Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father in God, let us not be tonight as we have sung, like the senseless mule who does not follow after the one who is his master. who is senseless because he does not listen, he does not understand, but Father in heaven, we pray tonight that as we are those who have heard the scriptures from our young ages, we pray tonight that you would be gracious to us and let us hear this word that is able to make us wise to salvation. We pray that we will hear these things tonight as they are read, as they are preached, for they give to us hope of great assurance in a God who has brought salvation to His people through Jesus Christ. Assure salvation, we pray. Amen. If you'll please take your copies of God's Word this evening and we will embark on a new, shorter sermon series in Romans chapter 8. It's found on page 944 of your ESPQ Bibles. I remind you to keep your Bibles open. Always a good thing to remember that it is the Word of God but nevertheless that it is in fact the word of God. So let us hear it with great reverence and lay these truths upon our hearts as we seek to practice them in our lives with great and excessive joy. Verses one through four of Romans eight. There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 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. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. You may be seated. If we have done any amount of reading from the Apostle Paul, we know that one of the words that he frequently uses is the word therefore. But hearing the beginning of chapter eight, we may be inclined to think, well, he's wanting us to look at the previous verse and what was said there. While it is a good and encouraging verse, note that Paul actually wants us to recall everything that he has told us up to this point in Romans. And since it is a rather strange thing for us anyway to start halfway through a book particularly one of this magnitude, and as we are a people who sequentially preach through the Bible, I'd like for us briefly to review what Paul has been telling the people of God in Romans. In chapter 1, if you remember that after a very short introduction of 15 verses in verses 16 and 17, he tells us that the gospel is the power of God to salvation. to everyone who believes, the Jew first and then to the Greek, that this is the message of the saving righteousness of God and how it is revealed to us. And the reason for that is because we hear in chapter three, verse 10 through 12, he gives to us a summation of the following section, which very simply is that no one is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one just seeks for God. All have turned aside together. They have become worthless. No one does good. No, not even one. And I want you to note that having made clear, yes, the very bad news, that we are those who are unrighteous, we are sinners, and we will die in our sin like the rest of mankind if we do not come to our Lord. Notice here he begins to unfold the wonderful good news of the Gospel. How sinners are made righteous before a holy God. In chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, that we are simply told that we are justified through faith in Christ by grace and all of these alone. And I want you to hear that because not only is he telling us that righteousness is something that can be imputed to those who believe to where they are seen as Christ himself before God the judge and regarded as not guilty, but in chapter 6, we are also shown that we are no longer under the dominion of sin. Not only has the penalty of sin been taken away, what Christ has done on the cross, but now through the Spirit of God, we have been regenerated in Him, a true and spiritual change happens as the power of sin is no longer over us. And that's important because we're informed in chapter seven that though the believer has died to sin, that sin has not died in us. that we are a people who are to understand that we will continue to struggle and lament as Paul, even as he laments over the remaining corruption within his body as he sees it in chapter seven, verse 24, as we hear, wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this body of death. I don't think that's very interesting because as we are told who and what we are in Christ, If things were to go the way they normally do in Ephesians and Colossians, if this is any indication, we should expect here at this point to hear the commands that we will later hear in chapters 12 through 16. But the reason why we don't is because Paul, understanding that many may still be struggling with the depth of what they've heard and confused because they do not see or even feel the reality of this new life in Christ or that their sin has been forgiven, that instead on this occasion, at this moment, instead of continuing, takes this occasion to expand on what he has told us with an end of encouraging our assurance. That's what we find in chapter 8. It is really nothing more than Paul taking what he has already told us and using it to make sure that our footing is secure before we step into the commands. Because without assurance, it is easy to get the false impression that the life that we live in Christ is one thing, and then through that, to stray away from the word of truth. And because we ourselves are still susceptible to that very thing, as there is always a pull, as there is always difficulty, as we are at some point in time, to some degree, wondering about our own assurance, this is why we are going to engage in a series this winter that I'm calling the Winter of Our Assurance. Amy said, yes, you paused this morning when you said that for a fact, and yes, I did. But the fact is here, is here we're going to find Paul unfolding the glorious assurance that the Christian has by virtue of their relationship with God and Christ. And what we're going to see is through every single verse, there's a thread of assurance that runs throughout all of it. In fact, just to illustrate that, not only do we hear at the end of chapter eight, the assuring words that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ, And the reason for that is, is because Paul here begins by telling us that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That there's no condemnation. And I want you to note that that idea of condemnation is something that gives us a sense of dread and doom, of one who is rightly accused and knows that they have been convicted of a crime and that they are awaiting the execution of a sentence that they deserve. that it speaks to us of death, yes, perhaps in the courtroom of physical man, but certainly within the courtroom of God. And I want you to note that, because in light of what we have been told here, Paul is referring, yes, to the day of judgment. And I want you to note that, because for those who believe, what we hear in Ezekiel 18, that the soul who sins shall die, and whose consciences rightly accuse them of their sin, understand that day that awaits does fill you with fear as we think on standing before God and anticipating eternal judgment. And I want you to note that because, in a sense, all people have a right and a way to be afraid. Because fear, in and of itself, is a natural thing, a sign that we understand danger, we understand the eternal significance of these things. But to assure those who have been justified by faith in Christ, save from eternal death, this is why Paul leads off by telling us that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. that this is the promise for those who see their sin and their spiritual death and flee from it and take hold of Jesus. Now mind you, what we find in our English text is good and useful, and I always like to encourage you that no matter what translation we're using, as long as it's just not like wildly off the rails, that it is good even if it may differ. But let us understand that within the Greek text of the New Testament, I think it actually gives us more of an emphasis or more insight into what Paul is trying to tell us here, because instead of beginning with the word therefore, or there is therefore, notice that the first word that we find in the Greek text is actually the word no. And I think that that's very significant, because yes, from the beginning Paul wants to set the tone that there is no condemnation. That's something that really does drive that truth home to us. But notice that the way he does it is by emphasizing is that there is not even some measure of condemnation. To start it off with a negative no very sharply at the very beginning is as if he's saying no, there's none of it that is left to be removed, that you are not going to be taking part of any of this. that Paul was saying that of your condemnation, there's nothing left of it. No trace of it. That every bit of what your sin deserves has been cast as far as east is from west and is remembered no more. And let us note that because before God, the sentence or the writ of execution no longer exists. What a powerful thing that is for us to hear. No, it is not. And I want you to hear that before we go any further. Do we understand that truth? Do we understand that there is therefore now no condemnation? It no longer exists. And no matter what we would do for the rest of our lives, for we who are in Christ, certainly we would be repenting of sin as it comes up. But do we come to the understanding that nothing can undo or change the declaration that God himself has made through Christ, that there is no condemnation? The reason for that is simply because we're in Christ. We are united to Him. And that's very crucial that the believer understand that. And that's why Paul, very early in Romans 8, makes this connection between assurance and the way that we think about Christ and what he has done. In fact, that's something that we see all throughout scripture. I think of Zechariah chapter three, you remember the occasion where Satan is accusing Joshua, the high priest, of sin, and he's doing it with incredibly great precision because he has basically put the man down in a position where he is unable to really defend himself against this. But the only thing that he reminds himself of here is, or that he is able to remind Joshua of, is his sin and that he works diligently to make him forget that God freely cleanses and covers our sin. But also isn't this the same thing that we hear with David in Psalm 25 when he speaks of the sins of his youth and his transgressions, as if his conscience is bringing back to his mind his past sin, and perhaps even at the worst time, in such a way that it plagues him. And sometimes when this happens, I like to compare it to the reopening up of a scar, something that's already sensitive and kind of painful to begin with, that here, this reminded of our past sin, what is gone, what is over, what is put away, here is freshly churned up so that old shame keeps us from going boldly to the throne of grace and praying. As we will hear David say in Psalm 25, 7, according to your steadfast love, remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord. And I want you to know that because sin does this to Christians and for we who call ourselves followers of Christ and as I show us that while that term is laid upon us, that sometimes we're just not very good at it. And I want you to know that because the burden of our guilt As it begins to mount up and weigh heavy upon us, it keeps us from living the life that Christ has freed us to live. In fact, it can give us a very unhealthy preoccupation with the verdict of the last day, even if it has us hiding from our God. And that is why each and every one of us need to hear and meditate upon the truth that there is therefore no condemnation. That this is the verdict of the last day that is declared now in our hearing from the Word of God. That what Christ will say to us is no condemnation. That this is exactly the confidence that we are to have. for that same day as it approaches in meeting of our Christ and seeing His face. And that means no matter how big or small our sin is, even if it is secret, or if it is something that is notorious, that we can be assured that Christ still comes to reconcile and to restore His own because they are in Christ. Yes, we will be seeing the in Christ, and speaking of the intimate relationship that we have here, but this evening, do we understand that because we are united to Christ, because we are joined to Him and bound with Him, that our God would no more deny us than He would deny His own Son? And is this because we understand the closeness that we have with Jesus? This is what we are called to remember in times when guilt is great and we wonder what right we have to come before God. Reminds me of a hymn that I enjoy, it's called, Approach My Soul, The Mercy Seat, where Jesus answers prayer, and one of the lines within that hymn goes, Be thou my shield and hiding place, that sheltered near thy side, I may my fierce accuser face, and tell him thou hast died. And why is that? Because therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But the question for us is, is how do we truly know that? Mind you, to a certain extent, we will be looking at that next week. To briefly answer that, secondly, Paul tells us that believers are to look to what I will call the symptom of our salvation. The symptom of our salvation. Now granted, the ultimate reason for that, or why that is, is not that there is no condemnation, but rather it's a result of our salvation that we hear in verse 2. He says, For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Now, it's very similar to what our Lord Jesus Christ tells us in John 8.36, when he says, if the Son, who is the source of salvation, sets you free, you are free indeed. That is the symptom of our salvation, that we are free indeed. But why is that? Because that's the way things are. And that might sound incredibly trite in this situation when we're talking about assurance and people struggling with it, but let us understand that this is the brass tacks. This is the ground level of all of this. This is the way this is. Because yes, we do still sin, but we're no longer under the burden of the law. And I think as we have often talked about what the law is and the different ways it's spoken of through the Old Testament, I'd like for us to describe the law in a way that I don't normally do. On the one hand, I'd like for us to note that the law is a rule that regulates the life we live, that it does tell us do this or don't do this. that it does regulate the life we live. But on the other hand, I also want us to see that the law is the rule of where we live. Interesting analogy, or actually illustration, I remember back when I first preached this in 2020 in the May of that year, I think we started, we're coming out of the COVID things there at that point in time, or at least in Tennessee, And one of the things you found with Tennessee is that things were fairly wide open. Our church, which was squarely within the state, we had certain freedoms that other parts of the country didn't. But the funny thing is, is if you were to drive up the street one mile from our church, you would cross the line into the state of Virginia. And things were very, very different there. That there was more heaviness to it. And again, it goes back to the fact that this is where one group of people in the church lived and others didn't. But I want you to note how that translates into what Paul was telling us. So it will be clear to the Christian that we are those who have been freed from the law of sin and death. Meaning that the relationship that the law of God to the believer is not what it once was. That we once thought that this is how we gain the favor of our God. This is, we do this and we live. But notice then, as we hear of Paul in Romans 7, that he says that sin, seizing an opportunity through the command or through the law, deceived me, and through it, it killed me. Meaning that in Paul's life, he once hoped to gain in reality what only puts us to death. That from the law, he expected life, and it only killed him. But having revealed our sins, notice that Paul goes on to say in chapter 7, verse 5 of Romans, that it aroused sin within him. It provoked his rebellious heart of sin against God. Another one of my fun illustrations here. You might want to see why I don't give illustrations very often. One of my favorite movies is The Dirty Dozen. And in that movie, you've got 12 convicts who are brought out, and they are ordered to march. And one stands still, Franco. He's the guy who almost makes it to the end. But nevertheless, everyone marches, comes back, and they come back to Franco. And Lee Marvin asks him, well, why don't you need to march? And he says, well, condemned men don't drill. And the answer there was like, well, he does have a point. But the point here is that regulations, what's the point of engaging in these regulations or doing them when they only emphasize the despair of my situation? And I want you to note that because this is the relationship, or what we see with the condemned men don't drill, this is the unbeliever's relationship to the law. That there's never going to be any mercy. There's never going to be forgiveness. There's only the persistent demand to absolute obedience that is never going to take you anywhere. That's why James tells us very clearly for the Christian to understand that whoever keeps the law, if that is the way you want to try to come to salvation, and if you only fail at one point, which you've probably done it well before that anyway, that you become accountable for all of it. But notice that in order to contrast this, or to contrast the law of sin and death, Paul tells us that the law, the spirit of life, has set you free in Christ Jesus. That he's telling us here that now we are alive in Christ and things are not the same. Yes, the law does still show you your sin. The law does still kill you. And honestly, through it, we, obeying our God through it and repenting and turning back to Him and obeying His commands, we begin to kill our sin. But notice that the law in this regard, in this new relationship, actually begins to lead us in our obedience of it to that which produces life. In fact, where we see that is in one of the most beautiful passages in the Old Scripture, Jeremiah 31, 33, in the New Covenant, as God is speaking to His people and says to them very personally, I will put my law within them, and I will write my law on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. What we find before we came to Christ with the law is that it was an external set of regulations. a dead letter almost from a God who was distant and far from us, whose name we didn't want to know, and we just were trying to stay away from Him because of what we thought of Him. But notice that what Jeremiah is telling us here is this is something internal. He is going to put His law within His people. He's going to write His law on our hearts. Here we see that this is a living God who is able to do this. He is not far off. He is the one true and living God. He is also a personal God. I will put my law within them. I will write it upon their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. The relationship is completely different. And that's what David understands in Psalm 119 when he says, Lord, I love your law. because he believes that the rule that regulates his life is no longer characterized by my sin and my death, but it leads us to love the God who is characterized by this law and whose life itself reflects it, the one who has first loved us and who calls us to live in accordance with his word. And I want you to note that because let us understand that, yes, justification is an important part of our assurance. This is how we are brought into the Christian life. This is how we live. And knowing of that is a very foundational part. But let us understand that so is sanctification. That life that we live is different because it shows that there is a different life within us. That the life we live is different because it shows that there is a different life within us. It shows that there is a striving for God and a striving for holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And this is a symptom of a life that has been freed to Christ as He has called us out of darkness, the God who has created us and also has recreated us. This is what He calls us to do. And the reason for that is, is because this is the rule of where we live. I want you to think about that for a moment. Even as we heard in our confession of faith this evening, speaking of Galatians chapter one, that we have been raised up from this present evil world. We're separated from, we've been raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We are citizens of heaven on earth, as Paul tells us in Philippians. And the reason for this is, is because now we are a new creation in Christ. Those who live in this world now, but who will be part of that full and glorious and new creation that God has made. That we have been freed to live to God and to keep his commands. As John himself tells us, the disciple whom Jesus loved, that his commands are not burdensome. not because we're able to do things better now than we had been before, but because, very simply, we have been born to God, and we're no longer under this restrictive dominion of sin and Satan and death, that the dominion of which we have been made a part of is one of life, and life that is in Christ. And that's terribly important for us to understand. And that's why, as those who once clung to the works of the law as if they were something, finally, Paul tells us to take note of and consider the grounds of our salvation. Look to the grounds of our salvation. That's what we hear in verses 3 and 4. Again, another very great summary of the gospel that we hear, for we're told in verses 3 and 4, 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. And that means if we hear nothing else tonight, we need to hear this, because this is the source of our symptom. This is the reason why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I want you to note that because if we don't get this, yes, we may have some assurance in something, but we need to notice that in time, it's going to prove to be a false assurance, which will be worse than the first. And because of that, Paul doesn't tell us that we need to do the law and perhaps throw in a little bit of believing or vice versa in there. But he is telling us very simply that God has done what the law could not do. Now we might be thinking, well, the law itself, we are told in Romans chapter 7, 12, is holy, righteous, and good. Or is he, in a sense, telling us that we, or is he telling us that that which is a reflection of the character of God is powerless to save? Now the question before us is kind of an interesting one, but listen to the answer to this very simply. It's yes, it is powerless to save. It is absolutely powerless to save, and not because there's a defect in the law. We see that it is that which speaks of our God because it has been spoken of our God. But Paul here is quite clear that there is something wrong with us. That the reason why the law will not ever save is because it has been weakened by our flesh, our human, natural corruption by sin. That we find here that, yes, It's still there. It's still at work, meaning that the law's ability to save depends upon an individual's ability to keep it. And since we are powerless to keep the law perfectly as God requires, the law can't do anything. It cannot save, it only kills. And I want you to note that if we see anything or see nothing else today, that this should finally kill any thoughts that what we do is able to bring about even the least amount of God's favor. Nothing can do that. If anything, it should make us agree with Paul that the grounds of our salvation is only in what God has done, that it is all of him and nothing of us, that it is God and God alone. But so that we will agree with Scripture and grow in our assurance, Notice that Paul walks us through five details of what God has done to secure our salvation. Powerful things, we'll move through it very, hopefully not too quickly, but I want us to see five details. And I also want us to take into account that how, as I often like to point out, whether it be in Sunday school, sometimes even in worship, as we did this morning, is that the triune God is involved. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are intimately engaged in all of this. And we see that first and foremost as we are told that the Father sent His own Son. And I think that the statement that we see here is one that affirms the same compassion of the Father that we hear in John 3, 16, that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever should believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life. But notice as we also take note of the next passage, In John 3.17, we're told here something very interesting that sounds a lot like what Paul's dealing with. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Now we wonder, well, why is that? Why is he not condemning the world? Because in John 3.18, he tells us that the world is already condemned because of their unbelief. Notice that what we're seeing here is that God the Father sent the Son because we were condemned. But secondly, I'd also like for us to see that Paul tells us that he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. Now, mind you, just so we're clear on things here, there are two things that this passage is not saying. First, it's not telling us that Christ came in the likeness of flesh, as if he were really just a disembodied spirit. Or as we mentioned last week in our scripture reading, that Christ became truly man, that He took our human nature and experienced the same sorrow, shame, suffering, misery, and pain that we do. But I also want us to see, on the other hand, that here, Paul is not telling us that He came in sinful flesh. He wants us to understand that though He took our nature, that He retained His divine nature as the second person of the Trinity. He was God and man and had both natures, meaning that as man continues to be, or as man, He continues to be truly God. And this is why, as we hear in Hebrews 4.15, that we do not have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but who in every respect has been tempted as we are yet without sin, meaning that he willingly came, and in humble subjection, he gave himself to do the Father's will and to live in a body of death that was subjected to this world of death to experience all we experience, but actually to live a perfect life and keep the law because he could do this. Let us understand that he's saying that because Christ has done this, that in a sense, he has earned salvation for those who trust in him according to the law of God. But I want you to thirdly see that Paul also tells us, and for sin. That's why Jesus kept the law perfectly, and as the Lamb of God offered Himself up as a vicarious substitute, or as a sacrifice for sinners, that was made acceptable to God. It was for our sin, and why? Because fourthly, we are told to condemn sin in the flesh in order to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. Again, the law is righteous, and we note that unrighteous sinners are able to be accounted righteous in Christ. that because Christ has satisfied the justice of God by bearing the condemnation of those that the law condemned. Let us understand as our weaknesses and our inability to keep the law show us the need that we have for someone better and greater that God sent Christ to do what we through our works of the law could not do and would not do. And I want you to hear that because this is what is meant to believe in Christ. that we believe that the work that he has done for us, and by faith, as we reach out and take hold of the gift that he freely offers, that we are no longer what we were. It is his gracious work to save us. And this is because the righteous requirements of the law are not only fulfilled in Christ, But if you'll note the text here, the fifth reason that he gives us or detail that he gives us is that the righteous requirements of the law fulfilled in us. He's not telling us that we need to do our part or do the rest of what Jesus may not have done. As if there is something left to do, we already know that we won't and that he didn't leave anything left. But our call was to trust that our condemnation fell upon Him. And now because He has put that to death and put away the law and fulfilled it in its entirety, that there is no condemnation. Because the penalty of the law has been executed, it can never be executed again for those who are united to Christ. Because of that, now we respond in gratitude for the grace by living, or as he tells us here, walking, not according to the flesh, the aspects of our old life that still linger, our sinful nature, but according to the Spirit, that we live differently because God works within us to will and to work for his good pleasure. And I want you to note that the grace that makes this Ours is not only a privilege, but it is an obligation. In fact, as Ian Hamilton, I've probably said this several times while I've been here, but he says that grace is absolutely free, and it is. But he goes on to say that grace makes absolute demands upon the people of God. And I want you to note that this is something that is essential for our life and our assurance. Because of what Christ has done, let us recognize the fact that we don't have to be, our things don't have to be the way they were before. That we're no longer slaves to sin, that we don't have to continue to do that, and that is something that builds up our assurance as we see that we don't have to live like we did before. Let us understand that because not only does this kill the idea of works righteousness, but it kills the idea of perfectionism that's often perpetuated by the world and in the church. No one ever claims that they can be perfect, but we hear it everywhere, we see it in everything. But let us understand that because the only certainty that we will ever find in this life is in what Christ has done. The cause of this is Christ alone, the source of your assurance. It does what we read in this passage of the work of God, strengthen our assurance, because we see that our salvation has never been in our hands, but it has always been in all of the three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who have done and are doing and will do all the work for all of our salvation. Tonight I have moved our last verse of our last hymn to where we will be literally singing as we close our service tonight, No Condemnation, Now I Dread. And I pray that we may begin to take hold of what we hear and grow an assurance that grounds our salvation. puts it deeper within to Jesus because that's where the depth of our salvation its entirety is. But dear friends, let us understand is because this is not something that's ever found in ourselves. This is not some psychological thing where we try to work on our self esteem. This is our digging into Christ and our relationship that we have with him that is his. Dear friends, in doing so, we will find that there is a life that rests in our God and finds great delight, that the gracious work that has been done for us that we have not deserved is only in Christ alone. Let us go to him now in prayer. Our Father in heaven, you are astoundingly merciful to those whom you have drawn near to. You have condescended to our wicked estate in that you have changed our very dispositions. And then, as no one in this world would ever do, and that you have accounted us guilty sinners as not guilty, that we who are deserving of death, Lord, you have declared that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Help us, Heavenly Father, to look to these truths, to constantly keep them before our hearts and minds, O Lord, that we may not only live, but live and serve you with great diligence and worship you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Gracious God, a God whom we love and delight in tonight, we pray that you will bless these things to our understandings, help us to meditate upon them, and to apply them in our lives for Jesus' sake. Amen.