No Condemnation (Romans 8:1)

No Condemnation

Romans 8:1

Turn to Romans 8. I wish to review quickly some of the truths we have been learning from our study in the book of Romans when considering our topic this morning of “no condemnation.” I believe Romans 7:1-6 that we studied a few weeks ago uses some of the strongest language to teach the Christian’s freedom from the law, for the first husband represents the authority of the law, and the second husband represents our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. As Paul teaches here that to be under Christ, the second husband, and then to go back to the law would be like having two husbands at the same time. Therefore, Paul teaches that the Christian is dead with Christ and is no longer under the authority of the law. And this new relationship enables the believer, Paul says, to bear fruit for God. And this is fruit that the law could never produce in the lives of those who are under its authority. In other words, the fullness of the Christian can only be realized outside of the law. Yet, despite Paul’s words, many will still want to place themselves under the law, as some have suggested that Christians are no longer under the law’s condemnation, but still under its instruction, as they may refer to it as our “rule of life.”

Is this true? What does the Bible say? Galatians 3:3, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’” Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, stand firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 3:20, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” These verses teach us that the law has shown man his sin and guilt, as the law condemns all men and women, as this was its purpose. This is why Paul says that the law can only condemn but not save. We also know that Christ was under the law and yet He bore its curse and redeemed those who were under it. And our faith does not void the law, but establishes it, for it still has its purpose of condemning the sinner. Yet being under it is like being under the first husband.

And those who would say that the law is now our “rule of life” must realize that they must obey all of it, if they wish to be saved. Because if we want to place ourselves under its guide, without perfectly obeying the law, we do two things. One, we do a disservice to the law, because it demands perfection. The law demands perfection, so to say we are under it without fully obeying it actually lessens the demands and the high stature of the law, and who are we to make such a compromise to its demands? But secondly, we do a disservice to Christ who did fulfill the law perfectly for us. In other words, how could we try to duplicate what Christ has already done, when we cannot? For if you are under the law and you have not obeyed everything in the law, you are cursed, period! That is the truth of the Bible.

Yet, some still teach that you are no longer under its curse but still under its guidance. Yet this seems to contradict Paul’s teaching about the first and second husband; in other words, who are you married to? Then another camp would want to say that we need the law to use as “some sort of curb against sinning.” But folks, this is so wrong. For it is not the law that curbs the Christian from sinning, as the law shows the person that he is a sinner. In fact, this is likely one of the greatest deceptions of Satan to hold us back in our sanctification, a sanctification that is to be led by the Spirit, not by the law, for the believer is to be directed by the work of the Spirit. This is who the believer is accountable. But we can struggle with this, for our human tendency is to want to be guided by a law or a code.

So, if the Christian is not under the law, what does become the “rule of life” for the believer? And the term “rule of life” is not the best choice here, as I would not look to my earthly father as providing the “rule of life,” for the relationship is far more intimate than that. The better term would be: what becomes the “model” for the believer? Well, it is Christ! Nothing more or nothing else! See, this is the greater intimacy in merely following a law of our earthly father as opposed to desiring to be like him. As Christ must be everything to the Christian. He is our life, our Lord, our pattern, our all. For me to live is Christ! And the work of the Holy Spirit is the bond between our soul and the heart of Christ, as the Spirit ever directs our hearts to Him. Never miss or underestimate the freedom we have from the law, for the law condemns. And therefore, we are not under the law, for there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Jesus said:

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth … All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you”

John 16:13a, 15 (LSB)

And therefore, it is Christ who will establish His church. And it is Christ who will teach His disciples, His followers, us—to be obedient to Him and to the truths He gave to His church through the writers of His Word. And these truths—Paul said—if rightly divided, will guide the Christian and lead him in obedience to Christ by the Spirit. Do you see the intimacy here? An intimacy that could never be accomplished by a law. Later, Paul wrote this to the Corinthians: that they were beholding the glory of God as in a mirror and being transformed into that same image, the glory of God. Because our standard, and our only standard, folks, is our model, Jesus Christ. And therefore, we are called upon to lay down our lives for Him. It is like unwavering allegiance to our King, our all in all for Christ. And it is so vital for us to understand Christian, that all our debt has been paid. And therefore, our “works” or service to the King are done out of gratitude. And the fruit that is attainable under Christ could never have been attained under a law. Which leads us to Paul’s great verse, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).

In our culture today, we are always encouraged to work and strive. And the world in many ways would also encourage us to enjoy our families. For despite the crazy direction the world has taken, there is still the striving for the perfect, let’s say American family: Mom, Dad, son and daughter. Growing up in an upper-middle-class home with a school down the street with a playground, and maybe some woods nearby where you could go and ride your bikes, and once or twice a year that family goes on a holiday in their camper or they rent a cottage. And of course, they get together with their extended family for birthdays or Thanksgiving and especially at Christmas. And I know that some of you are thinking, ah, that sounds so nice. And really, church was sort of part of that at one time. I mean, you really do not have to go back too far to know that church life was a part of the regular family. And if not, at least they would still get married in a church and have granddad’s funeral at the church.

Now, there is a growing number who would view church as threatening, though many who do not attend church a lot may still view it somewhat positively today, and may even believe that the idea of church and standards are good for society, but not necessarily all that important for them. I was at Lakewood Camp last Sunday, and they said that many non-Christian families now attend, because they see it as a safe place and likely a little more traditional than the world may offer, possibly similar to the way they grew up. And this thinking can even trickle into the church a little, as there are a great number of parents who start in church when their children are young. In fact, it is sometimes when a married couple start to have children that they start going to church regularly. Why? Well, they believe that it may be a good influence on their children. I mean, especially today, when the culture would present a far more left view. And so, the church is helpful in that it presents a more conservative view. Yet many of these parents soon lose interest in church as their children either lose interest, or after they have grown up and left home, the urgency for Mom and Dad to be all that committed is over. In other words, we they may believe that the usefulness of church for them is over.

I was reading a survey done in the U. S. that said that about one-third of Christians stop attending church after their children leave home. I was speaking with someone the other day from the community, and I was telling her a bit about Elim. And her response was, do you guys get involved much in the community? As really the question was, how useful is your church to society? Apparently, once in a while we can be contacted by Statistics Canada, where you get a notice and where you are required to answer some simple questions. It is sort of a random selection like jury duty, and I was contacted by a retired gentleman who worked for the government and lived up in New Liskeard. And he was a very nice gentleman, and when I told him that I was a pastor, he was quite impressed. He likely thought that this was useful or helpful to the community. So, I asked him if he attended church. And he laughed and said that he used to years ago, but since being retired, he was too busy with fishing and golfing. So, I asked him the question that Larry spoke about during our Arkona 150 service. I said, “Sir, why is church less relevant to you today than it was years ago?” And he sort of hummed and hawed, and said, well, it probably still should be. And then he quickly went back to asking his questions.

But really, he would be thinking, is church as useful to me today as it once was? In other words, the culture would ask, is church beneficial to me? Because if it is not, then why would I attend? I mean, if I do not like the music and the preaching is sort of boring, and my children have all grown up, and I may not be all that welcome when I go anyway, I probably will not attend. And the person who asked me about Elim, after I gave her a general description of the church, said, “Wow, that is really neat that your church has so many young families.” And I do not believe that she was being insincere but likely thought that it was good to have some sort of conservative voice from the church around from time to time in society. In other words, to her, maybe church was still useful in that sense. Yet, what if someone asked us to state in one sentence the basis of our faith or the core value of our church, what might we say? John Piper said this:

“We need to be careful that we do not give people the idea that the church of Jesus Christ, the gospel of Jesus Christ, are not authoritative revelations from God that everyone needs to know in order to have everlasting life but are simply the activities of men that may or may not, from time to time, be useful.”

John Piper

The Apostle Paul has been going on for seven chapters now, teaching us that we are alienated from God. That He is the Creator, but we have rejected Him. That we have rejected His commands. That we do not even listen to our own conscience within us, and yet we still judge others. And that because of all this, we all have fallen short of the glory of God. And that we all stand condemned before Him, and therefore, the wages of our sin lead to both physical and spiritual death. But (Rom 6:23) says, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, that upon faith, outside of works, God has made a way to justify those who believe in Him through Christ. And now after Paul has explained the freedom we have in Christ, he spent the second half of Romans 7 to tell us of the struggles he still experiences in his human body with sin as a believer. He said things like: he did things that he did not want to do; that in his humanness, nothing good dwelled in him; that there was evil present within him; and so, there was a war waging in him between who he was in Christ versus his old self. And he concluded with (7:24) saying, who will save me from this body of death? Answer: (vs 25) thanks be to God through JC our Lord! And he begins chapter 8 with this: therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Now understand that chapter divisions in the Bible were not inspired and are not original; however, they are useful when turning to a passage. But understand that there would have been no division in the original text between Paul’s praise of thanks to God and his statement that there is no condemnation. And understand that this statement is on the heels of (end of 7:25) “So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Right into there is now no condemnation to those in Christ. Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“The fact is, that believers are in a state of conflict, but not in a state of condemnation; and that at the very time when the conflict is hottest the believer is still justified. When the believer has to do his utmost even to hold his ground, when he feels that he cannot advance an inch without fighting for it … he may still lay his hand upon the word of God, and say, ‘And yet there is no condemnation to me, for I am in Christ Jesus.’”

Charles Spurgeon

It is not the man who is in the battle and is aware of the battle and is fighting the battle that needs to be worried about his freedom from condemnation. It is the man or woman who is not striving against sin. The man who is without condemnation is the one who is praying that he would not sin and is the one who desires to become more and more like Christ. This is the importance of you and I knowing this conflict described in Rom 7:14-25. And there must be an acceptance of this battle. The understanding of the reality of our own sinfulness, not in relation to the world, but in relation to the holiness of God.

And so, we learned a few weeks ago of Paul’s willingness to express his weakness, and the way in which he took it upon himself. As it would have been one thing for Paul to say such things as we want to do good, but evil is present within us; or O wretched men and women that we are. But no, Paul said, I want to do good, but evil is present in me. O wretched man that I am! So, what I wish to do this morning in closing is give you three statements that we learn from this verse. And the first one is an insight by Charles Spurgeon, and it is this:

1. Paul’s statement is a rebuttal of Satan’s gospel.

And what Spurgeon means here is if you read just the beginning of Romans 8:1, he said it sounds a lot like what Satan said to Eve. Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation,” versus when Satan says to Eve, “You shall not surely die.” No consequence in either statement, no condemnation and no death. This is so insightful as we see where God had given a threat—the threat of death—to Adam and Eve if they ate. And Satan’s words are, no you will not die. And that continues to be the lie to the culture today, as many within the culture sense wrong in their hearts, and therefore, there is a fear of death. Yet Satan’s lie is still, don’t worry about it; you will not die, that actually has been the lie to our culture in some sense in physical death. let alone spiritual death. I have said a number of times that our culture will not face physical death as they live like they will not die. And even when death gets closer, no one wants to talk about what happens after they die.

As Satan has done a tremendous job in fooling humanity into believing that there is no judgment after death, many in our culture believe that death merely brings some kind of joyous satisfaction, whereas the majority today likely believe that death brings nothing. Which, in a sense, is the same as Eve believing Satan’s lie: you will not die. For Satan has clouded man’s thinking of what death is. For man only believes that death is merely the loss of life, and then there is nothing but memories for those who are left behind. Interestingly, one of Satan’s primary tactics is to confuse men and women about the truth of death, so that men and women have lost the knowledge that there is a judgment and there are a heaven and a hell. I read an Angus Reid poll that said only twenty-eight percent of Canadians believe in life after death in the traditional sense, and the National Post said that only nineteen percent of Canadians believe in hell to some degree. And yet Satan’s paraphrase of Romans 8:1 could be, “Therefore, there is no condemnation for any, no matter how you live or what you believe.” And to believe this lie, Satan has placed in their minds such things as God has said what? Why would a loving God do such a thing? Would God create man and then punish Him? You are not deserving of death; after all, you work hard and love your kids.

And the denial of truth regarding death is a massive issue, as the denial of truth is the opposite of faith. And Paul’s message here is that there is condemnation to everyone except those who are in Christ Jesus. And that is the only reason that a person can escape condemnation or judgment from God. The Gospel of John says:

“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

John 3:18 (LSB)

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

John 3:36 (LSB)

See, this is the core of our message. In other words, a lot of other things we do in ministry do not matter, if this is not at the core of our efforts and belief. For there are many churches that try to do good things, but have forgotten the core truth of man’s problem, that we are under condemnation.

2. “In Christ Jesus” is the only safe place for the believer.

We think of the old hymn, Hiding in Thee. And when I thought of the hymn while putting this sermon together, it amazed me as I looked up the words that the hymn-writer seemed to be so focused on Paul’s message.

“O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,

My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly.

So sinful, so weary, Thine, Thine would I be.

Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.

“How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,

I’ve fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe.

How often, when trials like sea billows roll,

I’ve hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul.”

Here is a good test of our faith and a good question to ask ourselves: What is it that assures me that I am eternally saved? Is it Christ and His righteousness given to us? Because when you stand before Him someday, no one else will help you, as you will stand alone before Him, as no one else has the say or the sway over your eternal soul except Christ. So, when Paul says in Romans 8:1, therefore, there is now no condemnation, he is referring back to all his teaching thus far. Paul has already taught and we studied Romans 5, where Adam introduced death to the human race. Remember we all die in Adam, as Romans 5:17 said:

“For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:17 (LSB)

By the obedience of the one Man, Jesus Christ, we have been made righteous. And would God ever condemn the person who clings to Christ, the one who has already been forgiven? And then in Romans 7, Paul says we have been united with Christ, as He is the Husband. And would God ever condemn the spouse of His Son. D. L. Moody told this true story.

“There was a man during the French war who was called as a soldier, but a friend stepped in and was accepted as his substitute to fight in the army. That substitute served in the war till he died in battle. The first man was then called again to join the army, but he declined to serve. He appeared before the court, and pleaded that he had been called once, had served in the war by his substitute, and must now be regarded as dead, because his representative had been killed. He pleaded that his substitute’s service was practically his service; and it is said that the law allowed his plea, and he did not have to go to war.”

Understand that this is our unity with Christ, that we have literally died with Him. And therefore, the curse of death is no longer over us.

3. The believer must live with a full assurance of his salvation.

Sometimes when our children may ask us why they are not allowed to do something, or why they have to do something, we might respond, “Because I said so.” Or if we make a certain statement about something, though there may be some uncertainty about it. And if our children ask us why, we still respond, “Because I said so.” I mean, we all have certain things that we do, and we can get quite good at something, and someone may come along and ask, “How come you do this, this way?” Sometimes people will ask me about roses, and I enjoy giving out information. But sometimes if they asked, “why” I do this one way? I may be thinking inside: I don’t know why I do this; maybe it’s the way I have always done it, or that was the way my Dad used to do it. I really love when my grandkids ask me something about why I do something a certain way, and I will say something like, “I am not going to tell you, or this is the best way, trust me,” without giving any real reason. Anne always gets after me because when I make Blizzards, I always stir them by hand, as Anne will often recommend some kind of mixer. Now, Anne should know by now that I am never going to change something I’ve always done a certain way. But our argument for something becomes so much stronger when we have made a clear case for why we do what we do, why we do something a certain way or why we believe what we believe. And Paul’s word here of “therefore” reinforces his whole argument. As he does not merely say, “There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus, trust me.” No, he says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation in Christ,” highlighting the fact that he has just spent seven chapters building his case of why there is no condemnation.

And we have studied those chapters, and we have a better understanding of his argument. So, we cannot miss the truth that there is an absolute certainty that there is no condemnation. You and I sinned in Adam, yet in Christ there is no condemnation. You and I have sinned in our bodies, yet in Christ there is no condemnation. You and I have broken God’s law, yet in Christ there is no condemnation. You and I have fallen short of the glory of God, yet in Christ there is no condemnation. You and I are fighting a battle every day, and sometimes we lose a battle, yet in Christ there is no condemnation. And Satan, our adversary, accuses us night and day before God, yet in Christ there is no condemnation. And we cannot be uncertain about this, because it is not based upon us or our goodness. No, there is a certain reason why you and I, who are in Christ, cannot be condemned. Why? Because Jesus has already been condemned; He has already died in our place. The punishment for our sins has already been judged and was placed upon Christ. And “therefore, therefore” there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, amen? Done deal! Over! Forever! If Jesus was condemned for me, there can be no condemnation for me!

In Romans 8, at the end of the chapter, which we will get to at some point, Paul states some amazing truths.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who indeed did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”

Romans 8:31-35a (LSB)

That statement was true of you when you were saved at a young age, and it is still true of you today! No one can condemn you. That statement was true of me when I was eight years old, and it is still true of me today. That statement was true of those who were “in Christ” in that Roman church, and it is true of those who are “in Christ” at Elim Bible Chapel. No one can condemn you. I am not sure if that statement was true of my grandfather, my Dad’s Dad, but I know it was true of my grandmother, my Dad’s Mom.

I have to tell you what Spurgeon said in closing. He said that if you have ever been burdened with a sense of sin, you will know the sweetness of Romans 8:1—that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But to you who are not sinners, but you who are good, and respectable people who are sailing to heaven in your own ship, there is nothing here for you; the gospel assurances are not for you; for you would not cherish them. But to you who know your own heart. You who at times hate yourself and have been broken, you are the one who will leap for joy when you hear the words, “No condemnation!” And all God’s people said, amen.