Let's open our Bibles to the 8th chapter of the book of Romans, please. Romans chapter 8. This is one of the most wonderful chapters in all the Bible. In verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So this is the second therefore you find in the book of Romans. Remember Romans chapter 5, verse 1, we marked out. therefore being justified by faith. And here in Romans 8, verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation. And Romans chapter 12 is, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. And each one of these sum up all that's gone before. So it's just as if you'd have Romans 5, 1 summing up all of the first four chapters. And Romans 8, 1, summing up not only the first four, but all of the first eight or seven chapters, I should say. So it includes each time all the way back to the very first chapter. And the same thing in Romans chapter 12, verse 1. You would sum up all of the first eleven chapters. So this verse very definitely connects us with what has gone in chapter 7 immediately. There is therefore now no condemnation. We have seen in chapter 7 how that the law had condemned us. We have seen in chapter 7 how that we were weak in the flesh, and that in my flesh, as Paul says, there dwelleth no good thing. And we've seen in chapter 7 that he was a wretched man, and he thanked God through Christ for deliverance and for victory in verse 25. And then he says immediately, "...there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Now, I want you to notice the last part of the verse. It says, "...who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The last part of the verse describes those who are in Christ Jesus, and it's not the condition of no condemnation. Some people try to make this walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh. a condition of our justification, a condition of the no-condemnation. But this is rather the result or the way that God's children walk, and it is not the condition of it. The condition is to be in Christ Jesus, no condemnation. So the no-condemnation rests upon the fact that we are in Christ and that in him we are not condemned. that in Christ there is no condemnation, past, present, or future. The past condemnation we've been delivered from, the present we have access to God through Christ Jesus, and the future, there is no future judgment as far as our condemnation by the law and standing before the white throne judgment. There is the judgment seat of Christ, which has to do with a believer's life and his fellowship and his rewards in our works, our life here on this earth. And we shall all stand, Paul says, before the judgment seat of Christ, but we shall not come into condemnation. If you read John 5.24, it says, "...verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." So if you were to look through rapidly in this chapter, you'll find that there's no condemnation. 14, there is no alienation from God. Let me give you this before we pass it. In verse 14, it says, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We are not alienated from God. And in verse 18, There is no disintegration, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. We shall not disintegrate. And then in verse 26, we are not isolated. In other words, we are not left alone. There is no isolation. It says, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as well. But the Spirit itself, or Himself, maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And then in verse 28, there is no miscalculation. We know what things will be. Look at verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. There is no way of miscalculating what God is doing for us, for we know what he is doing. And then in verse 31, there is no accusation. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Who is going to accuse us? There is no accusation. And in verses 35 on, there is no separation. Look, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And he calls the road. So you have all of these things going for us. Before we develop and go verse by verse, I'd like to point out how many times the Spirit of God is used here in this chapter. This is a great chapter on the Holy Spirit. If you'll look quickly with me at these verses, verse 1, but after the Spirit, that is, that we walk after the Spirit. Verse 2, the law of the Spirit. You see that in verse 2? That's the second one. And verse 4, but after the Spirit. You have to glance at them quickly. In verse 5, you have two verses in the latter part. But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. That's five times the Spirit is mentioned. And in verse 9, three more times, 6, 7, and 8 times. Look in verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Three times there you have the Spirit. In verse 10, it says, But the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Verse 11, But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, and on down the latter part of it, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. That's the eleventh time you have the Holy Spirit. Then in verse 13, But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body. Verse 14, you have it again. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Verse 15, you have received the Spirit of adoption. Verse 16, the Spirit itself, or himself, bears witness. And on down in verse 23, it says, "...the firstfruits of the Spirit." And verse 26, "...likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities." And verse 27, And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit. So you have 19 times in these 27 verses, that's 19 times the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God is mentioned, the Spirit helping our infirmities. So if we watch As we go through in the teachings, we'll find that it's a very great and wonderful chapter concerning the Holy Spirit. I might point out something else that would do well if you would look at. And this is one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible of the second coming of Christ. Have you noticed the second coming? You know, if we don't look carefully, we won't see the second coming of Christ. But I'd like for you to begin with verse 11 and look at the last part. It says, "...shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." He shall quicken or resurrect our mortal bodies in the day of the resurrection. That means that the second coming of Christ, doesn't it? If you drop on down and you'll see the second coming again, look in verse 17. That we made the last part. I'm just going to read the essential part. And you'll have to look at the last part. That we may be also glorified together. When will we be glorified together? At the second coming of Christ. Verse 18, the last part of the verse. The glory which shall be revealed in us. When is that going to be revealed? At the second coming of Christ. And in verse 20, it says, by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope." That hope is the second coming of Christ. And it's connected with verse 21, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. That blessed hope will take place when the creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and when will that be? At the second coming of Christ. In verse 22, it's spoken of again. It says, "...for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now, and not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body." That redemption of our body comes at the second coming of Christ. Here in verse 24, it says, "...for we are saved by hope." I thought we were already saved. but saved as far as the future body is concerned. But hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeeth. Why does he yet hope for? So we are saved at the second coming of Christ from the corrupt body that we have, and it will be resurrected, and that hope looks forward to that time. Drop on down to verse 29 will suffice. It says, For whom he did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. When is it that we will actually be conformed to the image of God's Son? That is at the second coming of Christ. Look at verse 30. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He also glorified. Now notice, we've been called. We've been justified, but we experimentally have not yet been glorified. But God looks at it as if it's already done. But when will it actually be done, as far as you and I are experiencing? At the second coming of Christ. We'll be glorified together with Him, as the Bible tells us. Okay, you have much, then, concerning Christ's second coming in this 8th chapter of the book of Romans. We won't take you back and forth in the verses any longer. I'll drop back to verse 2. And we'll pick up with our verse-by-verse teaching. We said in verse 1 there's no condemnation. Verse 2 says it gives us why. It begins to develop the thought of why that there is no condemnation for the believer. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. That law that would condemn me to sin and to death The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has redeemed us and has set us free from that law. What is the law that we have now operating within us? The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. We do not have any longer that law of condemnation. That law that says that if we fail in one point of the law, we're condemned to death. He's delivered us from that condemnation unto death and made us free to live in Christ Jesus, knowing that He's delivered us from the curse. He's delivered us and set us free from the law of sin and death. Someone comes along and says, well, the law says that if you break one of these commandments, you're guilty of breaking the law and you're sentenced to death. What's your answer? Your answer is that though that's true, that I'm sentenced to death and under the condemnation of the law, but Christ has come and He's fulfilled the law. And He's redeemed me from the curse of the law, and He's given me the spirit, a new law, the law of the spirit of life, so that I can freely live the life that He has put in me. And as I live that life, even when I break the law that would condemn me to death, I have a constant reminder that I'm delivered from that law of sin and death, and I'm living by the law of the Spirit of life. I'm free to live as the Lord would lead me to live. That's a great deliverance. I'm afraid sometimes we do not realize how great. If we were constantly reminded every time that we sinned, and every time that we broke the law of God, that the sentence of death rested upon us, then we begin more to realize how wonderful it is to be able to live freely, not under the curse of the law, but the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. What if you were reminded every day when you break the law, when you break the commandments of God? You say, well, I don't break them. I don't believe that. I believe all of us do. And the Bible teaches that we do. And the Bible teaches that we do more often than we think. And that we break those commandments even when we think of them in the way that we would break them in our hearts and minds. That that's a sin against the law of God. And so, we're reminded here that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free, made us free from the law of sin and death. Verse 3 says, For what the law could not do. Now notice how plain that is. What the law could not do. The law could not set us free. The law could not save us. The law could not redeem us for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. Let's stop there a moment. Was the law weak? Not in itself. It was weak to redeem us because of the flesh not being able to keep the commandments of the law. Because of the sinfulness of our nature. That's what it's talking about. The law could not save us because it could not lift us out of sin. The law, when it came, it would only say, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not. And the law would show us wherein we have sinned, but it could not save us. It would just reveal to us more definitely that we were sinners. So what it could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, the law wasn't weak, but the flesh was weak, God did something. God did something in the way of saving us. God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. He judged sin in the flesh. And God sent, oh there's so much here, but we must cue to the point before we get back to some other things, but it says, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. That means that as he was an offering for our sins, if you have a marginal reference, it says a sacrifice for sin. He sent his Son for sin, or an offering for our sins. So that by sending his Son and his Son being an offering and a sacrifice for our sins, he did for us what the law could not do. He redeemed us from the curse of it, didn't he? That's what the Bible tells us. Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree. Jesus hung on the tree, or on the cross. And he became a sin sacrifice and an offering for our sins. And he thus redeemed us from the curse of the law. And therefore, what the law couldn't do, God did by sending his own Son, a sacrifice for sin. I want us to notice something else in verse 3. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son. Let's emphasize that for a moment. He was not just his own son the moment he was sent into the world, but he was sent because he was God's own son from eternity. Sending his own son means that the one that he sent was a part of himself and always had been throughout eternity. He was the eternal Son of God. We speak of the eternal Father, do we not? And when we say the eternal Father, we think of God the Father. And we speak of the Son of God. Well then, if God the Father is eternal, He's only eternal as the Son is eternal. You see, I'm no older in the human realm as a father. I'm not a father any longer in time than my son is my son. Because father and son make the same length of time. I've been a father for about 30 years. My son's about 30 years old. He's just as old as a son as I am as a father. And it shows us co-existence and co-equality. If we say that God is the eternal Father, then He's only the eternal Father by the eternal Son. God sent His own Son, it says. Now, if His own Son was sent, that means that He was like the Father, that He's a part of the Father. That means that Christ's deity is upheld. That means that when He came into this world, He was God, manifest in the flesh. When He took upon Him the likeness of sinful flesh, but it was not sinful, it was the likeness of it, He had no sin. And for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh. And we've seen what he did by coming into the world. Let's look at verse 4 now. And he did this in order that, or that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. How would you and I fulfill the righteousness of the law? There is no way we could fulfill the righteousness of the law except by the fact that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death, and we fulfill it because we are free to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. We are free to walk as the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from that law of sin and death. So that when we walk and live and are led by Christ and by His Holy Spirit, we're fulfilling the righteousness of the law. Not ourselves, but we're living a life that's free from it, and we're fulfilling it because of the fact that Jesus has already fulfilled it in every respect, and we're not under its condemnation. It has no finger to point against us. It has no accusation against us. When the law would condemn us, we just merely say, look at Jesus. He fulfilled it. Don't look at me. Look at Christ. He's fulfilled it, and I'm walking in a new life, free from it, and I'm living as He has made me free from the law of sin and death. And therefore, whatever the law looks upon me to condemn me, and the finger of accusation is pointed, You just say, I'm not guilty, for I'm walking and living in my freedom in Jesus Christ. And that's where we stand as Christians. It says, verse 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Verse 5 says, for they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Now, this merely shows us what sense of direction and what our walk is like. If we are constantly walking after the flesh, it shows us that we are not walking after the Spirit. In other words, I believe that there are two kinds of people mentioned here, those that are merely taken up with walking after the flesh and after sin, and those that are walking after the things of God. And if a person is revealed as one that minds the things of the flesh and walks after the flesh and seeks those things that are after the flesh, he's not the one that's walking after the Spirit. In other words, I'm saying here that I believe it reveals to us the unregenerate and the regenerated person. It tells us in verse 5, For to be carnally minded is death, for a person is constantly and consistently carnally minded and walking after the flesh and has no spiritual inclinations in his walk and in his life, it reveals to me the fact that he is not a born-again child of God. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So it shows us, what direction does your life take? Is it of the spiritual nature? Or is it of the fleshly and carnal and sinful nature? Does it constantly follow and walk They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh? Is that all your whole life is concerned about, is minding the things of the flesh? If it is, it says, for to be carnally minded is death. But is your life constantly striving after the things of the Spirit? Do you mind the things of the Spirit? Then to be spiritually minded is life, that's really life, and it's peace. Because, verse 7 says, the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. They that are strictly and completely and totally in the flesh, living after the flesh, and walking after the flesh, and are carnally minded, cannot please God. But then there is a change in verse 9. are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Now, it shows the nature of the person that is born again, doesn't it? It says, but ye are not in the flesh. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are not in the flesh. You say, well, I still have that old fleshly nature. Yes, but you're not in the flesh. You have a new nature, a divine nature, and you are in the Spirit. But in the Spirit. This states our condition as a born again, a regenerated person. Look at it. If you're renewed by the grace of God, born again, it says, but you're not in the flesh, you're in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. And it tells us, now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. You do not belong to Him. So there can only be two things pointed out here, those that are not saved and those that are. Those that are in the flesh are those that are in the Spirit. Those in whom the Spirit of Christ dwells are those that he does not dwell within. And it says if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He does not belong to him. If he does not belong to him, he doesn't have the Holy Spirit. He hasn't been born of the Spirit, has he? And so this marks a distinction. Let's ask the question, does the Holy Spirit in your life, in your heart and life, convict you when you do wrong? Does the Holy Spirit encourage you to desire, to want, to do the will of God, even though you find there's weakness there and the flesh is still there? But does the Holy Spirit cause you to desire the things that God says in his word? Does the Holy Spirit constantly bear witness with your spirit that you are a child of God and reminds you that He is living inside? Well, then you know that He is present there. But if you never have any spiritual aspirations, if you never have any desire to live for God, any desire to hear His Word, any desire to worship Him in spirit and in truth, then you're void of that Spirit which is necessary for life. And that's what we're talking about. Sometimes we doubt so much. If we doubt, let's look within and see what the Holy Spirit does with us and in our life. And then those doubts will remove, won't they? Because you'll say, well, I know the Holy Spirit tells me that I'm doing wrong when I do thus and so. I know the Holy Spirit aspires me to do better. I know the Holy Spirit of God teaches me that I ought to obey the Word of God. I know the Holy Spirit leads me to pray in the things of God. And you have all these workings. And all of these workings should be evidence in your heart that you are a child of God. And they are. That's what it tells us on down in verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. They are the children of God. So it tells us that this is evidence. Now, if you never have any movings of the Holy Spirit in your life whatsoever, you couldn't claim to have the evidence there within your life, could you? But if you do have, then you know that there is the living evidence within. And that Holy Spirit has come in the very moment a person believes. In fact, He has come in to cause you to believe. He has come in to to quicken you unto life. He has come in to cause you to have your heart open to receive the Word. That's what Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. He says, In whom ye also trusted, when did you trust? After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. So we see that that Holy Spirit is within. And he came in the very moment you believed. Now let's look at verse 10, please. It says, And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. That old man, that body of sin, has been put to death. And it's been put to death because you accepted Christ, and you were considered and reckoned as dead with him. And that when he died as your sin substitute, you accepted him, you accept him as your substitute, so that your sins were put to death there. The body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Christ's righteousness has brought the Spirit of life, and the Spirit is life. But look at verse 11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Now, some people apply that to a quickening now of our mortal bodies in the midst of sin. But I believe it has a deeper meaning than that and a further meaning. That means that the same Spirit that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead is also going to quicken our bodies and resurrect us at the second coming of Christ. "...shall quicken your mortal bodies by the Spirit that dwelleth in you." And you know why I believe it means that? Because mortal bodies, the body's mortality has to do with the body. It doesn't have to do with the Spirit. If he quickened our spirit day by day, that would be a different thing. But he shall quicken your mortal bodies. These corrupt bodies shall be resurrected. Quicken means to resurrect or make alive. And these mortal bodies shall put on immortality. This corruptible shall put on incorruption. And it will do that at the second coming of Christ. And it will do that by the power of his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Verse 12 says, Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Now, we do mortify or put to death or crucify the deeds of the body, and this is life. And we are debtors to do this. We are debtors, not to live after the flesh. We don't owe this flesh anything. Let's try to get it plain. We don't owe the flesh anything as to live after it. Sometimes we act like we do. Sometimes we give it more attention. When we speak of flesh, we're not talking about our body as that which we use to work and to live and to perform things that are good or things that are evil, we're talking about that carnal nature, that principle of sin within us that still remains, and we do not owe that sin principle anything, for we've been made free from it through Christ. We don't owe it anything. So we're debtors not to it, to live after the flesh, but we're debtors to live after the Spirit and to mortify, to put to death. The only debt we owe the flesh is to put it to death. when it would arise and try to take advantage of the spiritual life. The debt we owe it is to put it to death. We don't owe it anything otherwise. We don't owe it anything as far as living after it. We owe it only to mortify it. You take verses 12 and 13 and we'll show you that. But if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." That means they are the children of God. Are we led by the Spirit of God? Jesus said when He sent the Holy Spirit, He would lead you, He would guide you, He will teach you, He will indwell you. Do we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God? If we are willing to be led by the Spirit as Christians, He will lead us. Remember Philip, as he was spoken to? by the Holy Spirit to depart from Samaria and go down into Gaza, which is desert. And as he was there and the eunuch came by in his chariot, the Spirit said to Philip, go and join thyself to this chariot. You and I, let's put ourselves in the same position today. Suppose we were there and the Holy Spirit said, go and join yourself to the chariot. We think, well, I'm just imagining that. I may not be supposed to do that, but you see, Philip was being led of the Spirit. Now, if the Spirit speaks to you, the Holy Spirit of God, and tells you definitely to do certain things, then is when you better do it. Then is when you ought to follow that leadership. If we be led of the Spirit by the Spirit, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Children follow that leadership. Sons of God follow the leadership of the Spirit of God. And that's exactly what you and I ought to be doing all the time. Now it says in verse 15, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. That is, when you were saved, you didn't receive a spirit that would put you back in bondage and that would put you under fear all the time, but you received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Let's look at that very carefully. When we were born again, believed on Christ, and trusted Him with our soul, we were born again of the Spirit of God, and we were not by that Spirit put under bondage. We were adopted into the family and the kingdom of God. And we received the Spirit whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Actually, the word Abba means Father. So you might say we cry, Father, Father. And what you have here is the two different languages in one verse showing us father, father. Abba is in, I don't know all the language origination and all of that about it, but after studying I have found out that it is in just another language. And it's Abba and it's father. So it's father, father. And why the twofold word? because of the assurance it brings, of the assurance it brings to our heart. We've received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Father, Father, and how it's all-inclusive that whoever it is that receives the Spirit of God and spirit of adoption may cry, Abba, Father, or Father, Father. In verse 16, it says, "...the Spirit itself," and we'll notice that it's himself, that he is a person, not just an it. The Spirit itself, or himself, beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." Now then, there is the inward witness that we have. We have the witness, John says, we have the witness within ourselves that we are the children of God. Paul says here, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. That does great. That gives great assurance, doesn't it, when we would doubt and when we would fear. And then it says, if we are children, look at verse 17, and if children, if we are the children of God, then we are heirs, then heirs, heirs of God. That means that what God has is our inheritance, that we are heirs of God. and join heirs with Christ. Not only what God has, but God Himself. We are heirs of God. He is our inheritance. And we are joint heirs with Christ. Not only Himself and His Son, but all the things that He has for us in glory. All the future inheritance of the saints of God. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Let's stop there for a moment. Sufferings and glory connected together. And Paul says that the sufferings of this present time are not even worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. It shows us here in verse 17, "...if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." It's evident that God's children will suffer. It's evident that they will suffer with Christ here upon this earth. But it's also far more evident that we'll be glorified with him, glorified together. And it's very definite that the sufferings are not even worthy to be compared with the glory. So we can't say, well, because I've suffered so much, I'll have equal glory. No, it's not worthy to be compared. You know, have you ever heard people say, well, he suffered so much in this life, he surely will have just as great a joy as in that life? Even greater! And Paul says they're not even worthy to be compared. Why do we compare them? Because the glory will far outweigh and exceed the sufferings. So they're not even worthy to come to mind or to be compared. I believe we'll have to stop with that verse and pick up with the nineteenth verse for our next lesson. I'd like for us to stand together for a word of prayer, please.