Latest / HBCWestminster / 4.16.23 Romans 8:1-4 Pastor Danny Gardner

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4.16.23 Romans 8:1-4 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  The Bible is the best book in the world. Amen. And Romans is the best book in the best book in the world. Amen. Chapter 8. Romans in chapter 8 is the best chapter in the best book in the best book in the world. And I'm going to argue that verse 1 in chapter 8 is the best verse in the best chapter in the best book in the best book in the world.
• 0:26
  And because that is my belief, I'm going to preach it again. I know that I preached verse 1 last Sunday for Resurrection Sunday about being no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but we're going to look at it again. As we study verses 1 to 4 this morning, once you've found Romans 8 and verse 1, if you would stand in honor of God's Word as I read verses 1 to 4. 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.
• 1:02
  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 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. Pray with me. Fairest Lord Jesus, You are the ruler of all nations. We humbly come before Your presence with open minds and hearts. And so we ask that You would fill us with Your Spirit and teach us.
• 1:37
  according to your word, in your precious name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. Well, I was texting with one of our members, a good brother, a friend, Lance Thompson, who many of you know. He has been a part of this church for many years, decades even. He has preached here many times on Sundays and Wednesdays. He has served on our board, and you may not know, but he does this faithfully every Friday. Every Friday he texts me, and he tells me that he's praying for me as I prepare to preach.
• 2:07
  And he just prayed. It's the same text. Most weeks, Danny, I'm praying for you that the word of God would go out with power and authority, precision, accuracy, that it is doctrinally sound, that it accomplishes the work that God has determined for it. And this last Friday, two days ago, he texted me again, but included in his text this time was something new. It said, as you open Romans chapter 8, which is no doubt the best chapter in the Bible. And so...
• 2:37
  If Lance agrees, then surely it is indeed a profound chapter. We began last Sunday by answering this question, what does it mean that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus? And I said that it means that if you had the ability to visit heaven just for a moment, if you could get a glimpse behind the veil and then could return to earth with that new perspective, having seen heaven, not only would your understanding about eternal life be confirmed. Yes.
• 3:07
  It's all real. Heaven and hell exist. Eternal life is real. That not only would you come back with that new perspective, that confidence, and not only would you truly realize that because of the work of Christ on your behalf, that God is not ashamed of you, and nor is he just waiting around up there to condemn you, but you would also return with a greater zeal in your faith because you would understand that whatever man can do to you doesn't matter.
• 3:37
  in light of what awaits we looked last sunday and perhaps you'll recall john chapter 11 and the resurrection of lazarus lazarus was such a man he got a glimpse behind the veil he got to go to heaven for four days and then was called back and it changed his perspective even changed his preaching we looked at his life his death his resurrection then we looked at his response in john chapter 12. do you guys remember this in john chapter 12 the enemies of christ
• 4:07
  become so consumed with removing Jesus from the scene that they also determine, they commit not only to kill Christ, but also to kill who? Lazarus. Because John chapter 12 said, because of his testimony, having been to heaven and now back, many Jews were believing in Christ. And so the enemies of Jesus says, not only do we have to kill Jesus, we also have to kill Lazarus. They begin issuing...
• 4:36
  death threats and we talked about the irony even the humor in that do you remember this this was a man who had been to heaven and had been called back and is now preaching about the glories of heaven that await and how vain and hollow those death threats must have sounded lazarus you stop preaching or else lazarus would say or else what or else we are going to kill you
• 5:08
  Do you promise? That would be great. That is the goal that I have in mind. You know what? If you'll promise to kill me for preaching, I will preach all the more. And that's exactly what he did. Although his words are never recorded, the response to his preaching certainly is. In Christ, we said last Sunday, condemnation is nothing but a goose grenade.
• 5:34
  The death goose may be flaring its wings and squawking and daring you to nudge him, but praise be to God, the Jesus truck has crushed that thing. Death is no more. The Lord's wrath really is absorbed. It really is. The punishment really has been paid. There is no condemnation left for we who are in Christ Jesus. That promise is real. This coming Wednesday, on April 19th,
• 6:05
  We will celebrate the 248th anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Do you guys remember your U.S. history class? And of course the combatants didn't know it at the time, but those battles fought on the same day, both Lexington and Concord, would change the course of world history as American colonial forces decided to throw off English rule and revolt against that king of England.
• 6:32
  About 700 British Army regulars, which means they were professional soldiers, paid, trained soldiers, were ordered to capture and destroy colonial military supplies being held outside the city of Boston. Colonial intelligence had been tipped off, so the supplies were removed. Rather than a cache of weapons and supplies, the British Army found a band of militiamen, farmers, holding muskets.
• 6:56
  Wading around, just as the sun began to rise, that first shot was fired. In total, eight militiamen and one British soldier were killed. It wasn't much of a skirmish, but the candle was lit. The first domino fell, and the greatest national superpower in the history of the world was born that day.
• 7:20
  Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a poem commemorating Lexington and Concord in 1837, about 60 years after the event, and in it he said this, by the rude bridge that arched the flood, their flag to April's breeze unfurled. Here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world. That first shot, that first musket ball of the Revolutionary War became synonymous with freedom. It became the seed.
• 7:50
  that eventually grew to become the United States of America. It was a mere 14 months later, in June of 1776, when Thomas Jefferson would write the Declaration of Independence. Perhaps at some point in your schooling you had to read these now famous words, maybe you even had to memorize them, when it says, We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life,
• 8:20
  What's the second one? Liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Liberty is a word used and even abused frequently. It is defined, misdefined, and redefined constantly. It is often invoked, I have found, to stir the emotions of those who feel threatened. It's almost always understood too simply. And here's what I mean by that. The liberty that we will settle for most times.
• 8:52
  is temporal and fleeting liberty. It does not last. In fact, if we were able to gain the liberty that we long for and that we hope for with every election, if every wish were granted, if every single one of our desires in terms of freedom and liberty were granted, then still that liberty would only last as long as our earthly lives. We'd still die.
• 9:25
  And we would still be left with something else. The liberty that is afforded to us, even in such a free and wonderful country, is still fleeting. Liberty, freedom, true freedom, lasting freedom, is only afforded to us who believe in Christ. And it is only given by the power of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit's work, there is no lasting liberty.
• 9:56
  But with the Spirit, there is complete freedom, actual freedom from both the penalty and the power of sin. The book of Romans has been called the great cathedral of the Holy Scriptures because contained within is the simplest and yet most profound explanation of the gospel. Chapter 8 within the book is its greatest or tallest spire, its tallest tower. And verse 1 of chapter 8 is its shot heard around the world.
• 10:26
  It is the seed, the germ of spiritual freedom. And notice in verse one, it says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you like to circle words or underline phrases, that word in is an important word. You can circle it, draw a little arrow, says what does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? What does it mean to be in Christ? In Christ, the apostle says, the believer will never be condemned.
• 10:56
  In Christ, the believer will never be put to shame. In fact, the phrase in Christ is one of the Apostle Paul's favorites. It occurs in every one of his letters, all 13. It describes the new spiritual status into which every believer is brought the instant they express saving faith. What that means is the very moment, the first moment you fell on your knees and prayed to God for salvation. At the instant of your first confession.
• 11:27
  The very first time you cried out genuinely to heaven and said, Lord, save me. The way that the apostle Peter, as he was walking on the water, took his eyes off of Christ and began to sink and then snapped his eyes back to Christ and extended his hand and said, Lord, save me. When that very first salvation prayer was uttered, in that moment, you were in Christ and you have lived in him ever since. You have remained in Christ.
• 11:56
  Ever since that moment, and on this point, J.B. Phillips has some incredible insights in his commentary on Romans when he compares Christ to Noah's Ark. You guys all know the story of Noah's Ark, but allow me just for a moment to refresh our memories. In Genesis 6 and verse 14, the Lord commanded Noah, make yourself an ark of gopher wood. It wasn't until I read the Bible that I realized gophers were made out of wood. But make yourself an ark of gopher wood.
• 12:27
  You can't argue with it. It's in the Bible. It's biblical. Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. We all know what pitch is. It's that black tar substance that was used in ancient times for waterproofing. Henry Morris, in his commentary on Genesis, notes that the word for pitch used here in Genesis 6.14 is different than the other Hebrew words used for pitch in the Old Testament. Here in Genesis 6, the Hebrew word kofar,
• 12:57
  means to cover in its verb form, in its noun form, it means a covering. Most interestingly, is that this word, kafar, in Hebrew, in Genesis chapter 6, is the exact same Hebrew word for atonement. Leviticus chapter 17 and verse 11 uses the word kafar. It says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make, what? Atonement, kafar, a covering.
• 13:29
  for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. The blood of the lamb, the blood of the animal atones for our sins. It covers us. Henry Morris says this, whatever this pitch may have been, it sufficed as a perfect covering for the ark to keep out the waters of judgment. Look what he says, just as the blood of the lamb provides a perfect atonement for the soul.
• 13:57
  The way that the pitch on the ark kept out the waters of judgment, so also the blood of Jesus keeps out the judgment of God for the believing soul. When the ark was finished, the invitation went forth for Noah and his family to enter it, Genesis 7.1. Then the Lord said to Noah, go into the ark, you and all your household. The Lord's invitation was to enter the ark and then to stay inside of the ark. Don't get out. The Lord did not say to Noah, build the ark.
• 14:28
  When it's complete, drive eight spikes into the outside of its hull, and then you and all your family hang on to the outside of the ark for dear life. This is going to be a wild ride, Noah. Rather, he said, go in. And once they were in, the Lord shut them in. Just a few verses later, Genesis 7 and verse 16, and those that entered, male and female of all flesh, that was Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives, ate.
• 14:59
  people and all and then all of the animals two by two some in sevens we know the story went in as god had commanded him and the lord it said shut him in noah and his family were completely safe and sound inside of that ark and what it meant for noah to be in the ark is what it means for us to be in christ safe and sound covered
• 15:31
  atoned for not barely hanging on to the outside of the boat as the flood waters begin to rise but rather safe and secure again jb phillips in him that is in christ god has placed us in a sphere like a giant indestructible impenetrable hamster ball all right you are inside of this sphere where his wrath can never reach us
• 16:00
  and we are secure as Christ can make us, there is no more condemnation for sin. You notice the chapter begins with no condemnation by God, and it ends, interestingly, with no separation from God. Go to the end of chapter 8. Notice verse 38. Once you are in, you'll never get away, is what he says. Nothing can separate us from him.
• 16:28
  Verse 38 says, for I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. Look at that list. What is excluded from that list? That's everything. He mentions everything. And just in case he left something off, he says, and by the way, nothing else that you can even imagine will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• 16:57
  It begins with no condemnation by God. It ends with no separation from God because the reader is introduced in chapter 8 to the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit is mentioned 20 times in chapter 8. And so the Spirit and His work will be our theme for the next six Sundays. For six Sundays, we will look at chapter 8. And who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do? In fact, you could very easily title chapter 8, Life.
• 17:24
  in the spirit and if you're holding an esv translation you'll notice that's exactly what they titled chapter eight the little caption above verse one life in the spirit in case you're not sure who the holy spirit of god is allow me to introduce you for a moment who is the holy spirit what does he do if you want to know who the holy spirit is you've got to understand this first that the holy spirit is god the holy spirit is god
• 17:56
  The Holy Spirit, in fact, is the third person of the Trinity. If you've been around the Christian church long at all, you've heard us say that we believe in a Trinity or a triunity, that God is three in one. The first two persons of the Trinity are the Father and the Son. The third person is the Holy Spirit, and this is why you hear us use the phrase, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is the Trinity, that is God. The Holy Spirit is co-equal and co-eternal.
• 18:25
  with the Father and Son within the Trinity. So let's think about those two words for just a moment. He is co-equal and co-eternal. What do you think it means that the Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and the Son? What does that mean? What is co-equal? The same. The same. All three services, that's the first word that was said. The same. What does it mean that He is the same? In what aspects? All of them. All of them. In every aspect.
• 18:57
  In every way, the Holy Spirit of God is in no way diminished from the other two. The same power that the Father and the Son have, the Holy Spirit has. The same foreknowledge, intelligence, omnipresence that the Father and Son have, the Holy Spirit has. The same mercy and justice and wrath and love and compassion that the Father and Son have, the Holy Spirit has. In every single dimension,
• 19:26
  The Holy Spirit is co-equal the same in every way, in every magnitude to the Father and the Son. He is co-equal, but not only is He co-equal, He is also co-eternal. What does it mean to be co-eternal? The same. The same. Forever. Forever is the word that is often used. But don't misunderstand that word forever, because you and I will live forever. Right? Every soul in this room, believing or not,
• 20:00
  We'll live forever, isn't that true? Either in perfect paradise or in condemnation in hell. Souls live forever, but does that make us co-eternal with the Father and the Son? No. As we think about forever, which direction do we look? Forward. Co-eternal means not only existing forever forward, it also means existing forever backward, which we did not do. There was a day when you and I did not exist.
• 20:30
  Right? Where we came into being. Where we had a start. I was born in 1976. I came into existence sometime in 1975. I prefer not to talk about that. Sometime 1975. In 1974, I did not exist. Danny Gardner did not exist. He had no being. I became. And therefore, I am different.
• 20:56
  Then the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we say that the Holy Spirit is co-eternal with the Father and the Son, what we mean is He is the same age as them. He's not any younger. He didn't come into being. He didn't have a start. He wasn't created, and therefore He is co-eternal. He will exist for eternity future, but He is also, unlike everything else in all of creation, existent forever backward as well. The Holy Spirit is God. But second,
• 21:25
  The Holy Spirit is also a person, more than a mere force, more than some ethereal, amorphous, mystical, impersonal aura, more than mere conscience. The Holy Spirit of God is a real person. He can be resisted, Acts 7 and verse 51 says. He can be grieved, Ephesians 4.30. He can be quenched or stymied.
• 21:55
  1 Thessalonians 5, 19. He can be obeyed in 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. He can be lied to. You guys remember the story of Ananias and Sapphira, that first generation church? They sell a property. They bring in the offering. They claim that it's everything. It wasn't everything. They had held some back, which wouldn't have actually even been a big deal, except that they lied about it. And then they insisted in that lie. And the apostle Peter tells the husband, Ananias, who was there without his wife initially,
• 22:25
  Is this everything? He says, yes. Are you sure you're not lying? Nope, I'm not lying. But it turns out he was lying. And Peter says, you've not lied to me, but to the Holy Spirit. And Ananias dropped dead. As they're hauling him out, his wife walks in, Sapphira. She corroborates her husband's lie. Was this everything? Yes, this was everything. Why are you lying? You're lying to the Holy Spirit. And then she drops dead. And they haul her out. And I love that text. In the next couple of verses, it's such a funny way to word it. They've just both dropped dead in the middle of the worship service.
• 22:55
  They dropped dead, they hauled their bodies out, and it says, great fear seized the city on account of this. And I always thought, duh, yeah. Can you imagine if we just dropped dead every time we told a lie? We'd have never made it out of the first grade, right? I mean, there's no way. From our mother's wombs we come speaking lies, right? You guys who have had kids, you've got infants, newborns, brand new.
• 23:26
  You feed them. You change their diaper. You make sure that they've got everything they could possibly need. It is the perfect temperature. They are clothed correctly. They are dry and well-fed, and yet they cry anyway. Why? Because they're liars. Because they're liars, and I hate to break it to everybody. There's nothing wrong. They're claiming that something's wrong. Do you see what I'm saying? It's inherent in us. Can you imagine if that's how God dealt with everybody?
• 23:57
  Acts 5 and verse 9, the Holy Spirit can be lied to. Praise God, we don't live under that regime, but rather under His grace. The Holy Spirit can be insulted. Hebrews 10 and verse 29, those who believe and profess Christ and yet living in unrepentant and persistent sin, crucifying Jesus all over again, it breaks the Spirit's heart. It insults the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is a person.
• 24:26
  Third, the Holy Spirit has tasks to perform. The Holy Spirit has a job, and in fact, many jobs. He has a number of functions, in fact, without which the gospel would fall flat. The human race would be eternally condemned apart from the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but what does the Spirit do? First, He convicts the world of sin. It is His job to make sure that we know right from wrong, to make sure that we feel guilty when we do what is wrong.
• 24:56
  John chapter 16 and verse 7, Jesus is speaking. He says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away. He is speaking of his crucifixion and ascension. If I don't go away, the helper, that is the Holy Spirit, will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. He convicts the world of sin.
• 25:22
  The Holy Spirit also seals believers for the day of redemption. He seals us for redemption day. Ephesians chapter 1 says, In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Like, guaranteed.
• 25:43
  That's what that means. He is the guarantee, the deposit, the down payment of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. He is the promise. And when he comes into our lives and into our hearts upon belief, he becomes the deposit, the proof that Jesus will indeed come back and get us, that we have been redeemed and we will be redeemed. We will not be forgotten about.
• 26:13
  that indeed we will be rescued on redemption day. The Holy Spirit seals us. The Holy Spirit quickens us. In other words, He gives life, both physically and spiritually. In fact, He's called the Spirit of life. Look at verse 2. It says, For the law of the Spirit of what? Life. The Spirit is the giver of life, both physically and spiritually.
• 26:41
  Titus chapter 3 and verse 5 says this, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, oh, same verse. I'm like, not very quick. Here we go. He saved us, Titus 3 says, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. We are regenerated by the power of the Spirit. John chapter 6, verse 63, it is the Spirit who gives life.
• 27:10
  The flesh is no help at all. The Spirit quickens us. Not only does He give us physical life, but He actually gives us spiritual life. And finally, the Spirit illuminates or sheds light on both the Word and the will of God. The Word and the will of God. Look at this text. This is fantastic. 1 Corinthians 2. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is in him?
• 27:40
  Who can read your mind? Nobody can, apart from the omniscience of the Lord, right? Who's sitting next to you? Who's sitting around you can read your thoughts? Nobody can. The only person who knows what you're thinking is who? You. Now, I have been married for 24 years. 24 years. We celebrated our 24th anniversary just a few weeks ago, which means...
• 28:10
  that we have now been married longer than we weren't married. We crossed that year. We got married when we were 23. We've now been married for 24 years, which is kind of a cool thing. There are times when my beloved bride will say, now, Danny, I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking. And listen, it is not hard to predict how I'm going to respond to something. I'm pretty much a one-trick pony, all right? I am a creature of habit, just like everyone else in here, because we're all sitting, more than likely,
• 28:40
  in the same seats you were sitting in last week right we come in we're like i like that seat why do you like that seat i don't know it's just the first one i ever sat in so now this is my seat right and when you come into church and somebody is sitting in your seat aren't you a little bit put out like you get all the way to the front you're not even paying attention and you look up you're like oh my gosh you know and you turn back around and you now now where am i gonna go now i don't know what danny looks like from the other side you know i don't not totally sure right i we're all creatures of habits and so maybe
• 29:09
  We can predict, somebody can predict, like our spouse can predict what we're thinking, but not even my own wife knows what I'm actually thinking. The only person who knows my mind is me. Now look what he says. So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Who's the only one who knows what God is thinking? God, the Spirit of God. But look what he does, and this part's crazy. Now we, believers, have received not the Spirit of the world,
• 29:39
  but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. So let me ask you, nobody knows what we're thinking, nobody can read our minds, but can we read God's mind? Yes. Why? Because the Holy Spirit of God, who knows the mind of God, now lives inside of each of us. So can we know what God thinks about something? By the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit in combination with what?
• 30:14
  His word, you can absolutely, without a doubt, know the mind of God. Isn't that awesome? Because of the work of the Holy Spirit, he continues, we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person, the unbeliever, does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. They're folly to him. They don't even make any sense to him. He's not able to understand them because they are spiritually
• 30:45
  discerned in other words church the things you know about christ the reason you understand those things and the reason you believe those things is because of the work of the spirit he has turned on the lights of your souls and this is why we can't be mad at our unbelieving friends family members and neighbors why does it seem like they're fumbling around in the dark because they're fumbling around in the dark
• 31:16
  The only difference between them and us, the only difference is the Holy Spirit has come along and turned the lights on so that now we who are illumined, we've got the Spirit of God in us. We know the mind of God. We can read the Word of God and recognize that it is true and therefore submit to it. He's turned on the lights. We don't need to be angry with them. We don't need to pray against them. In fact, we need to pray.
• 31:39
  for them that God's spirit would do the same thing in each of their hearts and minds. Lord, just turn on the lights the same way that you did for me. Without the spirit, we would remain in our sin. We would have no assurance of salvation. We would be dead. We'd be fumbling around in the dark, both physically and spiritually.
• 32:04
  We pick up in verse 2. The text says that the Spirit sets us free, gives us liberty, genuine freedom. Look at verse 2. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Imagine the enthusiasm with which the Apostle Paul would have written these words after all of the tension of chapter 7. Do you guys remember Good Friday? What I want to do, I don't do. And the things I don't want to do, I keep on doing. I described it as a storm raging in our souls. Who will rescue us from this body of
• 32:36
  death, that growing tension, the grueling battle that Paul was having with his own flesh, and then suddenly this turn in verse 1, an inexpressible joy of the goose grenade. The author clearly turns a corner here when he writes that not only has condemnation itself been condemned, but slavery itself has been enslaved. There's an important truth I think implied in verse 2.
• 33:04
  You'll notice that Christ Jesus does not set us free from sin and death. That's not what it says. It sets us free from the law of sin and death. Is the believer set free from sin? I wish it were so. And yet, even after belief, we continue to sin. We're not set free from sin. Rather, we are free from the law of sin, the condemnation, the punishment that it brings. Is the believer set free from death? No. There will be a day when every one of us dies, right?
• 33:38
  There is a wooden box waiting for each of us. We are not set free from sin and death, but rather we're set free from the law of sin and death. And you're like, what does that mean? What's the difference? We know that laws are immutable and unchangeable, even predictable. We think about Newton's law of gravity, that all objects with mass have and are subject to gravity. We think about the gravitational pull of the earth and what goes up must come down.
• 34:10
  We know that the Earth's gravitational pull is constant. And so we know and can predict that if I were to take my Bible and drop it, what will happen? It is going to fall to the pulpit. And if I pick it up and drop it again, what will happen? It's going to fall to the pulpit. And if I do this a thousand times, what will happen a thousand times? It is going to fall to the pulpit. Unless what happens? Unless a greater force acts upon it and stops it from falling to the pulpit. Interrupts.
• 34:39
  Not the law of gravity. The law of gravity is still pulling, but rather interrupts the law of gravity's effect. Keeps it from having its lasting effect. You can actually interrupt the law with a greater force. We think about that law of gravity and outside force stronger than gravity can act upon the Bible and override its predictability. And so also the law of sin and death, which was forever immutable, unchangeable, and predictable, has been overridden.
• 35:09
  Jesus, if you want to think of it this way, has reached in and stopped it. It has been interrupted. A greater and more immutable force has intervened. You say, well, how did that happen? Verse 3 answers it. Why did that happen is verse 4. How did it happen? Verse 3, for God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do. What the law was powerless to do, God did.
• 35:32
  The law couldn't save, couldn't reconcile, or redeem. And yet God does all of these things through the power of the Spirit. He interrupts the law of sin and death by the work of Jesus Christ. The flesh made the power of the law weak. Therefore, it was unable to accomplish what it promised, and that is the redemption of man. Verse 3 picks up. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh.
• 36:04
  His incarnation condemned sin in the flesh because he was sinless. For over three decades, Christ lived in a human body. He was made like us in every way, but without sin. He never once yielded to temptation, never had a sinful thought, never spoke a sinful word, never committed an improper act. His very life lived perfectly was condemnation of sin in the flesh. Now, do not believe for a moment.
• 36:36
  friends that christ's life was meant merely as an example for us to follow i have heard people say and it's in fact a popular sentiment here in denver and colorado that jesus was just one of many teachers maybe a moral guy he said some good things his life should be emulated but is he god absolutely not is he the savior of the world no that belief leads to death
• 37:03
  Because that belief leaves the veil unrent, untorn in the temple. When the body of Christ was slain, the veil was torn in two. Unfettered access to God was granted to those whose Christ's blood made atonement. Listen again to what J.B. Phillips has said. He says, essential as his immaculate life was to the completion of redemption's plan, it is not his life that saves, it is his death.
• 37:35
  essential as his perfect life was and let me ask you church was his perfect life essential yes now i'll ask it again because i didn't get yeses from everybody was his perfect life essential yes it was absolutely essential if christ had sinned then none of us are saved but it wasn't his mere perfect life that saves us the exclamation of his death his crucifixion and burial had to be put at the end of that sentence and without his death
• 38:06
  We are also not saved. He could have lived a perfect life and not died. And we would not be here today. He was meant to be more than a good example of how to live. He offered his life as Savior. The Gospel writers bear out this emphasis, this emphasis on his death by their great emphasis given to the death of Christ in the Gospels. Have you ever noticed as you've read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John how many chapters are devoted to the last week of Jesus' life?
• 38:37
  Compared to some of the other time periods, he lived for 33 years-ish. What about his teens and his 20s? There's 20 years where there's nothing recorded, and yet there are entire chapters given to the last seven days. Why? Because the last seven days were the most important, right? And so two-sevenths of Matthew's gospel, two-sevenths is given to the last seven days. Three-eighths of Mark.
• 39:06
  One quarter of Luke and one half of John are devoted to the Passion Week alone, the crucifixion and resurrection. How did God break the law of sin and death, set us free from it? By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, and so condemning sin in the flesh. Why did He do it? And here's the answer in verse 4. In order that, there's that purpose clause, why? That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.
• 39:34
  who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Those who walk according to the Spirit, it says, have the righteous requirements of the law fulfilled in us. You notice it does not say that the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled by us. As if after believing in Christ for salvation, now it's suddenly up to us to live out perfectly the commandments of God. And if we fail, then we're out.
• 40:01
  Rather, this says they are fulfilled in us. And the verb tense there is passive, which means it's something that's happening to us. It's not something that's happening by us, as if it remains our responsibility to perfectly fulfill the law. As if Jesus would be the author of your faith, but you are somehow the finisher or perfecter of it. As if he who began a good work in you will be faithful to watch you complete it.
• 40:35
  As if your justification was God's work, but your sanctification is left to you alone. And the answer is no. It's not how it works. Remember even our definition of sanctification. Sanctification is the process by which a person becomes increasingly Christ-like through cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Like having your spine aligned at the chiropractor. Your job is to lay there and not resist. Don't fight. That's your job.
• 41:06
  The righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us, but it doesn't end there. It says, in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Christ's life demonstrated the possibility of God's law being perfectly fulfilled. And when you and I believed, that perfection was imputed or given to us. His merits were credited to our accounts. Our failures were levied against His account.
• 41:33
  And through Christ's indwelling Holy Spirit, the possibility of a righteous life now lives within each of us. What is therefore left to us to determine is whether we will walk according to the flesh, satisfying its desires, or according to the Spirit. And this is where we will pick up next week in verse 5. We're going to talk about living our lives according to the flesh or living according to the Spirit. At church, life in the Spirit liberates. It gives freedom.
• 42:03
  actual liberty, and may I encourage us not to settle for temporal freedom. In our fight for liberty, the Holy Spirit has fired the first shot. It is the shot heard around the world. He has in Christ done what the law could not by becoming flesh and then becoming sin for us. And if you are indeed in Christ, then there is no need to hang on desperately on the outside of the boat. You can genuinely rest in Him. Let me pray. Lord, thank You.
• 42:35
  for how profound these short verses are. Lord, thank you that you are not only the author of our faiths, but the finisher as well. That he who has begun a good work in us will be faithful and just to complete it. That we are justified by grace through faith and we are sanctified by grace through faith. We need only humbly submit to the spirits working in our lives and to your word. Thank you, Lord, for the gospel. Thank you for calling us by name.
• 43:11
  and then calling us your sons and daughters. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.