No Condemnation

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

From the wretchedness of Romans 7 to the surpassing victory of Romans 8—there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

The Inner Sanctuary of the Christian Faith

It is so good to be back with you. We now come to one of the most glorious passages in the book of Romans. Many count Romans as one of the great sections of Scripture, and this as one of the greatest sections within it. It has been called "the most important chapter in the Bible." One writer called Romans 8 "the inner sanctuary in the cathedral of the Christian faith." It has been referred to as "the golden chain of redemption." Several people in our church have told me Romans 8 is their favorite passage, and they've been looking forward to it. I agree—and I've been greatly anticipating it.

To be honest, I'm very happy to be out of Romans 7, because it is a heavy passage. We ended weeks ago with Paul's impassioned cry, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" We saw clearly the battle that rages between the flesh and the Spirit. Though we are new creatures in Christ—for if anyone be in Christ they are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5)—we still maintain a sinful nature that desires what is contrary to the Spirit of God. As Paul wrote in Galatians 5:17:

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are contrary the one to the other, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

"Suck It Up and Do Better"

This is the very real experience of every blood-bought, Spirit-filled believer. The problem arises when we try to address this conflict in our own strength—which is always our initial response. Our instinct is to "suck it up and do better." We live in a culture built on that mantra. From the youngest age, you fall and skin your knee, and you hear, "Come on, get up, you're not hurt." We carry that into our Christian lives, finding ourselves wounded by the sin nature and saying, "No, no, I can do this."

So we try to maintain righteousness by keeping the Mosaic Law. God gave the Law through Moses in Exodus, restated it in Deuteronomy, and declared, "This is what it looks like to maintain righteousness before a holy God." But the purpose of the Law, as we have seen in Romans, is not to make man righteous. The Law shows us our error and reveals how completely lost we are. The Law exalts the righteousness of God, and in that light we see that we are not righteous.

The Law Inflames Sin

In Romans 7, Paul highlights an amazing reality: when we apply the Law to our lives, it not only reveals our sinfulness, it actually inflames the sinful passions resident in our flesh. Romans 7:5 says, "For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death." There are resident in every human being sinful desires, and even the saved person still maintains this old nature.

We saw this through what I called the "I/me key." Every time Paul refers to "me," he speaks of his sin nature; every time he refers to "I," he speaks of the new nature we have in Christ. Just as Jesus was fully God and fully man, the Christian in some way carries two natures—the old sin nature and the new nature given by God. Galatians 5:17 says these are at war, so you do not do the things you desire. Even though the Law is holy, just, and good, it brings out everything in us that is contrary to it. Romans 7:8: "But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire." The result is verse 19: "The good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice."

The Apostle Paul Himself

We often think, "Oh, it would be so great to be like the apostle Paul." That is the apostle Paul! He experienced this. The good he wanted, he didn't do; the bad he didn't want, he practiced. This is a conflict only a Christian experiences. A non-believer never says, "I delight in the law of God and wish I could keep it." But the Christian, once made new by the Spirit, experiences this conflict, and the ultimate end is spiritual frustration. Romans 7:14 says, "For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin." The struggle is real.

But I am here to tell you the salvation we have in Christ is real too—and it is a victorious salvation God desires we would walk in, as more than conquerors. The Christian is saved by grace through faith, and that salvation reaches the deepest part of who we are. It does more than declare us righteous; it brings about actual transformation. God is transforming us more and more into the image of His Son.

Reflecting His Glory

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." This is the verse behind our 2013 vision—Reflect. Notice this is a spiritual work: "as by the Spirit of the Lord."

The Westminster Catechism asks, "What is the chief end of man?" The answer: to glorify God—not only in worship, but by actually manifesting His glory in our lives so that we are reflectors of His glory. The problem is, we try to muster it up: "I can glorify God in my actions." That was Paul's frustration in Romans 7. When we set out in our own strength to glorify God, we find we cannot. The desire is present—Romans 7 makes that clear—but the ability is not.

So this must be a spiritual work, accomplished by the Spirit of the Lord. And Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6 that we can be certain of it: "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." God will complete this work. Furthermore, Romans 8:29 says, "For whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son." Now, this is not predestination unto salvation; it is predestination unto glorification—that we would be conformed into the image of His Son, "that He might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Surpassing Victory

Although we find ourselves in this battle between the Spirit and the flesh here and now, we can know for certain that we will be victorious. Romans 8:37: "Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." We have surpassing victory. It is good to be a winner, but better to be more than a winner. J.B. Phillips renders it, "Now in all things we win an overwhelming victory through Him who has proved His love for us."

How did He prove His love? Romans 5:8: "When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." So we have absolute certainty—not wishful thinking. People say, "I really hope I win the lottery." That is not biblical hope. Imagine someone says, "I'm going to give you a million dollars, and here's a hundred thousand dollars as a down payment." The next day your hope isn't wishful—he already gave you the down payment! That is what God has done. Ephesians 1 describes the down payment as the presence of His Holy Spirit, who bears witness with our spirit that we are His children. If we are His children, we are joint heirs with Christ, and we inherit the fullness of God. The Spirit in us is the assurance God will make good on what He promised.

Living as Victors

Unfortunately, many Christians do not live as victors but as those defeated by their flesh, walking in absolute defeat. Far too many people live their Christian life in Romans 7 and never experience the victory of Romans 8. I suggest that one reason our culture rejects Christianity is that too many Christians live a defeated life, and onlookers say, "You don't seem to have anything better than me." God desires us to live in victory.

The Tension Between His Work and Ours

Now there is a tension here—indeed, in the whole Christian experience—between God's work and ours. The victory is won by Him, but what responsibility do we have? Romans 12:1–2 begs us: "present your bodies as a living sacrifice... and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." So God has done and is doing a good work; He will complete it. Yet Paul also commands us to offer ourselves. Philippians 3:21 says He will transform our lowly body to be conformed to His glorious body. There is tension between His work and ours.

One of my favorite passages, Philippians 2:12–13, holds both together: "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." If it stopped there, we would be left in fear and trembling. But verse 13 continues: "for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." Our work and His.

Sovereignty, Responsibility, and Mystery

This tension is commonly framed by two doctrinal camps: Calvinism and Arminianism—the tension between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Is it completely God's work, or yours too? Yes! There is much division in the church over this. It goes back to figures like Pelagius, who leaned toward man's responsibility, and Augustine, who leaned toward God's sovereignty, and on through the Reformation to Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Jacob Arminius. In our day in America, the most vocal group is the Reformed or Calvinistic group, though being most vocal does not make them the predominant view.

We don't like this tension, so we build a case for why our view is best. But there are hundreds of Scriptures that emphasize God's sovereignty, and hundreds that emphasize man's responsibility. Both are presented. We hate tension—"Can't we all just get along?" the great philosopher Rodney King said. Interestingly, those alleged Boston bombers reportedly carjacked a man whose Mercedes had a COEXIST sticker on the back. Tension!

I love this tension, because it is mystery. You will never, with your finite mind, grasp all of God—and that is a good thing. If you could explain Him, He would not be worthy of your worship. I am one hundred percent certain that God is sovereign, and one hundred percent certain that man has responsibility before God—just as I am certain Jesus was a hundred percent God and a hundred percent man. How do these work together? Luke 1:37: "For with God nothing will be impossible." Nothing means nothing.

God Is Not Threatened by the Search for Truth

We live in a world that thinks everything should be explainable, yet there are things that can't be. Ask the smartest physicist to explain the Higgs boson and they'll say, "It's a mystery; we're working on it." Every time scientists think they have it figured out, they get stumped again. God created it that way. He wants us seeking truth, and He's not worried we'll find something against Him—because He is truth. So collide some particles. Have fun. It won't disprove God; it will only make our minds say, "Wow, that's amazing."

This is one of the philosophical tenets of Calvary Chapel that I love—recognizing these tensions exist in Scripture without declaring one side wrong. When we meet passages on God's sovereignty, we say God is sovereign. When we meet passages on man's responsibility, we say man has responsibility. How do they coexist? With God nothing shall be impossible.

The Trinity: Another Revealed Mystery

Let me give another example, clearly seen in Romans 8: the doctrine of the Trinity. That God is three in One—one God in three Persons—is clearly revealed in the Bible, yet nowhere clearly articulated in a single explanatory passage. The Father is revealed as God, with intellect, emotion, and will; the Son likewise; the Holy Spirit likewise; and yet there is one God. In Genesis 1 the word for God is Elohim—one, yet plural—much like "family" or "church," a single unit consisting of many. We see the three together at Jesus' baptism, where the Son is baptized, the Father declares, "This is My beloved Son," and the Spirit descends and remains. How many of us can perfectly articulate the Trinity? Not a single hand. Yet we accept it. Why can't we accept that God is sovereign and man has responsibility?

I have good friends who lean to one side or the other, and we interact warmly: "You love Jesus, I love Jesus; we're part of the body of Christ." Right here in Escondido is Westminster Theological Seminary—Michael Horton, a genius when it comes to theology. We could have him here giving a thousand verses proving God's sovereignty, and we'd all rejoice. The following week someone could present a biblical counterpoint. Last year Michael Horton wrote For Calvinism and Roger Olson wrote Against Calvinism. Reading both, I keep saying, "Amen, amen"—because it's Scripture. And I suggest that when you take a truth and make it the truth, it becomes a lie, leading you onto a tangent outside the gospel. There is a sweet spot in the middle, and Calvary Chapel endeavors to stand there: we believe in the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

The Spirit Takes Center Stage

I suggest the sweet spot is found in the Spirit of God—itself a mystery, for we don't fully grasp pneumatology. In Romans 8 the Spirit takes center stage in the equation of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Paul uses the Greek word pneuma twenty-seven times in Romans; twenty-one of those are in chapter 8. That tells you Romans 8 is focused on the Spirit of God.

Whereas Romans 7 reveals the futility of man's ability in himself, Romans 8 highlights the potency of God's Spirit at work in the believer. Even after conversion, the effects of the sin nature remain. Consider weight loss—billions spent every year in America, peaking around December and January with New Year's resolutions. "I need to get fit"—a good thing I want to do, that I don't do. Why? Dessert, holidays, things that taste good but aren't good for the body. "O wretched man that I am!" We've all been there. But by the power of God's Spirit, as we walk in the Spirit, we can overcome the power of sin in our flesh. In our own strength, sin always conquers; in Christ, we are more than conquerors.

No Condemnation

Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." You may have noticed I didn't read the rest of the verse earlier. I did that purposefully. Many translations add, "who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." But all the earliest manuscripts lack that clause in verse 1—it appears in verse 4. Most scholars believe it doesn't belong in verse 1 because it adds a condition inconsistent with the text. Read with the condition, it would say there is no condemnation if you walk according to the Spirit. That doesn't fit. Jesus didn't pay it "some." Jesus paid it all. He didn't cry, "It is nearly finished"—He said, "It is finished," and His resurrection proves His victory.

We must understand "condemnation." People say, "You sinned and feel guilty—that's condemnation." No, that's conviction. Guilt is a good thing if it leads us to God in repentance and confession. But the enemy takes advantage of conviction to deflate us and make us run from God, as Adam and Eve hid in the garden—the wrong response. "Condemnation" here is a damnatory sentence: you are sentenced to punishment by God. In Christ, that sentence is taken away. Romans 5:16 and 18 show where condemnation came from—Adam sinned, bringing judgment upon humanity. Adam brings condemnation; in Christ there is none.

So it is wrong to use this verse to say, "You shouldn't feel bad about sin." Yes, you should feel bad about your sin! And we should never say, "Because of what Jesus did, I just don't feel bad when I do bad things." No—repent, confess, receive His forgiveness, walk in newness of life. Walk in the Spirit, not fulfilling the desires of your flesh, because you no longer have a damnatory sentence in Christ. "Jesus paid it all; sin had left its crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."

By implication, those outside of Christ stand under condemnation, for "through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and death spread to all." The "therefore" of Romans 8:1 points back to Romans 7:6: "But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." His grace is rich to all who call upon Him. Romans 10:12: "the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him." It never runs out—there's never a moment when He says, "Sorry, someone took all of it twenty minutes ago." And this is not conditional on our walking in the Spirit; it is conditional on what Jesus did on the cross.

The Spirit of Life Sets Us Free

Verse 2: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death." It is more accurate to read this as "the principle of the Spirit of life... has made me free from the principle of sin and death." Because of what Jesus has done, He brings a new standard into our lives—life in the Spirit. John 1:4 says, "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men." John 1:14: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth"—not half full, but full. The principle of the Spirit of life in Christ sets us free from the principle of sin and death we were subject to in Adam.

What the Law Could Not Do, God Did

Verse 3: "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh." The Law was incapable of doing what Jesus does—not because the Law is lacking, for it is holy, just, and good. The weakness is in our flesh. We cannot fulfill the requirement of the Law. So "God did" it—circle that. How? "By sending His Son." "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." He came "in the likeness of sinful flesh." Notice He did not take on sinful flesh; He came like us, in human form (Philippians 2:5–11), "on account of sin"—as the payment for sin. "He condemned sin in the flesh," taking the punishment of sin upon Himself.

Hebrews 10:1 says the Law could never make us perfect. Even though Psalm 19 says the Law of the Lord is perfect, it can never make us perfect or set us free from sin. Our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak. So God accomplished it. Jesus is not sinful—Hebrews 7:26 says "He is holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from sinners." Hebrews 4:15 says He "was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin." 2 Corinthians 5:21 says "He became sin for us." 1 Peter 2:24: "He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes we are healed," quoting Isaiah 53:5: "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities."

Fulfilled in Us Who Walk in the Spirit

Verse 4 tells us why God did all this: "That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Jesus fulfilled the just requirement of the Law, lived a perfect life, and died on account of sin. Now God desires to fulfill that righteous requirement in you and me—and He does it as we walk not in the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Galatians 3 asks, "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?... Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?... Having begun in the Spirit, are you now going to be made perfect by the works of your flesh?" The answer comes in Galatians 5:16: "Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of your flesh." Paul lists the works of the flesh—adultery, fornication, idolatry, hatred, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, envy, drunkenness, and the like—much of it the entertainment of America—and warns that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." He has made us alive—therefore let us walk in the Spirit, denying the flesh. Walking in the Spirit, we will have victory. What does that look like? You'll have to come back next week. It's a big chapter.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for Your word; it is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. We need You to work, by Your word and by Your Spirit in our lives, that we would experience the victory Your word describes. Lord, help us walk in that place in the middle, in the sweet spot, knowing You are sovereign, that You have won life for us, and that You've given us a responsibility we can only accomplish by Your Spirit. We pray for Your enabling power. Lord, You know our desire to live in a way that reflects Your glory—work that in us. And if any here do not yet know You, we pray Your Spirit would bring salvation. Bring sanctification in our lives, that we would see You glorified by who we are. Amen.