No Condemnation in Christ

Okay, very good. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Always a great blessing to have you worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with us. I'm going to invite you, brethren, to please open up your Bibles to the book of Romans, Romans chapter eight.

Today we are going to continue with our study through the book of Romans. And I think we have already addressed the main topics of many ideas in chapter seven. We're never able to exhaust everything that the scriptures have. But we have addressed already Chapter seven, and we're going to be moving into Chapter eight. Today we're gonna start.

We're gonna be starting perhaps one of the most beautiful chapters in the New Testament, one that is very close to the heart of Christians. And today we're going to be addressing verse one. where the Apostle is going to give us this very well-known statement among Christians that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you have a different translation than the ESV, you will have something there, those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Today, we're going to be addressing that statement there that we have in verse 1.

chapter 8 and that is that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus we are going to be reading together from chapter 7 verse 13 all the way through chapter 8 verse 8 that is going to give us the context of what the Apostle starts to do there in chapter 8 and We hope and pray that the Lord will help us and give us the insight that we need to understand that a statement that we have in verse one, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So let us come before the Lord and let us pray and let us ask that the Holy Spirit will be among us present as we speak. And as you guys receive that the outcome of this will be that we will be closer to Christ and have a deeper understanding of His Word and of His will. Let us pray together. Father, we come before You once again in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.

And we're so thankful, Lord, for the life that You have given to us on this day. Not only the physical life, but the eternal life that we have in Christ Jesus. Lord, we were dead in our sins and our trespasses, and we were walking in them following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the earth, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. And we were rejoicing in the last of our flesh, and we were living according to the passions of our body. But you redeemed us, you saved us.

When we were children of wrath, you made us your children purely by grace through faith. This is not of works that no one will boast, but this is completely the work of God, by the grace of God manifested in the person of Jesus Christ. We have prayed in this way so many times, O Lord, and we have meditated and considered the gospel so many times. I pray, O Lord, that you will grant us a new and fresh insight into this glorious truth that we are forgiven in Christ, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Lord, I pray this truth that is so glorious and so deep that you will reveal to us by your Holy Spirit, that we will learn to live our lives of this present day in perspective of that truth, that we belong to you through the person of Jesus Christ.

Help us, oh Lord, please, if your presence is not among us, then these words, these scriptures are close to us. So I pray, oh Lord, please, that you will be present among my brothers and sisters, that you will speak to them through the feebleness of my words. that you will minister to their hearts, Lord, through the words that we read, that you will strengthen them in their inner person, that you will cleanse their minds and their hearts from thoughts that are not from you, Lord. You will cleanse their hearts and draw them closer to you in the person of Jesus Christ. I pray, Lord, for those that might be struggling in any way, Lord, I pray that the struggle and the difficulty will be a means by which to draw them closer to You, Lord.

We are in so much need to hear Your voice and to understand Your Word. And we know that only through the Holy Spirit we can speak truth and only through the Holy Spirit we can receive truth. So I pray, O Lord, that you will be present among us, that you will minister to my brothers and sisters. And if there is anyone that is not in Christ Jesus, as we hear these words, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that they would also hear that there is condemnation for those who are not in Christ Jesus and that as they hear those words that there is condemnation for those who are not in Christ Jesus, that you will grant the Holy Spirit and that they will come in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ. We praise you, Lord, and we are so thankful for everything that you do for us.

And I pray, Lord, that you will continue to bless us with your presence in our speaking, in our proclaiming of the truth and in our receiving of this truth, that your people will be protected from themselves and this world and their faith will be strengthened. Lord, we are so needy and we're so broken and so feeble in so many ways, in every single way. So we pray, Lord, that your presence, your Holy Spirit and your truth will strengthen us and empower us. for us to comprehend this truth. I pray that you will do this in Jesus name.

Amen. Brother Pedro, I'm going to ask you if it's possible just to give me a little bit more volume. If that's okay, thank you. Okay, brethren, as I said today, we are going to be addressing verse one of Chapter eight. That beautiful statement that the apostle gives us there, and he says that there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. If you have the new King James of the King James version of the Bible. There is a little bit of a difference in verse one, and that is because we're going to see it repeated in verse four. If you read verse four, the apostle is going to repeat that truth that in the King James and the New King James, we find it in verse one. The apostle states that in verse four in the ESV.

Also, it says 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. The same truth is contained there in the first four verses. I'm going to be referring to this statement as there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Let us read brothers and sisters together from verse 13 of chapter seven all the way through verse eight in chapter eight. We're gonna be paying careful attention to that idea of condemnation.

The fact that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is the word of the Lord. Romans chapter seven, verse 13. Did that which is good then bring death to me? By no means.

It was sin producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin may be shown to be seen, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions, for I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, the sin that dwells within me.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand, for I delight For I delight in the law of God in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

Wretched men that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself serve the law of God with my mind, with my flesh I serve the law of sin. 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 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. 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. Amen.

This is the reading of God's Word. And as he said, I want us to consider that statement. The apostle gives us in verse one that beautiful truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I suppose that the best way, at least for me, to start with this message is by asking you this question. And the question is, as a Christian in your life, as a Christian in your walk with the Lord.

Have you ever feel or felt or have experienced this sense or this emotion of being condemned? Or have you experienced or been tempted to despair perhaps in your life as a Christian? Have you experienced perhaps a sin that you have committed that is so grievous that makes in your mind this sense of guilt that you are now somehow disconnected from the Lord. Have you experienced condemnation? Have you experienced this sense of guilt that sometimes can be so obscure or so deep in the soul of a person?

Perhaps you have committed a sin that is so grievous that you feel that you have been disconnected the Lord. You know that people are saved by grace through faith, and you know what the gospel says, that He died upon the cross to take upon Himself the wrath of God so that you can be forgiven. But when you commit that sin, it is so grievous that you even feel ashamed of the things that you have done, and even you experience within your heart that you are disconnected, that the Lord is not there. Have you ever experienced that sense of condemnation? And if you have experienced that sense of condemnation or guilt.

How do you deal with it? What is the first thing that you do with this sense of guilt of this sense of separation or disconnection from the Lord? What is the first thing that you do? Perhaps you may try to fix the problem that you cause with your sin. Perhaps you may try to run away from the thing that you've done.

Or do you come to the feet of Christ? And you follow the commandment of the instruction that we have in 1 John, that when we come and we confess our sins, He's just and faithful to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What do you do when you experience that sense of guilt or that sense of condemnation? How do we reconcile, as Christians, that experience that we actually go through? Because the Bible is very clear, in 2 Peter chapter 1 from verse 5 all the way until verse 12, that there's times in which Christians, potentially, can forget that they have been cleansed from their former sins.

When they are not adding or supplementing their faith with knowledge and all of the virtues of the Christian life, perhaps they may end up being unfruitful, not mature, spiritually speaking, and perhaps forgetting that they have been cleansed from their former sins and entering into a stage in their lives of anxiety and even thinking that they are not in Christ, doubting their salvation, doubting that they are in the person of Jesus Christ. How do you deal? with that truth or with that experience better of that Christians may experience that, you know, that there's this sense of guilt or this sense of condemnation. And more than that, how do we reconcile that experience that sometimes Christians can't go through with the truth that we have here in verse one of chapter eight, that there is now no condemnation. for those who are in Christ Jesus.

How do we reconcile those seasons of guilt and those seasons of difficulty, those seasons in which we are so, perhaps, overwhelmed with the sin that we've committed and this sense of disconnection from the presence of the Lord, even this sense of condemnation? How do we reconcile that experience with the fact that the Apostle Paul tells us here in Romans chapter 8 that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is what I want us to consider today. I want us to have a deeper understanding of this idea of condemnation and more importantly the fact that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Because as the Apostle, you can see here and witness here, the Apostle gives us this statement after he has realized that he's a wretched man.

In verse 24, we have the confession of the Apostle that says, Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? The Apostle knew that there was still sin in him and that indeed he was a wretched man. But at the same time that he knew that sin was present in him and that indeed he was a wretched man, he could come and in chapter 8 say with confidence that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So how can we unite ourselves to the apostle in acknowledging that we are wretched and that there's still seen among us or in us and at the same time proclaim with certainty that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus? This is what I want us to consider as I said from chapter 8 from verse 1 and the context around this verse.

And I hope that by considering and understanding this idea of condemnation, or better, that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, we will be moved to have a deeper, a greater understanding of the finished and completed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And even though we know that we are wretched, and even though we know that we are sinners and will continue to be sinners until the day in which the Lord takes us, that we can be certain and be assured that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And not only be able to proclaim that for others, because we're very good at remembering this verse and to tell others that there is no combination for those who are in Christ Jesus. But by the Spirit, we will know by faith in that moment of difficulty, in that moment of struggle, in that moment of despair, in that moment of guilt, that we are supposed to place our eyes in Jesus Christ. And then we will know that there is no combination for those who are in Christ Jesus, including ourselves, if we are by grace through faith in Christ Jesus.

This liberates the conscience. This liberates the heart. There's no more horrible prison than the prison of guilt. The prison of being overwhelmed with guilt because of a sin that has been committed. And that prison can be broken only When we know by grace through faith that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

There is a couple of things that I want us to do from this verse and the section around it. I want us perhaps to answer a couple of questions that are going to help us go deeper into understanding this statement of there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. First, I want us just simply to consider the meaning of that expression. What is condemnation in the mind of the apostle? And hence, what is the meaning of there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus?

What is the first thing that comes into your mind when you think about this idea of condemnation? If we understand the what is it, then we're going to be able to understand how this is manifested in the life of the Christian. Because, you know, this concept of condemnation can be rather abstract. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But how is this meant to be manifested?

Or how is this seen in the life of the Christian? And from there, I hope that the Spirit help us and lead us into pointing all of us together into the person of Jesus Christ. Very good. Let us start with the first question of it. And that is, what is this idea of condemnation?

Actually, you think in your heart and in your mind, what does it come to your head when you think about this idea of condemnation or this word condemnation? Certainly, this is not a word that we commonly use in the English language. Condemnation. The apostle tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now, if we want to generally define this word condemnation, the two words that are going to help us is this one, legal sentence, and this other one, pressing upon.

Condemnation is going to be a legal sentence that is pressing upon a person. If I was going to give you the example, if you have a criminal that comes into a court, a criminal that has been caught in a crime or something that they've done, they're brought into the court, and in the court, they're going to go through a process of judgment, and then the judge is going to give a veredict. And that veredict or that sentence is going to be condemnation if the criminal is found to be guilty. So we have that generally speaking, condemnation is going to be this sentence or this legal sentence that is pressing upon a person. And this sentence is pressing upon a person because once this legal sentence has been given to a person, there's no escape.

Once the criminal has been found to be guilty and has been given the sentence of being condemned or condemnation, There's nothing that can separate that person from that judgment that has been given upon them. That's why we say that a legal sentence that is pressing upon that person. And the most important thing that we need to note as Christians from this word condemnation here is that condemnation speaks of the legal position of the Christian and not the experience of the Christian life. First of all, when the Apostle is saying here that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, he's not referring to the experience of the Christian, but rather he's referring to the legal position of the Christian. That is that the Christian, in the eyes of God, in a legal position, is one in whom there is no condemnation.

In the experience of the Christian, Sometimes we may experience this emotion or feeling of feeling condemned or feeling guilty or feeling overwhelmed by the sin that we have committed. But when the apostle is saying here, there is therefore no combination for those in Christ Jesus, he's speaking of this legal status that the person will have, not the experiential status of the person. The first time that the apostle uses this expression is found in Romans chapter 5. If you come with me to Romans chapter 5, there the apostle is going to show us that this idea of condemnation is rather a legal one and not an experiential one. Come to Romans chapter 5 verse 16.

Verse 16. Romans chapter 5 verse 16 and the free gift here the Apostle is going to be comparing Adam and Jesus Christ the disobedience of Adam compared with the obedience of Jesus Christ through the disobedience of Adam seen entering to the world Romans chapter 5 verse 12 now through the obedience of the act of righteousness of Jesus Christ salvation have come to many or to all and and the apostle is going to name or to express that concept of condemnation for the first time i think in verse 16 verse 16 it says and the free gift that is from christ is not like the result of the one man's sin for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation but a free gift following many trespasses brought justification. Here we have the sequence of three important aspects in the minor pole that helps us understand condemnation. First, we have a crime or a trespass that has been committed. In this case, Adam has committed this trespass.

Now, after that, we have the judgment of God upon this trespass. And the result of this judgment of God upon the disobedience of Adam is then that we have condemnation. Here we have the sequence of trespass or sin, then the judgment of God, and then we have the condemnation as a final veredict. If you read it once again, you can see the flow of those three elements there in verse 16, and it says in verse 16, and the free gift is not like the result of the one man's sin. There we have element number one.

For the judgment following the trespass, the judgment following the sin led to condemnation or brought condemnation. That's why we know that condemnation in Romans chapter 8 verse 1 is not the experience of the Christian, but rather is the legal judgment that comes as the result of sin. And the apostle is telling us that those who are in Christ Jesus do not have this legal judgment upon them. Very important that we understand when the apostle says that there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, he's referring not to the experience of the Christian, but he's referring to the legal status of the Christian as a person who has been forgiven. When we look more carefully into this verse 16 and even verse 18, which is the two verses that Apostle Paul uses to speak of this concept of condemnation, we realize that this legal status of condemnation, of this legal sentence is a condition that is the condition of all humans.

in the present time. Pay attention to what he says once again in verse 16. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin, for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigns through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to come the nation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men."

So we have that condemnation is this legal sentence that is pressing upon me when I'm not in Christ Jesus. But not only me, when I'm outside of Christ Jesus, it's pressing upon every single person who has been born in this world. If we were going to read implicitly Romans 5 into Romans 8, we could say, there is condemnation for those who are in the first Adam. That is that every single person who has been born by nature now, they have this condemnation because of the sin that enter into the world through the disobedience of Adam. And the apostle is telling us now that there is no such condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And that is a crazy statement, because condemnation is the result of sin and a righteous judgment. And when I look to myself in my heart and in my mind, there is sin. And if I was going to be put through a righteous judgment, the outcome should be condemnation. But the apostle says that there is no condemnation. And the question is why?

because the person is in Christ Jesus. This legal status of being condemned or being guilty in the eyes of God has now been solved by and the person of Jesus Christ. How has the Lord fixed the problem of the condemnation of the human by and through deliverance. If you come to Romans chapter 7 and verse 8, you will see that the idea that the apostle has is that the way that this combination is solved, it is through deliverance from the dominating power of sin and death. Our accuser is sin and death, and the only way that we can be forgiven is when we are liberated from the dominating power of sin and death.

And those who are in Christ Jesus are the ones who have been liberated. They have been rescued from sin and death, and now they are in the body of Jesus Christ. Pay attention there to verse 24 as the Apostle proclaims from his heart this glorious truth. It says in verse 24, "...wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?"

The body of death is the one that is under condemnation. The body of death is the one that is naturally in Adam. The body of death is the one that is seen, judgment, condemnation. That is the body of death. So the Apostle says, "...

wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of death. He says, in verse 25, Thanks be to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord. Implicitly, He is the one that has liberated these wretched men. He will continue and explain that in verse 2 of chapter 8. There has been a liberation, a setting free by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

He says in verse 2, 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 son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. There is a part Outside of Jesus Christ, every single person, by virtue of their nature, they are captive in the body of death. And the only way that they can be rescued from this body of death, from this natural condemnation that is upon them, is if the Lord Jesus Christ comes and sets them free from this body of sin and death.

Initially, People thought that it was through the law that they could be liberated from the dominating power of sin and death. But the apostle tells us that God has done what the law could not do. Not because the law was not good, but because the law was weakened by my sinful nature. The commandment was given to me, you shall not lie, you shall not kill. But because of my sinful nature, I could not use the commandment to liberate myself from the pressing power of my lies and the secret power of my sexual immorality and the power of my lies and the things that were within my heart.

The commandment did not have the power to liberate me from that. But the Lord Jesus Christ, when He comes, then He condemns sin and death by dying upon the cross. And that is the only way that He can liberate me from the prison of my flesh and give me freedom in the person of Jesus Christ. So now the apostle can say that there is no combination for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why?

Because he's the one who has paid the price for my obedience, for my acceptance, for my righteousness, and hence the righteousness of Christ is given to me. And the apostle can say there is no combination for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is a legal sentence that is pressing upon every single person. If it was not because of the intervention of the Spirit of life of Jesus Christ in rescuing us from the condemning power of sin and death, we will continue to be under this condemnation of sin. This is this legal sentence that's pressing upon me.

that is in all humanity and that is present at the moment. Now we here see, my dear brother and sister, that the apostle does not say, there will not be condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, as if the apostle was speaking about a moment that is going to happen when the Christian dies and then they see the Lord Jesus Christ and they are accepted into heaven. He's not speaking about that moment of the future, but the apostle very clearly tells us there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Presently, if a person by grace through faith has been united to Jesus Christ, that person can have certainty that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And because there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus.

In other words, once a person has been inserted in Christ, there's nothing that can separate that person from Christ. Then the person is always going to remain in this state of forgiveness and this glorious truth that there is no condemnation for the person that is in Christ Jesus. But one might be tempted to believe that the reason why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus is because we are in Christ Jesus, or because we have had faith to be in Christ Jesus, or because we continue to abide in Christ Jesus, or because we continue to have faith to be Christians. Even though there's elements of truth to that, that we are to continue to abide in Christ, and we're to continue to believe the reason why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus is because Jesus Christ is alive and he continues to be the source of eternal forgiveness and righteousness for those who are generally united to him. The Apostle John expresses this in a beautiful way in 1st John chapter 2.

If you come with me to 1st John chapter 2, you will see that it's a beautiful statement there that the Apostle tells us in 1st John chapter 2, speaking about the sins that we commit. The apostle says in 1st John chapter 2, 1st John chapter 2, my little children, he says in verse one, my little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father. Jesus Christ, the righteous. I want you to pay attention to verse two, because in verse two, the Apostle John is going to give us qualifiers and descriptors of Jesus Christ, not in the past, but rather in the present.

He says in verse two, He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. The apostle tells us that the reason why he has written chapter one, the message of light, and that you are not supposed to say that you're in the light when you're walking in darkness, because that makes you a liar. The reason why we are to hear that is that we may not sin. But the Apostle acknowledges that there's going to be times in which the Christian is actually going to sin. And the solution that the Apostle gives for when the Christian commits a sin is not for the Christian to go and try to fix themselves or try to fix the problem or try to improve themselves or try to find a solution for the sin that they've committed.

Rather, what the Apostle is going to do is that he's going to point the Christian to the condition of Christ in heaven and what he's actually doing. The apostle is going to tell us, first of all, that if we sin, we have an advocate with the Father, the Father, of course, in heaven and Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father. We have an advocate. We have a lawyer. We have one that is claiming our case, one that is interceding for the Christian.

That is that when the Christian commits a sin, the solution to the problem of sin is not found on the earth, but rather the solution to the problem of sin is found in heaven in the person of Jesus Christ. The righteousness of the Christian is sustained and is kept, not because of the faith and the repentance of the Christian on earth, but the Christian and the righteousness of the Christian is sustained by the righteousness of Christ Jesus that is interceding in heaven. So when we hear the statement, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, that is not rooted in your ability to believe or your ability to abide in Christ or your ability to be a Christian. But the statement, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus is sustained and is rooted in heaven where Jesus Christ continues to be. So as long as he's alive, those who are in him will have no condemnation.

And because He's presently alive, there's presently no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Sometimes I feel the guilt of the sin that I've committed. Yes, I do feel the guilt of the sin that I have committed. Sometimes I feel separated from the manifested or the presence of the Lord because of my unrighteousness and my poor decisions. Yes, sometimes I feel disconnected from the Lord.

Sometimes I feel dry and that there's nothing in me and I try to bring myself closer to the Lord and nothing happens. Yes, that happens. But my emotions and my experience do not add or take away from the fact that if I'm genuinely in Christ Jesus, as long as He's alive, He's my advocate. And I might not feel forgiven, and I might not feel worthy to be in the presence of the Lord. I might not feel that I should be in Him or with Him.

But as long as what has taken place in my heart is real, and that I'm one with Christ, and as long as He lives, He's my advocate. And He's not only my advocate, but He's also Jesus Christ, the Righteous. Because in order for condemnation not to be upon me, there has to be righteousness. But I don't have righteousness, my dear brother and sister. You don't have any righteousness.

The reason why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus is because Jesus Christ is the Righteous One. He is the one who fulfilled all the requirements of the Father. He is the one who kept everything that was expected of Him. And as long as I'm in Christ Jesus, then the righteousness of Christ is freely given to me, not because of my good words or deeds, but purely because of His grace. And there is where the statement, there is therefore now, now come the nation finds place.

And not only that, that is not only that what He did upon the cross was once for all, but we are told in verse 2, this powerful statement, that He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Of course, it does not mean that the Lord Jesus Christ continues to offer Himself as a sacrifice, because this was a sacrifice that once for all, delivered for the sanctification of those who are in him. Hebrews chapter 10 or something like this. The verse says he wants for all delivered for those who are sanctified. But what it means is that the propitiation or better the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to endure throughout the generations.

So if he was sufficient to forgive me when I first had faith, he continues to be sufficient to forgive me for the sins that I presently commit. So even though I'm not supposed to use the truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus as a license for me just to go and sin and sin, I'm to be amazed at the grace of God that even though that statement should say there must be condemnation for him and for her, the Lord Jesus Christ by His grace joined me to this truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This is not connected with my experience. This is not connected with my emotions and my feelings. This is connected to the truth of Christ that is found in the Word of the Lord.

And that's why when I sin and I have broken God's commandments and I'm departing from Him, the solution to my soul is not continue to run away from Him. But it's rather to come to the feet of Jesus, to repent of my sin, to open the Scriptures, and to try to commune with the Lord. Because He's always so good that He speaks to us through what is written. And it does not matter how we feel. It does not matter how disconnected we think that we are.

The grace of God is always abundant and sufficient to draw His people close to Him. There is therefore now no condemnation. for those who are in Christ Jesus. This legal sentence that is pressing upon all people by nature at the present time now has been removed from us by the liberating power of the Spirit of life of Christ Jesus that rescued us from the condemnation that we had under sin and under death purely by His grace. Something that is not going to be given to us in the future but is given to us now.

This glorious truth of this fact that we are not under that condemnation is explained in different detail in Ephesians chapter two. If you come to Ephesians chapter two, there the apostle compares those who are under condemnation in Adam and those who are in Jesus Christ and hence not in condemnation. Let us go to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. Very well, non versa.

We have studied this before. In Ephesians chapter two from verse one through six, you can see here the comparison that the apostle is going to give us between those who are spiritually dead, in other words, under condemnation, and those who are spiritually alive for those for those for whom there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. As I said, we could easily say that there is condemnation for those who are in Adam And we can join and say in Roman chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This truth is presented to us here in verses 1 through 6 of chapter 2. The apostle tells us there in verse 1, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the earth.

and the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature, pay attention to this, children of wrath. were by nature, not by choice, were not by race, not from where the place that you were born, but rather were by nature, by human nature, were children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. The rest of mankind, children of wrath. In other words, there is condemnation for those who are in the human race. In the human race, of course, spiritually speaking, we continue to be humans.

Spiritually speaking, those who are in Adam, those are children of wrath. That is that there is condemnation for them. And this condemnation, the apostle once again has presented with the same elements that he presented in Romans 7 and 8. There he presented that through the trespass, disobedience of one man, then there was judgment, and this judgment brings condemnation. The same elements he present here.

There is sin because of spiritual deafness, and this sin produces judgment, these children of wrath. We are told, as you know, in verse 1, that those who are under condemnation, first of all, verse 1, they are spiritually dead, verse 1, and you were dead in your sins and your trespasses. Spiritual deafness is the result of that condemnation. But this condemnation is not only passive condemnation, that is just only a status. This is going to be seen in the life of those who are under that condemnation.

Verse two, they are in bondage to sin. So we're told in verse two, in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the earth, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Those who are under the condemnation of God are those who are children of wrath, in Adam purely by nature and because of their spiritual condition they are going to be in prison under sin and death. The apostle is telling us in Romans chapter 8 that we have been liberated from the law of sin and death. The person that is not in Christ is a person that by nature is under the prison of sin and death.

So they are following the prince of the power of the earth. They are following the course of this world. They are following the sins that are in them and around them. Why? Because they are under this prison of sin and death.

And then it comes, the glorious bat of verse four. The apostle is going to tell us that all of these things, this spiritual deathness, and this spiritual bondage that we have to sin, and this spiritual judgment, children of wrath, has now been changed, as some of you know from our study in the book of Ephesians, not only to a spiritual life, but also spiritual resurrection, that is freedom and exaltation. We're told there in verse four, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses. In other words, even when we were under condemnation, when we were dead in our sins and our trespasses first made us alive together with Christ. 2.

Raised us up with Him. 3. Seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The natural condition of the person for whom there is condemnation is that they are spiritually dead and spiritually bandaged and also under spiritual judgment. The wrath of God is upon them.

Grace of God is manifested to the person and the person is saved. The spiritual deafness is changed with a spiritual life in the person of Jesus Christ. This spiritual bondage to sin, the world, and Satan is changed with resurrection in Jesus Christ to walking newness of life. And then when we're children of wrath, the wrath of God was above us, upon us because of our sin. Now this has been changed with the exaltation of Christ.

Christ ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Now, those who are in Christ Jesus are also seated at the right hand of the Father because they are found in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the difference of being in Adam and being in Christ Jesus. And I don't know about you, my dear brother and sister, but when I just simply try to think upon that, and when the Lord grants me a little bit of His grace and mercy for me just to meditate in a righteous way in those thoughts, brethren, that is an incredible truth. That is an amazing truth.

That is an amazing truth that there was nothing in this world that could have rescued us from the condemnation that we rightly deserve. Those who are in Adam, they are not only under wrath and in condemnation, but they do not know and they perhaps rejoice in the condition in which they are and they do not want to come to God. That's why it is only by the grace of God and the mercy of God that opens our eyes that can translate us from this condemnation into this glorious truth that there is not condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But the apostle is also going to tell us something very interesting. If we return to Romans chapter five, something that is going to help us to go a little bit deeper into our understanding of condemnation.

If you come to Romans chapter five, I think it's very 16 or 18. There the apostle is going to tell us that condemnation is contrary to something that we consider very deeply in our Christian life. And that something is justification. Pay attention to, I think it is verse 16. Pay attention to this.

And the free gift is not like the result of the one man's sin, that is the sin of Adam. For judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, the sin of Adam, the judgment of God, the result of condemnation. Condemnation is a legal sentence as the result of sin through the righteous judgment of God. But the free gift, following many trespasses, brought justification. So we have that on the side of Adam, we have the sin of Adam that brought judgment and discrimination.

On the side of Jesus Christ, we have his obedience, righteous obedience, that this brought justification. And this is because the opposite of combination is the idea that we understand as justification. Actually, Romans chapter 5 verse 1 is the same of Romans chapter 8 verse 1, just being said in an opposite way. If you pay attention to Romans chapter 5 verse 1, We are told in Romans chapter 5, verse 1, the apostle is saying exactly the same thing, just from the opposite. He says in verse 5, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

He says that in the positive sense of the Christian virtue. That is, that we have received justification by faith through the person of Jesus Christ. In other words, there is now justification for those who are in Christ Jesus. The opposite of it, it is true in Romans chapter 8, when he says there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Condemnation is the opposite to justification.

We are justified purely by grace through faith, and because of that, we are not condemned. Justification is that we're forgiven, and we have a righteous stand before the Lord. The person that is naturally in their sins is a person that receives condemnation. The apostle is telling exactly the same thing. And the glorious thing about this is that we can now then, if we know that the opposite to condemnation is justification, we can explore the characteristics of the glorious truth of justification that the apostle gives us, and that encourages hearts to point us to the truth that there is no condemnation.

for those who are in Christ Jesus. Let me just show you a few of them. Actually, the apostle is going to give eight beautiful characteristics of this idea that there is no condemnation or that there is justification for those who are in Christ Jesus in chapter four and in chapter five. He's gonna give eight characteristics in between the example of Abraham. Let me point you to these ones and I hope that that gives us a deeper understanding of this truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Let's come to Romans chapter four in verse four. Here is where the apostle speaks about this truth of justification. Remember, justification is the opposite to condemnation. The person that is not in Christ receives condemnation. The person that is in Christ receives justification.

That's why the apostle says there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because they are justified. So we're told here in Roman chapter four verse four, some of the blessings of what it is to be justified. The apostle says in verse four now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as he's due unto the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

In other words, there's no condemnation for them. Verse six, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one whom God counts his righteousness apart from works. In other words, to the one who does not receive the condemnation that he deserves, or in this case that is made righteous. These are the blessings, first one. The blessing, the first blessing of justification is that we are forgiven.

So brethren, it says in verse seven, blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven. When we think, in Romans 8, verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, what we need to think is that by purely, by the grace of Christ, our sins are forgiven. None will be forgiven. Another may be forgiven if you're good enough. The sins of the blessed men are forgiven.

And in forgiveness, we find the meaning of there is therefore no from the nation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And the reason why our sins are forgiven, brethren, it is because He died. He died upon that cross. It doesn't matter how our life plays out in these 50, 60, 80, 100 years now. He died already upon the cross.

And by His grace, we can say, my sins are forgiven. Not only that, but the apostles also tell us that our sins are covered. Pay attention to the remaining part of that verse 7. It says, "...blessed are those whose loyalties are forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

Here the idea is dealing with the guilt of our sin, but also with a new, better Old Testament idea that when there was a sin and that sin was exposed, that sin was not only bringing guilt upon the person that was caught in that sin, but also was bringing shame. for the sin that had been committed, for the breaking of the law. Because when there is guilt and when there's a commandment that is broken, there's also shame. But the apostle tells us that our sins are not only forgiven, but that guilt is covered. That blessed is the man whose sins are covered.

not because you managed to go and undo the damage that you did or not because you were able just to go and fix the thing that you knew that you did that you were not supposed to do and I don't want anyone just to catch me just doing the thing that I did I'm just going to go and fix it oh I've covered it and I fixed it this is going to be revealed One day, the little cover-ups that we do in our ways just to protect ourselves, this is going to be revealed. But God who sees it all, He has not only forgiven our sins, but He has also covered our guilt in the person of Jesus Christ. So when we read Roman chapter 8 verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We ought to know that that means not only that we are forgiven, but that our sins are covered. And beyond that, brethren, we can have certainty and assurance that when we face the Lord, He's not going to count our sins.

That's what he says there in verse 8 of speaking of this glorious truth of justification. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his Brother, there's enough sin in my life as a Christian for me to be sent to hell, for me to be disconnected from God. But I can have the certainty and the assurance because of my Lord Jesus Christ that there's going to be one day in which I see Him face to face and my sin will not be counted. Not that God does not care about my sin and He's not going to do anything for me to become like the Lord Jesus Christ. But that the guilt of my sin, the penalty of my sin, The condemnation of my sin is no longer upon me.

And it should be! It should be upon me because of the unrighteousness that I've committed. But I can join Paul in 7 and 8 when he says, Wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of death. Praise God because of Jesus Christ, because I have been set free by the Spirit of life from the dominating power of the law of sin and death. And hence, there is now no condemnation.

for those who are in Christ Jesus. And of course, the obvious thing there, not only that we are forgiven and our sins are covered and that they will not be counted, but the fact that the person who is justified is blessed. It says there, the apostle quoting David says, Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. What a glorious blessing it is.

that even though by nature and injustice I should receive eternal death because of the sins that I committed, now I will have eternal life and forgiveness in the person of Jesus Christ. This is a great blessing. So when we read Romans chapter 8 verse 1, there is therefore now, now come the nation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Brethren, this is the glorious truth of the heart of the gospel, that even though I should be guilty and forgiven, even though I should be embarrassed and put to shame because of the things that I've seen and done and had in my heart, now my sins are covered. Not that they don't matter, but rather that the Lord is dealing with the guilt of my sins.

And even though I should come and bring an account before the Lord, and He should say, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty for the things that I've done and said, He will not count my sin. Not because of my words or deeds, but because of what Jesus Christ has done. This is the blessedness of what it is to be justified. Or, if I put it in terms of Romans chapter 8 verse 1, this is the blessedness of what it is not to be under condemnation. And I could keep going and going because in Romans chapter 5 verse 1, we are told that we have peace with God.

Remember in Ephesians chapter 2, children of? wrath that the rest of mankind they are children of wrath but he says Paul says in verse one of chapter five there is therefore therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ so the fact that there's no condemnation upon me But rather, justification, which is the opposite of condemnation, gives me peace with God. I have entrance into His presence. I'm no longer an enemy of God. I'm no longer in terms of war with God.

But rather, there is peace. And not only that, but I have access, not rejection. That is what the Apostle says in Ephesians 2 and 3. The person that is not in Christ is rejected by the holiness of God. But because of our justification, verse 2, through Him, we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

This person that was under condemnation before and guilt, now purely by the grace of the Lord, not only I'm forgiven, not only my shame is covered, not only my sins will not be counted, not only I have the blessing of what it is to be justified, Not only have peace with God, but also I have access into the grace that before, if I was going to enter into the presence of the Lord because of my condemnation, I should receive the judgment of God upon me. And I would have. But now, because of Jesus Christ, I can enter into the presence of God with boldness. Hebrews says, I can enter into this place of grace. and be assured that I'm going to be accepted.

Not because of my parenting skills from Monday to Saturday, or not because of the way that I deal with my things, or not because of the way that I work, which is expected to be reasonably okay, but because of the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ. Because even if I failed in all of those things, which in many senses I do, the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ is enough. for me to enter into the presence. Why? Because God has done, verse three, what the law weakened by the flesh could not do.

How? By sending his son as an offering for sin, so that God will condemn sin in the flesh, so that in us the righteous requirement of the law will be fulfilled. Those who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Why? Because the spirit of life is in those who are in Christ Jesus.

And finally, with this I finish, is the one that I like the most, my dear brother and sister. The glorious blessing of being justified is not only that we are forgiven, or that our sins are covered, or that our sins will not be counted, or that we have the blessing, not the curse of the condemnation, and that we have peace and access. But brethren, we have hope. We have hope. The person that is not in Christ and under condemnation is hopeless.

They can give their life to work and accumulate. They can give their efforts to pursue different things and to achieve accolades and to gain unto themselves names and reputation. They can give every single effort to pursue success in whatever matter of life. But let me guarantee you that a person without Christ will arrive at a point in their lives, and even though they may look back in their lives and see possessions and wealth and fame and accolades given unto their names, when that person arrives to that moment, to consider the value of what it is to be alive and about to die, that person will find out that everything that has been obtained and accumulated is vanity of vanities. And that is empty and empty and empty without Christ Jesus.

And that person would have realized on that day, it doesn't matter what it is, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, that their lives were without hope, that they did not have any hope to come. But the Christian, even though he may suffer or she may suffer, even though he or she may be persecuted and suffer in many different ways, the Christian has the hope that one day the glory of God is going to be revealed. And that the sufferings of the present time are meaningful because are leading us to this glorious hope that one day we will see the one who died. The one who died upon the cross that we have not seen his face. The one who died upon the cross who gave himself for us.

The one who spoke with human words. And the one who had hair in his arms, perhaps, and long hair and beard. We're going to be able to see that man of sorrow. We're going to be able to see the one who conquered. We're going to be able to see the one who divided human history.

We're going to be able to see the one who loved us and gave himself for us. This is hope in the glory of God and in the trials that we have. This is what the apostle says there in the second clause of verse 2, Well, through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God, the glory that is to come, Romans chapter 8. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. And endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

And hope does not put us to shame. Why? Because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. That is the fruit, that is the blessing of being justified by faith. And to be justified by faith, it is to agree with the Apostle Roman chapter 8 verse 1.

There is no condemnation. for those who are in Christ Jesus. So are you going to experience condemnation and sense of guilt and disconnection from the Lord? I'm sorry, but perhaps yes, and it's going to happen also to me. But my dear brother and sister, our emotion, our experience of guilt and sin, it is not connected to the fact that if you truly are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation for you.

Because no condemnation is equal to justification, and justification grants us the glorious truth that we have been forgiven, our sins have been covered, we have been receiving, our sins will not be counted, we have the blessing of God, there is peace between us and God, we have access into His grace, and we have this glorious hope, not only of the future that is to come, but also the present trials and tribulations. There is therefore no condemnation, for those who are in Christ Jesus. And just as we can connect that with justification, we can also connect that with the reality of the one that is not in Christ Jesus. Because we could also say, there is condemnation. for those who are not in Christ Jesus, for those who have rejected Christ, for those who have rejected the Savior, for those who hear about Jesus, who hear about the message of the cross, those who hear about the message of God in the person of Jesus Christ and continue to reject and reject and reject, there is condemnation.

And the forgiveness that the justified person has now changed with guilt and a guilt that is going to be eternal. The covering of the sins of the person that is justified is changed with shame and revealing of the unrighteousness that this person has committed. The truth that we have that the justified person will not see their sins counted in the encounter with the Lord, it is changed for that person that their sins will be counted. And just as the person is blessed in Christ because of their justification, the one who is not in Christ is. Cursed.

Cursed is the person that is not in Christ Jesus. And that was the condition of us all. So if there is anyone within the sound of my voice that knows that that person is not in Christ Jesus, the call is come. Come to Him. Today is the day of salvation.

Come to Jesus. Why would you stay in your own righteousness? Why would you stay in your own ways and deeds? Why would you remain dealing with your soul and with your heart in your own strength? come to Jesus, because the truth of there is now no condemnation.

It is only true if the person is found in Jesus Christ alone. He's the only one who can liberate us from the prison of sin and death. He's the only one who can liberate us from the condemnation that is naturally upon us. May the Lord give us the grace, my dear brother and sister, to rejoice, not in the fact of the things that we have or accumulate or the possessions that we have, but rather there are names written in the lamp the book's Lamb of Life, rather that our names are written in the eternal proclamation and decree that there is not going to be condemnation for us, that we may rejoice in that, and that in that we may find the strength that is needed to live our lives for the glory of God. And once again, if a person is not found in Christ, the only way for us not to have that condemnation, it is by trusting and putting our faith in Jesus Christ alone.

The law cannot do, because of the weakness of our flesh, what God has already accomplished through His Son, Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen. Let us pray. Father, we give you thanks for this time that you give us here to be gathered together.

I just pray, Lord, that you will give to each one of these brothers and sisters a great insight into this glorious truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When we are tempted to despair, when we are tempted to feel guilty and disconnected, separated from your presence, That we may remember that you are just and faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That we may remember that we have Jesus Christ, the righteous, our advocate, that is seated at the right hand of the Father, who is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. When we are tempted, Lord, to feel that our performance works or deeds are not enough and that we are not as we want to be, that we will be reminded by the convicting power of your Holy Spirit that it's not about us, that it's about you. Help us, Lord, to be obedient in faith.

Help us, Lord, to trust you. Help us to be always following your steps and your example. Oh, Lord, please. Protect us from self-righteousness and protect us, Lord, from even believing that because there is not condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that we might be tempted to find a license for us to live lives of sin and unrighteousness. I pray, O Lord, that you will grant my brothers and sisters a deeper and clearer view of Christ Jesus, and that you will lead them and guide them into the ways of righteousness.

Bless us, I pray, Lord, now as we're going to partake of this table. I pray that your presence will be among us. I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.