Turn your Bibles please to Romans chapter 8. Last week we were in Romans 8, 1. Don't look. Does anybody remember that verse? There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Condemnation is opposed to justification. There's no condemnation now nor in the future for those who are in Christ. For those of us who are in Christ, he took our condemnation at the cross. He bore the wrath of his father dying in our place. Now I want us, before we go any further, to consider for just a moment that word now. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. How does that fit? I think rather than thinking now that I'm converted, I think it's better to consider it with the gospel events themselves. Now that Jesus has come and died and risen, there is no condemnation for those of us who are in him. John Piper gives a practical application of this that I like. He takes the now in two ways. First of all, he takes it in the idea of there is now finally no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus The long-awaited Messiah has finally come and there is no condemnation Kind of like a boy and his dad says son when I get home from work I'll take you to town and the boy he waits all day and finally his dad gets home and says now Finally we can go to town But you can also take the now in the sense of already. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We don't have to wait till the end to get the no condemnation ruling. Now there is no condemnation. Already we realize there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This morning, we're going to continue into verse four. And it raises some questions. And we figure out here in chapter eight, like some of the other places in Romans, you don't just waltz through this. If we're gonna get the richest God has for us, we're gonna have to pay diligent attention and think. So that's what I want us to do. I don't know how long it'll take us to get through verses one through 11, but we're gonna read those verses this morning. We're probably gonna be in verse two this morning. Beginning in verse one, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh. in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. For it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Verse nine. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If, in fact, the spirit of God dwells in you, anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. Father this morning, speak to us again. Thank you for the wonderful message in verse one that we've been able to contemplate and think about this week. Now help us to understand how it relates to verse two. Father, humanly speaking, there's nothing to keep our attention as we go through these things. To the world, they're just nonsense. But oh God, by your spirit, grab our attention. Give us eager hearts to understand and apply what you say in your precious word. In Jesus' name, amen. So the first thing we need to do this morning is we need to set these early verses in chapter 8 in their proper context. Last week I said we're not dealing with context, we just talked about verse 1, and that was great. But now we have to get some context. Notice what it says, verse 1, there is therefore. Now this is not the normal word that Paul uses for therefore. He uses this only one-tenth as many times as he does the regular word for therefore, but you might translate it consequently, but it comes out basically at the same place. Either way you translate it, here's the big question. How does verse one in chapter eight fit with what we just read at the end of chapter seven? Now just go back and scan those last verses like verse 21 through 25 in verse seven. Especially the way he ends he says all through there. He talks about how he continues to fall short He can't do the things he wants to do and he concludes at the end of verse 25 But with my flesh I serve the law of sin Now so let's just let's just think about that last part of chapter 7 and then I'm going to read that last Part of the verse and I'm going to go to chapter 8 but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It's hard to put those together. It really doesn't make a lot of sense. You can't get the inference there is no condemnation from what you read at the end of chapter seven. It just doesn't lead you there at all. So what do we do with this? Most would suggest that we have to connect Verse one in chapter eight was something previous, C.E.B. Cranfield, he suggests we go back to verses four through six in chapter seven. I'm gonna read verses four through six, you can follow in your Bible in chapter seven, then I'm gonna read eight one. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having to die to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the way of the written code. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Martin Lloyd-Jones, he would suggest that we go back to the end of chapter five. And we read the end of chapter five and follow it with 8.1. So I'm gonna begin in 5.18. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So, the question is, what would indicate we can do this? 8-1 is placed right after 7-25. Again, it seems like there must have been some kind of parenthesis. We see this in places. We saw it back in chapter 5. Lloyd-Jones suggests that chapter 6 and 7 are a parenthesis. Paul and he bases a lot of this you'll remember in chapters 6 & 7 they are structured around four questions you find the first one in 6 1 what then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound you find the second in 6 15 Shall we continue in sin because we're not under law, but under grace you find the next one in 7-1 What then is the lost sin and then you find the last one in? 7 help me somebody 7 7 yes 7 7 So let me just read you his explanation in order to connect 8-1 with something earlier. We have to treat what immediately comes before as a kind of parenthesis. Chapter six proves that our sanctification is guaranteed because of our union with Christ, which he had expounded in chapter five. Chapter seven really proves exactly the same point in a different way. There he is concerned to prove that our sanctification is guaranteed because we have been set free from the law and tied to and married to the Lord Jesus Christ. or to put it in a different way, the business of chapter six is to show positively what our union with Christ achieves and will achieve. Chapter seven is mainly concerned to show what the law cannot do. Chapter six, what Christ can do. And it's pretty difficult to argue with this logic, but regardless of how far you go back, whether you go back to seven, six, or you go back to the end of chapter five, it seems pretty obvious that there's some kind of parenthesis And he connects 8-1 with something earlier. Now, there are also some considerations about translation in this verse. Now, I want to set this in your mind right now. Verses 1 and 2 go together. Don't ever read verse 2 without reading verse 1, or you'll miss it. So let me read them together. And in verse 2, do you notice it starts with the word for? could translate that just as easily because and I'm going to do that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death now he's going to give two reasons for no condemnation in verse 1 it's because we're in Christ Jesus Then he says, it's also because the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Now, even as I read that, some of you in your translation, in Christ Jesus was not put in the same place. There are three basic possibilities for where to place the phrase in Christ Jesus. And I'm gonna read them to you quickly. Several translations read it like this, for in Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. If you're reading ESV, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. If you're reading the New American Standard, the King James or the New King James, they're very similar. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. Grammatically, each one of these is correct. You could read it any way. There's no way to know for certain which way it should be, and we will come back again to that at the end. I do want you to notice that if you're reading the ESV, it says, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free. If you're reading the New America Standard, it also says has set you free. It's not a good translation. It is set you free. This is not something that happened over a period of time. This happened at a point in time the past the spirit of life in Christ Jesus set you free at a point from the law of sin and death now now we get into the meat of the text now I want you to notice that the word law is is used in verse two, two times. The law of the spirit of life, and then the law of sin and death. Now I just tell you, when I first read this and began to study it, I immediately concluded that here, the word law doesn't mean the law of God, it means principle, like it did at the end of seven, where he talks about the law of sin in my members in verse 23. The principle of sin so we've seen that that law doesn't always mean the law of God sometimes it means a principle So if you take it that way the principle of the spirit of life Set us free from the principle of law of sin and death by the way You notice that the ESV has set you free some translations have set me free The words are actually very similar, and it's easy to But it comes out at the same place. Paul is certainly true of him, and it's certainly true of those to whom he wrote. Now, if you take it as a principle, if you take the law of sin and death as the principle of sin and death, then it is very similar to the way it is in 723, where he talks about, well, he begins, I think, in verse 21, where he says, I see a law. He's talking about a principle. then he talks about this principle of sin that is working in his members so the idea would be the principle of the spirit of life works and that principle of the spirit of life opposes and defeats the principle of sin and death the influence and authority of the Holy Spirit is more powerful than the principle of sin and death however After working some more and going back, I think I got it wrong. So I'm gonna give you a different view and I'm gonna give you the reasons for it. So in the scripture, in the New Testament, when you see the word law, overwhelmingly, most of the time, what does it mean? Yes, the law of God, the Mosaic law, that's what it means. Sometimes it used to mean principle, but that is unusual. So I want you to consider that this does indeed, when he says the law of sin and death, he's talking about the law of God. Now you say, boy, that's painting the law in kind of a bad sense. What has Paul been accused of all through chapter seven? Painting the law in a bad sense. Now, just think about it a minute. Paul is dealing with No condemnation. Back to verse one. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The law has everything to do with sin and death and condemnation. It is God's law that pronounces condemnation on us. Why? Because we break that law. So the law gives us commandments. And then because we break those commandments, the law condemns us. It tells us what our punishment is for breaking those very commandments. The law that brings this condemnation is not the principle of sin in 723. It is the very law of God that condemns us. If you go back, I'll just read these quickly, back to 415, for the law brings wrath. But where there is no law, there is no transgression. Our 520 that we just read a minute ago, now the law came in to increase the trespass. And then at the beginning of verse 21, so that as sin reigned in death, we know there's this close connection between sin and death. Again, 713 did that which is good then bring death to me by no means it was sin Producing death in me through what is good. What does he mean? What is good the law the law is tied closely the law of God the Mosaic law is tied very closely to sin and death is it any wonder that Paul calls it the law of sin and death it is God's law that condemns us to for sinning against that very law. And then the sentence is what? The sentence is death. So it is not forced to take this as the law of God, which is the law of sin and death. Now, I hope I can explain this. I'm gonna try to explain this. If you take this the way many people take this, The principle, verse two, just look at verse two. The principle of the spirit of life set you free in Christ Jesus from the principle of sin and death. Now, if you take it that way, and most people would take that, the principle of the spirit of life would be the authority and the constraint the Holy Spirit in our lives and we recognize that we recognize that the Holy Spirit does have authority in our lives and he constrains us to do the will of God we understand that he influences us in a powerful way now if you take it that way in this verse so the authority and the constraint the influence of the Holy Spirit set you free in Christ Jesus from the principle of sin and death in other words the Holy Spirit working in us is more powerful than the principle of sin and death now what's the problem with that the problem with that is now it's the spirits work in us that sets us free it's our sanctification it's it's the way we live defeating the principle of sin and death But how can you fit that? Go back again to verse one. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because the law of the spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. You see, this no condemnation is for those who are in Christ Jesus. How did we get into Christ Jesus? Was it the way we lived or the way we live? Or was it what Christ Jesus did on the cross? Was what Christ did on the cross? What I'm saying in verse two, he's not talking about sanctification, the way we live our lives. He's talking about something that happened in the past. He set us free, the spirit of life set us free or set you free from the law of sin and death. I don't want to get ahead of myself. What's the implications of such a doctrine? If we take it that way, that these are principles operating in our lives, if we take it that way, then we're basically saying that it's the way we live that brings this freedom. But this freedom is the no condemnation that happened Christ when we came to be in Christ that's where this no condemnation ruling came it came in our justification we talked about it at length last week God justified us as a at a point in time through faith in Christ okay this is what he's saying in verse 2 because he says because it is this way because the law of the Spirit of life set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death, that is the law of God, which is sin and death. Nowhere does the scripture tell us that sanctification brings no condemnation. It's justification, becoming in Christ, being set free. Now, I think the best way to get at this, so let me put it this way. This freedom from the law of sin and death does not come by us sinning less. This comes because of what Christ Jesus did in the past. So let's just hurry forward and let's begin to talk about the law of the spirit of life. I've said several times, we were set free from the law of sin and death. That is from the law of God that is connected closely to sin and death. Now, but I said that in a passive way, we're set free. That's not the way Paul puts it. He puts it very actively. What set us free? The law of the spirit of life set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. So what is this spirit The spirit of life. Again, many take it to be that's the work of the spirit in the believer's life. But think about it. Spirit of life. To me, this makes perfect sense. It is the spirit who gives life. Spiritual life is what I'm talking about. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus? Unless you're born of the water and of the spirit, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. What was he saying? You have must have this spiritual rebirth in you the spirit of God must give you life Or you can never come into the kingdom Okay, so now are we compelled to take? spirit of life the law of the spirit of life as The law of God like I'm taking it the law of sin and death the law of God Are we compelled to do that? Well, if you think about the law of God of the spirit of life, it doesn't make any sense. I do think he's talking about a principle here. It's the life-giving principle in the spirit. The spirit is the one who gives life. Yes, who gives life initially, who gives us life, puts us into Christ. Now, there's no question in my mind he's talking about the Holy Spirit when he says the spirit of life. You say, well, we know he is. in capitals when Paul wrote all the Greek manuscripts they're either in all caps or all small letters they don't distinguish okay in the 32 translations that I checked 30 of them had this capitalized spirit they recognize yes he is talking about the Holy Spirit but this is what I'm suggesting to you here he's not talking about the Spirit sanctifying us, continually setting us apart to God as a process. He's talking about the Spirit of life, the Holy Spirit, giving us life, just like Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed the Spirit to born him again, to give him life. Our freedom from the law of sin and death The law of God, which is connected to sin and death, does not depend on the way we live. It depends on what Jesus did at the cross so the Spirit might give us life. Now, let me just ask you, am I making any sense? What I'm trying to say is the Holy Spirit is connected to sanctification, but we're not gonna get there until verse four, and then we'll get there. Right now, what he's focusing on is our, he's still focusing on our justification. We receive the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Go back to 321, that's what he says. For the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. That's what he's still talking about here. So when he says, the principle of the life-giving spirit set us free at a point in time, that's what the text says, at a point in time. The law of God that is connected to sin and death we were under the sentence of the law the sentence of condemnation But the Spirit by giving us life set us free from that condemnation right back to verse 1 there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus All right now I Say it again don't ever read verse 2 apart from verse 1 That's where I was going astray. I wasn't connecting verse two with verse one. Verse two starts with the word for or because. It forces us right back into verse one. So again, he sandwiches this in. There's no condemnation because we're in Christ Jesus, but also there is no condemnation because the spirit of life, the principle of the spirit life, gave us life to set us free from the law of God which sentenced us to death now I mentioned earlier about this phrase in Christ Jesus and that it can be taken in different ways so let me the primary two ways let me let me just ask you so should we take it the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus set you free from the law of sin and death or should we take it for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death well they're both really good options for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus the spirit of life you can't separate that from in Christ Jesus on the other hand This setting free, it is certainly in Christ Jesus. Basically, I would say when you read verses one and two, go back to verse one. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Verses one and two are punctuated with in Christ Jesus throughout. You can't have any of this except in Christ Jesus. Now, if you'd like to, and I'd like for you to, would you turn to Colossians 3. This is a passage we ended with Wednesday evening. I'm gonna read it again this morning, Colossians chapter three, and if you're interested, I think we're gonna read it again Wednesday night. I think that's where we're gonna start. Chapter three, verses one through four. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where christ is seated at the right hand of god set your mind on things that are above not on things that are on earth for you have died and your life is hidden with christ in god now listen to verse four when christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him when christ who is your life by the way If you read this very literally, there is no who is. They just put it in to make more sense. It's when Christ, our life, or your life, translation's different. When Christ, your life, appears, you will appear with him in glory. Do you catch that? So Christ is our very life. Now you say, explain that, Ron. I have a hard time explaining that. But that's what he says. our life if we are those who are in Christ Jesus Christ is our very life now I'd like for that to be your meditation in preparation for Wednesday night Christ our life that is a powerful powerful thought and that's that's what he's bringing out in this Romans 8 passage when he repeats in Christ Jesus let's pray Father, thank you this morning that you're our teacher. I fall short, and I know, Lord, there's, I think I have some understanding of this, but I have a hard time communicating it. I confess it, Lord. So would you take my shortcomings, and by your Holy Spirit, will you just kind of drive home your truth in these verses? And Lord, as we proceed, Give us not just an understanding but a certain excitement about the truth of your word I saw some of that this last week and I praise your name continue to work in us Lord, and I want to thank you That even though the scripture talks about freedom and How your Holy Spirit works in our lives now to bring us more freedom but Lord I want to thank you that by the power of your spirit you put your life in us and made us free from the law of sin and death praise your holy name we don't have to wait for that to happen in the future you did it when you gave us life by your spirit that's why there's no condemnation for us who are in Christ Jesus Praise your holy name. Lord, even this week, make your word a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path as we meditate on its truth. In Jesus' name.