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The Spirit

The Spirit - Sets Us Free

Chuck Lindsey · Sunday, 3 August 2025 · Romans 8:1-8 · 53:31 · 8,920 words

Romans S15 · 8:1-8 Grand Blanc

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

Romans 8 is presented as a passage of victory for believers, contrasting the defeat of Romans 7. The sermon stresses that those in Christ are free from condemnation, have the Holy Spirit empowering righteous living, and are fully accepted and pleasing to God. Listeners are invited to trust that this promise is true for them now, to cease relying on their own effort, and to come to God in humility if they have never trusted Christ. Anyone feeling condemned is encouraged to embrace this assurance.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

condemn 87 unsaved 21 mean 54 please 27 happy 13 guiltless 4 spirit 43 person 31 perfection 8 defeat 8 law 33 true 18

Topics

Condemnation 30 The Holy Spirit 16 Sin 8 The Law 7 Salvation 6 The Flesh 5 Righteousness 5 Prayer 3 Faith 2 Hope 1 Judgment 1

Scripture referenced 38

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 8 0:50 Romans 8 1:03 Romans 6 1:26 Romans 8 1:30 Romans 8 1:38 Romans 8 1:53 Romans 8 1:55 Romans 7 1:55 Romans 7 1:59 Romans 8 2:15 Romans 8 2:17 Romans 7 2:25 Romans 7 2:42 Romans 8 3:04 Romans 8 3:26 Romans 8 3:46 Romans 8 3:55 Romans 8 4:13 Romans 8 4:32 Romans 8 4:47 Romans 8 4:51 Romans 8:1 10:29 Romans 8:1 10:38 Romans 7 11:46 Romans 7 27:03 Romans 7:3 33:47 Romans 7:3 38:28 Romans 7:3 38:42 Romans 7:4 39:23 Romans 7:4 41:24 Romans 7:4 41:31 Romans 7:5 43:28 Romans 7:5 44:24 Romans 7:5 44:28 Romans 7:6 46:45 Romans 7:7 47:35 Romans 1 48:02 Romans 1:8 49:11

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 9 lines, 0:44. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

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All right. If you've got a Bible, let's open it up to the book of Romans.

Chapter 8 is where we're going to be this morning.

The wonderful book of Romans, incredible chapter of the Bible.

And I just want to say congratulations. You did it. We made it.

We got to Romans chapter 8.

You made it through all the difficulty, all the trouble of the previous seven chapters.

The prior seven chapters were all focused entirely on how we are made righteous before God,

how a person needs to be saved, and then how a person is saved.

And then we started kind of a subsection, which began in chapter 6,

and now we're culminating in chapter 8, with this idea of how do we actually live lives that are pleasing to God?

How do you do that?

And so all of this has been a culmination now at Romans chapter 8, okay?

And so before we begin, I want to just say a few words about this chapter.

I wish we could spend years, honestly, in this chapter.

But a few words about Romans 8.

Romans 8 is the opposite of Romans 7, okay?

What I mean is, Romans 7, if you were here last week, you know it was total failure, right?

It was so...

It was so discouraging, right?

Like, you know, the whole concept of what was happening there, it's failure and defeat.

Romans 8 is the opposite of that.

Romans 8 is victory.

It is rejoicing.

It is incredible.

And the reason for that is simple.

Romans 7 was an expose on human ability, right?

And that's the most discouraging thing I can think of.

Let me say it a different way.

I am the most discouraging thing I can think of.

My ability is discouraging.

Right?

I can't do it.

And so that's where Romans 7 leaves you, is kind of this, like, defeated, like, I can't do it.

I know what I'm supposed to do, but I can't do it.

I don't know how to do it.

And so I'm a failure, right?

And so this isn't just me.

This is you.

This is every believer.

We have felt this way.

If it's just me trying to be good and right, I'm going to fail every time.

And so chapter 8 is like a turning of the page because it goes from total failure and defeat,

to all about God's power in our lives,

to live lives, actually live lives that are pleasing to him.

Lives that are not held by sin and bondage and cycles of these things.

And so Romans chapter 8 is all about the Holy Spirit of God living in you,

living through you, making you really live a righteous life.

And so William MacDonald said it this way.

He said, from the valley of despair and defeat,

the apostle now climbs the heights with a triumphant shout.

And that's what Romans 8 really is.

It's been such a blessing to so many people,

literally a blessing from start to finish.

So hear this.

Romans 8 begins with no condemnation.

It ends with no separation.

And in between is no defeat.

It's an incredible chapter.

One final note.

I found this interesting.

There is not one single,

command in all of Romans chapter 8.

There's not one imperative in Greek,

meaning there is nothing for you to do.

It is all about what has been done for you.

Nothing for you to do.

It's all been done for you.

That's what Romans 8 is all about.

It's so awesome.

And so when it gets into your soul,

and this is what I pray for you,

this will not affect you.

It will not change you unless you actually let it.

You've got to take it.

You've got to take it for yourself.

You've got to actually believe what Romans 8 says.

Let me just say this.

Romans 8 is true.

What it says about you is true,

whether you believe it or not.

It's kind of like God, right?

People, if they don't believe him,

that doesn't change anything, right?

This doesn't change anything.

If you don't believe these things,

the only thing it affects is that you don't benefit from it.

Though it is true, you don't benefit from it.

So I would just really encourage you,

when we pray in just a moment,

that you would ask God to really bring you into this,

to let you know that you are a part of it.

Let you grab hold of this.

And maybe you've heard it before,

but let it get hold of you, okay?

Otherwise, we just leave the same people we came in.

All right, so let's pray,

and let's ask the Lord to bless his word.

Lord, thank you so much for this book

and for these words.

And I do pray, Lord, that you would speak.

I pray, Lord, that not one word from me would be heard today,

that you'd protect me from saying anything you would say.

That you wouldn't want.

But, Lord, only your word, only you would be heard today.

Please, Lord, speak.

Please bring us into this.

We love you and thank you.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

All right, well, let me begin with a very serious question.

Have you ever, and maybe you do today,

have you ever felt condemned?

Right, have you ever felt condemned?

I think that's a common experience for us as people.

Maybe even for us as Christians.

I would ask you, when do you feel condemned?

And I would say that for me, very often,

when I first came to know the Lord,

I felt condemned because I knew what God said.

I knew what he wanted.

I wanted the same thing because I was a born-again person.

And I tried my best to do what God wanted,

and I failed over and over.

And so as a result of that, I felt condemned.

I could not keep the law,

and so I felt condemned by it.

But what is this emotion that we're talking about

when we talk about feeling condemned?

Well, we gotta know what the word condemned means.

It's got a few ideas, three really,

I think three ideas is found in the word condemned.

It means that really someone is unhappy with you.

Someone or something is unhappy with you.

And so this is actually how it's defined

in the dictionary.

The word condemned means to express complete,

complete disapproval of someone or something.

And so to be condemned means that someone or something

is to be completely rejected.

You're, you know, complete, there's no approval,

no acceptance of that.

I will not receive that.

And so you think about a house that is condemned

is to be completely rejected.

A way of thinking that is condemned

is to be completely rejected.

So there's this idea in condemnation.

But there's a second idea.

In being condemned.

And that implies that there's some sort of judgment

or consequence, right?

And so a condemned man or woman in the legal system

is headed for the most severe consequences.

A common designation as we went into prisons all the time,

a common designation for an inmate on death row

was that they were a condemned man,

a condemned woman, right?

It's sort of this idea that, you know,

you are, the legal system has happened

and there's nothing,

you're going to do to fix that.

Nothing you're going to do to change that.

This is where you are headed, right?

A condemned house is the worst thing

you could say about a house.

It's condemned.

It's destined to be torn down.

The idea is it's beyond fixing.

So these are some of the ideas.

And then I think the third idea in the word condemned

is the idea of permanency,

meaning there's a finality about this word,

about being condemned.

It's sort of a condemned person has gone through,

you know, all of this like legal process,

all the appeals, all that stuff.

Final judgment has been made

and there is nothing they can do

to free themselves from it.

They are condemned

and they're powerless to fix this.

So I think all of those ideas

are kind of in this word.

It's a really powerful word.

And if we were to summarize

what it means to be condemned as a person,

we would say it's the idea that you've done wrong.

Someone has determined that you are beyond fixing

and you have been rejected.

And then you're going to be judged

and there's no way you can get out of it, right?

That's sort of the summary

of what it means to be condemned.

You say, why are you talking about this?

Because of what we're about to read.

It's important you understand how serious this word is.

Is there a stronger word

for the hopelessness of a situation?

I don't think so.

I mean, if your house is condemned,

that is the worst case scenario for your house, right?

It's beyond repair.

It needs to come down.

If you're condemned by a judge,

in a court case, it's over.

You are a condemned man or woman

and you're going to receive the most severe punishment.

But bring it down a little bit.

If your marriage is condemned, what are we saying?

We're saying it's like beyond repair,

that it should be abandoned,

that there's no fixing it.

I mean, this is a very severe word.

The reason we're looking at it

is because the first words of Romans 8, 1

tells you that you are not condemned.

You are not these things, not by God.

Look what it says in verse one.

There is therefore now no condemnation

to those who are in Christ Jesus.

We're going to move kind of slowly

through this first verse

and then we'll pick up speed.

But every person here,

I am praying that you will not only hear these words,

but that they will become yours.

Every person here needs to hear these words

every part of this verse.

I mean, I needed to hear it this week.

I let it into my heart, into my soul, right?

I needed to rejoice in these words.

But in simple terms,

here's what Paul is saying in simple terms.

Every person who is trusting Jesus Christ for salvation

is no longer condemned by God

and cannot be condemned by the Lord.

Cannot be.

So let's look more closely at what it says.

Notice the word therefore.

Anytime you find a therefore,

you have to stop and ask what it's there for, right?

Well, this connects us to what was just said

in the previous chapter.

And so chapter seven left us

nearly in a place of condemnation.

I mean, that's what Paul said.

Oh, wretched man that I am,

who will deliver me from this body of death?

I mean, he was as condemned as a man can be.

And we talked about why.

We talked about it last week.

The law required us to be perfect,

to keep the law perfectly in order to be saved.

And so, you know, as a believer,

we try our best and we put our effort into it,

but we are unable.

And the reason for this is we said it last week

because there is an old us that lives inside of this new us.

If you were here last week,

have you seen the old you this week?

You're like, yes, I have.

I was literally yelling at my old man all week.

Stop it.

You know, like you feel like you're crazy, right?

But, but that's the reason that we cannot perfectly,

we cannot do what God wants us to do.

We want to, but we find ourselves unable.

And so Paul described this frustration,

frustration that is found in every Christian's life,

knowing what we should do,

knowing what God wants,

but being completely unable to consistently do it.

And so I fail and you fail.

And as a result, we feel condemned as lawbreakers,

as lawbreakers.

But the chapter did not end with condemnation.

How did it end?

It ended with Jesus.

Paul says,

Oh, wretched man that I am,

who can deliver?

Me from this body of death.

And then it ended.

I thank God through Jesus Christ,

my Lord.

That's the answer.

It ended with Jesus as our help.

And so when we read the word,

therefore understand it is all,

I mean, you are turning a page.

Everything is different.

Everything changes actually in your life.

Everything changes,

not because you figured it out,

but because of Jesus,

it's because of him.

It's because of who he is.

It's because of what he has done that we are different people.

So that's what the therefore is.

Therefore it's to remind you it's him,

but look a little bit more closely and notice that this is right now.

So there is therefore,

what does it say now?

It doesn't say there will be no condemnation.

It doesn't say there might be no condemnation.

It says there is.

now no condemnation and the way that this is written in Greek.

It means that this is true for you right now as you sit here,

regardless of how you feel about it.

See,

I remember giving my life to Christ and I remember deeply desiring to do what God wanted and deeply desiring to not do things God did not want me to do.

And I remember failing over and over and over and we,

I remember failing over and over and over and we,

I remember failing over and over and over and we,

and begging God to save me over and over and over and he was like,

I have saved you.

You're saved.

Stop it.

And I would go forward at every altar call.

I'd be like,

I'm here again.

And they're like,

you just came down.

I just prayed for you.

Why are you here again?

And it's like,

cause I want to get saved again,

you know,

but feeling the condemnation of my inability and just before God saying,

I can't do this.

I don't know how to do this.

This is the condemnation that we feel.

And so listen,

this,

this condemnation,

though I did,

I did not at that time,

I did not feel like there was no condemnation.

I felt like I should be condemned.

This was still true of me,

even though I didn't understand it.

Please hear it.

You,

if you are trusting Jesus Christ right now,

you are not condemned.

So it's not the way it's written.

It's not in the future tense,

which if it was,

it would mean maybe one day you won't be condemned,

but you could be right now.

It's not written in future tense.

It's also not written in,

past tense meaning,

well,

when you came to know the Lord,

you weren't condemned,

but you probably screwed it up somewhere.

So you're probably condemned now.

That's what that would mean,

right?

It's also not subjunctive in Greek,

which means it's not a question.

It's a statement.

It's indicative.

It's a statement.

What it means is this is what it is.

It's not a question.

It's not,

well,

maybe it's true of you.

If you've done the right stuff,

if you are trusting in Jesus Christ,

this is true of you right now.

It doesn't matter how you feel about it.

And you might be like,

well,

that can't be true of me because I've messed up too much.

Well,

again,

it is true of you.

If you are trusting Jesus Christ and it doesn't matter if you believe it or not,

but,

but in another sense,

it does because you're not going to benefit from it unless you actually believe this.

And so you have a choice to make on whether this is true today or not.

If you have turned to Jesus Christ for salvation,

please hear this.

Not only are you not condemned,

but you cannot ever,

We're going to show you this in just a second,

but you can't ever be condemned.

Let me say it a different way.

You cannot go to hell.

You cannot be rejected.

You cannot be refused.

You can't,

you know,

get to the gates and they look at you like,

did you not get the email?

You're in the wrong spot,

That cannot happen for you.

You make it because not because you've done anything good,

but because he has been good.

That's the only reason.

And so if it was actually up to you,

there could be no statement like this.

It would need to be subjunctive.

It would need to be a question.

It would need to be a,

well,

we'll see if you get it right,

then probably maybe possibly no condemnation.

It's a statement and it's true for every person who is in Christ Jesus.

Now we got to stop for a second and think about what would it actually mean to be condemned by God?

Because this is very serious.

This is the worst case scenario.

There's,

there's nothing you could be condemned by more.

Then if you were condemned by God to be condemned by God means God has refused you.

He has rejected you.

He,

he has done this because of your wrongdoing,

right?

And it means that not only are you deserving of judgment,

but that he's going to pour out judgment and there isn't anything you can do to change that or stop it.

And so the Bible says,

this is what is going to happen to every person who spends their entire lives rejecting God and then seals that with their final breath.

The Bible says that the unsaved today,

they are under the condemnation of God,

but that it can change.

It can change you.

If you have not turned to Jesus Christ,

you are under God's condemnation right now.

You will seal that decision with your last breath.

But up until you die,

there is,

this is the moment for you to repent.

You can change today and God's condemnation is removed.

But the Bible says man is under already the condemnation of God until man turns to God and repent.

And in belief,

the only way out,

please hear this.

The only way out is through Jesus Christ.

And then it is a complete removal,

completely flips it around.

And I'll show you why.

Read it again.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

And the way this is written,

it means there is no possibility of you ever being condemned,

regardless of how you feel,

simply because you are in Jesus Christ.

This is why now please don't hear this whole thing with a,

a modern cultured kind of mind.

What do I mean?

Please don't hear that.

This saying of,

of you,

not,

you know,

no condemnation is saying that you and I can be and do whatever we want and that nobody can judge and condemn us.

That's stupid.

And it's toxic.

And it kills everybody who buys that message,

right?

If you're doing wrong,

you should change.

And the people in your life should get in your face.

And tell you that you're doing wrong and that you should change.

That's a good thing.

And the people that love you will do that.

And they'll do it because they love you.

But that,

that is not what this is saying.

Like,

Bible says no condemnation.

I'm gonna go be what I want to be and do what I want to do.

No,

this isn't talking to unsaved people.

That's the attitude of the unsaved person.

This is talking to saved people who love the Lord Jesus.

Can I ask you a question?

Do you love him?

I'm not asking if you're perfect.

Do you love Jesus Christ?

Is he your savior?

Is he your Lord?

Would you say he is your King?

Would you say he is your master?

I know you're not perfect.

You love the Lord.

This is talking to you.

So I'm going to save people.

Please catch this about how real your salvation actually is.

Hebrews says he has saved you to the uttermost uttermost.

God will never reject you.

He will never remove you.

He will never refuse you.

You,

he will never turn away from you.

He will never walk away.

From you.

He will never leave you.

The Bible says he will never forsake you.

Can you imagine you actually make it?

You actually make it.

You actually stand before him.

He actually looks at you and says,

well done good and faithful servant.

Now this is only possible because of the last words there.

It is to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Can I ask you,

are you in Jesus Christ?

It's such wonderful news.

I love that.

This is not a,

there's a,

there is therefore now no condemnation.

If you have done really,

really well,

I'm so glad that's not the message.

There is therefore now no condemnation.

If you have been in church,

if you have given to the power of three,

if you have done cool stuff,

right?

Like it,

It is that simply,

if you are in Christ Jesus,

what does that mean?

Well,

the entire new Testament tells us about this.

This is what salvation is.

when you finally respond to God pulling at you,

that's what happens.

God is pulling at you and he might be pulling at you this morning.

He's pulling at you.

And when you finally say,

okay,

when you finally go,

okay,

here I am.

And you,

and you repent of your sin and you believe in his work.

Not only does he come into you,

the Bible says he makes his home inside of you.

That is beautiful.

It's wonderful.

We hear that all the time.

Jesus will come and make his home inside of you.

That's wonderful.

But do you realize the Bible also says he takes you and he puts you in him.

And this is the reason,

you make it.

Okay.

This is the difference.

The Puritans often talked about being so hidden in Jesus that people couldn't see me.

They saw him.

Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?

That the only thing you ever saw was Jesus instead of Chuck,

you know,

I don't want to see me either.

You know what I'm saying?

But right.

But that,

that's what we're talking about is that he,

he puts us in him.

So understand the difference between being in him and him being in us.

Both are true,

but let me tell you the difference.

He lives in,

in you so that he can live through you.

You hear that he lives in you so that he can live through you.

And this is where the Christian life is like such a blessing.

He,

he lives through you,

right?

He wants to love on people and care for people and help people.

And he wants to,

he wants to glorify God.

He wants to live through you.

If you let him,

it's like amazing,

but then understand you are put in him for one reason to be kept safe,

to be kept safe forever.

He said that they were in his hands,

and no one could snatch them out of his hand.

Nobody can snatch you out of his hand.

You don't think the devil would have taken you out of the hand of Jesus Christ if he could,

because not only is,

not only are you just not,

you're in his hand,

you're in him.

Like you're,

you're hidden in Jesus Christ.

This is what the Bible says happens to us.

And so nothing can happen to you because you are in him.

The devil cannot take you because you're in him.

Hell cannot claim you.

Because you're in him,

in him,

you are safe forever.

And so I love this.

Tompkins writes,

reach my blessed savior.

take him from God's esteem.

Prove Jesus bears one spot of sin.

And then tell me I'm unclean.

You understand it is his righteousness that makes it.

So we are safe.

We cannot be condemned ready because he cannot be condemned.

And you,

you are in him.

You can't be condemned because you're in him and he cannot be condemned

because he is perfect.

So you're in him forever.

And then a blessing.

Does that solve anything for you?

Did you wake up freaking out?

Wondering if you make it because this solves everything.

It solves everything to know.

And this is what Romans eight will say.

If God be for us,

who or what can be against us?

You guys,

this truth is not just sermon stuff.

This is what stabilizes our lives to know.

That we are in him stabilizes life.

If he is for us and it's not written as a question,

it's a statement.

He is for you.

And so nothing can be against you.

If God is for you,

there is therefore now no condemnation to every person who is in Christ,

the end.

And so verse two further explains this.

And it says that it is because we are in him.

to do what is right.

Look what it says.

Verse two for the law,

this truth.

We said of the spirit of life in Christ.

Jesus has made us free now from this law or this principle of sin and death.

So this takes us back to chapter seven and what Paul said there.

And we're talking about the truth of the Holy spirit,

that the Holy spirit of God here.

It's so simple.

Here it is.

The Holy spirit of God is who enables you and I to live differently.

It is him.

It's him.

The Holy spirit of God is here called the spirit of life.

It means the Holy spirit creates life in us.

What does that mean?

It means good things,

right?

Things,

things that bless you and your family and the people around you.

He does this inside of us as believers,

the spirit creates life in you and I now please understand something.

There is a reason that the Holy spirit of God is literally a,

a tact all over the church.

What do I mean by that?

there are lots of churches that say that things are the Holy spirit that are not

the Holy spirit at all.

And you,

you might not have any confidence.

You might not be depending upon the power of the Holy spirit because you've had

a weird church experience.

I've had the same experiences.

You go in and you go,

what is that?

And they go,

that's the Holy spirit,

And you go,

I'm good.

Then I don't need the Holy spirit,

but that's crazy.

I don't know what that is,

but I'm not doing that.

That's that's freaky.

That seems like it just draws attention to people.

You just rang the bell.

That's what it is.

It's all about the people.

That's not the Holy spirit.

Holy spirit of God does not glorify people.

He only glorifies Jesus Christ.

If you're walking out of there talking about people and prophets and apostles

and people you've missed it.

It's not the Holy spirit.

It's people.

It's not him,

there's an attack against the Holy spirit because that is how we live this life

in a way that pleases God.

It's the game changer.

So that would be like you and I going,

you know what?

That gas station down the street.

all the gas stations,

these people are ripping everybody off charging as much as they are.

but yes,

but ripping everybody off,

That's it,

I'm not going to get,

I'm not getting any gas,

I'm going to get in my car.

I'm gonna go do my own thing.

No,

you're not just because they're ripping everybody off.

You still need gas.

You know what I'm saying?

Apply it to the Holy spirit.

Just because there are people,

they're maligning who the Holy spirit is.

The goal is to make you distrust.

It's to make you not connect.

It's to make you not ask him,

beg him every single moment of every single day,

not to say weird things and flop around and do weird things,

but to live for the Lord,

to do what is right and what is good.

You are meant to depend upon him upon his power.

And the goal of the enemy is to get you to go.

I don't,

I don't need anything to do with that.

I'm going to stay over here.

It's going to be me with my good intentions versus the old me.

And what happens?

Just the two of us against each other.

We already said it last week.

You lose the old.

You is stronger than the new you.

You lose because you have no confidence in the power of the Holy spirit,

the Holy spirit.

He,

God lives in you not to get you to do weird things,

but to get you to do God,

God's things like right things to live,

right?

It's not weird.

It's normal.

It's,

it looks like Christ.

It doesn't look like craziness.

It looks like Christ in your life.

It's responding the right way.

It's caring about the right stuff.

It's seeking the right things.

It's,

it's having the right word at the right moment.

that's what it looks like.

Not all this other stuff.

And so to get you to lose your confidence in that,

the enemy maligns the character of the Holy spirit of God.

But here we have,

look at this,

the,

the,

the law,

this truth,

this principle of the spirit,

which creates life in us,

right in Christ.

Jesus look has made me free from this law,

this old man of sin and death.

That's what he calls the old man is this law of sin and death.

So how do you,

if you were here last week,

you remember we talked about the dead body being wrapped face to face with you,

How do you cut the wraps?

How do you actually live a life that is pleasing?

very simply,

the Holy spirit of God dependence upon him.

How do I get victory?

Over the hurt?

How do I get victory over the depression?

How do I get victory over the,

the addictions?

How do I get victory over these things?

It is by a deep,

deep distrust of your power and your ability and a deep,

deep displaced trust in his power and his ability and his,

his,

He said,

this is real.

This is how this really happens.

It's it.

We would summarize it in this way.

If you need just a word,

the word would be surrender,

right?

Absolute surrender as Andrew Murray called.

It right.

Surrender to God.

I cannot do this.

You can go about your day,

get up in the morning and go,

I'm going to be the best dad today.

I'm gonna really do this.

I'm gonna make it happen.

Or you can get up and go,

I am not a good dad,

I need you,

please help me.

Please help me.

And you will get up and go,

I'm going to be a good spouse today.

I'm going to be the best,

you know,

I'm gonna be the best wife today.

I'm gonna make this happen.

You'll only do that so many times before you realize you do not have the power to do that.

And then you finally start going to the Lord and saying,

I'm going to blow this today.

I'm going to mess all of this up.

I need you right now.

I need you to fill me with your Holy Spirit.

I'm going to,

I'm going to be consumed in the hurt today.

I'm going to be consumed in the junk today.

If you don't give me what I need,

I'm depending upon you.

One is the difference between failure.

The other is the difference between victory.

And it's that simple.

He sets you free from the old man and his control.

And that's what the word free means.

It means to release you from the power and the control.

How are you released from the power and the control of the old,

unsaved version of you?

The answer is the Holy Spirit of God and your dependence upon him.

That doesn't sell a lot of books.

It's right here.

It's right here.

It's the answer.

So surrender your trust in him continually daily.

look what it says for why else you cannot be condemned in Jesus Christ for what the law could not do in that.

It was weak through my flesh,

through the flesh.

God did.

Okay.

Pause right there.

What could the law not do in our lives?

And the answer is the law.

Could not make us law keepers.

That's what the law could not do.

The law of God could not make us law keepers.

I feel the same way,

I really do.

It could not make us clean.

The law could not make us righteous.

It demanded perfection,

but could not make us perfect.

And the reason for this was not because there was something wrong with the law,

but because there is everything wrong with me.

I'm the problem.

So that's what Paul says,

right?

What the law could not do create perfection,

make me perfect,

make me a law keeper in that it was weak through my flesh.

Watch this.

God did.

God did by sending his own son and the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin.

Do you realize what this is saying?

What did God do?

Here's what God did.

God made you what the law could not make you.

God made you perfect.

You say,

I'm not perfect.

I know neither am I.

That is your standing before the Lord.

You understand your sins past,

present and future.

Have all been forgiven and removed as far as the east is from the west.

So far has he removed our transgressions from us.

He has remembered them no more.

The Bible says your sin past,

present and future has been removed forever.

That means as you stand before God,

you are perfect before him.

That is what the law could not do.

It's only possible through Jesus Christ.

The law couldn't do it.

You couldn't do it.

God did this in you and I.

And you say,

how,

how did that even happen?

It's what we said before.

You have been placed in Jesus.

What does this mean?

It means his perfection is now your perfection.

His righteousness is now your righteousness.

His acceptance is now your acceptance.

His inheritance.

The Bible says is your inheritance.

You say that that doesn't seem fair.

I know it's it's grace.

We should make a song about it,

right?

I think it would take off.

God did this.

You did not do this.

God did this,

but because you've trusted him now you're put in him.

Everything that's his is now yours.

So that's crazy.

I know but it's true.

I'm not sure if I can believe that doesn't really matter.

It's still true.

God did this.

How did he do it by sending his own son?

The Lord Jesus came and says by sending his own son.

He came to defeat sin to set you free from it.

And so to do this look what it says.

It says he had to come in the likeness of Jesus.

Of sinful or human flesh.

He came as one of us.

He came.

He was born as a baby.

He grew up in front of us.

He did not come on a war horse in armor and as God and all of his

That's not how he came to us.

He came to us as a baby.

He grew up before us and then when he was 33 years old,

he took all of our sin upon himself.

Let us nail him to a cross.

Let us write put him to death for our sins.

This is what he did.

He came to.

To deal with our sin and to switch places with us.

We deserve to be on the cross.

He took our place and this is what the Bible says.

He made him who knew no sin.

He was guiltless.

He was innocent to be sin so that you and I we might become the righteousness of God in him.

You became guiltless and you say but I'm not guiltless.

But because you're trusting Christ you are guiltless.

You are sinless.

You do not have to pay for your sins already been paid for.

Now, you should do right.

You should do right.

You should do what God wants you to do.

You should not keep sinning.

You should go and sin no more.

You should definitely pursue Holiness but understand your position before Jesus Christ.

It's because of him.

He came to take our place to pay for our sin.

And that's why it says he came verse 3 on account of sin for the reason of human sin.

Listen, he didn't come to start religion.

He didn't come to build church buildings.

He didn't come to bring Paradise or moral law.

He came to pay for human sin.

And so verse 3 says he condemned.

Sin, literally, it's while in his flesh.

So here on Earth Jesus in his human body, he was nailed to a cross.

And when he did that, he condemned sin.

He defeated sin in his body.

He took it upon himself.

He defeated it so that you and I could be released.

Listen, he was rejected.

So you never will be my God.

My God, why have you forsaken me?

The answer is I have forsaken my son so that I will never forsake you.

He was condemned.

He was judged.

He was punished.

He was sentenced so that you never will be.

So he condemned sin while in his flesh and he did this for one reason.

Look what it says that the righteous requirement of the law verse 4 might be fulfilled in us

who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit question.

What was the righteous requirement of the law?

What did the law require for a person to be made righteous?

The answer we've already said it perfection.

Do you realize what this is saying?

Who can who can keep the law perfectly answer?

Nobody only Jesus, but look what it says.

This righteous requirement of the law perfection, and it's not a question when it says might

be in Greek.

It's literally has been fulfilled.

It is completely fulfilled in you as a believer.

The righteous requirement of the law was perfection.

It has been fulfilled.

It's been completed literally brought to its completion in you.

This is crazy, but it's what it says and it is fulfilled in us.

Perfection is what you have before God.

It's why you cannot be condemned.

Hear this not because you have been perfect,

but because he was and you have been put in him our righteousness.

If we were to try to stand before God apart from Jesus,

do you know what the Bible says about our writing our rightness our righteousness?

You know what the Bible says about it says that it is as filthy rags before God.

It's actually a really disgusting word in Hebrew,

but it's like if you were to stand before God without Jesus and say God,

I've been good.

I've done good.

I've been I've been nice all of that.

You stand before God.

God says you are standing in disgusting filthy clothing before me.

There is no chance.

You're coming in.

You have to be clothed reclothed with Christ's righteousness his righteousness given to you

and it's his righteousness that fulfills the law and it's given to you.

And so guess what now you fulfill the law,

but who is it given to look at this end of verse 4 in us who do not walk according to the flesh,

but according to the spirit listen.

Before we move on here verse 4 is not telling you something to do.

It's talking about what you are you are either a person who is walking according to the flesh.

It's words that mean you're unsaved or you are a person who is walking according to the spirit.

Those are words that mean that you are saved.

These are descriptions.

So it's not telling you hey,

you're only not condemned if you walk according to the Holy Spirit

or you are condemned if you're walking according to the flesh that is not what this verse is saying.

It is taught that way.

but that is not what this verse is saying.

It is literally talking about two categories.

You're either unsaved you are in the flesh or you are saved.

You are in the spirit one or the other and so this is true of every believer every believer.

It's not something that you know,

if you get it right and you figure it out,

then you're not condemned.

This is true of every believer.

Listen, there are no folks.

There are no secret societies within the church.

If anybody tells you that they got it all figured out and they put off some idea.

That they're better than you that they're not in the same kind of need.

You are run run run.

It's a lie.

We're all in the same need.

We are all a mess and we all need Jesus.

We need to be filled with this spirit to live a life that is pleasing to him.

And so this is true of all believers not a secret little group that's figured it out.

This is true of all believers.

You are not condemned if you're trusting Jesus Christ for salvation,

you're not condemned and so the perfect fulfillment.

Of the law and all that it requires is yours.

If you are in Christ,

that's the defining Mark.

Are you really in him?

Is he really your Lord and Savior?

Now notice what it says the difference between the unsaved and the saved person verse 5 for those who live according to the flesh.

That's the unsaved person.

They live according to literally it's their body and what their body wants.

That's what drives them.

They live according to the flesh goes on to say here the unsaved they set their minds on the things of the flesh.

This means that their minds are focused all their attention.

All their affection is on the things that the body wants.

That's how the unsaved person is defined.

They're driven by their body.

What are my appetites?

What do I want?

What what pleases me?

That's what the unsaved person is driven by the saved person is driven by what does God want?

What is he?

What do you want Lord?

My life is yours.

It belongs to you.

That's the difference and so we are focused all of our attention all of our affections on the Lord.

Lord and on what he wants and so verse 5 ends with that that idea.

Look what it says verse 5,

but those who live according to the Spirit so saved people their focus their attention is on the things of the Spirit.

And so you say what are the things of the Spirit of God depends on who you ask.

You could get some really weird answers the things of the Spirit of God ready?

Here's the things of the Spirit of God ready in real terms.

You did the dishes with a wonderful attitude today,

right?

You drove and did.

Did not curse out the person who cut you off.

You raised your kids today with patience and gentleness and self-control.

Let's see you prayed for your neighbor who has not cut their grass in 12 weeks,

right?

What do the things of the Spirit look like?

They look like the Holy Spirit.

They look like Jesus.

They look like godliness.

They look like righteousness.

They look like good things.

This is what the this is what the saved person does,

right?

We are this is what we are focused on.

We want to care for others want to worship the Lord.

We want to be obedient to him.

We want to share him.

We want to grow.

I mean, this is the stuff that believers think about non-believers do not think about these things.

Non-believers do not worry about whether they're pleasing God.

They don't care if they're pleasing God.

They care about pleasing them.

And if this is you today,

I would just say if that rings a bell,

you need to turn to the Lord and be saved today.

Listen in many ways.

We prove what we are by what we love.

What do you love?

I prove that I am a happily married man because I really really love my wife.

I prove that I'm a really happy dad because I really love my kids.

The defining difference when I came to know Christ is that suddenly I loved him and knew that I was loved by him.

It's not it's not how much do you get right?

It's it's who are you?

What are you those who live according to the Spirit that saved person?

We our minds are set on the things of the Spirit on what God wants.

And Paul shows the unsaved verse 6.

He says for to be carnally minded.

It's fleshly or unsaved.

It's death but to be spiritually minded or saved is life and peace the fleshly minded person unsaved their lives defined by that.

The spiritually minded person is saved.

Their lives are defined by life by being you know,

connected to God life and peace is what it says.

The word peace means to be joined together.

We are joined to God.

God and as a result of that all these things come out of that all of these wonderful expressions to God come out of that.

I want to live my life in a way that honors the Lord.

I want him to be happy with my life that happened the moment I came to Christ.

I was joined back together with him.

So Paul describes how serious it is to remain unsaved as we come right now down towards the end verse 7.

He says the carnal mind the unsaved mind is at war enmity with God against God for it is not subject.

To the law of God nor indeed can be so he says the the unsaved mind is at war with God.

It's fighting against God you say what does that mean?

It means the unsaved person is fighting God all the time.

It's not that God is unknown to them.

They know God we saw that in Romans 1 they every person knows there's a God but they fight against him.

They don't want him over them.

They resist him.

And so we read that in first Corinthians that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing man resists God.

Out of the rebellion of his own heart.

He is at war with God.

He is against him and that's in inside, right?

That's that's a part of the unsaved person, but verse 8 makes it very very clear a misconception that many people have many people think that they can be kind of religious and they can appease God, right?

You've heard these things, right?

I mean people that they don't profess to believe but they pray at certain times and they give and they might go to church right there.

The the CEO Christians, you know tomorrow.

Christmas Easter only's right, right?

Those are the sorry, right?

That's that's what that's what they're called, right?

The CEO Christians, right?

These are people that they think that they're doing something that they're pleasing God because like they got a cross in their house, you know, there's a Bible in the house that kind of thing.

Look at verse 8.

So then those who are in the flesh ready those who are unsaved cannot please God.

It's impossible.

You cannot please the Lord and reject him at the same time.

That makes sense, doesn't it?

I mean that makes sense.

You can't please him and reject him.

You can't completely deny him and think that any little token religious thing is going to is going to do anything.

But this is what happens people think well, you know, I can even if there is a God I'm getting some brownie points because I served and I did this and I gave and whatever.

Nope does not happen.

But now flip it around and here's the opposite truth that we need to hear before we end today.

And it's this the opposite truth.

If the unsaved cannot please God, what does that mean for the saved?

What does that mean for you?

What does that mean for you who know and love him?

It means you please him.

It means God is happy with you.

You say is God happy with everything I do?

No, probably not.

But is he happy with you?

Yes, the only way that my dumb brain can think about things like this is I think about myself as a dad.

I may not be happy with everything my kids do but I am happy with my kids.

I really love each of them.

There is nothing that is ever going to separate me from them right in terms of my love for them.

In terms of really liking them.

My wife, I really, really love her.

I really like her.

I like to just be around her.

I am happy.

In fact, you don't want to be around me when she's not around.

You know what I mean?

That's terrible.

It's terrible, right?

But like that's just how it is, you know, and she just makes me the relationship is all it is and it just makes me happy.

And when you think about this God looks at you and he says I'm just happy.

I'm happy with you.

You can't be happy with me.

That's happy with you.

He you please him incredible to think about rest of the chapter is really God just gushing over you just so you know, I hope you'll enjoy it the rest of this month, but it's literally just God just gushing over how amazing he thinks you are wild, but I hope it'll get into your heart.

So the question before we end is is are you in Christ?

Are you in him?

If you are not it's very simple.

You have to humble yourself and to be vulnerable before God and admit that and come to him and ask him to forgive you of your sin to not only come into your life, but for him to put you in him right to save you.

You've got to ask God to do that.

He won't force you but if you recognize that today, he will never refuse the person who comes to him.

The Bible says it so let's pray together Lord.

We love you.

We thank you for your word and the truth of it the blessing of it Lord.

I pray Lord for every person here that you'd move us into.

This chapter Lord that we could accept and receive these things and believe these things Lord.

I pray for any believer here today that maybe came in feeling very condemned.

I pray they would walk out knowing that they're not Lord.

I pray for any person that is not saved actually today is never humbled themselves.

If that's you you've never humbled yourself before God and repented of your sin and and asked him to save you.

If you've not done that do that now.

He's listening to you.

He will receive you and it's because of.

Of what he has done on that cross for your sin and for mine.

That is why he will receive you not because you deserve it, but because he is good.

So talk to him.

He's listening to you right now.

The Lord will save all who call upon his name Lord.

We thank you.

We love you.

We give everything to you.

It's in your holy and precious name.

We pray.