Good News About Being a Christian #1 There Is No Condemnation by Tim Bond
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=44934&Sermon%20There%20Is%20No%20Condemnation%20by%20Tim%20Bond
1. Good News About
Being a Christian
#1 There Is No
CoNdemNaTIoN
by Tim Bond
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon.asp?SermonID=44934&Sermon%20There%20Is%20No%20Condemnation%20by%20Tim%20Bond
2. Romans 8:1 NET There is therefore now
no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-
giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set
you free from the law of sin and death.
3. 3 For God achieved what the law could
not do because it was weakened
through the flesh. By sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
concerning sin,
he condemned sin in the flesh,
4. 4 so that the righteous requirement of
the law may be fulfilled in us, who do
not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.
5. Michael Breissen was a new father, and
he was not about to let his wife’s first
Mother’s Day pass uncelebrated. But
she was a nurse, and on that particular
Sunday was working at the local
hospital, and they weren’t able to
celebrate together at home.
6. So Michael plunked his new son, Jason,
in the baby carrier, drove to the
hospital, and in front of all the patients
and co-workers he surprised Miriam
with candy and flowers and balloons
that said, "World’s Greatest Mom."
7. It was a great Mother’s Day. But after
celebrating, it was time for Miriam to
go back to work, and Jason and
Michael to go back home. Michael
gathered all the things that had been
part of the celebration: the candy,
flowers, and balloons.
8. It wasn’t as much fun taking those things
out to the car as it was taking them in to
the hospital for the surprise. He
begrudgingly tossed the candy on the
front seat and got the flowers arranged on
the floor where they wouldn’t tip over. He
pulled the balloons in out of the wind and
got everything arranged, and headed
home.
9. On the way home, people began to
honk their horns and flash their lights
at him. He didn’t realize what was
going on until he hit 55 miles per hour
on the highway.
10. He heard a long scraping noise go down
the roof, followed by a loud thump. He
watched in horror in the rearview
mirror as the baby carrier bounced off
the trunk onto the highway and began
to slide along behind the car.
11. Michael screeched to a halt. He ran
back down the highway to the baby
carrier. Jason was okay. As the waves
of guilt and fear and relief began to
wash over him. Michael fell on the
highway and began to sob.
12. That did not stop a passing policeman
from writing him up, nor the local
newspaper from writing a story about
it. A reporter interviewed Miriam, who
showed amazing understanding. She
said, "It’s so unlike him. He really is a
good father."
13. While there’s a part of us that says, "How
could he?" there’s another part of us that
relates to Michael Breissen. We recognize
all the mistakes we have made, the dumb
things we have done born out of hurry or
frustration or distraction. We know that
there is enough Michael Breissen in us
that we could be guilty of such things too.
It’s all part of being human.
14. The eighth chapter of Romans begins
with one of the greatest promises in all
the Bible. “There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus." And even standing by
itself there is something in those words
that makes your heart flutter.
15. The significance of the fact that in spite
of our sin, God doesn’t condemn us is
overwhelming in and of itself. But the
truth of the matter is, when you read
that verse in light of chapter 7, the
personal application of its truth is even
more invigorating.
16. You see, chapter 7 is one of the most
powerful statements about struggling
with sin in the history of all literature.
What makes it so powerful is, that it is
Paul providing us a glimpse into his
own struggle. For me that is
encouraging.
17. Often when I think of the apostle Paul, I
think of somebody who is bigger than
life. I see him standing up and
defending his faith in front of the
Roman governors and even the
emperor. I remember him on his great
missionary journeys all over the
Roman empire.
18. We have all listened to him as he
instructs the churches to be faithful,
and as he encourages Timothy and
Titus to remain true to their calling.
Probably most of us have put Paul on
quite a pedestal.
19. But when we come to the 7th chapter of
Romans, we get a peek behind eyes
of the apostle, and he’s a lot more
human than we might have first
thought. Paul is a fellow struggler.
20. Romans 7:14 NET For we know that the
law is spiritual — but I am unspiritual,
sold into slavery to sin. 15 For I don't
understand what I am doing. For I do
not do what I want — instead, I do
what I hate. 16 But if I do what I don't
want, I agree that the law is good.
21. 17 But now it is no longer me doing it,
but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know
that nothing good lives in me, that is,
in my flesh. For I want to do the good,
but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do
the good I want, but I do the very evil I
do not want!
22. Did you notice what is going on here?
Paul is honest enough to recognize
within himself a tendency to get caught
in the stranglehold of sin. This is not
Paul talking about the way he used to
be sinful before he became a
Christian.
23. This is Paul saying, “Just this morning, I
gave in again.” It happens to us all. Earlier
in his letter he has proclaimed Romans
3:10b NET "There is no one righteous, not
even one,” Later he stated matter of factly
Romans 3:23 NET for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God. But now he
states it even more personally. “I struggle
with sin, and sometimes I lose.”
24. Finally, the frustration of losing seems to break
through to the surface as Paul proclaims in
Romans 7:22 NET For I delight in the law of God
in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law
in my members waging war against the law of
my mind and making me captive to the law of
sin that is in my members. 24 Wretched man
that I am! Who will rescue me from this body
of death?
25. How many times a week could you just
kick yourself for failing?
You try to be patient with your kids or
your spouse or your parents, but in a
flash you strike out and the words you
say have done their damage before
you even knew it.
26. You thought you had broken the grip of
that nasty habit, but there was that one
weak moment, and you listened to the
whisper that told you "it will be okay
just this once," and now you feel like a
failure.
27. You knew you should have steered
clear, but you thought you could
handle it. Before you know it, you have
found out the hard way that you were
weaker than you thought.
28. A thousand times, in a thousand
different ways you have tried to live by
the standards that you know are right.
But like Michael Breissen, even though
you knew better, you did the stupid
thing. And now all you feel is stupid,
filthy, wretched to use the language of
Paul. Let’s read where Paul goes from
here.
29. Romans 7:24 NET Wretched man that I
am! Who will rescue me from this body
of death? 25 Thanks be to God through
Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I
myself serve the law of God with my
mind, but with my flesh I serve the law
of sin.
30. 8:1 There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-
giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set
you free from the law of sin and death.
31. You see, I told you that promise was
even more grand when you know
Paul’s train of thought. Paul admits
that there is a struggle going on within
every human being, and when we try
to win on our own strength we often
get pinned to the mat.
32. But the greatness of the promise of
God’s grace is that even when we fail
again, there is no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus. There
is security in our relationship with God.
If we are in Christ, we don’t need to
wonder if God is angry with us.
33. “There is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus." If you
have a personal relationship with Jesus,
you don’t need to fear God’s wrath. “There
is therefore now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus." When
God looks at you, He doesn’t see a
wretch, He sees a son or daughter.
34. I am not saying we have a license to sin!
No! Far from it! Let’s review what Paul
said two chapters earlier.
Romans 6:1 NET What shall we say then?
Are we to remain in sin so that grace
may increase? 2 Absolutely not! How
can we who died to sin still live in it?
35. He goes on to talk about putting our life
of sin to death when we join Jesus in
death through Baptism. Then, as
Jesus was raised from the dead we
come out of the waters of baptism
having put our old sinful life to death
so we can then live a new life.
36. Just because we are living a new life
under God’s grace we should live in
obedience that results in
righteousness. Romans 8:15 NET What
then? Shall we sin because we are not
under law but under grace? Absolutely
not! 16 Do you not know that if you
present yourselves as obedient slaves,
37. you are slaves of the one you obey,
either of sin resulting in death, or
obedience resulting in righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God that though
you were slaves to sin, you obeyed
from the heart that pattern of teaching
you were entrusted to, 18 and having
been freed from sin, you became
enslaved to righteousness.
38. This being the case you have avoided
the 2nd death, Hell and will receive
the gift of
Eternal Life.
Romans 8:20 NET For when you were
slaves of sin, you were free with
regard to righteousness. 21 So what
benefit did you then reap from those
things that you are now ashamed of?
39. For the end of those things is death. 22
But now, freed from sin and enslaved
to God, you have your benefit leading
to sanctification, and the end is eternal
life. 23 For the payoff of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
40. The point is we have become slaves of
God, hence, we live to serve Him. We
must act like we belong to God and
not sin. What needs to happen when
we fail?
1 John 1:9 NET But if we confess our sins,
he is faithful and righteous, forgiving
us our sins and cleansing us from all
unrighteousness.
41. You remember the story of the prodigal
son. The boy disregarded his father,
and then disgraced himself in every
way possible. Dr. Vernon McGee says
“Do you know the difference between
the son in that pigpen and the pig?
The difference is that no pig has ever
said to himself, ’I will arise and go to
my father.’”
42. He’s right, but a child can do that! And
when that dirty, stinking boy came within
eyesight of home, His dad was there to
clean Him up and throw Him a party. Paul
wants to make sure that you understand
that God is just as anxious to throw His
arms around you. “There is therefore now
no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus."
43. Now let me tell you why this is so
important to understand. Because if
the truth be known, there is sometimes
condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus. But it never comes from
God. It comes from Satan. Do you
know what the word “satan” means in
Hebrew? Accuser!
44. He loves to fool us into believing that we
are condemned. He wants to trap us
into believing that we are so wretched
that God doesn’t want anything to do
with us. He wants us to be like Adam
and Eve in the garden after they
sinned. All they wanted to do was hide
from God!
45. And the truth is, we’ve all been there.
We have failed, and kicked ourselves,
and felt condemned. And we have
hidden ourselves from God, and
turned away, not because we don’t
love Him, but because we are
ashamed.
46. We have felt like a wretch, and we have
listened to Satan tell us that God
condemned us for our sin. But if we
were in Christ at the time, then we
were wrong.
47. A little while back there was a girl who
was the daughter of one of the royal
families of Europe. She had a big,
round nose that destroyed her beauty
in the eyes of others and especially in
her own eyes. She grew up with this
terrible image of herself
as an ugly person.
48. So her family hired a plastic surgeon to
change the contour of her nose. He
did his work, and there came the
moment when they took the bandages
off and the girl could see what
happened.
49. When the doctor removed the
bandages, he saw that the operation
had been a total success. All the ugly
contours were gone. Her nose was
different. When the incisions healed
and the redness
disappeared, she would be a beautiful
girl. He held a mirror up for the girl to
see.
50. But, so deeply embedded was this girl’s
ugly image of herself that when she
saw herself in the mirror, she couldn’t
see any change. She broke into tears
and cried out,
“Oh, I knew it wouldn’t work!”
51. The doctor labored with that girl for six
months before she would finally accept
the fact that she was indeed different.
But the moment she accepted the fact
that she really was different, her whole
behavior began to change.
52. Paul recognizes a very important truth,
that we act according to what we know
we are. If we are deceived into
thinking that we are not what God says
we are, then we are going to keep on
acting that way. That is why the way to
break the power of the most vicious
and evil habit is to see yourself as God
sees you.
53. Then you begin to act that way. Now,
how many of you believe the Bible to
be true? I want to find out. Remember,
when you say the word “Amen” you
are actually saying a Hebrew word that
means “That’s the truth!” In a minute I
am going to read a promise from
God’s Word, and I want you to
respond.
54. If you believe the truth of the promise,
then respond by saying “Amen!” (Not
wimpy amen) God’s Word proclaims
“There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus." Do you believe it?
55. The challenge that we face, is not to just
say that we believe it, but to live like it.
Don’t let anything that you have ever
done, or will ever do to separate you
from God. A little later in Romans 8 Paul
asks a very important question that at
one time or another is on the mind of
every Christian.
56. Romans 8:35 NET Who will separate us
from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As
it is written, "For your sake we
encounter death all day long; we
were considered as sheep to be
slaughtered." (Psalm 44:22)
57. 37 No, in all these things we have complete
victory through him who loved us! 38 For I
am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things
that are present, nor things to come, nor
powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor
anything else in creation will be able to
separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
58. You see, none of those things can
separate us from Him. But when we
are foolish and fail, our tendency is to
turn away in shame.
59. For five weeks beginning today I am
preaching from Romans 8 on “The
Good News abouT beING a
ChrIsTIaN.”
Nothing else I can ever say could be
more important than the one that Paul
begins this great chapter with.
60. "Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus." There is never a time
when you will turn toward God and not
find his arms extended, waiting for
your return. Why would we ever want
to turn away?
61. Even though we are beginning a series
of messages from Romans 8, Paul didn’t
begin his train of thought by
proclaiming the good news "Therefore,
there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus."
62. He began by proclaiming the bad news
that in our natural state, every single
person who lives on the face of the
earth is guilty of sin and condemned to
death.
63. Romans 3:23 NET for all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23a NET For the payoff of sin is
death, In our natural state we get what we
deserve.
Imperfection brings death.
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
64. The bad news is that everyone outside of
Christ will suffer the consequences of their
sin.
They will die!
The good news is that God has made a
provision for us to come "into Christ." His
will is that every person will come into
Christ. But God does not force His will on
us. He gives us free will.
65. Now we must choose who must guide
our lives. Will we live by our own
standards and suffer the
consequences. Or will we turn our
lives over to God and receive the
promise of Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there
is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus."