the message tonight. We want to remember Eric and Angela and your prayers, please. Ask God's mercy to continue upon them. Again, I spoke with Eric this last week. He's coherent and everything. He's doing, sounded really good. But I'm sure that this is still taking a toll on them as they continue to go from doctor to rehab. And so pray for Eric and And Angela, ask your prayers tonight for me. I don't know how long my voice is going to carry. I'm just kind of inching along. It was great this morning. And then we sang happy birthday to my mother. And that went well. It was surprisingly well. I don't know. Maybe that's when my voice goes, when I sing well, you know it's going out. So it's not normal. that this morning. Cheryl's not feeling well, so pray for her, if you will. Remember her in your prayers. You guys go back to the spring. Is that when y'all go back to Pennsylvania? Okay, everything went well with y'all's appointment. Praise God, that's good. Continue to pray for them and their children. Any other requests? Jill, remember her in prayer. Anyone else? Oh, that's right. I've been running around like a chick with my head cut off. She's not being well. Pray for Jean. I'm glad to see you here. I'm glad to see that God has been gracious to bring us together. And I just want, for your encouragement, I've written two letters today from people that I don't know. One's in Utah, the other's in Oregon. I have no idea. They're obviously listening to the gospel where they're at, and this is just to show that these are not it. There are many. I often think, I know it is the spirit of God, and I'm not trying to downplay that at all. It is the spirit of God using his word as he pleases. And that's it. That's all you can say. There's nothing special about this man. There's nothing special. I think it shows the desperation, the famine that we live in. There is hardly any preaching of the gospel. There's a lot of religion and a lot of noise, a lot of sights and sounds and lights and dazzle. And just few that will take this word honestly as it stands. And I'm sad for that. I would that there's a preacher on every corner. I would that everybody had a church they could walk next door and find a place to worship. I wish you could. I'm not here to win friends and influence people. I'm not here to do that. I don't do that. That's not my job. I'm here and called to simply declare what God says. That's it. That's it. That's all I want to do. I want to tell you exactly what God says. You don't want to hear my opinions about it. You don't want to hear what I think about it. Doesn't matter. What does God say? That's it. What to God there'd be men out there to tell you exactly what God says and not give you an opinion or thought about it. But it's not the case. Most people make it so complicated And because they don't know it. If it's complicated, trust me, they don't know it either. If it's too complicated for them, they don't understand it either. I want to make this as simple and as plain as I possibly can. That's it. I want to tell you what it is. But I can't put it in your heart. That's not my job either. I can't make this effectual to you. I can't make you understand this. That's the work of the Spirit of God. If you can understand this book, if you can understand this Word, this is worth more than all the riches of this world. It's to understand what God says. And to know this is talking to me. This is not just talking to the masses. This is speaking to me. His Word is for me. It's astounding. And so I pray that God would make this effectual tonight to the hearts of everyone that hears. That's my prayer, always, always, is that God would take this word and make it effectual. So pray that. Beg for God to do that, because that's the only thing that can happen. It can't happen any other way. Any other thing need to be mentioned, requests, prayers? Let's go to him in prayer. Most Holy Father, thank you for the ability to come and pray, lay our cares and thoughts and concerns at your feet. You're more compassionate and caring than we could possibly imagine. And I know this, that you know more about us than we know about ourselves. You know the deep things, the hidden things of the heart that we won't show anyone else. You see the thoughts and the imaginations of our hearts. And I know when we think of these things, it causes us to run and cower, try to hide. But Father in Christ, I beg you to show us, those who are in Christ, those who trust Christ, show us what great things you've done for us, that we need not run and cower, but rather come boldly into the presence of thy throne, seeking mercy and grace for time, trouble, and need to help us, Father, we confess we are a weak people. We are a feeble people. We cannot help ourselves. We need you to help us. We need you to care for us. We need you to reveal these things of thy Word to us. And I beg you to do that tonight. I beg you. I plead with you to do it. To this man and to everyone else. Show Christ to us. Comfort the hearts of your people. I beg you, Father, if there be any outside of Christ, that you would give them faith. Give them a heart by which they may love and serve you and believe. I pray, Father, for these that are sick. We lay them before you, even as they did when you came in this world, Father. Even when Christ came into this world, They laid the sick before Him. And that's what we do tonight. We lay them out before You, pleading for mercy that You'd heal. That You'd touch the bodies of the sick in our congregation and raise them up. Our friends, our family, those we care about. They're in Your hands, Father. And I beg You to be merciful in this. Give me liberty tonight. Open my lips. Open my heart that I might Preach the word to these that have come to hear. And I beg you to open their heart, let them receive it. I pray you do this not just for this congregation, but for everywhere your gospel is preached. We pray for them as well. I ask this in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. All right, take your Bibles and turn back with me to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Tonight we'll be looking at verses 1-9, the Lord willing. I may not get through, I may just have to stop for a second, but I just want to make it as clear as I possibly can. I've entitled this message, A Comfort and a Distinction. The apostle gives comfort. The very first verse of chapter 8 is a comforting text. to believers in Christ, he says, there is therefore now, right now, right now, no condemnation to those who 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 hath made me free from the law of sin death. Now we know this in the original letter there's no divisions, chapter verse divisions. It's a letter. You don't do that with your letters. You don't write a chapter and verse in your letters and they didn't write that here. This is made for reference. It's easy and we enjoy these things. I told you turn to Romans 8 verse 1 and you knew where to go. They're helpful. But sometimes they're a distraction, because the apostle is not starting a new subject here. It is a continuation, or rather a conclusion, of what he had said in the previous chapters. And I want to get a run and start at this. I want you to see what all he had said before that led up to this point. You remember back in chapter 5. Chapter 5, he tells us this, that we are all born dead. Chapter 5 and verse 12, wherefore, as by one man's sin entered into the world, result, and death by sin, so death passed. upon all men, listen, for all had sinned. You realize this, that you sinned in Adam. When Adam sinned, you sinned. He was your representative man. And when he died, you died. That's why you were born dead. You were born spiritually dead. And so likewise, salvation must come by a representative. If you are dead, what can you do? Nothing. You're dead. What spiritually can you do? Nothing. You're dead in sins. That's how you're born. So in order for us to be saved, it must be by the work of a representative man. Look at chapter 5 and verse 19. For by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. So, this is how many are made righteous. So, by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. So this is how you're saved. If anybody's saved, you're saved by a work of another man. You can't save yourself. It's a point. So then he tells us this work is a work of grace. The work of grace means this. It's unmerited. You didn't earn it. You didn't deserve it. You weren't even alive. It was an act of grace, God giving his son to save his people from their sins. Well, in chapter 6, now he's going to answer the legalist. The legalist will say, well, if it's all of grace and it's not of works, then you're going to just sin. That's what you're going to do. Since you're saved by grace without any work you've done, then that's just going to say, well, if where sin abound, grace did much more abound, then you're going to say, well, let's sin so grace can abound more. What does a believer say to that? God forbid. How dare you think such things? That's not what the believer thinks. Paul says in chapter 6 something very profound. Look at verse 2. How shall we that are dead to sin? live any longer therein. You that believe, listen to me, you're dead to sin. Now what does that mean, I'm dead to sin? It means I'm dead to its guilt. You see, Jesus Christ, and he tells us how we're dead to sin, he said in verse 8, he said, Now, if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, Death hath no more dominion over him, for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." Likewise. You see, Christ, when He died to sin, He only died once to sin. And now then, He's alive unto God, never again will sin and its guilt come on Him. He only did that once. And now that he died, he rose from the dead and ascended to the Father, and now there is no more sin for him to pay for. He's paid it all. Look what Paul says. The same way. Likewise, impute also yourselves to be dead indeed to sin. In other words, sin's guilt will never come on you again. This is a glorious thing, isn't it? To the believer, it's a glorious thing. The guilt of my sin will never come on me again. just like it won't ever come on Christ again. And then in chapter 7, the apostle's going to answer these objections again, because the legalists are going to come and say, well, that's great. My sin's gone. Christ died for my sin. It's all by grace. Now then, how do I live? Liga is going to come and say, what rule of life do I live by? Surely now we've got to go back to the law to tell me how to live. Paul is going to tell you exactly the opposite. In chapter 7, he likens the law to us as a marriage. When we were born, we were married to the law. Everybody was under the law. When you're born in this world, you're under God's law. I don't care if you like it. It doesn't matter. You're under the law of God. You're married to it. It is an unforgiving and merciless husband. That's what it is. It is a husband that will only show you your guilt. That's all the law can do. The law can only condemn you. But guess what? This is the glory of being a believer, is that we're not only dead to the guilt of sin, we're dead to the law. Now imagine you're under the sentence of murder and then you go to the electric chair and you die. What more can the law do to you? The law has nothing to say to you. You died. And that's exactly what happened when Christ died. You that believe when Christ died, you died. Therefore, you're dead to the law. And now then, he's using that illustration of that woman married to the law. Well, if the law is dead to us, we're free to marry another. And guess who we marry? Christ. The law brings us to Christ. That's all the law can do. And then now Paul in chapter 7 gives his own personal illustration. His own personal illustration of this, he said, you know, I was alive without the law once. I thought I was doing pretty good. Nobody was better than me. But when the power of the Spirit used the law lawfully, when the power of the Spirit showed me what the law really said, I died. I found out that the law was not to life, but to death. The law cannot save me. The law cannot help me. No matter how sincere you are, Paul was sincere, wasn't he? He was a sincere man to obey the law, and yet it doesn't matter. You cannot measure up. This is what God reveals to everyone he saves. He first exposes our sin. Paul said, when the law came, he said, verse 9 at chapter 7, he said, I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which I thought was ordained to eternal life, I found a death. And notice verse 14. Verse 14, he says this, for we know. Now he's talking to somebody who has the same experience he has, a sinner. saved by grace, one that's come to Christ. You come to Christ? You believe on Christ? Listen to what Paul says about himself, and you can identify with this. Look what he says. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not, and for what I would, that I do not. But what I hate is what I do. Why is this? If I'm dead to sin, if I'm dead to the law like Paul said I am, then why in the world do I struggle with sin? If I'm free from sin's guilt, and the law has no hold over me anymore, then why in the world do I still struggle with sin? Paul expounds this by telling you, look, when I would do good, because that's the heart of the believer, to desire to do good. When I would do good, I found a principle, something, a law, that's a maxim that I can't change. When I would do good, evil is present with me. For how to perform that which is good I find not. Can you find a way to do good without evil? Anybody found a way to do good without evil? Now listen, if you have, you're deceived. You're just lying to yourself. Paul said, I can't find it. I can't find a way to do good without sin. But the good news is this, when I sin, it's no longer me. It's me, but it's not me. It's my flesh. You see, now, you that believe, consider what Paul has said, you're dead to the guilt of sin, you're dead to the law, and now you are a person of two distinct natures living in one body. You have a nature that is born of God. You know when Nicodemus, he told Nicodemus, you must be born again. What he was talking about is the new birth. God creates in us something that wasn't there. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 24 tells us to put on the new man, which is created. Now listen, that's amazing, isn't it? Created? There's something created? God still creates? Yes! He creates a new man. which is after God in true holiness. When you're born again of the Spirit, you are given a new man that is absolutely holy. He cannot sin. Now, you're not going to look in the mirror and say, well, I can see that. You can't see it. Why? Sin is still mixed with all I do. Why? We still have the old man with us. What does this create? It creates warfare. warfare, a struggle within the heart of the believer, a warfare. And Paul comes to the end of himself in verse 24 and look at this. He says, I'm I'm still carnal. The old man is still carnal. He says, Oh, wretched man, that I am. Notice that, that's right then. When Paul wrote that, when he put that down, he made it present tense. He said, the old wretched man that I am right now at this very moment, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now, I explained this on Sunday. This has reference to a Roman punishment where they would take a dead corpse and tie it around the neck of a man and he had to carry that corpse until it rotted off. That's exactly how every believer feels in this life. We desire to serve God and we have a rotting corpse dragging us down to the earth so that we cannot do what we would. And we cry, a wretched man that I am. Who's going to deliver me from this body of death? And he turns around, and he gives the answer, and he said, I thank God. You know, there's hope. Even though I'm weighed to the earth and tied to it, there's hope that I'm soon going to be delivered. Why? Because God promised. God promised. Listen, this doesn't cause us to escape this trouble. Don wrote this a long time ago. My brother wrote that hymn book. He said this, two armies within my soul. Both flesh and spirit seek control. Both grace and sin resolve to reign. This daily warfare within maintain. Oh, what a paradox I feel, a heart of flesh, a heart of steel. In love with sin, With sin at war, myself I love, myself abhor. Grace fills my soul with heavenly joy, but sin my happiness annoys. Though sin, sin resolves to hold me fast, grace shall prevail, or sin at last. Do you have this struggle? I'm not talking about a moral struggle where you're trying to be a little bit better person. That's not the struggle I'm talking about. I'm talking about a struggle where you know that you are nothing from head to toe but sin. I have nothing to offer God whatsoever. And all my hope rests in Christ alone. That's it. All my hope. In my hands no price I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress. Helpless look to thee for grace. Foul I to this fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. It's not a one-time thing for me. This is a daily, constant warfare within my own soul. Who shall deliver me from this body of death? Here it is. I thank God. He had hope. I thank God. God promised to deliver me. And what's my hope that God's going to deliver me because of this sin that I'm constantly pouring out of every pore of my body? How do I have any hope that God is not going to cast me off? How do I hope that maybe yesterday he's a little bit merciful but tomorrow he might just throw me away? How do I know that that's not going to happen? Look, look what he says, I thank God through, here's the grounds, here's my hope, through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. So then here's the conclusion, with my mind I myself serve the law of God. With the new man, I serve the law of God. He can't do anything else. But with the mind, with the flesh, what is it? The law of sin. And so in that struggle, he's going to give you the Spirit of God now. He's going to come to you, and he's going to comfort you. This is a word of the Spirit of God to every believer. Listen to me. Even though you struggle and you fail. This is wonderful. Even though you struggle and you fail. Daily, constantly you fail. Here is your comfort. There is therefore now no condemnation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ and because of Him, God in no way condemns His people. It's astounding because daily I condemn myself. Daily I condemn myself. I see daily the sin that I commit. I feel it. Within my bones I feel the sin that I despise and hate with everything in me. And yet he says, there is therefore now no condemnation. No condemnation. And you know I like to harp on the word now. There is therefore now no condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation. And you can do this until the day this body rots off into the earth and you ascend to the glorious heavens that God has prepared in Christ. You can say that there is no condemnation. No condemnation. There is not a sweeter word to the believer who is overwhelmed by his own flesh than this, God does not condemn you. Now it is always the mind of the self-righteous man to condemn. It is always the mind of the legalist to try to take some poor believer who is overwhelmed by his sin and flesh and somehow put him under subjection to the law. That's always the mind of the flesh. Listen, it is not the place of man, but the place of God to condemn. And listen, what I mean by that is we do preach a right view of sin. I could tell you a right view of sin, and we should. We never condone sin, not in ourselves, not in the Church. We don't condone that and call that humility. They did that in the Church of Corinth, remember? They had that guy that was in an incestuous relationship in the church. And they thought, well, we'll just be so gracious and just kind of accept and move along and think nothing's wrong with it. No, that's not what we're saying either. But real conviction comes only by the power of the Spirit. It only comes by the power of the Spirit, and listen, it only comes through the preaching of the gospel. Conviction of sin don't come any other way. The gospel is the way God uses to convince us of sins. And so when we are struggling and we are brought by God to feel our sin, it is this that's the medicine. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. There is therefore now. Now why is this? You sin. you feel the guilt of it, you know you've done it. If you're honest, you know it. How then could God not condemn me? How could God be just and still not condemn my sin? When I do, I condemn me. How could He not? Well, simply because of this. because Christ Jesus has already been condemned for it. Christ Jesus has already been condemned. Behold what great salvation that Christ has wrought in us by taking our sin. He took the condemnation of God and bare it on the cross and forever satisfied it. Therefore, God being just and justly satisfied, He cannot ever condemn me." When you say God cannot do something, you better be careful. You better be very careful when you say God cannot do something. Listen, God cannot twice demand payment for sin. Can He? Is that just? Can God demand twice payment? No. He cannot demand payment at the hands of His Son and then demand payment from me. That's unjust. This is how God cannot condemn me is because my sin has already been condemned. It's already been punished. God's been satisfied. Over in Zechariah chapter 3, I love this illustration because it's very beautiful. There's a man, Joshua, who's a high priest, and they had been in captivity. And now that they had been brought back, and Joshua, he's standing before God, and he's in these filthy garments. He's a priest. He's supposed to have the beautiful garments on. He's supposed to be ready to offer sacrifices and worship God. But he's in these rags. And he stands before God. And Satan stands at his right hand ready to point the finger. You can just see him chomping at the bits ready to just condemn this man. Look at him. Look at him. He's not dressed in the priestly robes. He's a sinner. Look how vile he is. Just ready to condemn him. You know what Satan gets to say? Nothing. Scripture says the angel of the Lord, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, stood by and he said, Is this not a brand pluck from the burning? Isn't this mine? This is mine. He intercedes for him. And he tells him, he said, take those filthy garments off of him, wash him, and put on the priestly robes. Wash his head. Put a crown on his head. What a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and our salvation. We're standing there in a filthy rags of our sins, ready to be condemned to death. And what does Christ do? He comes along and He says, He's not to be condemned. Instead, take His sin off of Him and put my righteousness on Him. Take my crown and put it on His head. This is what it means when he says, there is therefore now no condemnation. Because nobody can accuse you. God is already satisfied with Christ's offering. But notice this. This, now he's going to make a distinction. He gives you the comfort. You that struggle with sin, that's your comfort. There's no condemnation. And there's nothing in the world that can ever bring it back, seeing that it's already done. Now, a distinction is made. This is not for everybody. This comfort is not for everybody. Look at your text. There is therefore now no condemnation, listen, to them which are in Christ Jesus. And this is the distinction, this is how you're going to tell the difference. Look at this. Who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. There's a distinction made. First of all, who then are in Christ Jesus? Only these, if you are in Christ Jesus, you may have this comfort. If you are not in Christ Jesus, you may not have this comfort. It's not yours. Now, if I wrote a letter, a love letter to my wife, If you were another woman and you read that letter and you thought, wow, he really loves me. No, I wasn't writing to you. It was very specifically designed for her. Now you may have read it, but it wasn't for you. This letter is only for God's elect. That's it. The gospel is not for everyone. The gospel is for God's people. Now it's preached to everybody. I'll preach to anybody. Anybody want to listen? I'll preach it. But specifically, this gospel is intended for only his people. Who are they? Well, they're the ones in Christ Jesus. Now whatever that means, that's the ones. That's the ones. What does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? First of all, these people were put in Christ. They didn't jump in Christ, they didn't get in Christ. It's not a matter of decision, well, do I want to be in Christ or do I don't want to be in Christ? It's not a matter of will. God put us, if you are in Christ, listen, God put you there. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look and see this is true. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at verse 30. Tell me who put you in Christ? Read the text and tell me who put you there. But of God are you in Christ Jesus? Anybody misunderstand that? You in Christ? Who put you there? God said He did. But of God are you in Christ Jesus? And notice this. Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Salvation. God made Him to be all our salvation. Now God put you in Him and God made Him to be your Savior. Now what do you have to do with it? Nothing. Why? Verse 31. That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. That no flesh should glory in his presence. That's why he did it. That you should have no glory. If you're saved, God's going to do it. That's it. The only one that can put you in Christ is God. That's it. Do you not realize you're helpless to put yourself in God? In Christ. Now the world will tell you you can. Religion will tell you you can. All you got to do is come down to the front, make a decision for Jesus, and then you'll be in Christ. Find it. You won't find it. I just read it to you. If you're in Christ, God put you there. Isn't that astounding? Why? So that you don't have anything to glory in. You don't get to brag. You don't get to boast. You don't get nothing. God puts you in Christ. And God made Christ to be all your salvation. But God also purposed that everyone he put into Christ should experience it. This is glorious. I didn't know he put me in Christ. I was born dead in sin. I didn't have any clue he put me in Christ. Matter of fact, I was running the opposite way. I was going against it. I was doing everything I could to get away from it. I didn't know He put me in Christ, but He did. He put me in Christ before the world began for this purpose, that I should experience it, that I should know it, that I'm in Christ. And this is when He sends the Holy Spirit to give us the new life. And it's by the power of the Holy Spirit then we are made partakers of the divine nature. That new nature I was talking about that causes us to war with the old one? That's the work of God. That's the evidence of this, that I'm in Christ. If I have a new heart, a new mind, if I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, faith is the evidence of life. It's not the cause of it. It's the evidence of it. Are you breathing? You're alive, you are. Listen, spiritually, if you're alive, what are you doing? You're believing. That's the evidence I'm in Christ. It's faith in Christ. The new heart, a new mind. And we who believe, we confess this, that I am saved because of my union with Him. Our Lord made that illustration of the tree and the branches, right? He says, except you abide in me, you cannot produce fruit. If a branch were cut off from a tree and you lay it on the ground, how much fruit will it produce? Nothing. It has no life. It has no source of life. But you that believe, your source of life is Christ Himself. You are in union with Jesus Christ, and therefore you have life by virtue of that union. When we baptize someone, this is a picture of it. When somebody is being baptized, it doesn't save them, it doesn't have anything to do with their salvation. What it does is, it is confessing to everybody else that I'm one with Him. When he died, I died. That's what it's saying. When he died, when he was buried, I was buried with him. When he rose up again and he had no more sin to pay, I rose in him. I'm with him. I'm with him. That's what we confess as believers. We are one with him. I am in him. Why? God put me there. How do I know I'm in Him? Because I believe on Him. Faith is the evidence of that new life. Faith is the evidence of it. And notice this. Go back to your text and look at this. He says, to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. What in the world does he mean by that? Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now, again, your legalist will take you back to the law. He's going to say, well, to walk by the Spirit, you've got to go back to the law. Galatians chapter 3 tells us this very plainly. The law is not a faith. These two are distinct things. Those that are walking after the Spirit, how are you walking? How are you walking? You're walking by faith. You walk by faith. That's how Abraham walked, didn't he? Abraham didn't have the law of Moses. He daily walked by faith. This is how we walk, daily. This struggle within me constantly causes me doubts and fears and troubles and griefs and sorrows. All of the circumstances around me seem to be going in the opposite direction of all the promises that God has made to me. And yet what? Do I trust how I feel or what I think? No. I believe God. I trust Christ. My hope of not being condemned is being in union with Him. And that's how we live. We walk by faith. Look at this. He said, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. This phrase, the law of the Spirit of life. I know that's kinda troubling. All it means is the gospel. The gospel. What is the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus? It's the gospel. When you believe, what was the means that God chose by which you should believe? The gospel. It was the simplicity of preaching the gospel that convinced me of my sin and me. And it was by that gospel I was delivered from the law of sin and death. This is the means God uses to deliver his people is through the preaching of the gospel. And what is the gospel? Look at the next verse. Here's what we walk by. Here's what we live by. Look, verse 3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. You believe that? Now, the law is not weak. The weakness was me. I couldn't obey it. The law could not save me, not because the law's at fault, but because of my flesh. I couldn't obey it. For what the law could not do and is weak through the flesh, what happened? God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. How do I know that I'm not going to be condemned? Sin is condemned already. Where? When Jesus Christ came into this world, I like that phrase, the likeness of sinful flesh. Believe it or not, some people use that verse and say, well, he really wasn't a man because he's in the likeness. No. When Christ came into this world, he looked like every other sinner. The problem was, he didn't have any sin. He looked like everybody else. He came as a man. It's astounding. God became a man. Now why in the world would God become a man? What is the purpose of that? Look, for sin. His elect, they sinned. And their sin separated them from God. So God sent His Son to remedy that problem. He came for sin. And listen, sin was condemned in His flesh. When Jesus hung on the cross, he didn't just die and suffer a crucifixion of Roman torture. He died under the wrath of God. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, died under the wrath of God Almighty. When God made him to be sin, he died under the full measure of God, without mercy. God showed Christ no mercy. And my sin was condemned. Now this is what the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has revealed to me, is that my sin was condemned in Christ on Calvary. This is the gospel message that I believe. This is the gospel message by which I am free from the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death will never come on me. Ever, ever, ever. There is no condemnation on me. No matter how I feel, or what I think, or even what I do, there's no condemnation. Why? Because Christ already condemned sin in His flesh. God did. And notice this, for this purpose, look at verse 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled, look at these two words, the righteousness of the law fulfilled in us. Now how can that possibly be? Again, I told you can't look in the mirror and see that. You're a believer, you're struggling with sin all the time anyway. How can you say that the law is actually fulfilled in me? It is because God has given us a nature that has fulfilled the law. He's given us a righteousness, even the very righteousness of God. Look at chapter 3. Look what he tells that he's given you. This is what you that believe, you have. He says, even the righteousness of God, that's what you have, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. You that believe. The gospel declares very plainly that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. That was God's purpose of doing it. And so then I'm free from condemnation because sin's already condemned and now God has worked the work of creation in us and the law is fulfilled in the new man. So then as you walk in this world, are you cast down? Because I am. I am cast down. I watch these videos of sheep a lot. You see these YouTube videos of sheep. I'm not a shepherd, so I thought I'd look at some. And man, these sheep get so, their wool gets so ugly and matted up, and they get so fat. And then they just flop over. They just fall over. They're top heavy. They just fall over. And you know what a sheep, he can't right himself. He can't set himself up. That's how I feel so often. But what writes me, what sets me on my feet, what gives me hope, it's the gospel. The spirit of God by the gospel tells me, there's therefore now no condemnation. Get up. Get up. And he writes me. It's this law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that tells me constantly I'm free from the law of sin and death. Now look at verse 5 real quickly. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Now here's the distinction that you're not in Christ. Here's how you know if you're not in Christ. What are you minding? What are you tending to? Those who are after the flesh do mind only the things of the flesh. And I'm not talking about just carnal lust and things like that. What I'm talking about is religion. Those who are lost mind religious moralities and law. That's what they do. They tend to love. Most of the religions of this age teach poor sinners to mind the flesh. They teach them to use the law to try to mortify the deeds of their flesh. They say, well, you need the law to mortify your deeds. You commit too much sin. You need to do this. Stop doing this and start doing this. When you do that, what are you minding? Well, I'm minding the flesh. I'm thinking that if I do this in the flesh, God's going to be pleased with me. So what are you minding? Things in the flesh. You think that because you're more moral or you're doing things right, that somehow God's going to give you kudos. You think God's going to say, well, you're doing a good job. What are you minding? The flesh. That's all you can mind. That's all the natural man can mind, is the flesh. He said, For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh. Look at verse 6. What is the result of this? To be carnally minded is death. Works religion is death. Works salvation is death. If salvation is Jesus Christ plus something you do, that's carnal, that's death. I don't care how sincere you are. It doesn't matter how sincere you are. It just doesn't. Name one thing you've done without sin. Name it. What is it? What can you take to God and say, here, this is righteous. I've done this with perfect love to you and perfect love to my neighbor. What is it? Nothing. You have nothing. Our Lord said, Hoth, everyone that thirsteth, come to the waters, come buy wine and milk, without money, without price. Wherefore do you spend your money for that which does it satisfy? Why do you spend your time minding the flesh? It's not going to please God. To be carnally mind is death. Why is that? Verse seven, because the carnal mind hates God. I'm not talking about religion. Carnal mind loves religion. Did y'all not see that big monstrosity in France? Notre Dame, big church. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on that thing. Thinking that makes them closer to God. No, the carnal mind loves religion. It likes a God that needs them. You think God needs you? If you think God needs you, you think too highly of yourself. Now, the reverse is true. You need God. You need Christ. Without Him, you'll die. The carnal mind hates God, for it's not subject to the law of God. Listen to this. Neither indeed can be. You cannot obey that law. You cannot obey the law. You cannot obey the law. You've not done it yet and you won't ever do it. Why? The carnal mind hates God and despises His law. You listen very carefully, the carnal mind is death. If that's what you're about, trying to earn your favor with God, nothing but death awaits you. That's it. The distinction is this, those who are in Christ, look back at your text in verse 5, it said, but they that are after the Spirit, what do we mind? We mind the things of the Spirit. I mind spiritual things. Which is what? Spiritual things such as faith and love. I mind these things. This is my hope, is Christ. The Spirit of God, when He quickens a believer, He causes him to look away from himself and look to Christ. Is that where you're looking tonight? Are you looking to Christ? Well, you're minding the things of the Spirit. That's the Spirit of God. When our Lord came, he told us this about the Spirit. He said the Spirit won't even testify of himself. You know that? The Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit won't testify of himself. The Holy Spirit only testifies of Christ. So when you believe in Christ, who's doing that? That's the work of the Spirit. It's causing you to look away from yourself and look to Christ. And so how does the believer walk? He walks by the Spirit. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. The Spirit of Christ always causes us to look to Christ, to look to Christ. To be spiritually minded, Paul says here, is life and peace. You see the distinction? Are you in Christ? If you're in Christ, you believe in Christ, you trust in Christ, who put you there? God put me there. Who gave me this faith to believe in Christ? God gave me this faith to believe in Christ. Who's keeping me in Christ? It's God keeping me in Christ. I'm not going to mind my flesh to try to keep myself in Christ. God does that. And I look by faith. And I'll tell you this, I know this. Every believer still struggles with sin. But I'm so thankful that salvation doesn't have anything to do with me. I didn't have anything to do with it. It's completely the work of God. And because it's of God, I can't mess it up. I can't fall out of it. There is therefore now no condemnation to you who are in Christ Jesus. Why? You walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh. You're seeking to be accepted by spiritual things, not carnal things. Why? To be carnally minded is death. To be spiritually minded is life and peace. That's what I want. I want life and peace. I hope that God show you the distinction and make sure that I would long for everyone to be in Christ. But that's not my business, is it? I can't put you in Christ. That's God's business. I can't make you believe this. That's God's business. I'm just here to tell you. I'm just a messenger. I pray that God would bless this to you. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. A gracious Father dismisses with your own blessings, I beg you. I beg you for grace, power, your spirit. Pray for grace to lay hold on Christ. Find in Him all that we cannot find in the law or the flesh. Find in Him salvation and life and peace and joy. In Him we trust. I pray that you do this In his name and for his sake, amen.