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The River ChurchSermons

The Spirit

The Spirit - Sets Us Free

Aaron Snider · Sunday, 3 August 2025 · Romans 8:1-8 · 30:34 · 5,064 words

Romans S15 · 8:1-8 Flushing

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

Romans 8:1–8 is the focus of a message that explains why believers are no longer condemned and how true freedom comes only through being in Christ. The speaker contrasts everyday “false freedoms” with the spiritual liberty the Spirit gives, showing how sin still tries to condition us but God’s Spirit empowers obedient, Spirit‑led living. He offers a simple test: where does your mind go when everything is quiet? Listeners are encouraged to confess Jesus as Lord, trust in his resurrection, and surrender any area where they still feel chained.

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.

freedom 29 free 26 set 23 flesh 25 condemn 19 true 17 sin's 5 death 19 page 5 silence 4 likeness 5 comfort 6

Topics

Freedom 9 Sin 9 Condemnation 7 The Holy Spirit 5 The Flesh 4 Faith 3 Atonement & Sacrifice 2 Salvation 1 The Law 1 Sanctification 1 Mission & Evangelism 1 The Gospel 1 Righteousness 1 Judgment 1

Scripture referenced 42

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

Romans 8 1:45 Romans 8:1 2:58 Romans 8:1 3:12 Romans 8:1-8 3:36 Romans 8:1-2 4:08 Ephesians 6:12 7:04 Ephesians 6:1 7:21 Romans 3 7:41 Romans 6 7:44 Romans 6:1 8:26 Romans 3 8:53 Romans 3:2 9:01 Exodus 16 9:36 Romans 3:1 10:58 Galatians 2:20 11:27 John 10:10 12:01 Romans 3:3-4 12:41 Romans 3:3-4 12:47 Leviticus 19:2 13:12 Romans 8 14:01 Romans 7 14:06 Romans 7:12 14:08 Romans 7:10 14:10 Romans 8:3 14:44 John 3:6 15:15 John 3:16 15:48 John 3:16 16:01 Romans 8:18 16:49 Luke 22 17:19 Luke 22 17:31 Luke 22:42 17:32 Luke 22:44 18:13 2 Corinthians 5:21 20:04 Romans 8:4 20:25 Romans 8:5-7 21:21 Romans 1:24 22:14 Matthew 8 23:10 Luke 13 23:20 Romans 1:5 24:23 Romans 1:6 24:29 Romans 10:9 29:01 John 8:36 30:07

Transcript

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

Pre-service announcement — 8 lines, 0:39. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Grant Grimes and thanks for checking out this message today.

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Thanks again for joining us and we hope you are blessed by today's message.

You're welcome, whether you're in person or online, just really happy that you've gathered with us today.

This is awesome.

I'm Aaron Snyder and I'm a student here at the River's Pastors Academy.

My wife Emily and I, we actually usually sit in the chairs where you guys are with our sons,

but you know, obviously today I'm up here.

You've maybe seen me around, that's alright, I'll be the first to admit this, but we probably have not spoken.

That's because I am an...

introvert, alright.

And then it's partly also too because after the gatherings I'm always chasing my son around

because, again, that's how introverts hide in plain sight.

So, thank you for coming.

Still, I would love to speak with you, I'd love to meet you, so please stop me at any time.

You have my permission, even though I am an introvert.

It really helps me just to get out of my comfort zone

and it's also just super important for us to grow in community and fellowship with each other.

So please help me get out of my comfort zone.

You have my permission, alright.

Today we're going to continue our series on Paul's letter to the Romans.

So if you guys want to read that, please do.

Please open your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 8.

So, I'm honored that Josh asked me to come up here and speak today,

but I need you all to know that I'm not here because I'm some spiritual VIP

or because I've got it all going on.

I'm not. I don't. Okay?

But I do feel really blessed to speak on this message.

I think that this passage has a lot of truths that can help us with so many things that we struggle with.

Things like, as Christians, we're told that we've been set free,

but we still struggle with sin and there's hardships in life.

So what exactly did we get set free from?

And the Bible says,

God tells us that we're made in God's image.

But I know that every day I fall so incredibly short of His glory.

So how can someone like me be considered righteous enough ever to make it to heaven?

And then lastly, how do I know?

How do I even know if I'm actually a Christian?

I have doubts in my faith.

Like, how do I know?

These are some really foundational questions.

They're huge.

But today's passage alone, it might not answer them completely for us, okay?

But it's going to at least set a really good foundation for us to build off of.

And even for the more seasoned Christians that are in the room today,

you know, how often are you returning to this monumental declaration that we start with?

So,

verse 1 starts with a monumental declaration.

I want to encourage everybody here, actually, to try to memorize this,

or write it down at least.

Put it in the notes app of your phone.

Get it tattooed on the back of your eyelids.

I don't care.

Whatever you have to do so that you have it ready so you can always return to it.

All right?

So that's verse 1.

But before we hop in, let's bow our heads and let's pray.

Lord, please help us to better understand you.

Help us to better just understand ourselves as well, Lord.

Open up our eyes just to see and our hearts just to accept that you've set us free.

Empower us, Lord, through your Spirit so that we can hear your truth today in this message.

In Jesus' name.

So today we're in Romans chapter 8, verses 1 through 8.

If you need a Bible, you can use the app on your cell phone.

That's totally okay.

Just don't put in all the order or get on Instagram.

That'd be great.

You can cozy up to a neighbor if there's a studious one next to you.

You can also follow along on the screens.

That's great.

Some of us, though, we like to have physical copies in our hands.

If for some reason you need help getting one, we would love to help you get a Bible.

You can go see the guest services desk back in the lobby.

Do that after the gathering, though, please.

They'll collect some information.

They'll help you get one, okay?

So let's read.

Verses 1 through 2.

So there's freedom from the law of sin and death.

We live in a nation that's built on freedom.

I think that's a really beautiful thing.

But sometimes today's culture, we trace these false freedoms,

things that they promise empowerment, but they end up captivating us spiritually.

There's things like the freedom to be yourself without limits.

This tells us that.

We can define our own truth.

We can define our own identity, our own morality.

You know, it's supposed to give us this idea that, hey, we think it's going to make things more clear.

But really, we get more confused by this.

There is the freedom of, turn my page here, freedom from authority, the thought process of, hey, nobody can tell me what to do, right?

This one's going to reject accountability, and it's going to ultimately lead to isolation.

And then there's freedom through wealth or success.

The thought that if I just had a little bit more money or if I just had a little bit more influence, maybe then I'd be okay.

This one, though, it leads to anxiety, greed, and fear.

And there's freedom from commitment, especially in relationships.

You know, we want to be free from being tied down, whether it's marriage, children, simply choosing a church or a town that we set roots down in.

This is going to result in shallow relationships for a lot of us.

And there's freedom through self-medication.

This is a tough one because it's something that we think is going to start out as a treat, but it ends up just captivating us, just capturing us at one point.

Things like alcohol, food, pornography, workaholism, endless entertainment, scrolling on our phones.

They can all become forms of captivity for us.

And then there's the freedom.

There's the freedom of choice, choice without any moral consequence.

Infinite options.

We think that that's liberating for some reason.

But without God's wisdom, this is actually just going to create paralysis, confusion, and regret.

And last but not least, this is not an all-inclusive list, by the way, but just what I brought today is the freedom of legalism.

If I just follow the rules, I'm going to be okay.

If I just stay in my box, I'll be fine.

I can do that.

That's only going to breed fear, pride, and shame, though, because we can't do it.

That's the opposite of grace.

False freedoms are a trap.

We think that freedom just means.

There's no restrictions on us.

But every one of these is a spiritual bait and switch.

It starts off feeling really good at first, but then eventually it's going to control us in the end.

It's ironic, actually, really, because we live in one of the most free societies in the history of the world, but we still feel trapped.

Not by external forces, but by our own sinful nature.

Ephesians 6.12 actually tells us, it says,

Now, the real tyranny here is actually sin.

It's our prideful rebellion against God.

And until Christ sets us free, we'll never truly be free.

And that brings us to the next question.

It brings us to the therefore in verse 1.

Here's a pro-Bible study tip.

Whenever you see the word therefore, you've got to ask yourself, what's it there for?

Yeah, some of you know.

Well, here Paul's using the word as a pivot.

He's changing us.

He's moving us as readers from one idea to another.

Because so far, the book of Romans has taken us through some pretty heavy truths, right?

No one is righteous.

That's chapter 3.

It tells us that the wages of sin is death.

That's chapter 6.

And just last week, we found out that even believers are going to struggle with the ongoing presence of sin in their lives.

That's tough.

So if Paul had stopped there, it would have meant defeat for all of us.

But he hasn't.

He's actually been sprinkling seeds of hope all along the way.

And here he pivots with a triumphal declaration.

And he says,

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

Not now.

Not ever.

God's deliverance is complete.

So if you remember one thing today, I hope it's this.

That in Christ, there's true freedom for the true Christian.

But what does condemnation mean?

We see that in verse 1, right?

And so in modern language, we typically use this to describe maybe this feeling of guilt.

But Paul's actually talking about the judgment.

And more specifically than judgment, it's actually the punishment for guilt, which we've learned, is death.

So no condemnation is talking about the punishment of death.

And that's concerning given our nature.

Because we're all born under the law of sin and death.

We're physically alive, but we're spiritually dead.

Romans chapter 3 actually says that on their own, no one is righteous, no one understands, and no one even wants to seek God.

But in verse 2, we see that we've been set free from the law of sin and death.

Yet before Christ, we resist this freedom.

So why are we so hesitant?

Walk in it.

Why do our hearts always pull back from this freedom, even after it's been offered to us?

The truth is that sin doesn't just condemn us.

It actually conditions us, and it conforms us.

It convinces us that sin is actually safer than surrender.

And it's trying to tell us that our comfort is more important and is better than God's calling in our lives.

In fact, here's an example, I think, that helps us grasp this maybe a little bit more clearly.

In Exodus 16, the Israelites, they had just been delivered from Egypt, and God had just physically freed them from slavery.

He parted the Red Sea, Pharaoh's army.

They chased after them, and he crushes them down with the water.

And yet, they began grumbling the very moment that things got hard.

Wouldn't it be better if we were back in Egypt?

At least when we were slaves, we were sat around the meat pots, and we had bread enough that we could fill our stomachs.

You know, they were scared of the unknown.

They convinced themselves that things were better back in Egypt, back in their chains, back in their false comforts.

That's a really vivid picture of how many of us live spiritually.

You know, God's miraculously working in a lot of our lives.

We don't even know it sometimes.

Maybe he's given us a second chance.

Maybe we have some unexplained healing.

We don't know what's going on in our lives, whether it's physical or not.

And there's just sometimes just coincidence that are just always working out for us for some reason.

We're just, hey, whoa, this is just happening.

Or maybe we're just on borrowed time.

But we still long for the deceptive comfort of sin's oppression.

God doesn't want you to go backwards.

He freed you so that you can walk forwards, that you can be at peace with him,

and so you can be spiritually alive, even in the wilderness.

Don't go back to what once controlled you.

Walk in freedom and be in Christ.

But what does that mean?

What does it mean to be in Christ?

Right, we see that in verse 1.

Well, it means being united with him.

It means being united with him.

It means that we trust in his life, his death, and his resurrection.

It means that we submit to his authority.

Not to earn salvation, but because we already have it.

To be in Christ means that we're living by God's standard,

shown in Jesus' thoughts, words, and actions.

It means that we're led by the Holy Spirit.

We've learned to love what God loves, and we've learned to hate what God hates.

In fact, Galatians chapter 2, verse 20, it says it this way.

It says, it's no longer I who live, but it's actually Christ who lives in me.

So in Christ, God's spirit gives us new life.

We were once only physically alive.

But now we're spiritually alive, too.

In this spiritual life, it begins to bear fruit.

Things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

This is the law of the spirit of life.

We were once under the law of sin and death, but now Christ reigns in our lives.

And that places us under a new law, the law of the spirit of life.

In fact, in John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus says this.

He says, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The spirit moves us from death to life.

He empowers us.

We walk in freedom.

And we should all be fanatic about that, right?

We shouldn't be grumbling.

In fact, we should just be shouting like, hallelujah, right?

Amen, right?

Celebrating so loud that the world can't help but to hear this good news.

And here's the good news.

That those in Christ Jesus have been set free from sin's penalty.

No condemnation, no eternal death.

Just true freedom for the true Christian.

Let's move on to verses 3 and 4.

These ones, I think, they show us how God sets free from sin's penalty.

So verse 3 and 4.

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.

The Old Testament law, it actually reflected God's holiness.

So in Leviticus 19.2, God actually says,

You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

God's holiness is a standard that none of us could ever meet.

His law humbles everybody.

Revealing the gap between our lack of goodness way over there.

And his sinless perfection way over there.

Under the law, the Israelites had to make continuous sacrifices too.

Innocent blood of animals had to be shed constantly to cover their sin debts.

All the time.

They were only temporary, but they kept sinning.

So they kept having to offer them.

Because while the God's law, it points to his righteousness.

The sacrifice actually pointed forward to Jesus.

It pointed forward to the perfect sacrifice yet to come.

The one who would be made once and for all.

So God did what the law couldn't do.

Keep your fingers in Romans chapter 8.

For some of you, you might just go up higher on the page.

But maybe just flip through.

Flip back one page actually.

We're going to Romans 7.

7, 10 verses 12.

So Romans 7, 10.

It says that.

God's holy law.

It promised life.

But it only ended up bringing death.

We couldn't obey it.

Not because it was flawed.

But because we are.

So God sent his own son.

Romans 8, 3.

Back to that.

It says that.

God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

And for sin.

Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh.

Not as a sinner.

Jesus' body was 100% human flesh.

But while the nature of our flesh is sinful.

His nature is 100% divine.

He's fully man.

But he's also fully God.

He never sinned.

He was able to live the perfectly righteous life.

Fulfilling the requirement of the law.

John 3, 6.

Jesus actually says.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh.

And that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

You see.

Jesus was born of the spirit.

He was born spiritually alive.

But we weren't.

So through Jesus.

God actually condemned sin.

In the flesh.

That's why he had to come in human form.

Jesus' body actually became the vessel.

Through which God would pour out his wrath on sin.

On the cross.

Jesus bore the sins of the entire world.

He absorbed sin's penalty.

And he became the perfect sacrifice.

Dying in our place.

Please turn with me now to John chapter 3, verse 16.

Two books to the left.

I think that the first four verses of our passage today.

Actually describe the how.

Behind this iconic passage.

So John 3, 16.

God so loved the world.

That he gave his only son.

That whoever believes in him should not perish.

But have eternal life.

For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world.

But in order that the world might be saved through him.

So Jesus came to save us.

Not to condemn us.

In Christ the spirit of life sets us free.

Free from the law of sin and death.

He was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh.

For sin.

So that God could punish sin.

In the flesh.

Pouring out his wrath for sin on Jesus.

Not us.

James in verse 18 here.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned.

But whoever does not believe is condemned already.

Because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God.

So there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

If you believe, you're not condemned.

But if you don't believe, then you're condemned already.

Let's go a few pages to the left.

Luke chapter 22.

I have mine bookmarked.

Otherwise, I would typically be the last person to be able to turn my Bible to the right page.

This is a great perk of preaching, by the way.

So let's look at Luke 22.

I like this passage because it's going to help us illustrate how Jesus came.

Again, only in the likeness of sinful flesh.

Not as a sinner.

So here we see that Jesus is there on the night before his crucifixion.

He's actually withdrawn back into the garden of Gethsemane.

And he's actually praying to the Father right now.

Okay, so verse 42.

He says,

Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.

But nevertheless, not my will be done, but yours.

So Jesus was fully divine.

That means that he knew what was coming.

And yet he obeyed God.

He obeyed God perfectly.

Jump down two verses.

Go down to 44 with me.

So Luke 22, 44.

And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly.

And his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

So Jesus was also fully human.

That means that he felt the entire weight of what loomed before him.

So much so that he sweat drops of blood.

And yet here's the extent of his obedience.

In Gethsemane, he sweat blood.

Before dawn, he was arrested, falsely accused, mocked, beaten.

And then flogged literally until the flesh tore from his body.

And all this before being nailed to the cross and then dying.

And not for our sins.

It's not for his sins, but for ours.

Sometimes I actually think about the role that my sin had to play in all that.

Picture myself picking up a heavy wooden mallet, an old one,

driving the nails and hands and feet.

You ever done that before?

You ever think about that?

You ever close your eyes and actually picture Jesus's body just laying there on the cross,

writhing in agony, waiting to be nailed there?

Can you imagine what that sounded like?

The sounds of the crowd, the people there, his labored breathing.

Maybe some gravel in the breath.

The smell.

Could you imagine what that mallet must have felt like in the hand of that Roman soldier?

Because our sin makes us equally guilty of driving the nails in

as much as the Roman soldier that actually did it.

See, our sin and rebellion are what put the nails in Jesus's hands and his feet.

And in exchange, Jesus actually offers us his righteousness.

That's not religion.

That's redemption.

2 Corinthians 5.21 actually says this.

It says,

This is the miracle of justification.

God credits Jesus's perfect righteousness to the bankrupt accounts of those who believe and have faith

in Jesus's life, death, and resurrection.

So back to 8.4 with me, Romans 8.4.

This righteousness is fulfilled in those who walk by the Spirit.

True Christians, we don't just simply sidestep sin's penalty.

It's not like, whoa, hey, oh, dodging death, we're good, we're good.

It's not like that, okay?

One commentator actually says it this way.

Jesus doesn't save us from the world.

He saves us for the world.

In order that we can become laborers that advance his kingdom,

to help him work his redemptive plan.

True Christians, we should be radically transformed by the Holy Spirit

so that we can become God's hands and his feet,

so that we can become co-laborers in the eternal kingdom today.

We're not called just to sit back, twirl our thumbs,

rock a chair on a porch, waiting for Jesus to come back and take us home.

There's therefore now no condemnation, just true freedom for the true Christian.

Because Jesus's body took the penalty of sin for us.

In verses 5 through 7, Paul now turns our attention

to contrast between a Spirit-led life and one that's led by the Spirit.

So let's read that.

The mind that's set on the flesh is death.

It lives for self-gratification.

It's driven by things like pleasure, pride, by control.

In fact, in Romans 1.24, God actually says,

He gave them up to the lusts of their hearts.

God actually gives us what we want.

So no amount of self-help, no amount of human virtue or cultural accommodation

can ever make us submit to God.

And even if we wanted to change, which we don't, we couldn't.

It actually takes a supernatural act of God to free us.

When human nature is left unchecked,

we're only capable of...

of hostility towards God.

In our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

We'll dishonor, we'll slander, and we'll reject God's truth.

Because the mind that's set on the flesh is actually trapped in sinful behavior.

We try to justify it.

We resist God's commands.

And this is ultimately what leads to death.

And not just physical death, but spiritual and eternal.

It's a miserable, godless existence today,

resulting in a righteous judgment.

In fact, in Matthew 8, Jesus actually describes this

as being thrown into outer darkness.

He called it a place that was filled with the sound,

the sounds of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

And then in Luke 13, he goes on, he says that

these people, they'll see Abraham, they'll see Isaac,

they'll see Jacob, they'll see all the prophets of God's kingdom,

but they themselves will have been cast out.

This is a tragic outcome of a mind that's set on the flesh.

We're invited to freedom, but we push God away.

We prefer the comfort of sin over the weight of true freedom.

We reject the cross, not because it's bad,

but because it's heavy.

On the cross, Jesus set us free.

And in Christ, we're called to die to our old selves.

And that's not easy.

But true freedom comes with the response to death.

The responsibility of surrender and obedience.

It's wretched, it's really wretched to describe

the mind that's set on the flesh.

It's a really somber reality.

I think we don't like hearing this kind of talk often

because either one is gonna help us,

it's gonna just hit too close to home right now, right?

Or it's gonna remind us of who we were

before we had Jesus in our lives.

Those who live according to the flesh

set their minds on the things of the flesh.

But verse five continues.

For those who live according to the spirit

set their minds on the things of the spirit.

And verse six actually tells us that

the mind that's set on the spirit,

it's life and peace.

In fact, these people, they've been transformed

by the Holy Spirit's presence in their lives.

They begin to reflect God's image.

Their minds are focused on his purposes,

his interests, and his desires.

They've learned to love what he loves,

and they've learned to hate what he hates.

They don't walk by forced obedience, they do it joyfully.

And like all people, God wrote his law on their hearts.

But outside of Christ, you know, our consciences,

they just condemn us because we ignore God's convictions

and his guidance in our lives.

But in Christ, the Holy Spirit now

doesn't condemn us, but he convicts us

in order that we can be brought to the knowledge

of our sins and so that he can guide us in godly living.

In fact, the mindset on the spirit,

when it thinks of the cross,

their heart is gonna overflow

with gratitude and admiration.

You'll hear these people saying things like everything.

Their bodies have become temples

for God's Holy Spirit to live in.

They're no longer their own.

They know that they were bought with a great price,

They love him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

This is the outcome of a spirit-led life.

It's reconciliation.

It's reconciliation with God.

And it's a peace that surpasses understanding.

There's therefore now no condemnation

'cause we're no longer controlled by the tyranny of sin.

We've been set free to live by the spirit.

And that's why there's true freedom for the true Christian.

And that's also why Paul concludes our passage

declaring that those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

So how do I know?

How do I know if I'm a true Christian?

How do you know if you're in Christ?

How do you know if you're pleasing God?

Well, ultimately, that's only gonna be a question

that you and God have to answer together.

I can't help you with that one.

'Cause we're all born imprisoned by sin.

And if we're being honest, we weren't trapped there.

We were willing captives.

But now we're without excuse.

'Cause at least as of today,

everyone listening has heard the good news.

Jesus has set you free, and your sin debt has been paid.

So the big question is this.

Are you in Christ Jesus, or are you in the flesh?

Because those who are in the flesh, they cannot please God.

But those who are in Christ Jesus

have already been counted as righteous,

and you've fulfilled the law's righteous requirement.

So here's a simple test that can help you answer.

Where does your mind go when everything gets quiet?

Pastor Tim Keller.

- Pastor Tim Keller said that wherever your mind goes

most naturally and freely,

when there's nothing else to distract it,

that is what you truly live for.

In silence, we face the truth.

If your mind is set on the flesh,

it's gonna drift towards self.

You're gonna be thinking about things

like status, control, pleasure.

You'll justify your sin.

You'll probably feel numb to God.

In fact, you'll use any distraction you can

to avoid the truth, his truth in your life.

You might even know what your sins are,

but you probably don't feel any remorse for them.

You don't feel any somberness over it.

But when your mind's set on the spirit, it longs for

You begin thinking about God's word in the silence.

You begin praying in the silence.

You confess your sin in the silence.

And your mind goes towards the salvation of others.

You begin to experience peace, even in the hardships.

You feel conviction, gratitude, compassion,

and a hope that's anchored in eternity.

So ask yourself, do I feel at peace when times are hard?

In solitude, is my heart drawn to God's word and prayer?

Am I burdened for others to know Christ?

If so, then I think there's really good evidence

that you have true freedom.

But some of us, we still need to get our mindset free.

And if that's you, then I want you to know this.

God's spirit can free your mind.

His spirit can empower you to live a life that's actually

pleasing to God, even in the wilderness.

God is faithful.

He delivers his people completely.

There's no reason now for us to ever fear the true freedom that

comes in Christ Jesus.

Romans 10:9 says this.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,

and you believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead, you will be saved.

So turn from your sin.

Confess Jesus as your Lord.

Submit your life to him.

And believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead, which has defeated sin and death.

And if you're in Christ right now,

but you've been struggling to really feel free lately,

stop thinking about it.

Stop longing for the thing that God's already

freed you from.

Focus on him instead.

Spend some time with him before you go out

and you start trying to spend time working for him.

All right?

You can't serve two masters.

Surrender your control.

Ask him for full deliverance from the thing

that you're struggling with.

And ask him for an obedient heart

so that you can follow him.

Spend some time in solitude and align yourself in Christ.

And most importantly, remember this.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those

who are in Christ Jesus.

You're free.

The spirit of life is empowering you to walk in freedom.

We were just saying this earlier, actually, but in John 8:36,

Jesus tells us, "If the Son sets you free,

you will be free indeed."

Let there be no doubt for that.

There's true freedom for the true Christian.