Romans 8:1-11 "Fulfilling God's Law by God's Spirit"

0:59He confessed that he did not understand his own actions because he did and continued to do things that he hates. We get that, don't we? Paul testified that in his inner being, that is, in his new heart and in his new mind that was given to him by God at his conversion, he delighted in God's law. Deep down, Paul said he wanted to do what was right, but he didn't have the ability to carry that out.

1:38And that's because his flesh and the indwelling sin in his flesh made war against the law of his mind and made him captive to the law of indwelling sin. We get that too, don't we? It's confusing, frustrating, discouraging. And all of this comes out in Romans 7:24, where Paul exclaims, Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Friends, it's Jesus. Jesus can. Jesus has. And Jesus will. It's Jesus. And that's where we ended last week with our eyes fixed on Jesus. Because Christians lose battles with sin.

2:39We have lost battles with sin. We will lose battles with sin. But thanks be to God. Jesus rescues us and wins the war. That is such good news. Now, I want you to look back at Romans 7:25. I want you to look at the last sentence. In that previous section, here's how he concludes that. After celebrating thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord, this is how the whole thing ends. So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

3:19So that is where Romans 7 ends, with Paul highlighting the tension of the Christian life. That tension, that battle that we have between indwelling sin in the flesh and the new spirit, the new heart, the new mind that God has given to us. Jesus will deliver us from these bodies of death. He can, he has, and he will. But friends, until he returns, we are living in this space where we have been declared righteous through faith, but we haven't actually been made righteous yet.

3:57We're living in the space where we've been declared holy, just as God is holy, but we have not been made holy yet. And don't we know it? Don't we know it? Every time we sin, our conscience reminds us that we have fallen short of God's holy standard. Oftentimes, when we sin, other people remind us that we have fallen short of God's holy standard. And certainly, Satan. Reminds us that we have fallen short of God's holy standard.

4:36So, I think we come out of Romans 7 with a bunch of questions. Like, God may have delivered us through Jesus Christ, but what does he think about us? Is he just constantly disappointed with us over our failures? Or we understand that in the end, we will be victorious because Jesus is victorious. But what about today? Is there any hope for victory over the sinful flesh today? I mean, have you had those kinds of thoughts? Have you asked those sorts of questions before in your life? Questions about God's posture toward you as you live in the tension between the already and the not-yet-ness of the Christian life? Desiring to walk in obedience to God, but still dealing with indwelling sin and fighting that battle?

5:35Friends, we all have. And God knew that we would. And so he inspires Paul to follow up all that he says and talks about and confesses and names in Romans 7 with all that's going to come in Romans 8, starting today. And this morning we're going to encounter these two wonderful truths. We'll put these on the screen. In Christ, God condemned our sin. And in the Spirit, we fulfill God's law. In Christ, God condemned our sin. In the Spirit, we fulfill God's law. So let's take a look now at Romans 8:1, where we'll see that in Christ, God condemned our sin.

6:27Romans 8:1 There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Friends, how great are those words? After everything that we read, after everything that we felt after reading and hearing the word preached in Romans 7 last week, how great are the words, no condemnation? If you are in Christ Jesus, that is, if you have received him through faith, if you have been baptized into his death and risen with him through faith, then listen to God speak to you through Paul this morning. There is no condemnation for you. There is no condemnation.

7:17But man, we struggle to believe that, don't we? I think if we were to write the Bible ourselves, not a good idea, but if we did this, what this verse would say. Is there is therefore some condemnation for those who are in Christ. Depending on the day, depending on the week, depending on my performance, did I have a good quiet time or did I not? Our tendency is to project our own faults and failures onto God.

7:49And so, because we struggle to forgive other people, we assume that God struggles to forgive us. Because we tend to hold things over people who wrong us, we assume that God holds our sin over us as well. We tend to think, in other words, that God is like us. But I want you to listen to how God talks about us and how he talks about our sin in his word. Look at Psalm 103. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. Listen to this. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

8:44You ever thought about that? You ever been in a plane and you're flying around the globe and you're thinking like you're going east, but at some point you're going west. And like, how could you ever catch west if you're going east or east if you're going west? It's impossible. That is what God says that he has done with your sin. He has made it impossible. That's how far he has separated our sin from us. Look at Isaiah chapter 1. Listen to these beautiful words. For those of you who feel dirty in sin, come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

9:36Do you drop stuff on your clothes when you're eating? I do that all the time. And it's like stuff that you feel like that should come out. Why would that not come out? And it doesn't. And then you've got this picture of your sin being red like crimson and being made like wool. That's not possible. There's no amount of stuff you can put in the washing machine to get blood out of things. It just doesn't work. And yet the Lord says, this is what I'm doing with your sin. I'm going to do the impossible. I'm going to make it white as snow.

10:11And then last, I want you to hear these words from Jesus himself. Look at what he says. He's talking to Nicodemus, and he says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world. To condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him, listen to these words. Whoever believes in him is not condemned. But whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

10:52Brothers and sisters, do you believe God when he says these things? This is not Pastor Allen on his own authority saying that there's no condemnation for you. This is not some self-help book telling you that you need to be kinder to yourself, that you need to stop thinking negative thoughts and manifest some better vibes. This is God himself who cannot lie, telling you over and over again in the Bible and once again through Paul, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation for your past, no matter how sinful it was. No condemnation for your present, no matter how much you are currently falling short. No condemnation for your future, no matter what you may do.

11:56Do you believe that? I hope. That you do. But if not, you should be honest about that. You should tell God that you struggle to believe his promises. This week in your life group, you should tell somebody, Hey, listen, I know the Bible says that I'm forgiven, but I don't feel forgiven. Can you talk with me about that? Would you pray for me? Would you pray that I would believe God's word? There is no condemnation for you or anyone who is in Christ. But how in the world could that be?

12:36Look again at Paul rehearses the gospel in verse 1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. So, this is a summary of all that Paul has been talking about for the last several chapters. That we have been set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life, which could be translated by the law of the Spirit who gives life.

13:30And here is how that happened. According to verse 3, God did for us what we could not do for ourselves and what the law couldn't do for us. You see, the law could reveal God's holy character, it could reveal his holy standard, but the law was powerless to help us obey it because of our sinful flesh. The law was weak because of indwelling sin within us. So, what did God do? Verse 3: By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Now, let me clarify here: what Paul means is that Jesus took on a fully human body, one that was like ours, subject to human limitations and human temptation. The difference is that Jesus never sinned. He was in the likeness of sinful flesh, but Jesus never sinned. And so he was able to offer himself for sin. As Paul says in verse 3, that could be translated as a sin offering. So on the cross, Jesus presented himself as a sin offering for you and me. God condemned him. Now, when modern people read the word condemned, you think to yourself, made him feel bad.

15:00I'm sure Jesus felt very bad on the cross, but that's not what that word means in the Greek. It doesn't mean made you feel bad. That's how we use the word. But the word condemned means to judge someone as guilty and as subject to punishment. To judge someone as guilty and subject to punishment. So in Christ, God condemned sin in the flesh. He pronounced Jesus guilty so that he could pronounce us not guilty. That's why there is no condemnation left for us. Jesus bore all of God's condemnation on the cross.

15:43So when you read Romans 8, 1, sure, it's true. You should not feel guilty about your sin. But this isn't about your feelings. This is about what God has declared to be true in the heavenly court of law. He has said, I do not declare you guilty because I have declared my perfect son guilty in your place. That verdict is rendered. There is no double jeopardy in America and there is no double jeopardy in heaven. You cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Jesus was put to death for all of your sin. He was condemned, so you are not.

16:25The question is, why? Why did God send Jesus to be condemned in the world? The flesh. Look at verse 3 again. Take a look at the middle of that verse. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. I want you to focus on those first three words in verse 4. In order that Paul says that God sent Jesus to be condemned for us in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.

17:18What does that mean? This one time, Jesus has a religious leader come up to him and ask him what the greatest commandment is in the law. And I want you to look at Jesus' answer. He says this in Matthew 22, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

17:54So according to Jesus, all of the law, all 613 commands, can be said. Summed up as: love God with everything and love your neighbor just like you love yourself. That is the spirit of the law. That is what the law requires. The love of God and the love of neighbor. We could call it the righteous requirement of the law. But, friends, understand from the very beginning, God's intention has always been that we would fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. That's why he gave it to us. His intention has been for you and I to love God with everything and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Well, we could never do that. We could never fulfill the righteous requirement of the law because of our sin. So, in Christ, God condemned sin in the flesh. He died to save us from the penalty of sin.

18:56But that doesn't make us fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. According to Romans 7, we've still got our indwelling sin to deal with. We've got the desire to do what is right, but we don't have the ability to carry it out. We love God's law in our inner being, but on our own, we cannot do, we cannot carry out the good desires that we have. We can't fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. That's why we need the Holy Spirit. And that is why Paul concludes verse 4 with that. Statement, look there, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

19:40So, we've already seen in Christ God condemned our sin. And now, what we're going to see in the rest of the passage, verses 5 through 11, is that in the Spirit we fulfill God's law. So, let's pick up there in verse 5. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

21:15In verse 9, Paul writes, Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Some people teach that you receive Jesus and you become a Christian, and then later on you receive the Holy Spirit. Well, friends, this verse and many other verses in Scripture prove that that is not true. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you do not belong to Christ, period. When you receive Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit. Because remember, when God saves us, he doesn't just promise to save us from sin's penalty later on. He promises to save us from sin's power, rather, today, in the present.

22:11That is the difference between the role of the Son and the role of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, the Son, saves us from sin's penalty through his life and death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit saves us from sin's power through his indwelling Spirit. Presence inside of us. He is the one that allows us to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law because he enables us to walk according to the Spirit rather than according to the flesh. Because you see, everybody is doing one or the other.

22:51You'll notice that starting here in verse 5, Paul divides the world into two types of people: those who live or walk according to the flesh and those who live or walk according to the Spirit. That is everybody on earth. There is no middle ground. You either live according to the flesh or you live according to the Spirit. It's one or the other. And in verses 5 through 8, I want you to see Paul is not giving commands.

23:25These verbs are not imperatives. They are indicatives. Paul is not saying, do this, don't do that. No, he's saying there are two types of people in the world, and here is what characterizes each of them. Here's how you know which one you are. So again, the two types of people are those who live or walk according to the flesh and those who live or walk according to the Spirit. So what characterizes the person who lives or walks according to the flesh?

24:00Well, if we work backward through the passage, look at verse 8. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. That's a strong statement. Paul doesn't say that they won't please God or that they don't often please God. He says they can't do it. It is not possible. Well, why is that? Look at verse 7. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot.

24:40So the reason that those who walk in the flesh can't please God is because their minds are set on the flesh, which makes them hostile to God. The hostile mind does not submit to God because it cannot submit to God. Hostility toward God is our default position from birth. Now, you might hear that and say, Pastor Alan, you're saying that babies, little kids, are hostile toward God? No, I'm not saying that. God is saying that. That is what the Bible teaches. What the Bible reveals is that we are all born with a sinful nature. We are born with minds and hearts and wills and desires. That are bent away from God and toward the self.

25:35We do not want to worship and serve God. We want to worship and serve ourselves and our desires. So we can't submit to God's law. And because we can't, we don't. Instead, we set our minds on the things of the flesh. Our thoughts are preoccupied with gratifying the sinful flesh. What will feel good? What will bring me the most pleasure? What will be best for me? We live for ourselves, and it leads to death, as Paul says in verse 6. For the mind that is set, or rather, for to set the mind on the flesh is death. For to set the mind on the flesh is death.

26:28So in Galatians 5, Paul gives a description of the works of the flesh. Take a look at the screen. He says, Now, the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy. Drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those are the works of the flesh, and they are carried out by those whose minds are set on the flesh, because they walk according to the flesh. And they will not inherit the kingdom of God, for to set the mind on the flesh is death.

27:31So that is the description of the person who lives or walks according to the flesh. Those are the things that characterize the person whose mind is set on the things of the flesh. But here's the encouragement that Paul has for the Romans and that Paul has for every Christian here today. Look at verse 9. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. That could also be translated since, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. He means this to be an encouragement. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Christ.

28:11Well, how would you know whether you have the Spirit of Christ, whether you're in the Spirit, whether you're walking by the Spirit? Well, according to verse 5, those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. And a person who lives by the Spirit, who Sets their mind on the things of the Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit. So look on the screen at Galatians 5. Again, here's what Paul says about that person.

28:42But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Friends, that is the fruit of the Spirit. And it is produced by people whose minds are set on the things of the Spirit because they walk according to the Spirit. They will inherit the kingdom of God, not because they do these things, but because they belong to Christ. And because they belong to Christ, they produce these fruits. Remember Jesus' words in Luke chapter 6. Look what he says. For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

29:58So you put all of this together. We are born dead in sin. We are producing the dead works of the flesh that lead to death. Bad trees bear bad fruit. But when God makes us alive through His Holy Spirit, we set our minds on the things of the Spirit and we produce the good fruit of the Spirit. Good trees produce good fruit. It results, as Paul says, in life and peace. Not just today, but in eternity.

30:34Look at verse 10. Paul says, But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ that's been credited to you and me. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. Friends, do you see what Paul is hammering home again and again? Through faith in Christ, you have the Spirit. You have everything you need to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. God is already satisfied with you because he is satisfied with his Son Jesus and His perfect life, death, and resurrection in your place and for your sin. And He is Given you and me everything we need in the Holy Spirit to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law.

31:39So we need to examine the fruit that we're producing and that we have been producing in our lives. And don't get me wrong, a healthy tree may bear a piece of bad fruit once in a while. If you've ever seen a fruit tree before, a healthy tree will have a piece of bad fruit on it here or there. And it might be the case that an unhealthy tree might once in a while bear a good piece of fruit. That's kind of what Romans 7 is getting at.

32:09But what Jesus teaches and what Paul is confirming here in this passage is that good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. Again, Paul is not saying live like this, don't live like that. He's saying you are already living in one way or another. You are already walking according to the flesh or walking according to the Spirit. That is already true in your life. Your mind is already set and made up on the things of the flesh or set and made up on the things of the Spirit. He's saying that's true. You've been producing bad fruit that leads to death or good fruit that leads to life.

32:49He says, but if you live according to the Spirit, you set your mind on the things of the Spirit. So what kind of fruit have you been producing? What is your mind set on? The flesh or the spirit? It's not an aspirational question. I'm not asking you, what do you want that answer to be? I think we all want the answer to be the same thing. I'm asking, what is the answer to that question from the actual way that you've been living your life? The Bible never teaches that we are saved by what we do. But the Bible does teach that you can know whether you are saved by what you do or don't do.

33:34Christians hope in Christ, who was condemned in the flesh so that we wouldn't be condemned, so that through faith his righteousness would be credited to us. And friends, God has poured out his Holy Spirit on every person who has received Christ so that we ourselves can fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. To love God with everything and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. That is always going to be a battle. Remember Romans 7. That is always going to be a battle for the genuine Christian. But the genuine believer has set their mind on the things of the Spirit and produces the fruit of the Spirit. And in so doing, we fulfill the righteous requirement of the law.

34:23So, friends, after last chapter, we were left with some really hard questions. Is there any condemnation? For us, because of our sin, past, present, future? Thank God the answer is no. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It doesn't matter how hard that is for us to believe. It doesn't matter how bad the struggle is for us. If you are in Christ through faith, there is no condemnation for you. Jesus bore all of that condemnation on the cross.

34:57The other question we were left with is: is there any hope for today? Is there any hope that you and I can have victory over our indwelling sin and please God through obedience, through fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law? The answer to that question is yes. Not because you and I are good people, not because we're disciplined people, not because we try real hard to do good, but because the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, producing the fruit of the Spirit through us and fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law. And so, friends, if you find yourself in that really hard battle as a Christian with your sin, look to Jesus, the one who has ensured your forgiveness, and look to the Holy Spirit, the one who enables you to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law through faith. Stop looking in the rearview mirror at your sins and failures. Stop wallowing in guilt and shame over what you have done and what you have done. Have left undone, you are forgiven in Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law.

36:12And if you are here today and you've come to realize through God's word this morning that you are living according to the flesh, that your mind is set on the things of the flesh, that the way that you are living is not pleasing God and that you cannot please God, that does not have to be your reality anymore. This morning, you can confess to God that you have been living in the flesh and for the flesh, and you don't want to do that anymore. This morning, by God's grace and the power of His Holy Spirit, you can turn from your sin and you can turn in faith to Jesus Christ. You can confess with your mouth this morning, Jesus, I believe that you are Lord. Not just Lord in general, but you must be Lord of my life.

37:08You can confess this morning, Jesus, I believe that you're alive, that you died in my place for my sin, and that you rose by the power of the Spirit so that I could be forgiven and counted righteous. You can turn to Christ today. And friends, when you do that, you will receive the Spirit of God who will enable you. To walk in a completely different way. No longer according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. No longer gratifying the sinful desires of the flesh, but instead pleasing God through fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law. And so hear that invitation, not from me, but from God this morning, to turn to Him in repentant faith, so that you could celebrate along with the rest of us that there is now no condemnation for you any longer, because that has all been poured out on Jesus Christ through faith. Turn to Him today.

38:08Let's pray. Father, we have such a hard time believing the most profound and beautiful truths in your word, especially when it comes to things like our own forgiveness. For some reason, we can tell other people that no matter what the They've done, no matter what they are doing, they will be forgiven if they repent and turn in faith to Jesus. We say it to them and we believe it. But when it comes to our own sin and failure, we struggle to believe the very same truth.

39:25And so we walk around with some level of condemnation. For some of us, it just crops up once in a while. For others of us, it is our constant daily companion. Condemnation. So I pray particularly for the believer this morning who is struggling with some level of condemnation. Would you give them faith to believe that Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was sufficient for them? And that when Jesus said on the cross, it is finished, he meant it.

40:13I pray that from that freedom, that we would be free to minister the good news of the gospel to others. It's so hard to preach good news to others when we struggle to believe it ourselves. Father, I pray for the man, the woman, the child who is here in the room today who has not yet received Christ by faith and as a result is under just condemnation for their sin. I pray that they would receive Christ today by faith.

40:54I pray that they would get baptized and begin following Jesus every day, walking in a new life. Would you grant that this morning? Would you grant them faith to believe your promises and the sufficiency of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection? Thank you, God, for the encouragement of your word today. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.

42:00Yeah.