Romans 8:1

Romans 8:1 and the Context of Condemnation

That's how you could tell, by the way, of somebody that loves the Word of God. They can't stop talking about it. So I just want to say that, brother, not only do I appreciate you, but I love you dearly.

All right, for this morning now, if you would, take your Bibles and turn to the book of Romans and the 8th chapter, Romans chapter 8. We're only going to read one verse this morning, and it's my desire to attempt to open up a verse that has been opened up by so many much more capable than I.

And so many have preached this text, Romans 8, 1, along with the rest of Romans 8, but even just Romans 8, 1, there's so many that have sought to open this verse up to give understanding to it, and so that is, in a way, what I desire to do this morning and to ask God to bless it.

But let us just read the first verse together. I will trust that you will read the remainder of the chapter on your own as we conclude today. And again, if you don't know, I'm reading from the New King James, so if it varies from your Bible, just buy a New King James.

Romans chapter 8, verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And let's just ask God's blessing again.

Our Father in God, we do come to you in that name, the name of the only begotten Son. We pray, Holy Spirit, that you would come now, and Lord, that these words would not just be words that enter into our mind and our ears, but do not go down into our heart, but that we would realize, Lord, that this is such an amazing statement, Lord.

It is so great, even as we have sung of how great you are now, Lord, we pray that you would take your word, that you would, even as it's said in the Old Testament in one translation, that you would roll up your sleeves, Lord, work with us.

Help us to see you high and lifted up. Help us to see you as you truly are, not as we just perceive you are. So now be with your word, be with our thoughts, and may Christ be glorified in it all, in His name, amen.

So as I said, this is, to me, one of the greatest statements in all the Bible, and as we look at it, there are many times scriptures that many would think would need some sort of supporting cast. In other words, there are certain scriptures in the Bible and certain passages in the Bible that unless you really read a full context, you can get lost, you can misinterpret it.

But I will say to you that this verse, Romans 8, chapter 1, Romans 8, verse 1, I believe is one of those great verses because in many ways, it could stand alone. It can stand on its own. It is of such clarity, it is of such magnitude, it is of such clearness of thought that really, if you want to misinterpret Romans 8 and verse 1, you have to do it willfully.

The statement, the words, the clearness of it all, therefore there is now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Now, lest you expositors start throwing rocks at me for what I just said that you don't in and of itself need a complete context for this, there is a context for it, and certainly in Paul's letter to the Romans, he has spent the previous seven chapters, if you will, to build his biblical argument to bring us to that point where he now says in this word of there being no condemnation.

So there is a context, and I don't want you to think about that in any other way. And if you will, there's certainly an immediate context in Romans chapter 7. And if I would, and if I could, let me just read to you the last two verses of Romans chapter 7, and let me say this first.

Romans chapter 7 is not the easiest chapter to interpret, and the reason why they say that, and maybe some of you will understand, is there are basically two ways to look at what Paul is saying in Romans chapter 7, and I don't want to go into that right now because it certainly will take a lot of time to do that.

But let me read to you the last two verses of the chapter, Romans chapter 7, where Paul says this, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that with my mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

And as I said, there are mainly two interpretations, and I'm sure there's some other nuances of thinking, but basically Romans chapter 7 is interpreted in two different ways, and if you want, we could talk about it after, or you could talk to Mike because he's my defender in Sergeant-at-Arms, and even me and Mike might not agree with this interpretation.

But here's the thing that I do want to press for us and ask us to think about as we look at Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, that regardless of how you interpret Romans chapter 7, when you come to those words that Paul speaks in verse 24, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?

And I thank God through Jesus Christ so that my mind I myself, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. That here's the thought, regardless of interpretation, he's talking about deliverance.

He's talking about being, in a sense, under bondage. He's talking about being pressed down, and then as we come to Romans 8, we see what he has come to understand, and it's important, friends, that we understand that Romans chapter 8 verse 1 is not just written by some professor in a college sitting in an air-conditioned office, but this is the Apostle Paul, and this is not only the thoughts that God has put in his heart, but this pertains to the Apostle Paul himself, because that's what he says, right, in verse 24, O wretched man that I am.

So again, let us not just think this is some cold word, but rather it is the truth that Paul has been speaking about for the first seven chapters of Romans, and lest I spend all the time talking about Romans chapter 1 through chapter 7, let us begin to look at this.

And so, if you saw in your bulletin, there is a title for the message, and the title for the message is, No Condemnation, No Condemnation. For this morning, for our thoughts, I almost had to stop already, No Condemnation, for our thoughts this morning, we will look at this under three headings for now, and again, it could be divided into a thousand messages and a thousand different ways to bring out the same truth, but No Condemnation, and point number one will be, we are free from condemnation.

Point number two will be, we are free from condemnation by Christ himself. And then the third point will be, we are free from condemnation by Christ through and by the power of the Holy Spirit, and that that power, when we come out from condemnation, will radically alter our lives.

And so that is the outline, and again, remember, I'm just to fill in, so I don't do all the elaborate screens that Keith does. Okay, point one, we are free from condemnation. And I thought to myself, and I said, you know, I wonder if, let's just consider for a moment that someone who has no knowledge of the Bible, or at best, very little knowledge of the Bible, and one day they perchance, or per providence, they decide to open up a Bible, and they, you know, because a lot of people do that.

A lot of people just say, oh, I'm going to read the Bible, and they, you know, they flip, and okay, that's where I'm going to read. Let's just say someone opened their Bible and came to this chapter eight in the book of Romans, and read the first verse, and I wonder at times if someone would say in response to that as he reads this, there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, perhaps he might come away with a thought something like this, hey, wait a minute, I'm not a condemned person, I'm not one who is subject to a verdict that has been passed upon me.

Why, I've never even been in jail. Maybe someone could even claim, as I can claim, I've never even gotten a speeding ticket. Not that I didn't deserve a speeding ticket, but I never got a speeding ticket.

Big difference. But let's just say someone comes to that point, and they look at this verse, and then they might say, what is this whole thing about condemnation? There's no sentence against me, I'm not a wanted man, I'm not the result of a verdict that's been charged against me, and how would we answer that?

I thought about the Jews themselves, do you remember that account where the Lord Jesus Christ is discussing truths with them, and tells them that they're the slaves of sin, and they're in bondage to sin?

And you remember what they did? They said, wait a minute, we've never been in, we're not the slaves of sin, we've never been in bondage to no one, we're Abraham's kids. I wonder if people today think that way.

What is all this nonsense about condemnation anyway? We don't have to worry about that. Well, what does the Bible say about it? You see, because that's what matters, right? Let God be true, but every man a liar.

And it matters what God says, and so we need to go to the Word of God to understand what God has said concerning this thought of condemnation in order to understand the importance, and again, as I said, the magnitude of such a verse as Romans 8 .1.

Let me ask you to turn to a couple of scriptures, we won't look at too many, but at least some to give us some understanding. And the first one would be, if you would, turn to John chapter 3, and let's just see what the Bible talks about concerning condemnation.

And by the way, as you're turning there, condemnation would be a sentence that has been passed upon you, right? Now, I don't watch too many movies, but I do remember the movie, The Green Mile. I don't know if you would remember that.

One of the scenes in the beginning of the movie in The Green Mile is this little prison guard who basically is a nuisance, but there's this little prison guard, and then he's walking through the prison, and there's a big giant man, and he's in handcuffs and he's in shackles.

And in this scene in the movie, as they're walking through the prison, this little prison guard who thinks he's in control of everything, he keeps continually saying as he leads this man in handcuffs and shackles into his cell, he keeps saying, dead man walking, there's a dead man walking.

What he was trying to emphasize is that this man had been sentenced to death, he had been condemned to death for ultimately a crime he didn't do, and that's what I want to say about the movie. But his thought was this was a dead man walking.

Well, let us read John chapter 3, verse 16, and for a couple of verses, and read what God says. And interesting, isn't it, in the context of the great John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he, look at verse 18, friends, he who does not believe is what?

He's condemned already, the reason being because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. And this, this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.

Would it not be great if the billboard where we see John 3, 16 plastered all over it also had enough room for John 3, 17, 18, and 19? It would change people or at least make them begin to think, what is this truth about condemnation?

Because there are multitudes in this world even now, right now, who would say they've never been considered as condemned. And yet, and yet the very word of God says, he who believes not is condemned already.

And you know what? It pertains to not only people who lived in that day and it not only pertains to people who lived millennium ago and it's not only to people who live today, it is the truth of where everyone apart from God's redeeming grace is positioned and the reason being because of sin.

And you and I need to consider that. It doesn't matter, like I said, it doesn't matter whether you're rich or you're poor or you're educated or you're uneducated or you've accomplished a lot or you accomplished next to nothing or whether you lived in the days of Rome or you lived in the days of Babylon or you lived in the days of Methuselah or you lived and live in the days of our country or Paris or wherever else.

You see, my friends, the reality is this, you are not in Christ, you're a dead man a-walking. What? How dare you say that? I didn't say it, the word of God declares it. That's why I said it doesn't matter what men think.

It doesn't matter how men react to the word of God, in one sense it does, but in truth, men's reaction to the word of God doesn't change the word of God, does it? No. And if the word of God says that the only way to come out from condemnation is to be in Christ Jesus, then that's the truth.

And so these are, again, as we look at these three points about ultimately not being in condemnation because of Christ and because of the power of the Spirit, it really is not effectual until we first understand our true state.

And that's really the problem, isn't it? I don't want to get off the subject, but you think about it as we who believe in the doctrines of Christ and we'll even use the acronym of the tulip, right, and how we believe that it's just the truth.

What is always at the beginning? What does the T stand for in tulip? Total depravity. Well that sounds like condemnation. Total depravity. And so as we see the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and as he's speaking, I bet this conversation with Nicodemus blew his mind, by the way.

Because so many in his day, as they say, we're not under condemnation, why we're not even in bondage. I never even got a speeding ticket for taking my wagon and mule too fast down the road. Let me ask you to look at another scripture and we'll look at this one and that should suffice, although I want to mention one more.

Turn to Romans chapter 3. Okay, so Paul's been building this argument up. He comes to the point in chapter 7 when he says, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank my God through Jesus Christ.

And then he goes into Romans chapter 8 verse 1. But I want to read this with you in Romans chapter 3, familiar. And friends, be careful about the scriptures that seem familiar. Because we have a tendency to just read right through them, read right past them, never really consider the depth of it or the reality of it or the truth of it.

Romans chapter 3, and listen to what Paul says in verse 9, he's talking to the Jews how they thought they were so much better than the Gentiles. And he says, what then? Are we better than they? Not at all.

For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. They are all condemned apart from Christ. There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God.

They have all gone out of the way. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongue they have practiced deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Wow. Lest we become so uppity in our thinking, this was speaking, and it still speaks today, but this was speaking about all of us before the grace of God entered into our lives and changed our lives, none.

Every person who comes into this world as a result of being the descendant of Adam, this pertains to them. Oh, it might not be manifested in the same degree, but it's true. So when we read, and when that person who opens his Bible flips it open and he says, therefore is now no condemnation, there's a lot of thought in that, isn't there?

I could mention to you Romans chapter 5, but I already just did mention to you Romans chapter 5, but if you remember what it says in Romans chapter 5 concerning that reality that all men being descendants of Adam, because of his rebellion, it says in Romans chapter 5 verse 18, so then just as one man's trespass brought condemnation, condemnation.

My friend, there are multitudes of people this morning who will condemn that opening ceremony in the Olympics, and rightfully so. And there are many people who will say, how dare they do that, and what godless people they are.

And many of those people who will condemn that behavior will never once consider that in and of themselves, in their heart, because of their sin against God and their rebellions against God, they are just as much a dead man walking.

But that's what the word of God says. Everyone, anyone, apart from Christ, is a condemned person. I believe, and go back to Romans chapter 8 for a moment, I believe this. I believe that in some way we can invert or restate Romans chapter 8 verse 1 to something like this.

If you disagree with me, again, we can talk about it. But I believe we could rightfully, in many ways, say this, something like, there is therefore now nothing but condemnation to those who are not in Christ, but walk only according to the flesh.

And you know, when I get a chance to stand up here, I like to talk to the kids, always asking you to figure out who the kid is, but, listen kids, you're under a sentence. You might not think so, you might not even act in such a way that it's visible, but listen, if you are not a follower, a son or a daughter of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you're a dead person walking.

And that might not go over well in a lot of churches, but it's still the truth, right? You can't change truth. That's one of the, that is the definition of true. It's always true. It's true in every setting.

It's true in every civilization. It's true in every age. It's true in every time. If God says it, it's true. And so, we could dilute, change, malign, misinterpret the Word of God to our own fancy. It's still the Word of God.

And so, as you and I think about this this morning, I wanted to at least get us to try to think about how men, if they really knew their true estate, if they really knew their true estate, then someone or anyone or everyone who read Romans chapter 8, verse 1, if they really had even the slightest of understanding, they might begin to say, wow, I never knew that about myself.

Well, maybe they did know and they just kept denying it, but that's the reality, isn't it? I'll end this point and then we'll try to move on, and that's why I didn't want to look at verse 2, because I would never get to verse 2.

But let's just think about this. In the Old Testament, you remember how there were so many that had leprosy, right? And leprosy was a disease, it was boils on your flesh, it was disgusting. And do you remember what the law said concerning someone who had leprosy?

If they saw, first of all, they had to leave the camp, right? They couldn't dwell in the camp. They couldn't live amongst other people because they would spread that great disease. But there was another thing that they also had to do, and it was that if someone approached them, that they had to shout out, after they put their hand over their mouth, then they had to say, unclean, unclean.

Well, let me say this to you. If every person really understood their true condition before a holy God, apart from saving faith in Christ by the power of God the Holy Spirit, that they should walk around and say, condemned, condemned, I'm a dead man of walking.

Now, some might hear this message and they might say, there you go, there's your Calvinist again. You got nothing good to say. It's all bad. It's all negative. Well, listen, my friends, good news is truly good news in the light of bad news.

And if you miss the bad news, the good news will really not affect you. And so that's my first point, that when this person who reads this and says no condemnation, that they would have to stop and think.

And that'll lead me to my second point, and that is, let's just say perhaps that person does that, or even someone, listen, I keep using some abstract person who's, you know, maybe somebody in the churches.

You know, not everybody that comes to church reads their Bible. I don't mean to shock anybody, but let's just say someone really began to look at Romans chapter 8 and verse 1. And they began to understand that they truly are under a sentence, a verdict.

And it's God's verdict, isn't it, friends? You see, there's no negotiating away. There's no plea bargain, if you will. Well, there is, but that's my next point, and it's not even a plea bargain. Because God is who?

God is the judge, God is the prosecutor, God is the jury, and God is the executioner. That would be as, it would be similar to if someone read this and began to see themselves in a state of condemnation and began to consider it, they might do what they did.

If you remember the first message of Peter in the sermon at Pentecost, and you remember how he basically just laid it out before them that they had crucified the Lord of glory, that they by wicked hands had put to death the Savior of sinners, that they were part of the plot to destroy.

And you remember when the, and it had to be the working of the Spirit of God, they came under conviction. Remember what they said? Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved? Well, Romans 8 verse 1 gives us not only the sentence of death, but gives us how to be out of that condemnation.

Isn't it great of God, by the way? God could have left us just the way we were. God's not obligated to save. What do you mean God's not? He's not, God is not under any obligation to do anything except what He pleases to do.

But here's the reality, and this is why I say this verse is of such magnitude, it's, can't even, can't even begin to hold a candle to it, but it says, there is therefore now condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

As horrifying, if you will, of the words of being in a state of condemnation, as sad, as dismal as that seems, Paul then takes us from the darkness of a tempest and a hurricane that's sweeping over our souls, and all of a sudden, the sun begins to come out because he begins to talk about how to come out from under the condemnation.

Because listen, my friends, either you are in Christ, or you are in great trouble. That again, okay? Either you are in Christ, or you are in great trouble. And Paul says, there is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

You know, that's a favorite term of Paul, by the way, in Christ. And I know it is, because I read through all of Paul's letters just to add up how many times Paul says, in Christ. And he says, in Christ, over 80 times.

And that's not including the times that he says, by Christ, or for Christ, but just that term, in Christ. It was a favorite term of the Apostle Paul, and we should realize why. Because to be in Christ is to be out from condemnation.

And that's why I said, either you are in Christ, or you're in great trouble. And my point is that there is, and again, familiar words, there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

Saved from what? Oh, just saved from hell? Well, that is certainly true, but saved from the condemnation of God. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, and there are so many today who have the sentence of sin, and the sentence of guilt, and the sentence of condemnation upon them, and the way out is not in a denomination.

It's certainly not under the law. It's not under what you can do. It's not in under how smart you are. It's not in where you are in life, in your position. It's in Christ. Isaiah says this, he says, why do you spend money for that which does not satisfy you?

That's right. And how many people there are who have a sense by the Spirit of God and the conscience that God has instilled in us that there is guilt, that there is a sentence over them. If you ever want to really read something, take a few minutes and read Sin is in the Hands of an Angry God by Jonathan Edwards.

It was Jonathan Edwards, right? Read that, and read the description of what he lays out before people where they are in one way or another. He really talks about being so close to falling into this horrible cauldron that's just filled with heat, and that there is nothing really holding you up but this spider web that could give at any time.

And my friends, listen, the answer to it all is to be in Christ. It is only satisfied. This sentence of death can only be satisfied by the God man. You see, that's why he came. And all these people have all these different thoughts, well, he came to be a martyr, and he came to be a teacher, and he came to be a reformer, and I'm not saying there aren't applications that could be made in that.

But Jesus didn't come merely to be a reformer. He didn't come merely to be a teacher. He came to redeem condemned people, and he's the only one that could have. You think it's not essential of what we read that God was manifest in the flesh?

You think the incarnation is just something to bolster the story? It was an absolute necessity. Who else, listen, who else could satisfy a condemnation that comes from the eternal thrice holy God except God himself?

Why, that would be as silly as this person who I talked about and how he was led into his cell that somehow he could say, well, you know what, I know I realize I'm a condemned person because of the fact that in the movie he wasn't condemned, he wasn't guilty.

But it would be as silly as that person saying, you know what, I've got a sentence of death against me, but I release my own condemnation. I consider myself now to be free. Well, whoopie-doo for you, the electric chair still awaits you.

How could man remove his own guilt, friends? Can he educate himself out of it? Can a leopard change his spots? Can the Ethiopian change his skin? How could you that are accustomed to evil do good? It's in Christ.

It's in Christ alone. Look at verse 24, this is what I said. Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I ain't a whole bunch of anything.

I'm getting to be not only a one-eyed chubby old man, but I'm in Christ. And though this body is going to decay somewhat faster than I would approve of, I'm in Christ. What thrills you this morning, friends?

What is the anchor in your soul? What is it that keeps you? It's to be in Christ, to be considered by this rightful God who's full of indignation to be considered with the righteousness of His Son put to our account in Christ.

Christ Alone, the Holy Spirit, and Newness of Life

Let me ask you to go back real quick. John chapter 5. Just read a few verses. Again, it really doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter what God says. John chapter 5, just read with me a little bit.

Verse 22 of chapter 5, for the Father judges no man, no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son. That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those that hear will live.

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself and has given Him authority to execute judgment because He is the Son of Man and not marvel at the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

You know what the condemnation is? It's rebellion against God and it's refusal to receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. And we just read that because the Father has what? Committed all judgment to the Son.

And he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. Well, are you saying that the way to the true God is that narrow? Yes it is. I don't care what the Muslim says. I don't care what this group says.

I don't care what the Jehovah Witness says. It doesn't matter a hell of beans what anyone says. It only matters what God says and God says His Son is the Savior of sinners. Why don't we simply believe God's Word?

Why do we spend money for that which does not satisfy? Why do people go to so great absurdities in trying to come out from guilt? We could read about it in the Old Testament, right? Some of them cut themselves.

Remember the whole thing on Mount Carmel with the false prophets and Elijah? I think that's kind of a cool story from the standpoint of Elijah. He said, yeah, you guys go first. See what you guys can do.

Come on, maybe you got sleeping. And what do they do? They're cutting themselves. How many people there are in this world today? How many people there are this morning who are trying to come out from the sentence of death in a completely disrespectful wrong way?