union with Christ, and that is what Paul is going to tell us about here, how we have heaven, how we have all these things. We are heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ Jesus. Heaven is ours. All these things are ours. Romans 8 tells us what we have in union with Christ, in Christ. But if you notice the verse 1 here, the verse 1 wonderfully encapsulates what a Christian actually is. What a Christian is. Now not exhaustively, but it does tell us succinctly, doesn't it? This is what a Christian is. Because it contains two major elements with what Paul has been dealing with in previous doctrines since chapter 3, where he's been telling us about the gospel in chapter 1, and then he finally gets to the doctrine of justification in the chapter 3. The first thing it tells us is that we are justified through Jesus Christ. Paul has been dealing with the doctrine of justification. Justification for poor helpless sinners who do not have a righteous standing before God. There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Paul has been dealing firstly with the doctrine of justification. And it is justification by faith, faith upon Christ, what Christ has done. He has made over to His people righteousness. He died for them, shed His blood, and He gives over to them His imputed righteousness. It's a double imputation. He takes the sin of his people and his righteousness, the Lord our righteousness. God says elsewhere in the Scriptures, and their righteousness is of me. God gives to his people a righteousness. But the other doctrine, is that of sanctification. And Paul has been dealing with that since Romans chapter 5 and the verse 21. Before we were in Christ, before we were born again, we were under the reign of sin. Sin reigned in us. But when God saves a man, whether in the Old Testament or even in the New, we're not somehow cut out of a different piece of cloth. But every child of God has the Spirit of God. He's been born again. It was David that cried, Lord, remove not Thy Spirit from me. If we are a Christian, we are indwelt with the Spirit of God and there is that work of sanctification in the life. And so you see Paul in this first verse here of Romans 8, he is bringing together two major doctrines. The doctrine of justification. How is a sinner made right in the presence of a holy God? Well, how does God do it? He declares a sinner legally, forensically righteous. Clean in his sight on the basis of the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The forgiveness of our sins, which is through Jesus Christ. The death of His Son. God spared not. We've read it here. God spared not His only begotten Son. God has many sons, but He only has one begotten Son. And He spared him not, but delivered him up to judgment for us all. How will He not also, along with him, freely give us all things? So there is that justification, but also sanctification. Going back to this justification, look down just at the verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. You see, we cannot be condemned because Christ died for His elect. And if you notice the text there, it's very clear. The elect. There's no condemnation toward the elect because Christ died for the elect. Now secondly, as we have said, Paul has been showing the doctrine of sanctification ever since Romans 5.21. And he stated that the reign of grace has come to that soul who is saved. And therefore we cannot live to sin any longer because the Christian is now indwelled by the Holy Spirit. And he walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And in the Holy Spirit now, we have life. He comes to live in us. Paul said, for me to live is Christ, to walk after Him. It is Christ's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Triune God. We cannot fathom these things. Our finite minds cannot comprehend the infiniteness of the Triune God and how that all works, but we believe it. Because this is what the Word of God declares, that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And He comes to live and to dwell in our hearts. And so here if you notice, again as I say in Romans 8.1, Paul is bringing together these two foundational and fundamental truths together. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. There is justification. There is our standing before God. You see, God declares, dear friends, all men to be unjust. By nature, that's how we are. The psalmist says, God looks down from heaven and he sees that none doeth good. No, there are none that are righteous. All have sinned. And the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So, their justification. And then sanctification, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Here is this person, as we've heard our brother's testimony, how when the Lord saved him and opened up his eyes to see, there was a new principle in his life. There was a desire, there was a hungering, and there was a thirsting now for God's Word. There's a change in the life. A person that has been saved receives not only forgiveness of their sins, but a new life with new desires. Why? Because he is indwelt by the very Spirit of the living God. Now, this afternoon, as God enables, we want to just think for a moment in the first place of the one who has no condemnation now from God. No condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ." In Christ. I read earlier, if you recall from that Gospel of John and the third chapter, as the Lord Jesus Christ meets with this man, this Jewish leader, Nicodemus, by night he comes and he inquires with the Lord and he begins to tell the Lord that He and his people, he says, we believe that he's come from God. The Lord Jesus Christ has come from God and he's a man of God. He's a teacher of God's law. But it's, as we read that chapter, the Lord, it seems, just interrupts him and says to him, Nicodemus, A man cannot see the kingdom of heaven or cannot enter the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again. And then he proceeds to tell him how this new birth comes about. It is all of the sovereign work of Almighty God. It's the new birth. As the wind blows in which direction it will and listeth, even so does the Spirit work. We cannot tell, but we can see. As you can see the wind moving outside, you can't see it, but you can see the effects of it. You can see the leaves moving. You cannot see the wind, but you can see the effects. And so it is. In the life of the Christian, there's an effect. There's the working, there's the proof. And then in that same chapter, The Lord Jesus speaking to this man Nicodemus, He has just given that most well-known verse in the Bible, John 3, 16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life. And then He went on to say, For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. And then He said this, He that believeth on Him, that is on Christ, that is casting yourself upon Him in all that He is, in all His claims, that He is God the Son, the only Savior of the world. The only Savior. He that believeth on Him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already. So this is where we bring this in, there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And the one who believeth not is in a position right now of condemnation, if you are not a Christian. I know this is not a flattering thing to say, but it is fact, and facts are facts. You're in a position of condemnation. You stand as a guilty sinner before Almighty God, and there is condemnation toward you. But he that believeth on him, that person that embraces the Lord in all that he has, all that he is, and all that he says about himself, that person who bows to all the claims that He makes on your life, that person, there is no condemnation to that one. It's a frightening statement though, isn't it, for the one who is condemned. He that believeth not is condemned already. Now we ask, why is that person condemned? Why is that person condemned? Well, because everyone that comes into this world, friend, is a sinner. They are born a sinner. They are shapen in iniquity, as the Word of God puts it, as God declares. As they come into this world, they come forth from the womb speaking lies. Unkind. You do not need to teach your children how to sin. It is something that is inherently in them. Sin. It is their nature. And they are by nature breakers of God's law. Here in Romans 8, 7, but the carnal mind is enmity with God. It is neither subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. The natural mind is at constant enmity with God. It is not subject. By nature, Paul says, we are children of wrath. That's how we come into this world, shaped in iniquity and deserving the righteous judgment of God. We, His creatures in this universe, breathing His air every moment, living unthankfully and unholy the light of nature every day. The things created and formed around us show that there is a God. that man is without excuse. The heavens and the earth declare the glory of God day on today. They utter speech to you, friend. And you know in your heart, you have a conscience that you've sinned. This is why we get ashamed and we're embarrassed. We don't talk about our sin because we know sin is wrong. You can go to the most distant tribe in this world and ask them if it's wrong to steal, to lie, to cheat, to do all those things. They'll tell you yes, because within the heart of man, he has the moral law of God impregnated upon his very soul. Romans 2, 14 and 15 tell us that their conscience is accusing or else excusing them. And so they will not be guiltless on that day of judgment. The moral law stands against every soul, friend. But you know, there are some people that say, well, I don't hate God. I don't hate the Lord. I've never hurt anybody. I've never offended God. Well, that's a lie. The very fact that you have not submitted and obeyed Him and yielded to Him is living proof. The very fact that you have broken His laws ever since you were born. You have dishonored God, as I have. And we have not given Him the honor. What is the chief and greatest commandment? It's to love God with all our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and to love our neighbor. And we have completely failed the law of God. Each and every one of us. We have broken His laws. There are none that are righteous. We have sinned against each other. Why? Because we are in Adam. That's the problem. We, like Adam, have sinned and we have his nature. We've inherited his sin, but we have also inherited his nature. We have a bad heart. That's how we're born into this world, with a bad heart. And we carry a bad record with us throughout our life. And our sins cannot be blotted out. And we cannot make up for our sins and our losses. And God is a holy God and He's a just God. And His law demands justice against sin. We live in a country, do we not, where we believe in justice. If a man commits a crime and is a murderer or is a thief, we say he must go to prison. And we would say that's right. If we didn't say that, we'd say, or if we lived in a country where there were no laws, we would say it's an unjust country. In the same way, God is a just God. But in His love, He sent His Son. He sent His Son to die for poor, helpless sinners who have no chance, no hope of making themselves right before God. God in His mercy purposed to save an immeasurable company of people which no man can number. And that's an amazing thing, isn't it? He, Christ, the last Adam, came into this world to live thirty and three years a perfect life. He put himself under the law. Paul says in Galatians 4, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, made under the law. He came into this world, put himself under the law, earned a righteousness for his people as the second Adam. And then at the end of his life, he laid down his life, the Bible says, for his sheep. He took their place. What an amazing act of love. Christ and his love came for those who had broken God's laws and lived for them as a man. And then God spared not his only son. They're on that cross at Calvary. Paul says in Galatians, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Remember how Christ told His disciples many times that He would go to Calvary. And His love, He bore all their sins. that punishment. And so, as he cried, it is finished. The earth, which was dark for some three hours, had the light of heaven again. As it were, God was shrouding this world. Blackness and darkness. And our Savior cried, it is finished. For three lone hours I cannot explain it, how God was punishing His Son for all of our sins that deserve an eternity of wrath. He bore them in those three lone hours. and suffered in our place. And therefore now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And if you were to question the statement, go back to the verse 33 of our chapter. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? And what is the expected? What is the employed? Answer, nothing. Why? Because he says it is God that justifies. It is God that makes a man right. It is God that came into this world, that suffered and died for sinners. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. He was condemned. In my place He stood condemned. We know that hymn, Alas, and did my Saviour bleed? And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree. And now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. You know, there are some things, friends, God cannot do. He cannot lie. He cannot sin. He cannot leave sin unpunished. That's why Christ was condemned. That's why He was put to death. He is a just God. But you know what God cannot do? He cannot punish for sins twice. He can't do it. Because that would make Him an unjust God. That would make Him an unrighteous God. And God cannot send His people to hell who He died for. There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ that died. And God the Father was satisfied with that atoning work. And the proof of it is His resurrection. He was raised, as Paul says in the fourth chapter of Romans, for our justification. Because God was pleased with that sacrifice of His Son. He who knew no sin. The grave, we're told, could not hold in Him. Because He was without sin. He was holy, harmless, undefiled all of His life. And in love He gave His life. For here Paul says He's elect. Who there can be no condemnation to. because He has borne their sin, suffered in their place. But moreover, you know what, Calvary was not just an atoning work, friends. It was a purchasing work. There at Calvary on the cross, there was a real redemption that was made. It was a purchasing work. Think of the Apostle Paul's words in Acts 20 and the verse 28. when he is speaking to the elders there at Miletus, the Ephesian elders, and he's bidding them farewell, and he knows he's never going to see them again. For the Lord has revealed to him that soon his life shall be cut off. And he says this to the elders, Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God. Now notice this. which he hath purchased with his own blood. The church, my friend, was purchased. Whoever is in Christ was purchased. God paid with the currency of the blood of his Son. A real purchase. And when you buy something, nothing will take it away. Or nobody can take it away from you. And we are given as a gift to the Father. When Christ died, He purchased His people. And now nothing can separate them from the love of God. It was a gift, but the Son had to pay. paid with His own blood. Those who are in Christ Jesus. Here is what the Puritans call the mystical union. How is it that we're in Christ? Well, when Christ died, they died in Him and He with them. It's an amazing thing, but you know, when He was buried too, they were buried with Him. And they rise with Him. And this is what Paul teaches in Romans 6 about baptism. He says we're buried with Him in baptism. Baptism, of course, is a symbol of what Christ does for His people. Just as the Lord's Supper, the Lord's Table, is that ordinance we are to keep and hear baptism, the second ordinance which we're commanded, the two ordinances of the church, these two symbols picture what Christ has done for His people. They're in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. This is my body which is broken for you. This is My blood which is shed for you, which is the New Testament. Do this in remembrance of Me. And here in the same way as we enter the water, it's a picture of us dying with Christ and being risen again to newness of life and walking with Him. What a glorious picture. And our souls, dear brethren, are meant to feed upon these things. Now, time is running. Let us just think for a moment, how does this union come about? Well, first of all, God the Father chose them. He chose every single believer for His Son. The Scriptures tell us grace was given us in Christ Jesus, ere before the world began. And Christ said, Father, there praying in His high priestly prayer in John 17, as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. The Father gave to the Son a bride, and He purchased them a calvary. Paul tells us that He chose us in Him before the very foundation of the world, friends, having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Now, what mercy. What mercy to us unworthy sinners. What sweet and sacred union is this. We often sing, don't we, indulgent God, how kind are all thy ways to me. Whose once dark benighted mind was enmity with thee, but now subdued by sovereign grace, my spirit longs. for thine embrace. Before thy hands had made the sun to rule the day, or earth's foundations laid, or fashioned Adam's clay, what thoughts of peace and mercy flowed in thy dear bosom, O my God. We read in that passage in Proverbs that even before the foundation of the world, His delight was with the sons of men. how our Savior had us in view, even then. Knowing that He would take us to heaven for all time and eternity, way back then, so now there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Now secondly, and we'll be briefer with this, the Christian, what is a Christian? He not only has no condemnation, but he has a new life. Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And Paul says here this is a plain fact about those who are Christians as he brings these two doctrines together who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Now lamentably it has to be said that most if not all the modern Bible translations which are based on the Alexandrian text do not have this latter part of this verse. But they will have at their little footnote something to say to this effect that some manuscripts say, well actually that is flagrantly dishonest. Because that's not true. It is in fact most of the manuscripts. The majority text. If you know anything of your ancient Greek manuscripts, or done any studies, it is most of them, over 5,000 copies that have these words. And in fact, if you look at the verse 2, the verse 2 doesn't flow coherently from the verse 1 without that. Because he goes on to say, for, because, in other words, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death. He's not just talking about there, about no condemnation, but the law of the Spirit, because we walk after the Spirit. So it's not coherent, and it doesn't connect. Now, if we're in doubt of the validity of these words, let me just put forth some simple facts. The very early church fathers quoted this verse in their writings, and one of the men was St. Basil of Caesarea, who was the bishop of Caesarea, born in 329 AD, and he quoted these very words. It's quite astonishing, isn't it? He quoted these very words. He was a very close friend of the great Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who fought against the Arians. And so these words can be found dating back well before the so-called earliest manuscripts. Also, the early church fathers who were anti-Nicene before the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, men such as Polycarp, Ignatius, all of them quoted many verses that are not found in the modern text. You can read their writings. It's all there. Those verses are quoted there. But thirdly, and I think this is probably one of the most overlooked facts We often forget this, that it is God Himself, friend, that has promised to preserve His Word down through every successive generation to all generations. Has God not promised that? Think of what we read in Psalm 12. The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord. Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. And you cannot tell me that for some sixteen, seventeen hundred years, God has failed, has reneged on His promise. No, He hasn't. And I think this is a definitive verse, especially in our day and age where everybody is saying, this is what a Christian is. Somebody who simply puts their hand up and says, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian. But God says here, this is what a Christian is. The one who has no condemnation now walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And God has preserved His Word. We believe that. In fact, if you read all the great confessions of faith, they all have the doctrine of divine preservation of God's Holy Word. And yet, I believe a lot of people don't believe that. God has preserved his word. The Lord Jesus said, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away, not one jot or one tittle, friends. God has given us his word, and it's through this word that he has brought the great revivals in England and throughout the world. It is only of recent that these modern texts have been used. And I say here is a principle doctrine of the Christian faith. This is what a Christian is. Not only has Christ died for you, but you're a different person. You're born again and this is how you live. And this is why this portion, if it's omitted, is such a tragic omission. Because it takes away from the Word of God the true definition of a Christian, as Paul pulls together these two doctrines. And as I said, remember what Paul is doing here. He's doing precisely that. And so I want to close with this. This is what a Christian is. He walks not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And what a glorious truth that is. the Holy Spirit that has come now to live in him. He's a radically changed person. He is not perfect, but he is not what he used to be. You only have to go back to the previous chapter, the chapter 7, and read Paul's words. He's not happy, he goes to do good, and he finds that there is evil present there right with him. And he cries, O wretched man, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And then he says, thanks be to God through Christ Jesus. There's my help. And here in Romans chapter eight and the verse nine, you'll note that he who has not the spirit of Christ that is the Holy Spirit in him is not of Christ. There is our help, our helper, our comforter. The One who convicts us of sin and righteousness and judgment to come. The Holy Spirit who is now at work in us. He has the Spirit of Christ. Oh yes, there are times He may grieve the Spirit. And He's grieved Himself. And He yearns to be more like Christ. He cries within Himself, Oh, for me to live as Christ. And he says with Paul, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. The life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God that loved me and gave himself for me. That is a Christian. And we see it in our brothers and sisters. And what an encouragement that is. That God, who died for them, lives in them, and He's at work in them. Paul could say, I labored more than they, yet not I, but the grace of God that is in me. God at work in us. And now the Christian, he's fighting, he's fighting the good fight of faith. And he's earnestly contending for the truth. And he's seeking to witness to others. And his greatest agony is that while sin doesn't reign in him, it's still in him. And he longs to be more like Christ. And his sweet joy is to find out what pleases God. This is what Paul writes to the Thessalonians when he says, "...furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more." You see, this is the Christian's life. He now wants to please the God who has done so much for him, who has loved him. An unworthy person finding out what pleases his God. After all, isn't that what is bound up in the Christian life? Favor with God. This is what it is to be a God-fearing man. What is the fear of God? It can be summed up like this. The fear of God. To fear God is to love God, and to love God is to obey God. To fear God is not to want to put a frown on the face of my Father who has done so much for me, and who has loved me. My greatest woe is to put a frown on His face, to bring displeasure to Him. And my greatest delight is to walk in favor with Him. The psalmist says, In His favor is life. That's life. And to know more and more Christ formed in me, to walk after the Spirit, to know more the mind of my Savior, to know more the mind of the Holy Spirit, to know more the mind of my God, and to please Him. This is life. Didn't Christ say, and I am come? I am come. Some criticize the authorized version on that rendering. But think of the words, I am. The I am, Christ. Before Abraham was, I am. I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it abundantly. And how sweet it is, friend, to have life. And to live above the life that we once lived. To be in union with Christ. You see, before, without Christ, we had two problems. I had nothing. The law could not justify me. Look at the verse 3. It only condemned me as a sinner in the sight of a holy God. For what the law could not do? In that it was weak through the flesh. It was weak. And then what did God do? God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that is dying, that is aging flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that is His flesh. That was our first problem. He put to death. He dealt with my sin in His own body. And then we've got another problem. Not only our sin, not only our bad record, but the bad heart. How can I live to God? Well, the verse 4 deals with that. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. How is the righteousness of the law going to be fulfilled in us? Oh, the Holy Spirit coming and dwelling in us. And now we as the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God. Paul tells us in this very chapter, If ye by the Spirit do put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. The great Puritan George Burrus said, If sin live in you, you shall die. But if sin die in you, you shall live. We live. For us to live is Christ. And for us to die now is gain. John writes and he says, In this was manifested the love of God toward us that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Live through Him. I now live, but Christ lives in me. That's a Christian, friends. Are you a Christian? Have you been made whole? Have you been washed in the Redeemer's blood? Well, only then. I'm not saying, are you perfect? I'm not asking that question. But I'm asking, are you anew? Because if you are, there's proof that thou, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And this, as Isaiah puts it, is the root of holiness that has been planted. You know, the Lord Jesus stood up in the temple and He read that scroll of Isaiah, didn't He? And he said, the Spirit of the Lord of God is upon me. I'm reading from Isaiah here, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that abound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Now notice that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. You know every conversion friend is a planting of the Lord. And he that has begun a good work in you will see it to completion to the day of Jesus Christ. Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. It is amazing, isn't it? It is amazing grace that God should come in and by His Spirit and dwell in mere mortals. Oh, to God be the glory. We must close. Time has run out. But I would say as we close, what about the soul here this afternoon? Is your soul burdened over your sin? Do you feel guilt and shame? If any man thirsts, God's Word says, let him come. Now that's the question. You feel guilt and shame of your sin. Of these things that we have read made you to think about your eternity, about your state. I would say to you, seek the Lord while He may be found. Turn to Him while He is near, because He is very kind. And He is very merciful. We've heard what the Lord has done in our brother's life. The Lord does not turn away sinners. But you know, He will turn away unrepentant sinners. My Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 1, The God will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and obey not the gospel. The gospel is to be obeyed. And the scriptures say, God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. I cannot make you repent. I cannot even call you savingly to repent. That is the work of God. He grants repentance and faith. You've heard the gospel, you've heard the good news, and Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Do you feel the acridness of your sin? Do you feel the weight of guilt? The Word of God says, if any man thirsts, let him come and take freely. May God bless His Word. Friend, time is short and death is now upon the road. Amen. you