If we had to name six subjects that Paul has addressed here in the letter to the Romans, what would we say those six subjects were? Some of them are pretty easy. Actually, maybe all of them are pretty easy. I've got it narrowed down to six though. Maybe seven. What would you say? Sin. What else? The law. What's been the primary subject here? Justification. What's that mean? That means God says you're not guilty of all those sins you committed. So in the first seven chapters here of Romans, Paul has taught regarding sin, the law, the wrath of God, condemnation, justification, and righteousness. Chapter 1, verse 18. Look what it says. And you're going to need your Bibles out. We have a scripture sheet, but we're going to be looking back through a number of verses here in Romans. And here's chapter 1, verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. You know why most people are on their way to hell? Because they don't believe this. They're not concerned about this. And so they die in their sin and their unbelief. Now chapter 3 verse 9. All are guilty before God. The wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness. And all are guilty before God. Both those who have received the law and those who haven't. There is none who is righteous. There's none who does good. There's none who seeks God. Chapter 3, verse 20, By the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight. That's what Paul has taught us about our ability to live righteously. And in chapter 6 and 7, and particularly in chapter 7, Paul has demonstrated that no one will be justified through the law, through his own keeping of the law, through his own works. Now this is why any church that calls itself Christian and then says you are justified by faith plus works is a heretical church. No man can be justified through his own works, either apart from Christ or in addition to the work of Christ. But, chapter 3, verse 21, we read that God has manifested His righteousness in the world. In and through whom? There's an easy one. Jesus Christ. Verse 24 of chapter 3, those who are justified are justified on the basis of what? solely as a gift of God of His grace through the redemption that means the deliverance from bondage to and the penalty of sin that's what the redemption is from sin and its penalty those who are justified are justified solely as a gift of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus That's the only way. And how does he do it? Verse 28, a man is justified by faith, by believing God, as Abraham did, apart from works of the law. And in chapter 4, we remember, as Paul wrote and illustrated this in the life of Abraham, he shows that all who truly believe in Jesus Christ are credited with His righteousness. We all understand there is not some other way. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of other religions out there. None of them provides a way to escape condemnation. None of them. Now I want to look back to chapter 5. Look at verse 12. Here are the basic premises of all this. Chapter 5, verse 12. Through one man. Who was that one man that sin entered the world? Adam. Through one man sin entered the world. And what came along with sin? Death. And so death spread to whom? Everybody. To all men. Because in Adam all sinned. That sin of Adam affected us all. Verse 15 of chapter 5. By the transgression, look at it again, of the one, the many died. But much more did the grace of God and the gift of the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to many. Verse 16, one transgression again, here it is again, resulted in what? What's the word? Condemnation. To whom? Who was condemned by that sin of Adam? Everybody. Everybody. But the free gift arose from many transgressions. Christ died for the sins of many of us, resulting in justification. One of the things we're going to see here tonight, condemnation is the opposite of justification. And everybody in Adam is condemned, born that way. So chapter 5 verse 18, again through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men. One sin, all are condemned. Through one act of righteousness, justification to all men. And by way of explanation, in verse 19, Paul says, through the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. Even so, through the obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous. All men are not saved. All men are not declared righteous. Those who believe in the Word of God and believe in Jesus Christ and His atoning work on the cross. That's who's forgiven and welcomed into the presence of God. And then 521, as sin reigned in death, grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is why he came. to accomplish this. So in this verse, verse 21, Paul told us that in Christ the reign of grace won victory over the reign of sin and death. Now all those who are out there in unbelief are still under the reign of sin and death. You've heard me say that chapters 6 and 7 are regarded by some as a parenthesis. And that might be true. It's almost as though Paul wrote chapter 5, had written those five chapters, may have gone ahead to chapter 8 and wrote that, and then thought, you know, I better go back and explain some things about freedom from the slavery of sin and about the weakness of the law. Because he's going to talk about the weakness of the law in the first four verses of chapter 8. Maybe not, but you can certainly see how that could have been the case. In chapter 6, Paul celebrates the triumph of grace over sin. That's what he's doing. He's declaring that we who have died to sin shall no longer live in it. That those who have been crucified with Christ have been joined into an eternal spiritual union with Him. With the risen Christ. It's a real thing. And you're either in this spiritual union with Christ, and you know you are by whether you've got a hunger to know Him, to draw near to Him, or you're in Babylon. You're in the world. Isn't some third possibility? Those who have died to sin, who have killed the old man, are joined to Christ. If we have died with him, we shall also what? Live with him. And that starts now. We have been joined to him in his resurrection to life. Those who have been joined to him have been made alive to God in him. Sin is no longer our master, Paul says. We're no longer ruled by sin. Who does this work? Who accomplishes this in us? It's the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ. We can't do this ourselves. But he says, look at chapter 6 verse 7, he who has died is freed from sin. Now in chapter 7, the last verses 13 through 25, we saw Paul struggling under the law of sin and death. He called himself a prisoner still of the law of sin and death. So there's not a progression from chapter 6 chronologically in his life through chapter 7. But chapter 6-7, he who has died is freed from sin. And look at verse 11. We should now consider ourselves dead to sin. 618, that we are now slaves of righteousness. Slaves of obedience to Him. Now then in chapter 7, Paul showed that freedom from the power of sin is not accomplished through what? Through the law. This isn't accomplished through the law, through your good works. The law, he says, cannot save anyone. No one can be justified through his keeping of the law of God. Because all men sin. The world treats this, folks, as if it's some secret. And so they don't know. And I don't think they do. This is the blessing of having the Word of God. All men are born children of wrath. Ephesians chapter 2. All are born children of wrath. And nobody can be justified, meaning declared not guilty before God on the basis of his own works. Because all are guilty of sin. So he's shown us all of that. And now he says, but there is a way. But there's only one way. There's a way of justification of being declared not guilty by God. One way to be delivered from eternal condemnation. Now all those who are in Adam are eternally condemned and stand eternally condemned. But this one way to be delivered from condemnation is to be joined into union with the risen and ascended Christ through the new birth and belief in Him and His saving work. This is how it happens. And in this great chapter we are taught about the power of God the Holy Spirit to defeat the forces of sin and evil in men and women who were born under the dominion of sin. That's what chapter 8 is about. It's the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of Christ in us. So look at chapter 8, verse 1. There is now, and it's in capital letters, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death, to which Paul said he was a prisoner back in chapter 7, verse 23. We're not going to cover verses 3 and 4 tonight, but I want to read them because they'll give us some understanding and context. This is wrapping up the context of what he taught us in the last half of chapter 7. For what the law could not do, weak as it was... Why was it weak? Because of our flesh. God did. ...sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who don't walk according to the flesh, but now according to the Spirit. So therefore is the first word we have here. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Therefore is a very significant word. It indicates that Paul is going to now draw a conclusion from what has been said before. So the question is, how far back does this therefore go? Is he just referring to what Paul just said in the last couple of verses? The last chapter? It's possible grammatically to send this back a verse or two or the whole way back to chapter 1. But Paul is likely referring to the entire preceding argument. And it may well go back as far as chapter 1 verse 16 where he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel. Why not? Because it's the power of God for salvation. The gospel is the power of God. to everyone who believes, Jews and Greeks. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the righteous man shall live by faith. He's taken several chapters here, Paul has, to reveal the way in which God justifies us in Christ. And now in conclusion of this entire discussion of sin and death and condemnation and the law and righteousness and grace and justification, he can say there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Tonight we're going to look at these first two verses and four terms in these verses. Because we have to understand what the meaning of these terms is if we are to understand the passage. What's meant by condemnation? It is the opposite of justification. You stand before God at the judgment and He's going to say either one word or two words. Guilty or not guilty. It's a forensic term, condemnation. Meaning it describes one's legal standing, one's position before God. One is either condemned or justified at all times. You're either in... And those who are in Adam are what? Which word applies? Condemned. Those who are in Christ are justified. Yeah, sure. We're now no longer slaves of sin because His Spirit is in us. And His Spirit is more powerful than sin. One of the things that Paul shows us, he speaks of sin almost like it's an act of personal force that's within us. So, do we know any people who never sin again even though they've been born again? Probably not. But the power of sin in us has been defeated. It is no longer our master. And that's what Paul is showing us throughout really much of this epistle. Justification. There's a lot of things happen at the time of the new birth. Become adopted as God's children. You're born, you're alive, your spirit is made alive. Your sins are forgiven. And you're declared not guilty on the spot and forever. No condemnation once that is declared by God. It's eternal. Now we're still going to live in His body. But we have the power of God in us. Condemnation though, that means eternal punishment. Especially here in this chapter. Eternal misery. Outer darkness. What are some of the terms that Jesus used to describe this? Lake of fire in Revelation. Where the worm never dies. And no one, no one can escape that eternal destiny through the keeping of the law. You cannot make a religious system of sacrifices or anything else. You cannot live a moral enough life to earn your way out of condemnation. And here's something else that we need to understand. You know what the world believes? The world has got this idea that we're born, and we start off with a clean slate, and then we do some good and some bad and some good and some bad, and at the end, our good will probably outweigh our bad, and God will look and say, well, okay, the balance scales are pretty much in your favor. No. We're born condemned. We're born children of wrath. We're born to die. We're born under condemnation. We're born in darkness. And he's the only way out of it. No one can keep the law because the flesh doesn't want God, doesn't want to obey God. What does the flesh want? Pleasure. Sin. the flesh wants to gratify itself justification it's the annulment of condemnation is a gift from God it's an act entirely of God's grace nobody is neutral but that's that's what Satan's convinced the world of nobody's neutral so for those who have received this gift this annulment of condemnation They are now brought into union with Christ. And that's not just something we say. That's not a nice bunch of words. It means you're joined to the only source of life in the entire universe and beyond. Joined to Him. And for them there is no condemnation. Every one of us came into this world already condemned. Everybody understand that? That's what the Bible teaches. Condemned to eternal misery. And this is what those verses we read in chapter 5 showed us. That sin of one man brought about the death of all men. Physical death, which is the separation of the spirit of a man from his body. And spiritual death, which is the separation of the man from God. And there we are, separated from God. And there's nothing, Paul says, that any man can do to bring himself back into union with God. The law showed us a way, in theory, if a man could have perfectly kept the law of God for his entire life, he could have achieved a reunion with God, reconciliation with God. But no man could do that. No man is good enough. That doesn't make the law bad. The law, God's revelation to mankind of His perfect standard of righteousness is not a means of escape from condemnation. I wouldn't keep repeating it except Paul keeps repeating it and I know 98 out of 100 out there believe it. They believe they're good enough. The law of God is good, but all those who remain in Adam are under the dominion of sin, ruled by the power of sin that is in all men. And what did Paul say? He said sin uses even the law of God to arouse sin in us. That's right. And when he arouses sin in us, that brings about This is the law of sin and death that Paul's talking about. It's a pull on us. We're going to talk about it in a minute. So the only way that anybody could escape condemnation is if the power of sin in him could be defeated. Has to be a victory over that power. Sin is a power. It's not just a list of do's and don'ts. It is an active and actuating power within a person. And we can't defeat it ourselves. This is what Paul has been showing us in chapter 6 and 7. These questions that Paul answered in chapter 6 verse 15 and in chapter 7 verse 13 He showed us that the law is good, but it has limitations. Reveals God's standard of righteousness, reveals sin to us, shows us that all wrongdoing is sin against God, but it can't save anyone. No one can obtain forgiveness of sins through the keeping of the law of God. But there is this means of forgiveness. And that's what he's talking about now in chapter 8. It's a means of justification. And it's received, as he said, as a gift through belief in the one who is righteous, who did keep the law, who died to atone for the sins of those who believe in his righteousness and in his death as the atonement for their sins. Do you see why he had to come here? Who else were we going to be able to receive righteousness from? A representative of humanity had to do what we couldn't do. That's why he had to become man. And a perfect sacrifice had to be offered to atone for our sins. God would never accept a blemished lamb. Only an unblemished sacrifice. That's why he had to come. There wasn't some other way. Now look at chapter 3, verse 21. But now, apart from the law, set the law aside because that didn't save us. The righteousness of God has been manifested. It was witnessed in the Law and the Prophets. It was written about before Christ came. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For there's no distinction. All have sinned. All fall short of the glory of God. Being justified, how? What's it say? As a what? As a gift. As a gift. Now you want to squeeze in, well I did this. I was a little smarter than everybody else. I was a little more righteous. I responded to this when these other people didn't have enough sense to. A gift. How does a gift work? What do you do for something that's a gift? If you pay for the gift or do something for the gift, we call that our wages. It's not a gift. It's a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. In chapter 5 verse 1, look what happens. Having been justified by faith, now remember, to be spiritually dead is to be separated from God. But having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. We are reconciled to God. Through whom? Who's doing it all? Who's doing all the work? The Lord Jesus Christ. This idea that he was a good teacher, he was a moral guy, taught some good things, is so offensive to the majesty of God. He reconciled sinners to God. Those who have been justified by God have peace with God. through Jesus Christ, the God-man. They've been reconciled to God. One who has been justified by God is no longer in a state of separation from God. He's also now in Christ Jesus. Do you understand? If you're in Christ Jesus, in union with Him, you are in union with the risen Son of God. There's no separation. It's a real union. Because he's now in Christ Jesus. So what's it mean to be in Christ Jesus? You're either in Christ Jesus or you are in Babylon. You're in the world. You're in Christ Jesus or you are of the world. Your main pleasures come from something in the world. You're not in Christ Jesus. It's very likely you're not. Let me go back and read these words again. There's therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Can anybody think of anything more worthy of celebration than that? But you look at a football stadium every Sunday and you see people far more excited over a first down, a touchdown, a referee's call than they will ever be over this. over rescue from eternal misery. If your joy comes from knowing this, it's a pretty good sign you're in Christ Jesus. Let's put it that way. If you take more joy from the things of this world than you do from Christ, then you better get on your knees. One who has been born again has died to sin, has been joined into this real spiritual union with the risen Christ. Who does that? Who does that work? 1 Corinthians 12, 13. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body. That's what he's talking about. Being joined into union with Christ. And it doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a Greek or a slave or a free man. We were all made to drink of this one Spirit. The Holy Spirit does this joining. And it's accomplished through the gift of faith. The opening of our eyes. Galatians 3.26. You are all sons of God, how? Through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you, here it is again, who were baptized into Christ, that means immersed. The word baptizo came from a word that meant immersed. Could be in water, could be into something else. You who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. So it's a work of the Holy Spirit. It's accomplished through the gift of faith. And it results in a complete change of heart. Your affections changed if you were born again. Colossians 2.11. In Him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. and the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism. There it is again. He's not talking about water baptism. I'll get to that in a moment. in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead." Three times we read about this being baptized into Christ. Now it's because of what I regard as their misunderstanding of these couple of verses in Colossians and perhaps in part the other two, that I'm not a Presbyterian. We have good Presbyterian brothers and sisters, but I believe they misunderstand this passage because they try to use this passage in Colossians to replace circumcision for the Jews with water baptism for the Christian. But Paul's not talking about water baptism here, obviously. He's talking about circumcision without hands. Baptism you need some hands. Water baptism doesn't bring about a new heart. Paul's talking about the new birth here. And the evidence for that really is pretty overwhelming. This baptism is spiritual. You're raised up with Christ. He's speaking of the immersion of the born-again believer into spiritual union with the risen Christ. I wish we had a greater grasp and understanding and appreciation of this union with Christ. Yes, we're walking around in these bodies and we're stuck in this world that's fallen and rebelling against God. Folks, if you're born again, you've been brought into union with the one who came down here, lived a perfect life and died for us. Chapter six, Paul described the death of the old man. and his coming into union with Christ and having now life. Look at chapter 6 verse 3. 6 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? Again, he's talking about being joined into union with Him. Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so too we might walk in the newness of life. This whole picture of the death of the old man, death to sin, death to the law, and now life in Christ has been the way Paul has portrayed the new birth throughout. Knowing this, he says, for if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him, He didn't say the old body. He said the old self, the person, the essence of the person. "...was crucified with Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with." So now the power of sin over us has been defeated. And it's still there. We've still got this body of flesh that wants to respond to sinful desires. Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves of sin. Now look at these words. For he who has died is freed from sin. Don't cut yourself slack for your sin. Don't say, well Paul says we're still going to sin. Don't do that. We've lost the excuse. We don't have the excuse anymore if we are in Christ. If He has defeated the power of sin in us, we don't have that anymore. Those who have received this gift, this deliverance from the mastery of sin, a declaration of a righteous standing before God, a joining into union with Christ, this all happens in the new birth. This all means that the law of sin, which means death, has been defeated by what? Verse 2, he says, by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. It's the Spirit of life, God the Holy Spirit, who has set you free from what Paul here calls the law of sin and of death. You've been set free by the Spirit of Christ. This is not poetry. This is reality for every born-again believer. You've been set free by the Spirit of Christ from the power of sin over you. This comes back to your point. And from its consequence. From its power and its consequence. And what's the consequence of sin? Eternal misery. You know the world doesn't believe that eternal misery awaits it. Doesn't believe it. Wouldn't go on like it is. Would go to their knees and beg for forgiveness. That's why the gift is such an amazing gift. He calls us. He opens our eyes to our sin and our need for a Savior. Verse 2, 4 or maybe because some translate this. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. So there's no condemnation because of what Christ has done in freeing people from this law that condemns. Now what about the law of sin and of death? Can we find that in a statute book somewhere? Find it in a law book somewhere? We find it in a list of rules and regulations? No. This law The law of sin and death and the law of the spirit of life are a different kind of law. This law of sin and death is not a commandment. It's not a set of do's and don'ts. It's a principle. We have seen that sometimes Paul uses the term law in different ways. Sometimes the moral law, sometimes the ceremonial law, sometimes the civil law. Sometimes he uses it in the sense of a principle. This isn't the kind of law like you can only drive 45. Not that kind of law. It's not written down do's and don'ts. We have other kinds of laws. We have the laws of science. We have the second law of Thermodynamics. What's that say? Is that a law? That's something that somebody has to do something? No, it just tells us that any system is going to be in a perpetual state of decay. What's the law of gravity tell us? Is that written down somewhere? No. Laws of physics. Law of gravity is actually a physical power in the created universe. It doesn't command anything, but when does it exert its power? All the time. And the law of gravity, I owe a bit to Tim Conway in San Antonio for this. The law of gravity is the great example here. It really is the great parallel to the law of sin and death. While one is on the earth, one cannot resist the law of gravity. You can get in a plane and you can go up there. You can have engines and everything. Sooner or later, the law of gravity is going to end. You can't resist it. You want to resist it. You can't resist it. It's always going to pull you back to earth. And so this law of sin and death is a power. It's the power of what? Of sin. It's a regulating power. It regulates our conduct. We see the law. We want to obey the law. And then there's this power in us that says, well, you know, it'd be more fun to do this. Now that's in our head. I shouldn't do it. I want to do it. What happens? We change what we want to do to match what we want to do, really. And that's what happens. So the law of sin and death is a, it's kind of a maxim. It's as long as you're under sin's power, you will sin. That's what he's saying. And you will die. There you go. There's the law of sin and death. When you were in the flesh, back in chapter 7, verse 5, were you under the power of the law of sin and death or were you under the power of the law of the spirit of life when you were in the flesh? You were under the law of sin and death. It ruled and governed your conduct. In fact, it ruled and governed your conduct to such an extent it made you, look at 7.23, Look what Paul says he was. He's a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, which wants to do the law. It made me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members. Makes you a prisoner. It's like the law of gravity. You see, when you're in Adam, because of this law of sin and death and what's in you, you are going to sin. But those who are in Christ have been freed from that law. That's what's happened. That's what Paul's been talking about. They're now under a different principle. And that principle is called the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. It speaks of the regulating and actuating power within us of whom? God the Holy Spirit. He's now ruling us. Who's more powerful, sin within us or Christ within us? Christ within us is more powerful. The people who are now under the law of the Spirit of life have been transferred from this whole realm of the law of sin and death to the realm of the law of life in the Spirit in Christ. And for them, there is no condemnation. This law of the spirit of life in Christ is set forth in contrast to the power of sin, which leads to death, eternal damnation, eternal condemnation, outer darkness, lake of fire, eternal misery, weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth. The presence of God the Holy Spirit is the distinguishing mark of the Christian. and a hunger to be near that Christ with whom you've been brought into union. His presence in you means the power of sin has been defeated. You see this? I mean, we tend to just blow by some of these blessings that come with the new birth. The power of sin has been defeated in the born-again believer. He's saying when the Holy Spirit comes into a person, the person is liberated from that bondage to evil. He finds a new power within. Power that can defeat sin and leads to a liberty. That's the liberty Paul's talking about. Not a liberty to sin. A liberty that enables you to live righteously. There's a commentator named Manson. Interesting name. He's got an interesting summary of Paul's teaching on these laws. He says, Moses' law has right but not might. Sin's law has might but not right. But the law of the Spirit has both right and might. And he's right. Second Corinthians 317. It's in your scripture sheet. Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. From what? From sin. From the power of sin. Should Christian's way of life look a little different from the way of life of those of the world? This is another really easy one. Galatians 5.13, you were called to freedom. So the law of the spirit of life in Christ is in contrast to that law of sin which dwells in my members from 7.23. The law of sin and death is this. Let me summarize it. All come into the world under the dominion of sin, under the penalty of sin, with a desire to sin, and all do sin. As a result, all are under what? Condemnation. And as we've seen, there's nothing we can do to escape that condemnation. I wish people who are professing Christians would stop taking credit for their own salvation. I do. Paul has taught us it's the grace of God manifested and imparted in and through the incarnate Christ has triumphed over sin and death and hence the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free. That's what set you free from the law of sin and death and it has made us all alive. The Holy Spirit is life. Once again, think about, here's the world out there, the unbelieving world. Do you know it thinks life exists apart from the work of God? Just exists on its own. No, life has one source. And it's God. The Holy Spirit is life. In His very essence, He is life. He imparts life. Physical life, spiritual life. Look at Psalm 104, 30. You send forth your spirit, they are created. John 6, 63. It's the Spirit who gives life. This is where life comes from. It flesh profits nothing. 2 Corinthians 3, 6. The letter kills. The Spirit gives life. Romans 8-11, which we'll get to in a few weeks. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. How? Through His Spirit who dwells in you. The law of the spirit of life is the forceful and effective operation of the Holy Spirit in the hearts and lives of God's children. It is the very opposite of the law of sin and death. So before the coming of the Holy Spirit, was it possible for the old man to do the will of God? It was not. The law can't persuade us to righteousness. The law can persuade us to think about what the law says. About doing what the law says. And so, back to the thought of Adam in chapter 5. For those not born again of the Spirit, this remains so. They stand eternally condemned. But those who have been made alive in the Spirit, by the Spirit, are enabled and empowered to do the will of God from the heart. Not as a subservient obedience to a bunch of rules, but a willing obedience, servanthood to God. So this is the message and this is the truth. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. This is good news. This is great news. There's nothing that we should be celebrating in this life more than this. Why are 98 out of 100 people more excited about a football game than they are about the worship of God? Because they're not in Christ. They're in Babylon. They're of the world. And if you're of the world, the wrath of God abides on you. Satan has convinced the world, as I said, that we all start out in life even. Good outweighs our bad. God would never condemn us. But that is a lie. And I don't want anybody to leave here tonight thinking it's anything other than a lie. All are condemned by even one sin against God. And folks, I hope and I pray that this passage has made us think. Has made us consider the state into which we were all born and the only means of escape from that destiny. Faith and trust in Jesus Christ and a life that demonstrates that faith.