I invite you to turn with me in Romans chapter 8. And would you stand with me in honor of God's word as we read together? There is therefore 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 son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh in order that the righteous judgment of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If in fact the spirit of God dwells in you, Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give you life. to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Oh Lord, as we come to your word this morning, We ask, oh Lord, that your Holy Spirit would open the eyes of our hearts so that we may see and understand the message that you would have for us. And may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Gary, could you get some water? I should have some water over there. Thank you. Paul's opening statement that there was therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus is really the culmination of the theme that he has been emphasizing in previous chapters of this book of Romans. And that theme is justification by faith. For example, just to read a few verses, we read in chapter one, verse 17, for in the gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from the first to the last, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. Again, in chapter three, verses 23 and 24, we read, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. Five, one, and two. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. through whom we have gained access by faith into his grace, this grace, in which we now stand. And in chapter five, verse eight, we read, but God demonstrates his love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It is clear then that As we read through the Book of Romans, justification seems to be the theme that runs through the book. And it's also so clear that it is the center of Paul's thinking as he comes to Chapter 8, when he says, there is therefore no condemnation. Because you see, condemnation is the opposite of justification. If we are justified by faith in Christ, there is no condemnation. And what does Paul mean by condemnation? That is when we stand before the judge, the righteous judge, on the last day. when we have to stand before him and give account for the life that we have lived. And what Paul is saying is that if you're justified by faith in Christ, you need not be fear when the time comes for you to stand before that righteous judge. Because we have Christ, because we have been justified. we can be assured that as we stand before the judge, there will be no condemnation. So that is one of the benefits of justification, that there is no condemnation. We enjoy, believers, enjoy the freedom from being condemned because of our faith in Christ. It also means freedom not only from condemnation, but from the enslavement of sin. Notice that this freedom is only available, as we said, this freedom is only available for those who are, as Paul says, in Christ. And this morning, as we hear this message, This is the thing I would hope that you would bear in mind. Am I in Christ? As we go through this, this I hope will be the question in our minds. Am I in Christ? Those who have acknowledged Their utter dependence upon Christ and his atoning work on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, they are the ones who are in Christ. Have you this morning utterly depended on Christ for your salvation? Can you say this morning that you are in Christ? Paul goes on in verse 2 that it is by the work of the Holy Spirit that we are liberated. For the law of the Spirit, he says, has set you free in Christ. There again, in Christ. The law of the Spirit has set you free in Christ. Or we may say for in Christ. The law of the spirit has set you free from the law of sin and death. Here, Paul uses the word law to indicate the idea of a principle, a rule, a controlling factor. You are under the old principle of sin or the old rule of sin and death. but that has been transcended by the new principle or the new rule of life in Christ. So you no longer live by the dictates of your sinful nature, but by the rule or the principle of the Holy Spirit. Notice that Paul describes the Holy Spirit as the spirit of life. It reminds us of that first chapter in Genesis where it says the spirit moves upon the waters and he brought forth life. He was a life-giving factor from the very beginning. The spirit gives life. When the spirit brought forth creation out of nothing, he brought forth life. That same creative power is characteristics of this new principle. The spirit of God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Jesus says in John 6, 63, it is the spirit that gives life. I think somebody put cotton in my water this morning. Jesus says, it is the spirit that gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. He says to Nicodemus, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with anyone who is born of the Spirit. The Spirit brings to life what and whom it mays, you never see it, you never know, but by the grace of God, it is the Spirit that gives us life. The Holy Spirit is a source of rebirth. By applying to us the effectual atoning work of Jesus Christ, through his regenerating power, we experience, through the Spirit, new life in Christ. But the Holy Spirit does not only regenerate us to new life in Christ, it also works within us to bring us, it works within us through his sanctifying power to keep us until that day when Christ will finally call us home. So it regenerates us and gives us life and it keeps us unto that day when Christ will call us home. It is the power of God that teaches us the Word of God as we read in Ephesians 1 this morning. It is that power of God that enlightens and opens our eyes to understand the rich truths of God's Word. It is a power that works within our lives to help us, to motivate us to live according to God's word. It is the regenerating power in our lives, it's the sustaining power in our lives. Oh, the work of the Holy Spirit. Oh, that we would appreciate what God has done for us, that he has sent a spirit to work in our lives. Paul explains further in verse three and four that what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, that is our sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering for us. And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us. who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the spirit. You see, the law held up its perfect standard. The law is here to show us, to give us a standard by which we should live. It is God's way of saying that if we live by these rules, these standards, that it would be pleasing to him. But we were unable to keep that law. We were unable to keep the law of God because of our own sinful nature. Even when we tried to obey the law, even one law, if we were able to obey one law, it would not be enough because, as Bob explains this morning, just the law of adultery. We may obey it, the letter of that law, but there's also the spirit of the law. We may obey the letter of the law, but we break the spirit of the law in our hearts, in our minds. We may not go out and actually commit adultery, but in our hearts we do. Because Jesus says if we lust after a woman, the law of murder, we may not kill somebody. We may not even think of doing such a thing. But Jesus says that if we hold a grudge in our hearts against our brother, if we hate our brother, that amounts to murder. So you see, our flesh is so weak, our sinful nature is so weak that we cannot fully obey God's law. There was nothing wrong with the law. The problem lay with our inability. The law was unable to grant us righteousness. because we were unable to obey it perfectly. Since we were unable to meet God's righteous standard, the requirements of his law, God sent his Son and the likeness of sinful man to be sin offering for us. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God through his son. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Notice that Paul is very careful about the words he uses here. He did not say that Christ came in sinful flesh. because that would imply sin was in him. Nor did he say likeness of flesh, because that might imply that Christ only seemed to be in the flesh, as some heresies say. He said the likeness of sinful man, because Christ took on man's nature without becoming sin himself. without becoming a sinner. And so Christ became a sin offering as he took our sinful nature without sinning. Thus he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature, to our sinful nature, but according to the spirit. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Yet we considered him stricken by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray and have each turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. That's what Christ did for us. He took upon himself our sin. He condemned sin in his nature. It was in Christ's flesh, his human nature, that God condemned and punished our sin. It was in our place that Jesus bore God's wrath. Now, the purpose and the result of God's work of redemption is that we, by means of the operation of the Spirit in our hearts and lives, should live and strive to fulfill God's law. God's righteous requirements, our gratitude of God's gift to us, our gratitude for and in response to the outpouring of God's love. For that, we now love God. with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds. And not only that, we love our neighbors. Didn't Jesus say that these are the foundation of the commandments? That if we were to obey these commandments, that we will fulfill all the others? With the Holy Spirit's power within our lives, those of us who have been justified in Christ. The Holy Spirit works within us so that we can now love God with all our hearts, our souls, and our minds. And we can strive to do that in gratitude for what God has done for us. And because he has filled our lives with his spirit, we strive. to love him. How can we not love the one who sent his son to be a sacrifice for us? How can we not show him how grateful we are for such a gift by in return loving him, striving to love him with all our hearts and soul and mind and strength? And so the principle of the spirit of life and Jesus Christ has set us free from the principle of sin and death. That's when we yield to the power of the Holy Spirit. We are liberated. Sin no longer has dominion over us. What freedom. Isn't it wonderful to know that because of what God has done for us, because he has sent his spirit to indwell our hearts, that there is no condemnation for sin anymore? And not only that, that sin does not have dominion over us anymore? Lift your heart, doesn't it drive you to say hallelujah? Praise God for what he has done for us. Now Paul wants us to understand the difference in the mindset between those who live according to the sinful nature and those who live according to the spirit. It's as if, indirectly, Paul is saying to the Romans what he said directly to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 13, 15. He says, examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. In verse 5 through 8, Paul says, those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. This is how we test ourselves, you see. We compare ourselves. We test ourselves to see what our mindset is. Do we have the mindset of those who are ruled by the sinful nature? Or do we have the mindset of those who are ruled by the spirit? Paul says those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires. But those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death. but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do that. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God, has no desire to please God. The mindset of those without Christ has distinct characteristics that govern its orientation to all of life. It's preoccupied with death. It's hostile towards God. And it's unable to subject itself to God. That is the mindset. of those who live according to the sinful nature. You know, thinking of the mindset of those who live according to the sinful nature and its preoccupation with death, I couldn't help but As I was doing this, preparing this, think of the big argument this week about who should be punished for murder, who should be punished for abortion. And, you know, it just brings me to wonder or to understand what the mindset is of those who say that if a woman determines, walks into a clinic and says, I want to terminate my pregnancy, and the doctor says, OK, I'll do it, that the woman walks out free without any guilt. Now you tell me, what kind of mindset would think like that? But you see man's behavior determined by the nature of his being. Man is by nature a fallen being. Therefore, his natural behavior will always be dictated by his fallen nature. And man's fallen nature is always at war with his creator. Therefore, everything he does is an action of rebellion against God, his creator. And that's the mindset of those who live according to the sinful nature. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, the man without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them. Those who live according to the flesh allow their lives to be basically determined by the sinful human nature. They set their minds on, are most deeply interested in, constantly talk about, engage in glory in the things pertaining to the flesh, that is, to the sinful nature. When you leave here this morning, I encourage you to go read Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17 and following. And you'll see there again an example of sinful man, of those who walk according to the flesh. Their minds are darkened by the ignorance by their ignorance, and they always yearn for more, always yearn for more sin and debauchery. Those who live according to the Spirit, however, submit to the Spirit's direction, concentrate their attention on whatever the Spirit desires. They concentrate their attention on whatever pleases the Lord. In contrast to verse eight, describing those who are controlled by their sinful nature, Paul, with the warmth of the pastor's heart, assures the believers that they are not controlled by the sinful nature. When he says in verses nine through 11, you, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature, but by the spirit. If the spirit of God lives in you, and if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if The spirit of him who raises Jesus from the dead is living in you. He who raised Christ from the dead will also give you life, give life to your mortal bodies through the spirit who lives in you. See, Paul is writing to the church. He's writing to a church and can assume that most are believers. Most are justified in Christ. When he says, you church, you believers, are not controlled by the sinful nature because you have been justified in Christ, but by the spirit. But then Paul recognizes that in a congregation like that in Rome, that there might be people there who are not real believers. They are there probably out of curiosity. They're there probably out of custom. They're there maybe because someone else might have invited them. and just out of habit, maybe, some just keep going. So he says, if the spirit lives in you, so he says to the church, to believers, but those that are among you who are not believers, who cannot say for sure that you have been justified by faith in Christ, who cannot say for sure that you are living according to the spirit of Christ. He says, if the spirit of God lives in you, and if it does not, if you do not have the spirit of Christ, then you must know, I have to tell you, that you do not belong to Christ. You may be coming to church. And you may be fellowshipping with the saints. But if the spirit of Christ does not live in you, you do not belong to him. And so it's a warning to those who come regularly. And you really don't know that they do not belong to Christ. here is warning, and it's a good warning, especially on a day like this, a day when we come to the Lord's table, that you need to examine yourselves, people in the church, whether you belong to Christ. Because if in your heart of hearts you know you don't, then you do not belong to him and you should not partake of the Lord's table. But then Paul says, but if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin. You see, we're all going to die. And it's because of sin. Even if you have Christ living in you, even if you're controlled by the Holy Spirit, because of sin, because sin has entered into the world, you are going to die. In fact, you are dying. We don't like to think about that, do we? but there's coming a day. But then, the good news is, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies. Praise God. That's what we have to look forward to as believers. That even though we will die, that we will rise again. That we will again receive from God a spiritual body because the very spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. Amen? That's what we have to look forward to. So he says to those who have been justified by faith, you are not like those who live according to the sinful nature. And if there is among you some who are not sure, if you are living according to the sinful nature, then you do not belong to Christ. And those who belong to Christ, even though you will die, there is hope for Christ. The Spirit of Christ will raise you from the dead. And Paul goes on, he now concentrates, he goes from the blessing of justification to encouraging the believers. He says in verses 12 and 14, therefore, brothers, we have an obligation. We have an obligation, but it's not to the sinful nature to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the Spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you receive the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. And if we are children, then we are ears of God and co-ears with Christ if indeed we share in his suffering in order that we may also share in his blessing. So we have an obligation as believers who live by the spirit. We have an obligation to watch ourselves, to watch ourselves that we do not slip into that lifestyle, into that mindset of the sinful nature. But yet we don't have the strength, do we, in ourselves to make sure that that happens, to determine that we do not do that. So where do we turn? We turn to the spirit, the very spirit of Christ that lives in us. It is he who leads us. It is he who assures us that we belong to Christ. It is he, by appealing to him, who will always keep us on that path of living according to the spirit. So we have an obligation to watch ourselves. And if we find ourselves adopting the lifestyle of the world, the mindset of the sinful nature, our obligation is to see the power of the Holy Spirit working in us to ensure that we live according to the Spirit. Because the Spirit within us knows our hearts. He is the one that cries out in us to God. He is the one that prays the words that we ourselves cannot even speak. He is the one that cries out, Abba Father, because he knows the Father. And so, this morning, I would encourage us to examine ourselves, as Paul says. Are we in the Spirit? Do we live according to the Spirit? Or are we living according to the sinful nature? If you are a child of God, then the Spirit of Christ lives in you. And if the Spirit of Christ does not live in you, then you do not belong to him. But you, as Paul says, are not like those who live according to the sinful nature. You who profess to be children of God, can rejoice this morning that the spirit of Christ lives in you. And all God's people say.