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What would be your favorite comfort food? If you had to pick something to comfort you and you would eat it, what might that be?
I looked online and found the top comfort foods. First one, macaroni and cheese.
Second, fried chicken, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside.
Chocolate chip cookies, nice and gooey. Mashed potatoes, cream, butter, velvety.
Grilled cheese sandwich, here's one that shouldn't be on the list, meatloaf. Chicken and waffles, here's another one that shouldn't be on the list, beef stew.
Lasagna, definitely on the list. Pancakes, definitely on the list. And combining two comfort foods into one, mac and cheese stuffed hamburger.
By the way, dear congregation, I hope the visitors can overlook this. If I open up with a
Bible verse, you don't seem to be paying attention, but now you're all locked in. If I ask you another question, what would be your most comforting verse of the
Bible? You're a Christian, you're a believer, and you think these verses really comfort me.
I wonder which one you would pick, the most comforting verse in all the Bible. Well, some think this verse that we're going to look at today is not only comforting, but it could be dangerous.
What verse could both be dangerous and comforting? It's found in the
New Testament, it's found in Romans, and it's found in chapter 8.
Take your Bibles, please, and turn to Romans chapter 8. Some people think it's a dangerous verse, but we think it's a comforting verse.
Romans 8 verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Some people think it's a dangerous verse because if there's no condemnation, we're justified in God's eyes based on the work of Christ Jesus.
Safe and secure, never to lose our salvation, we might somehow take advantage of grace and sin so grace might abound.
But it's also the most comforting verse because we as Christians do sin, and we fall short.
We don't always love God, and we don't always love our neighbors. Richard Sibbes, the great church and preacher said,
Objection! I've often relapsed and fallen into the same sin again and again.
Answer, if Christ will have us pardon our brother 70 times 7 times, can we think he will press us to do more than he will be ready to do for himself?
My goal this morning is very simple, is to review and ruminate on Romans chapter 8 verse 1 to comfort
Christians. So that you might be more assured of the security you have in Christ Jesus.
Which should lead you to have increased thankfulness and joy and gratitude and an overflowing life of obedience and holiness and praise and worship.
My purpose is simple, that you might be more assured of the security you have in Christ Jesus that you, dear
Christian, are not condemned but justified by God. Before we start, maybe it would be good for me to define a couple terms, one being security, the other being assurance.
What's the difference between security and assurance? Well, security is a reality.
Security is when the work of the Spirit affects a person and they trust in the
Lord Jesus by faith alone, they are safe and secure. As the old song says, safe and secure from all alarm and all harm.
Perseverance is going to be granted by God and you are secure in Christ Jesus. Whether you feel it or not, whether you believe it or not, it's a reality.
It's true. It's an objective truth. Secure in Christ Jesus. But assurance is a little different.
While security is, if Jesus paid for my sins and there's no double jeopardy, if the Father sent the
Lord Jesus to rescue me and to live for me and He's raised for me, He's praying for me as the exalted
Savior, then I'm safe. But assurance is a confident realization of that truth.
It's a sense, if you will, that in fact I know for certain that I am secure in Christ.
And so it's a little more subjective. Security is, I have this objective truth that the
Bible says, if you confess in the Lord Jesus, you will be saved. Believe in your heart, God raised Him from the dead, you are certainly safe and secure.
But then as Christians, assurance is, do we in fact sense that? Do we feel that? Do we have confidence in Christ Jesus?
Maybe my favorite definition of assurance is by a theologian that said, the confidence of believers in Christ, that notwithstanding their mortal sinful condition, they are irrevocably children of God and heirs of heaven.
It's a confident realization that in fact you're adopted. That you have a future glory in Christ Jesus.
And I want that for you. I want you, dear Christian, to think with confidence and certainty. Absent from the body, present with the
Lord. I want you to have that realization that says, to live is Christ and to die is what?
Gain. I want you to say with Paul, the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me.
And I sense that, I trust that, I understand that, I have assurance. But if I were to die today,
I know I have a mediator and a friend and an advocate and a savior. I want you to be able to say with Job, dear congregation,
I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy the body, yet in my flesh I shall see
God. I want you with David to say, as we just got done singing Psalm 23,
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
That's what I want for you, dear congregation. To know that you have a representative Jesus and a substitute
Jesus and a risen Savior Jesus. I want you to have assurance.
And by the way, Christian, did you know God wants you to have assurance? God wants you to have assurance.
I mean, what would you think of a father on earth who would not let his son or daughter know that he was part of the family?
Make sure you obey enough and then I will somehow tell you that you are my child.
Keeping your son or keeping your daughter in doubt if you really have the last name of the
Father. And of course, living on edge like that has consequences.
And if we sinful parents want our children to know they're accepted in the family, how much more the Lord Jesus.
My outline today is simple. Number one, we're going to walk through Romans 8 verses 1 through 4.
And then I want to give you some reasons why Romans 8, 1 is important. Super simple.
Verses 1 through 4 in Romans 8 and then chapter 8 verse 1.
A little detour from Luke. We've been in the gospel of Jesus according to Luke. Next week we have one of our missionaries, our new missionary from the
Czech Republic. Roddick will be here preaching. And so we'll take one more Sunday detour and we'll have
Roddick preaching next week. Outline number one.
Walking through Romans 8 verses 1 through 4. The most comforting verse in all the
Bible? Maybe. Romans 8 verse 1. Follow along with me as I read. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
But there might be condemnation later. Is that what your Bible says? Of course not.
Full stop. Let me re -read that. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So sin as you please. Doesn't say that either. No condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
Could there be greater security than that? In the beloved, as Ephesians chapter 1 would talk about, the triune security of the believer.
Romans 8 is one of these chapters that one of my theologians that I looked up to for many years,
S. Lewis Johnson, he said, this is one of the greatest chapters of the Bible. In seminary we were told
Romans 5 should have a crease in the Bible. It was told that if you open the
Bible normally, it should open to Romans 5. And so we would put creases in our Bible on Romans 5 to make us think that we were good theologians.
But I think maybe your Bible should open up to Romans chapter 8 normally and naturally because you lay your head on this pillow of comfort so often right there.
I like the bookends of Romans before we even look at verse 1 in more detail. Verse 1 of Romans 8, no condemnation.
Look at the very end of the chapter. Look at the bookends of Romans 8. Verse 39. Nor hieth, nor death, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. From no condemnation to no separation. And if you look at verse 1, these are for people in Christ.
You see it right there in chapter 8, verse 1, who are in Christ Jesus, united together, together with Christ Jesus, the closeness.
And then in verse 39, there's the bookend of in Christ Jesus as well, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Back to chapter 8, verse 1. Let's look at this a little bit and flesh it out, and I think you'll be encouraged by this comforting verse that I don't think is dangerous at all.
One of the things you can do in the language of Greek and other languages too, if you want to emphasize something and you don't have a yellow marker or font that's bold or larger font, and of course they didn't have that back in those days, you can front load a word kind of out of order to give it emphasis.
And that's exactly what happens here. In English, it says there is our first word. But in the
Greek, the first word is no. There's no condemnation to make sure that we understand that there's a negative at the beginning to force us to recognize there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
The penalty has been paid. There's no condemnation of any kind. Past sins, no condemnation because they're paid.
Present sins, no condemnation because they're paid. Future sins, no condemnation because they're paid.
Jesus paid them all. No double payment. Why would God be unjust and say we have to pay and Jesus has to pay?
You say, well, I don't feel like this is true. It doesn't matter. There's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
And one of the greatest things about this verse, it tells us what the end times verdict already is now in the present.
One day we'll stand before God, all of us, and we will be judged based on either our works or the works of Christ.
What will happen when I get to heaven? What will the judgment be? Christian, here's what the answer is going to be.
Not guilty. The end times verdict is jammed into the present for Paul and for us as we read
Scripture. And I want you to know you cannot be unreconciled, Christian. You can't be unforgiven.
You can't be unredeemed. You can't be unloved. You can't be unjustified. You can't be unadopted.
Even though we deserve judgment, sin against the thrice holy God, the first word in the Greek is no.
And even the word no is a stronger word than the typical no. No condemnation, none whatsoever for the believer in Christ.
You say, well, I have some old haunting sins. Well, so do I. I have sins that I'm ashamed of. So do
I. Romans 4, blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account. Jude, verse 24 and 25, we sing it regularly.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless, with great joy.
To our only God and Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forevermore.
Or how about verses like Zephaniah chapter 3? The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.
He, God, will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love.
He will exalt over you with loud singing. That's pretty amazing to think what
God thinks of us because we're in Christ Jesus. And of course, everything about this assurance has to be focused on Jesus.
Those who are in Christ Jesus. It's a starting point of all assurances looking to the
Lord. And you say, but I have some accusations against me as a Christian that are true.
But there's no condemnation. I think there are things that I've done even as a
Christian that deserve condemnation. That's true, but Jesus has paid it. No condemnation. I love the song,
And Can It Be. We sing it here regularly. No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in him is mine.
Alive in him, my living head and clothed in righteousness divine. One of the greatest parts about Romans chapter 8 verse 1.
It's almost unguarded. It needs more explanation, seemingly.
How can it just be full stop? There's no condemnation when my conscience, when my sins as a
Christian. I mean, it seems almost dangerous. It seems unguarded. Horatius Bonar said, it was not for nothing they were so boldly spoken.
These words of Romans 8. Timid words would not have served the purpose. The glorious gospel needed statements such as these to distangle the great question of acceptance.
To relieve troubled consciences. And yet at the same time to give works their proper place.
We'll look at verse 2. Romans 8, 2. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Before we were Christians, we were under the law as a condemning agent. As a mirror to tell us that we were sinful.
And God required perfection to get into heaven. God required that we always obeyed.
Personally obeyed. Always obeyed. Exactly obeyed. And that law now doesn't condemn us because that law,
Jesus paid for those sins that we have committed. The law of sin gravity as it were is reversed.
Paul preached in Acts 13. Let it be known to you brothers that through this man Jesus forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
And by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
The law of Moses is perfectly obey. And if we don't obey, and of course none of us could, then we're going to need a savior.
Or we're going to face God's wrath. How did God do this? Verse 3. This is wonderful.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. The law doesn't save.
By sending his own son. His own son. Nothing less than his son.
In the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh. Now we want to make sure we understand
Paul's careful wording. Because if Jesus sinned he'd have to pay for his own sins. But he didn't sin.
And what does the text say? Very carefully. In the likeness of sinful flesh. Peter says in 1
Peter 2. He committed no sin. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5. He knew no sin. 1
John 3. In him there's no sin. So by Jesus' work as the sinless one. He could deliver us from the law.
And it's cursed. Verse 4. In order that the righteous requirement of the law.
That is perfect obedience. Might be fulfilled in us. Who walk not according to the flesh.
But according to the spirit. What we couldn't do. Jesus did.
Perfectly obeying the law. The God man. So there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
I've said it before and I like to say it regularly. Dear Christian. You are as righteous as Jesus is righteous.
You are as perfect as Jesus is perfect. The standing before God that you have.
Is righteousness. You can't even get more righteous. Do you know in heaven. You won't be any more righteous.
In terms of judicial standing before God. If you haven't read Pilgrim's Progress.
You should. I think it used to be the number 2 most read book in the world. I think it's number 3 now.
Bible being number 1. And I don't want to tell you what number 2 is. Because you might want to go read it. And it's bad for you. Now you're going to look it up.
Right? John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress. And he said this. One day
I was passing into the field. This sentence fell on my soul. Your righteousness is in heaven.
And I saw with the eyes of my soul. Jesus Christ at God's right hand. There I say was my righteousness.
So that wherever I was or whatever I was doing. God could not say of me. He lacks my righteousness.
For that was just before him. I also saw moreover. That it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better.
Not my bad frame that made my righteousness worse. For my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself.
Now my chains fell off my legs indeed. I was loose from my afflictions. And my temptations fled away.
Romans 8 .1. Look at it again. There is therefore. Right now in the present. Knowing what the future would bring.
Now no condemnation. The opposite of condemnation is justification. For those who are in Christ Jesus.
And I might say by faith. And by faith alone. Well lots of times when you preach or teach the
Bible. You should ask yourself this question. So what? What does that mean? So let me give you now some reasons.
Why Romans 8 .1 is important. The so what about Romans 8 .1 and following. We've seen
Romans 8 .1. Looked at it a little bit. Now why is it important? Number one. The first reason why
Romans 8 .1 is important. It's because navel gazing is easy. And looking to Jesus by faith is hard.
Looking to self is easy. But looking to Lord Jesus is harder. The default for every one of us.
Because we live in our own skin. Is to get our eyes off the Lord Jesus. And walk by sight. And not by faith.
It's almost like a hypochondriac. Who's focused on themselves over and over and over.
And I pulled up hypochondriac stuff. And it says it's not called that anymore. It's called illness anxiety disorder.
I mean you can have a somatic symptom disorder. And you worry about your health even if you feel good. But you can also have illness anxiety disorder.
And I went through the list of some of the things that people have. Their symptoms for illness anxiety disorder.
Avoiding people or places due to worry about catching an illness. Constantly researching diseases and syndromes.
Exaggerating symptoms and their severity. If you cough you think you have lung cancer. High level of anxiety about personal health.
Obsession with bodily functions like heart rate. Oversharing your symptoms and health status with others.
I don't know anybody who would be like this. Checking for signs of illness.
Taking your blood pressure regularly. Seeking assurance from loved ones about your symptoms.
I'm laughing because I think I have a disorder. And I think there's a spiritual hypochondriac kind of person.
An illness anxiety disorder in the spiritual realm. Focus on self. Focus on self.
Focus on self. Morbidly looking at self. It was a great preacher who died at 29 years old.
Robert Murray McShane said, Every time you look at yourself, look at the Lord Jesus ten times.
Look at the Lord Jesus ten times. I mean if we start with ourselves and we think about what we've done and our sins and repent.
Then we need to look to the Lord Jesus for the one who forgives us of those very sins we just committed. Even as Christians.
There are some Christians that live in Romans 7. Wretched man that I am. And they never get to chapter 8. No condemnation.
I guess the flip side is true as well. That people just want to live in 8 all the time and not 7. One of the things
Romans 8 .1 is so good for is there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The focus is back on the
Lord Jesus. Not on ourselves. Reason number two.
Why is Romans 8 .1 so important? Because the joy of assurance is wonderful.
The joy of assurance is wonderful. That's why this is important. To not have the joy of assurance is awful.
And to have the joy of assurance is wonderful. Joseph Carlyle said,
All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth. Some saints enjoy a heaven while they are here on earth.
Assurance of salvation. Knowing that God loves you. Look at chapter 6 of Romans.
To give you an idea of how wonderful it is to know that you are with Christ and united with Him.
What theologians call the union with Christ. What shall we say then,
Romans 6 .1? Are we to continue in sin that grace might abound? By no means.
How can we who die to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Verse 5, For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.
We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death has no dominion over Him.
For the death He died, He died to sin once for all, but the life He lives, He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus condemned in our place. Where Jesus was condemned, we were condemned. No, we weren't condemned because Jesus was condemned for us.
Risen with Christ Jesus, the joy to know, I am His and He is mine. Reason number 3,
Because assurance frees you up to worship, to serve, to do good works, to obey and more.
Reason number 3 why Romans 8 is important, is because assurance frees you up to serve, frees you up to love other people.
I've been in airplanes before, I've also been in airports before. In those airports, sometimes you'll watch people on standby, and they're kind of just walking back and forth nervously, wondering if they'll make it on the plane or not.
People that have their tickets, people that have their seat assignment, they're not worried at all. In a similar fashion, if you are so convinced that you're not a
Christian, if you're unsure that you're a Christian, your focus isn't going to be on serving other people, because you're going to be wondering if I am in fact a
Christian. It'll be a half -hearted service of others because you're thinking about yourself.
J .C. Ryle said a believer who lacks an assured hope will spend much of his time in inward searching of his heart.
In other words, you're focused on yourself. If God is mad at me, I can't be concerned about serving other people.
When they first started building this wall, Golden Gate Bridge, no safety nets when they first started building it, 23 men fall to their deaths.
They put in a large safety net, 10 men fall and do it are saved, and work went up by 25%.
Amazing. When you know you're safe and secure, you don't have to worry about, am
I safe and secure, and you can serve other people. Look at Romans chapter 12. It follows
Romans chapter 8. When you know there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, you were guilty, now you're graced, how do you respond?
You respond with obedience and gratitude and service and worship. You have right thinking about other people, because you're fine with God.
God's not angry with you, He loves you. There's no condemnation. And therefore, Paul says in Romans 12, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, probably the last 11 chapters are the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For by the grace given to me, I say everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not have all the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.
And then he lists some of those gifts. Let us use them.
What happens when you know you're right before God, and there's no condemnation? You're free to love other people.
And you're free to love other people, even if you don't love them perfectly. Even if your works aren't perfect, and by the way, they never will be.
Even if your motives aren't perfect, and by the way, they never will be. Because you're good with God, because Jesus paid it all, the resurrection proves that, the empty tomb proves that, so I'm free to serve people, even if I might not be perfect in my service.
Because God accepts me, He accepts my works. He accepts you, Christian, He accepts your works.
Side note, Bethlehem Bible Church is full of people, by the way, who serve and serve and serve.
And I want to thank you for that. So many people behind the scenes serving. I think there are so many things that we don't even recognize, probably many of us, that people serve behind the scenes.
And I want to make sure I commend you, because you recognize, guilty in Adam, graced in Jesus, the last
Adam, flowing out of gratitude to serve. And I want to say, keep serving. What does Thessalonians, what does
Paul say to them? Excel still more? Thank you. But I also would like to say, that if you're here today, and you're a
Christian, especially if you're a member of the church, and you have no ministry, there are many people here, in this room right now, who just come on Sundays, that's all they do.
Maybe you do things behind the scenes that I don't know, I commend you. But if you're here today, and you regularly attend, and that's all you do is attend on Sunday, it's in fact better than sitting at home.
But you ought to think to yourself, if I had been so graced in Christ Jesus, I had to show gratitude to God, by serving other people.
You need to have a ministry here, every single person. If you come week by week by week, and you don't have a ministry, may you be convicted today, and say, that's not how a
Christian acts. Today, I should ask the Lord, Lord let me serve in some way, to show you my gratitude.
Reason number four, why Romans 8 is important, is that some evangelicals are confused regarding this verse.
Some evangelical celebrities are confused when it comes to Romans 8 .1. And they want to somehow make this statement that seems maybe unguarded, no condemnation, you mean really, based on who
I am, and what I've done even as a Christian, no condemnation? Yes, no condemnation. Some are confused, and they want to add a little qualifier.
They're afraid that it could be dangerous, that it might spur on unholy living and licentiousness.
One man wrote, how can a person be right with God? I wonder how you'd answer that question. How can you be right with God? He writes, the stunning answer is, sola fide, faith alone, and I say yes and amen.
But make sure you hear this carefully and precisely. Right with God by faith alone, but not attain heaven by faith alone.
There are other conditions for attaining heaven, but not others for entering a right relationship to God.
Is that good news? You attain heaven by faith alone? No, you attain heaven by something else that you do besides faith.
That is not good news. That's law. That's condemnation, unless you have enough works at the very end.
The same person said, these works of faith, this obedience of faith, these fruits of the Spirit that come by faith, are necessary for our final salvation.
Really? I thought what's necessary for our final salvation is Jesus Christ, and he paid for my sins and he obeyed the law.
I thought that's what was necessary for final salvation. And so when you have people make the fruit of your salvation, obedience and good works, and turn it into the ground of your salvation, how do you get to heaven?
You ought to say, I probably ought not to listen to John Piper as much as I should, because that's exactly what he writes.
Let me ask you the question. Who's ever lived a life in such a way that he or she has merited heaven by their attainment?
Let me ask you another question. What does union with Christ mean? We get judged on our performance at the end for salvation?
Of course not. What does it mean that Jesus is our federal head, the last Adam? Is sola fide really sola?
Craig Beal asks, Is being declared righteous in God's eyes inadequate to attain heaven? Do you need more righteousness than Christ's righteousness to attain heaven?
How transformed must your life be before I can stand before God? I want you to know once you're justified, you can't be unjustified.
It's irrevocable. Benjamin Keats said, Once we are justified, we need not inquire how man is justified after he's justified.
I think he's justified in saying that, by the way. Number five.
Why is Romans 8 -1 important? Number five. Fifthly. Because grace, instead of pushing us to licentiousness, motivates us to obey.
Grace motivates obedience. Grace motivates holy living.
It's the engine for holy living. You can see it in chapter 6, verse 1, can't you, in Romans?
I read it earlier, but I'll read it again. What should we say then? Based on all the grace of God in Christ Jesus, this one man's trespass, but we have more grace of God by the free gift, by the grace that one man
Jesus abounded to many. Romans 5 -15. How do we respond to that? Romans 6 -1. What should we say then?
Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? No, of course not. Verse 15 of the same chapter says the same thing.
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means.
Could it be that the great misunderstanding of justification by faith alone comes from the desire, a good desire, for Christians to live a holy life?
But it's muddied and murky because it messes with or plays with who
Jesus is. The grace that justifies you is the grace that sanctifies you.
It's the grace that regenerates you. Justification and sanctification are different, but they go together.
There's the root and there's the fruit. Does grace lead to unholy living?
Titus 2. Listen to this. For the grace of God, Jesus, has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.
And what does this grace do? Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, no to sin, and to live self -controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for their blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
What does grace do according to Paul? It teaches you to say no to sin and yes to righteousness.
It teaches you to kill sin in your life as a Christian and to live for Christ Jesus. Grace motivates.
Of course we love good works. Of course we want to do good works. But how do you get the power to do good works?
The Spirit of God dwells in you. One of the things that I think
Satan does, I don't mean he talks out loud to us, but he tries to make you think that you're an enemy of God, even though you're trusting in Jesus.
That God is mad at you and angry with you. Luther knew that.
He said that's the noose which Satan throws over the head of the poor child or man in order to strangle him.
This is the severest of the temptations of the devil, he said. God is the enemy of sinners. You are a sinner.
Therefore, God is your enemy. Except God is our Father and he forgives us.
He's a deliverer. He's a Savior. He's a rescuer for all those who trust in the Lord Jesus. And you know,
God loves you more than you love yourself. He loves you more than you could love other people. Sixth reason,
Romans 8, 1 is important. It's because it's rare to meet someone who's never struggled with assurance.
It's rare. Maybe some people have never struggled with assurance. I think most people have. And by the way, what on earth is actually perfect?
It's hard to think of something that's perfect on earth, so it shouldn't surprise us that sometimes our assurance is not perfect.
And one of the things that helps me, and I know it probably helps you even though it's kind of a strange help, is when you have other
Christians in your life in times present or in church history, when you find out they struggle with assurance, it makes you feel better.
It's like Spurgeon struggled with assurance. Nice. I told a lady once who came up to me and talked to me after preaching, she said, sometimes
I really struggle with my assurance. And I said, sometimes I do too. She smiled and walked off like, okay, that's all
I need to know. I'm not weird. I mean, she was saying she's not weird. You're not weird if you struggle with assurance.
Turn to Psalm 130, please. When your friends struggle with assurance, take them to this chapter.
When you struggle with assurance and you want to be out of Romans 8 for a little bit, go to this chapter. One of the heroes of the
Christian faith is a man named John Owen. I like John Owen for lots of reasons. He extolled
Christ Jesus. His most famous book is probably The Glory of Christ Jesus. He wrote books about how to mortify sin.
And he sometimes would struggle with assurance. I like John Owen for lots of reasons.
Beside that, he was also called a dandy because he loved to dress up. He wore a wig.
I don't like him for that. He said, sometimes
I just don't have good assurance. And so, what's the solution? Again, morbid introspection and spiritual hypochondriacism and everything else?
No, no. It's outward. It's upward. And he would go to Psalm 130 to help him with assurance when his soul was oppressed with horror and darkness, according to his own words.
And remember, when you see all caps, L -O -R -D caps, it's the personal name of God. And when you see, like in verse 2, smaller lowercase,
L -O -R -D, that's sovereign. Out of the depths, Psalm 130,
I cry to you, O Lord, my personal Lord, O Sovereign, O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, O Lord, Yahweh should mark iniquities,
O Adonai, who could stand? But with you, here's the light, here's the encouragement, here's the comfort.
But with you, there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in this word
I hope. My soul waits for the Lord, more than the watchman for the morning. More than the watchman for the morning,
O Israel, O Bethlehem Bible Church, hope in the Lord. For with the
Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. He will redeem
Israel from all His iniquities. What great assurance.
Reason number 7 why Romans 8 -1 is important. Reason number 7 is that we all still struggle with sin.
We all still struggle with sin. Let's go back to Romans chapter 7. We still struggle with sin. Paul said, trustworthy, deserving, full acceptance, this saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am the foremost. Christians struggle with sin. It was
Martin Luther who said, simul justus et peccator, using the
Latin words simult, simultaneously, justus, just, or righteous, et, and, peccador.
I didn't say pescato, I said peccador. Simultaneously just and sinful.
From one perspective, we are completely righteous in God's eyes, because we're in Christ Jesus and we have His righteousness. From another perspective, we still deal with sin.
And so why is Romans 8 important? It's because we still sin. It talks about it even in Romans chapter 7.
Paul, I think as a Christian man, as a mature apostle, says things like this in Romans 7 -15.
I do not understand my own actions. I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing
I hate. Sound familiar? I can relate to that. Sometimes I think, sadly, that's like my life verse.
Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it's good. So now it is no longer I who do it, verse 17, but sin that dwells within me.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
And he says hauntingly in verse 24, wretched man that I am. Who will set me free from this body of death?
Probably alluding to one of the things that they would do back in the day. If you killed somebody, you murdered them, they would tie the dead body to your back and you would not be able to escape and slowly that decaying body would get into your system and you would slowly die too by the bacteria.
Who will set me free from this body of death? You ever feel like that? I feel like that. Verse 25, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. We sin, and so we need to go back to this over and over and over.
So we're motivated out of gratitude to say thank you. I will repent quicker. The struggle is greater. I mean if I ask you the question, do you read the
Bible enough? Do you pray enough? Do you sacrifice for other people enough?
Do you love other people enough? Of course those are good questions to ask.
We struggle in those things. Do we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and enable ourselves even as Christians?
No, but we want to, we desire to. So why is Romans 8 so important?
Because we're in Christ Jesus and in Christ Jesus God sees you dear Christian as He sees
Christ and He sees Christ the perfect Bible reader. The perfect prayer partner.
The perfect evangelist. The perfect preacher. The one who says no to every temptation.
The one who says it is finished. The one who did enough. Read enough. Memorized enough.
Fully satisfied all God's claims. You look at the promises of that great
God. All that the Father gives me shall come to me and him that comes to me I will in no wise what? Cast out.
Even though we sin as Christians. My sheep hear my voice and I know them, Jesus said, and they follow me and I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand. I and my Father are one. Must we love Jesus? Yes.
Should we love our neighbor? Yes. But when we don't, we stand in Christ Jesus.
There's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. And lastly, let's end here.
Reason number eight. It's important because Romans 8 -1 introduces us to the ministry of the
Holy Spirit. You can count how many times you see the Holy Spirit in chapter 7. I don't think you'll find very many.
You can count how many times you'll see the Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8. I think you'll find very, very many. More than a dozen.
And for a Christian who's struggling with their assurance, what do they do? Well, they look to the
Lord Jesus by faith. They look at Him first. That's the most important thing. Because He obeyed for them and died for them and was raised for them.
And then secondly, secondly, not primarily, but secondly, they can say,
I wonder if the Spirit of God is working in my life. I can see the fruit of the Spirit in my life. I wish there were more, but I can see the fruit of the
Spirit. I can see love and joy and peace. And that's, of course, in Galatians 5. But here, we also have the
Holy Spirit's inner witness in Romans chapter 8, verse 14. Romans 8 -1 introduces us to the ministry of the
Holy Spirit. And we can look at all of the Spirit's work in Romans 8. But I want to draw your attention to this because it applies to assurance.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of... For you did not receive the spirit of slavery, verse 15, to fall back into fear, but you, believer in Christ Jesus, even here today, have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry,
Abba, Father. When you're really hurting, dear
Christian, when you're suffering, when you get the news from the doctor, when the stock market tanks, whatever the big trial is in your life, relationship issues, when everything's been said and done, you try to solve it all on your own and figure it out on your own, and then you're just at your wits' end and you think, you know what,
God, please help me. Do you know what? That's a sign that you're a Christian. That's exactly what he's saying here in Romans 8 -15, when you cry out,
Abba, Father. And by the way, that crying out is not like a little whimpering. It's not like a little kind of tiny little cry.
This is the cry that you've fallen. This is the cry used of a pregnant woman crying in childbearing.
And you don't know what else to do, and so when you're hurting and you fall, and you fall headlong, you say,
Father, help. That's the ministry of the Spirit of God. That he's showing you that the only help you have is a
Father that protects and pities and provides. It shows you that you're really a Christian because you realize
I can't get my help anywhere else. It shows you you're just like your Savior Jesus when he cried,
Abba, Father, all things are possible for thee. Remove this cup, yet not what
I will, but what thou wilt. One of the great things about assurance is you see the
Spirit of God working in your life, and he primarily works by love, joy, and peace, yes, but he works by saying,
God, help me. Oh, God, I don't know where else to turn. Remember Luther's mighty fortress is our
God, the song. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure.
One little word shall what? Fell him. I think it's been eight years since I asked you what that little word is, so let me ask you now, what's the little word?
What's the little word that makes Satan fall in Luther's song? What's the one word?
Of course, the Sunday school word is Jesus. That always works. Back in the old days, by the way,
I didn't like that when my kids would come home and I'd say, Hey, what did you learn at Sunday school?
Jesus. Again? Now I like that answer. Yep, we learn about Jesus every single week, just like we learn about Jesus from the pulpit.
Luther was writing in Galatians 4, and he tells us what the word is. There's a little word, notwithstanding it comprehends all things, though I be oppressed with anguish and terror on every side, utterly forsaken and cast away from my presence seemingly, yet I am your child and you are my
Father for Christ's sake. The law scolds us, sin screams at us, death thunders at us, the devil roars at us in the midst of the clamor of the
Spirit of Christ cries in our hearts, Abba. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Isn't that good news, Christian? I like mac and cheese, but I think that's better than mac and cheese.
I think that's better than lobster mac and cheese. You usually don't order that unless somebody else is paying.
And if you're here today and you're not a Christian, I hope you think through this.
Because how many times did I say, dear Christian, you're not condemned? Because I want you to know, Christian, you're not condemned.
But if you're not a Christian here today, you're condemned. And if you were to die this second, you'll spend an eternity in the wrath of the
Lamb. God rescues people like us and He can rescue people like you by not doing anything but trusting in the finished work of the
Lord Jesus. And you need to believe in the Lord Jesus today. His offer is free and full. You say, I have too many sins.
Jesus is a great Savior. I can't stop my sins. Jesus is a great sanctifier. I can't do anything.
I know, that's perfect. So you can cry out to God, Lord, help me. And for us as Christians, let's make sure we have this as one of our
Awana verses, deep down in our hearts, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Our conscience condemn us.
The world condemns us. Other people condemn us. But those of us who are children of God, trusting in Jesus alone for salvation, no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
In light of that, increase our gratitude. Increase our thanksgiving. Increase our holy living.