Set Free
Series: ROMANS8
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 26th November 2016
Passage: Romans 8:1-39
00:00:00 --> 00:00:04 Well, let me add my good morning. My name is Sam. If I haven't had the chance to meet you yet,
00:00:04 --> 00:00:12 hopefully I will. As Jimmy has already expressed, we have just finished four weeks of soaking in
00:00:12 --> 00:00:18 our vision as a church and trying to get clear on where it is that God is leading us. And I get the
00:00:18 --> 00:00:26 joy of a little gap, a little breath for us before we launch all into the craziness and excitement
00:00:26 --> 00:00:32 that is Christmas. And so we're going to soak in Romans 8 for two weeks. And as I've started
00:00:32 --> 00:00:36 preparing this week, I kind of wish that we were soaking in Romans 8 for about 10 weeks,
00:00:36 --> 00:00:42 because there is a lot in there that is just incredibly life-giving. But we've got two,
00:00:43 --> 00:00:46 so we're going to try and make the most of it. So let me pray and ask that God would
00:00:46 --> 00:00:52 say the things that he needs to say so that we can get the life that he wants to put into us today.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:58 Father God, we thank you for gathering us. We thank you for your word. We thank you for the
00:00:58 --> 00:01:03 gift that we can open it, confident that we are loved by you because of Jesus. Please give us the
00:01:03 --> 00:01:09 ability to focus our hearts and minds now and to hear what it is you want to say. Amen.
00:01:10 --> 00:01:16 Now, in a room this size, I can fairly confidently say that there would be some people in this room
00:01:16 --> 00:01:21 who would identify as Christians. So you love Jesus. He's important to you. He's a big part of
00:01:21 --> 00:01:27 the way you make decisions about your life. He's fairly central. It's not a question for you. You're
00:01:27 --> 00:01:33 in. That's who you are. There would also be some people in this room who aren't sure where they
00:01:33 --> 00:01:38 stand. It could be that you kind of want to be in, but you're not really sure if you're in,
00:01:38 --> 00:01:42 or maybe you're not sure whether or not to take that final step to say, okay, I want to be a
00:01:42 --> 00:01:46 Christian. I want to make that part of who I am. And then as well as those two groups,
00:01:46 --> 00:01:53 there would be in a room this size some people who aren't Christians, who are confident that
00:01:53 --> 00:01:56 they're not Christians, who might even be confident that they don't want to be Christians. They don't
00:01:56 --> 00:02:03 want to follow Jesus. But there is something that all three groups would have in common.
00:02:05 --> 00:02:11 And that is the awkwardness around the gap between the things that Christians say
00:02:11 --> 00:02:19 and the lives that Christians live. If you're a Christian, it could be that that is a source of
00:02:19 --> 00:02:24 doubt for you. It could be your own gap between this is what I know Jesus says, and this is what
00:02:24 --> 00:02:29 I did this week, or the way I treated my mother, or the way I treated my boss, or the way I responded
00:02:29 --> 00:02:34 to the person who overtook me in traffic. You know the gap. And for you, if you're a Christian,
00:02:34 --> 00:02:41 it could be that that is a gap that makes you ask questions about just how real your faith in Jesus
00:02:41 --> 00:02:46 really is. If you're not sure if you're a Christian, this doubt, this guilt could be why you're not
00:02:46 --> 00:02:53 sure. You might have this nagging question of could God actually love someone like me when I'm so far
00:02:53 --> 00:02:59 away from the obvious and explicit standard that he gives. If you don't want to be a Christian,
00:02:59 --> 00:03:05 it could be because of all those Christian hypocrites who say one thing and don't deliver. Or maybe it's
00:03:05 --> 00:03:10 just too intimidating. Jesus sounds great, but to actually sign up to try and live what looks like
00:03:10 --> 00:03:17 an impossible standard. Gandhi expressed it when he used these words. He said,
00:03:18 --> 00:03:23 I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:31 Said from the outside, but it's not just outsiders throwing stones. Christian musician Brennan Manning
00:03:31 --> 00:03:38 said, the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus
00:03:38 --> 00:03:44 with their lips and walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world
00:03:44 --> 00:03:52 simply finds unbelievable. If you've been a Christian for more than a few minutes, you know this tension.
00:03:53 --> 00:03:59 You know this struggle. It's not just the expectations that others have placed on you. It's your own
00:03:59 --> 00:04:04 expectations of what your life as a Christian would be like. You know it doesn't always line up.
00:04:05 --> 00:04:11 You know you fail. You know you make mistakes. You know that driving pressure of guilt to try harder,
00:04:11 --> 00:04:18 to serve more, to give more, to go to church more, that guilt that weighs us down and is sometimes even
00:04:18 --> 00:04:26 used as a motivator. I remember when I was growing up as a teenager, that was when I first started really
00:04:26 --> 00:04:31 engaging what Jesus was about. I would hear testimonies, so stories of how people had placed
00:04:31 --> 00:04:37 their trust in Jesus. And almost without exception, they could be summarised as,
00:04:38 --> 00:04:44 before I met Jesus I was bad, I met Jesus and now I'm good. Now I don't think it was malicious,
00:04:45 --> 00:04:50 but I would hear these stories time after time after time. And I mean, even apart from the pressure
00:04:50 --> 00:04:53 to have to be good, to measure up to this picture that was being painted,
00:04:53 --> 00:04:59 I was feeling pressure to go and develop a drug habit so that I had a decent bad as contrast to
00:04:59 --> 00:05:04 my good for afterwards. Like I thought my testimony is not legit unless there's some, you know, real
00:05:04 --> 00:05:11 light and shade in there. I've got to go and invest some time in my bad so that my good looks better,
00:05:11 --> 00:05:17 or maybe so that it lowers the bar of good. It can drag the whole thing this way and then maybe the
00:05:17 --> 00:05:22 pressure won't be so crushing. It seemed like it then as a teenager, and to be honest with you,
00:05:22 --> 00:05:28 sometimes it seems like it now. The thing that's apparently supposed to change when you become
00:05:28 --> 00:05:35 a Christian is your behaviour. That's supposed to be the obvious shift. Christians have a worldwide
00:05:35 --> 00:05:42 reputation for being hypocrites. And if we're honest, it's probably a fair criticism.
00:05:42 --> 00:05:53 But what does God say to the one who's unsure? What does God say to the one who is crushed by guilt
00:05:53 --> 00:05:58 and struggling? What does God say to the one who's pointing the finger at the Christian and calling
00:05:58 --> 00:06:06 them a hypocrite? Into the pressure to be good enough, into the fear of failure, and into the hurt
00:06:06 --> 00:06:11 and anger that comes from being hurt and mistreated by those who claim to follow Jesus,
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 God says this. Romans 8 verse 1.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:24 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
00:06:26 --> 00:06:33 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. See, what changes when someone
00:06:33 --> 00:06:40 becomes a Christian, first and foremost, is not behaviour. It's verdict. You see, the line that's
00:06:40 --> 00:06:46 drawn when somebody starts following Jesus is not good to bad. It's, they are declared innocent.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:50 Condemnation is the thing that's removed. Christians are set free.
00:06:52 --> 00:06:54 But set free from what?
00:06:56 --> 00:07:01 Because the hypocrite charge comes because sometimes we say, and sometimes people hear,
00:07:01 --> 00:07:06 that what we've been set free from is the bad that we used to be. But it can't be that.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:12 It can't be that we've been set free from being bad because otherwise none of us can stay.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:20 That's not our experience. But even more than that, if we look back just a few verses into Romans chapter 7,
00:07:20 --> 00:07:25 which Rach read out for us when we were singing before, we've got the apostle Paul giving his testimony.
00:07:25 --> 00:07:31 And it's not a good, bad testimony. I mean, remember, this guy is possibly the greatest missionary
00:07:31 --> 00:07:36 the world has ever known, possibly the greatest church planter and pastor of all time.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:40 And listen to his frustration.
00:07:43 --> 00:07:48 That his heart's desire to obey God just doesn't line up with his day-to-day actions.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:53 And this is even for a guy that most of us would have looked up to when it comes to his godliness.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:56 Listen to his own words. He says, verse 15 of chapter 7,
00:07:57 --> 00:08:03 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
00:08:08 --> 00:08:12 As it is, it's no longer I myself who do it, but it's sin living in me.
00:08:13 --> 00:08:17 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:22 For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
00:08:23 --> 00:08:28 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:35 Now, if I do what I do not want to do, it's no longer I who do it, but it's sin living in me that does it.
00:08:36 --> 00:08:38 So I find this law at work.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:42 Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:46 For in my inner being, I delight in God's law.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:56 But I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind, making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
00:08:56 --> 00:08:59 What a wretched man I am.
00:09:00 --> 00:09:04 Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
00:09:04 --> 00:09:09 You can feel the burden that he is carrying.
00:09:10 --> 00:09:15 In his inner being, in his deepest desire, he wants to live for God.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:19 He wants to honour God with his actions, but he looks at his day.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:24 He looks at the things he's done and thought and said, and it's just not the same.
00:09:25 --> 00:09:29 Remember, this is a man who encountered Jesus dramatically.
00:09:29 --> 00:09:34 He met Jesus in a blinding light with an audible voice.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 There's no question for him about whether or not Jesus is real.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:39 His desire is legitimate.
00:09:40 --> 00:09:45 But day to day, his life is one of frustration and struggle, and he longs for rescue.
00:09:46 --> 00:09:47 But he finds it.
00:09:48 --> 00:09:48 Verse 25,
00:09:49 --> 00:09:55 In Jesus, there is deliverance.
00:09:55 --> 00:09:56 There is freedom.
00:09:56 --> 00:10:03 But that can't mean that he will no longer do these things that are frustrating him.
00:10:04 --> 00:10:08 Because having just thanked God for this freedom that he's found in Jesus,
00:10:08 --> 00:10:13 the very next thing he says, this is the verse before we get to chapter 8,
00:10:13 --> 00:10:16 the very next thing he says in verse 25, he says,
00:10:16 --> 00:10:19 Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord.
00:10:19 --> 00:10:23 Having been rescued,
00:10:23 --> 00:10:27 so then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law,
00:10:27 --> 00:10:31 but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:36 Having been rescued, there is still a battle going on for Paul daily.
00:10:37 --> 00:10:41 His desire and his actions still do not meet up in the way that he wants them to.
00:10:41 --> 00:10:45 He still lives the life in this tension of guilt and failure.
00:10:45 --> 00:10:51 Even though he wants to do what is right,
00:10:51 --> 00:10:55 his natural inclination is to go back to the way he used to live without Jesus,
00:10:56 --> 00:10:57 to live for himself.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:00 And if you're a Christian,
00:11:00 --> 00:11:03 you know this battle.
00:11:05 --> 00:11:08 It doesn't take a lot of self-reflection
00:11:08 --> 00:11:11 to recognize that we are not what we should be,
00:11:12 --> 00:11:14 not even what we want to be.
00:11:15 --> 00:11:18 You know the crushing guilt of failure,
00:11:20 --> 00:11:24 especially in light of all that God has done for us in Jesus.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:29 But you need to listen again to Romans 8.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:35 Therefore, there is now no condemnation
00:11:35 --> 00:11:38 for those who are in Christ Jesus,
00:11:38 --> 00:11:40 because through Christ Jesus,
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 the law of the Spirit who gives life
00:11:43 --> 00:11:46 has set you free from the law of sin and death.
00:11:46 --> 00:11:48 For what the law was powerless to do,
00:11:48 --> 00:11:50 because it was weakened by the flesh,
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 God did by sending his own Son
00:11:52 --> 00:11:54 in the likeness of sinful flesh
00:11:54 --> 00:11:55 to be a sin offering.
00:11:56 --> 00:11:58 And so he condemned sin in the flesh
00:11:58 --> 00:12:01 in order that the righteous requirement of the law
00:12:01 --> 00:12:02 might be fully met in us,
00:12:02 --> 00:12:05 who do not live according to the flesh,
00:12:05 --> 00:12:07 but according to the Spirit.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 You have been set free from condemnation
00:12:11 --> 00:12:12 if you are a Christian.
00:12:13 --> 00:12:15 There is no fear of retribution.
00:12:16 --> 00:12:17 There is no worrying that there will be
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 some sort of payment you have to make.
00:12:19 --> 00:12:20 No penalty. Why?
00:12:22 --> 00:12:25 Because it says Jesus has taken your condemnation.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 He has taken your penalty and you are free.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:29 That's what you're free from.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 You are free from sitting there at the end of a day
00:12:33 --> 00:12:34 where you have had a fight with someone,
00:12:34 --> 00:12:36 where you know you have dishonored God,
00:12:36 --> 00:12:40 and feeling like somehow God is going to punish you
00:12:40 --> 00:12:40 for that one.
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 Because it says there is no condemnation.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:46 It's gone. It's done.
00:12:46 --> 00:12:47 It's dealt with. It's exhausted.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 God sent Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh.
00:12:51 --> 00:12:52 That's a really important phrase.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:55 It's telling us that Jesus was flesh.
00:12:56 --> 00:12:57 He was human.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:00 But the like bit is the sinful.
00:13:01 --> 00:13:03 He was human, but he wasn't sinful like us.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 Which means he was the sufficient substitute.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:10 God sent someone like us
00:13:10 --> 00:13:12 so that he could take our place.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 So that instead of sitting there covered in guilt,
00:13:16 --> 00:13:18 we can actually hand those things over to Jesus.
00:13:18 --> 00:13:20 That's what's going on in the cross.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:22 This is what it means to be a Christian.
00:13:22 --> 00:13:24 This is the measure of whether or not
00:13:24 --> 00:13:25 you are legitimately in.
00:13:25 --> 00:13:28 This is the thing you've got to choose on
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 if you're unsure
00:13:29 --> 00:13:31 whether or not you're going to follow Jesus.
00:13:34 --> 00:13:35 When you become a Christian,
00:13:36 --> 00:13:37 Jesus takes your condemnation
00:13:37 --> 00:13:39 and sets you free.
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 What changes is not your behavior.
00:13:43 --> 00:13:47 What changes is your verdict.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 What changes is what God sees
00:13:51 --> 00:13:52 when he looks at you.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 You are no longer somebody
00:13:54 --> 00:13:55 deserving of condemnation.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:57 That possibility is gone.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:00 What changes is the way that God sees you.
00:14:00 --> 00:14:02 You are set free from guilt
00:14:02 --> 00:14:04 and fear and shame forever.
00:14:05 --> 00:14:08 What makes a Christian a Christian
00:14:08 --> 00:14:12 is the freedom from condemnation.
00:14:13 --> 00:14:14 Freedom from punishment.
00:14:17 --> 00:14:18 But the fact is
00:14:18 --> 00:14:20 it's even more than a verdict change.
00:14:21 --> 00:14:23 It's more than just going from guilty to not guilty.
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 It's an identity shift as well.
00:14:27 --> 00:14:28 It's not like, you know,
00:14:28 --> 00:14:29 the hammer's over your head
00:14:29 --> 00:14:30 and God just takes it away.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:30 It's more than that.
00:14:30 --> 00:14:31 He does at least that.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:34 But then there is an identity shift.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:37 Condemnation is removed
00:14:37 --> 00:14:38 but then it's replaced with something.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:41 Fear is removed
00:14:41 --> 00:14:43 but it's replaced with something.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:45 Instead of punishment
00:14:45 --> 00:14:48 God gives us his spirit.
00:14:49 --> 00:14:52 God gives us his life-giving power
00:14:52 --> 00:14:54 to strengthen us,
00:14:54 --> 00:14:54 to lead us,
00:14:54 --> 00:14:55 to comfort us.
00:14:57 --> 00:14:59 And then he says in verse 14
00:14:59 --> 00:15:01 those who have the spirit,
00:15:01 --> 00:15:02 those who are led by the spirit
00:15:02 --> 00:15:04 are children of God.
00:15:05 --> 00:15:07 You're not just no longer the naughty child.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:09 You're now his child.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:13 You're now adopted into the family.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:13 Verse 15,
00:15:13 --> 00:15:14 the spirit you receive
00:15:14 --> 00:15:16 does not make you slaves
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 so that you live in fear again.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 It's not exchanging one fear
00:15:19 --> 00:15:20 for another fear.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:22 Rather,
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 the spirit you receive
00:15:23 --> 00:15:25 brought about your adoption
00:15:25 --> 00:15:25 to sonship
00:15:25 --> 00:15:27 and by him we cry,
00:15:27 --> 00:15:28 Abba, Father.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:30 The spirit himself
00:15:30 --> 00:15:31 testifies with our spirit
00:15:31 --> 00:15:34 that we are God's children.
00:15:34 --> 00:15:37 Now,
00:15:37 --> 00:15:38 I just want to pause here
00:15:38 --> 00:15:38 for a second
00:15:38 --> 00:15:40 because I think
00:15:40 --> 00:15:41 the whole adoption metaphor
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 has a different connotation
00:15:43 --> 00:15:43 in our context.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:46 I grew up as one of five kids
00:15:46 --> 00:15:47 and my oldest sister
00:15:47 --> 00:15:49 was adopted in our family.
00:15:49 --> 00:15:50 She was fostered
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 from when she was three weeks old
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 so I don't know life
00:15:53 --> 00:15:54 without her as my oldest sister.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 She's more part of our family
00:15:55 --> 00:15:56 than I am.
00:15:56 --> 00:15:57 But if I'm honest,
00:15:58 --> 00:15:59 there was the odd occasion
00:15:59 --> 00:16:00 where, you know,
00:16:00 --> 00:16:02 as siblings,
00:16:02 --> 00:16:03 we would give her a bit of stick
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 about being adopted.
00:16:05 --> 00:16:06 Now, I'm not condoning this.
00:16:06 --> 00:16:07 You know,
00:16:07 --> 00:16:08 I've had to repent of this
00:16:08 --> 00:16:08 at some point
00:16:08 --> 00:16:09 and I'm thankful
00:16:09 --> 00:16:10 that there is no condemnation
00:16:10 --> 00:16:10 for this.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:12 But there was points
00:16:12 --> 00:16:13 where my oldest sister,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:13 Tally,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 would, you know,
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 be a bit emotional
00:16:15 --> 00:16:16 or be a bit dramatic
00:16:16 --> 00:16:17 and we would let her know
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 that the reason
00:16:18 --> 00:16:18 she was going through
00:16:18 --> 00:16:19 this situation
00:16:19 --> 00:16:20 was because she was adopted.
00:16:22 --> 00:16:23 Just to be clear,
00:16:24 --> 00:16:25 I love my sister.
00:16:26 --> 00:16:28 She's great.
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 But what it does say
00:16:32 --> 00:16:33 is probably something
00:16:33 --> 00:16:35 that is true
00:16:35 --> 00:16:37 even if it's not spoken of us.
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 There is a part of us
00:16:39 --> 00:16:40 that kind of looks at adoption
00:16:40 --> 00:16:42 as this concession.
00:16:43 --> 00:16:45 It's not quite the same
00:16:45 --> 00:16:46 as being, you know,
00:16:46 --> 00:16:47 born of the flesh,
00:16:48 --> 00:16:49 being a natural-born child.
00:16:50 --> 00:16:50 That's the way
00:16:50 --> 00:16:51 that we view it
00:16:51 --> 00:16:52 in our modern context.
00:16:53 --> 00:16:54 I mean, reality is in Australia
00:16:54 --> 00:16:55 it's almost impossible
00:16:55 --> 00:16:56 so we barely view it at all
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 but the way we view it
00:16:58 --> 00:17:00 is we would never say that out loud
00:17:00 --> 00:17:01 but there's just this bit of us
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 that does a double take.
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 How do I treat you then
00:17:04 --> 00:17:04 if you're adopted?
00:17:05 --> 00:17:06 How do I refer to you?
00:17:06 --> 00:17:06 Is it my sister
00:17:06 --> 00:17:08 or is it my adopted sister?
00:17:08 --> 00:17:09 Is it my half-sister?
00:17:09 --> 00:17:10 Is it my step-sister?
00:17:10 --> 00:17:12 We think through these qualifiers
00:17:12 --> 00:17:13 to make it different
00:17:13 --> 00:17:15 but in the first century,
00:17:15 --> 00:17:17 adoption was nothing like that.
00:17:17 --> 00:17:19 adoption existed
00:17:19 --> 00:17:21 as a means for people
00:17:21 --> 00:17:22 to choose
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 the child that they wanted
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 to carry on their family.
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 They would choose somebody
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 who would be the inheritor
00:17:32 --> 00:17:33 of their estate.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:36 They would choose somebody
00:17:36 --> 00:17:37 who they wanted to be the one
00:17:37 --> 00:17:38 that would bear their name
00:17:38 --> 00:17:39 going forward.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:40 It's a privilege.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:43 It almost needs to be escalated
00:17:43 --> 00:17:46 like everybody else needs
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 a little prefix
00:17:47 --> 00:17:48 to brother and sister
00:17:48 --> 00:17:50 because adopted was chosen.
00:17:57 --> 00:17:59 God adopted us.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:04 That means God chose us.
00:18:05 --> 00:18:07 That means that it's not just
00:18:07 --> 00:18:09 are you not in trouble anymore?
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 God has chosen you
00:18:11 --> 00:18:14 and drawn you into his family
00:18:14 --> 00:18:16 so that you might inherit from him.
00:18:18 --> 00:18:19 It's verse 17.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 We're now heirs of God
00:18:20 --> 00:18:22 and co-heirs with Christ.
00:18:24 --> 00:18:26 Not just condemnation gone.
00:18:26 --> 00:18:27 Condemnation is gone
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 but now in the place of condemnation
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 is all the promises of God.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:34 The promises of eternal life.
00:18:34 --> 00:18:35 The promise of forgiveness.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:37 The promise of access.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:40 The promise of eternal love
00:18:40 --> 00:18:41 and fellowship.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:42 The promise of everything good.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:47 God has exhausted condemnation.
00:18:47 --> 00:18:49 He's poured it all out on Jesus
00:18:49 --> 00:18:53 as our sin substitute
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 and instead we have been drawn
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 into his family.
00:18:56 --> 00:18:59 And all of that
00:18:59 --> 00:19:01 for a bunch of people
00:19:01 --> 00:19:02 who still make mistakes
00:19:02 --> 00:19:05 who will continue to make mistakes
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 at least until they die
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 or Jesus comes back.
00:19:08 --> 00:19:10 Sure one day Christians
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 will be made perfect
00:19:11 --> 00:19:12 but it won't be this side of heaven.
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 We're going to talk about that
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 a little bit more next week.
00:19:15 --> 00:19:16 But until then
00:19:16 --> 00:19:19 what you see is what you get.
00:19:19 --> 00:19:22 Christians are
00:19:22 --> 00:19:23 and will be
00:19:23 --> 00:19:23 imperfect.
00:19:26 --> 00:19:28 So if you're a Christian
00:19:28 --> 00:19:30 you need to hear
00:19:30 --> 00:19:31 and believe these words.
00:19:34 --> 00:19:35 There is now
00:19:35 --> 00:19:37 no condemnation
00:19:37 --> 00:19:41 for those who are in Christ Jesus.
00:19:41 --> 00:19:46 If you're sitting in this room
00:19:46 --> 00:19:47 and you're unsure
00:19:47 --> 00:19:50 whether or not you're in
00:19:50 --> 00:19:51 whether or not you want to be in
00:19:51 --> 00:19:52 you need to hear
00:19:52 --> 00:19:54 that if you follow Jesus
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 the first thing he will do
00:19:56 --> 00:19:58 is remove the possibility
00:19:58 --> 00:19:59 of condemnation.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:00 He will never let you go.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:02 He will offer you peace
00:20:02 --> 00:20:04 in his unconditional
00:20:04 --> 00:20:06 and irreversible love.
00:20:06 --> 00:20:14 So does that mean
00:20:14 --> 00:20:15 that God doesn't care
00:20:15 --> 00:20:15 what we do?
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 Does that mean
00:20:19 --> 00:20:20 behaviour is irrelevant?
00:20:20 --> 00:20:21 It's unimportant?
00:20:22 --> 00:20:23 Does that mean
00:20:23 --> 00:20:23 that Christians
00:20:23 --> 00:20:24 should be comfortable
00:20:24 --> 00:20:25 with the title hypocrite?
00:20:26 --> 00:20:27 At least I'm a forgiven hypocrite.
00:20:32 --> 00:20:33 Look back at verse 3.
00:20:36 --> 00:20:39 What the law was powerless to do
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 because it was weakened
00:20:41 --> 00:20:42 by the flesh
00:20:42 --> 00:20:46 so the law wasn't
00:20:46 --> 00:20:48 wasn't capable
00:20:48 --> 00:20:51 of enabling us
00:20:51 --> 00:20:52 to be good enough for God.
00:20:52 --> 00:20:54 But the problem wasn't the law
00:20:54 --> 00:20:55 it was weakened by the flesh
00:20:55 --> 00:20:56 it was weakened by you and me.
00:20:57 --> 00:20:58 The issue was the way
00:20:58 --> 00:20:59 that we approach the law
00:20:59 --> 00:21:01 as this oppressive force.
00:21:01 --> 00:21:03 But what the law was powerless to do
00:21:03 --> 00:21:04 because it was weakened
00:21:04 --> 00:21:05 by the flesh
00:21:05 --> 00:21:06 God did
00:21:06 --> 00:21:07 by sending his own son
00:21:07 --> 00:21:09 in the likeness of sinful flesh
00:21:09 --> 00:21:10 to be a sin offering
00:21:10 --> 00:21:11 and so he condemned
00:21:11 --> 00:21:12 sin in the flesh.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:14 Here's the key bit.
00:21:15 --> 00:21:15 Verse 4.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:17 Why did he do that?
00:21:19 --> 00:21:21 Why did he take away condemnation?
00:21:21 --> 00:21:22 What was the point?
00:21:22 --> 00:21:23 Was it just so that we could
00:21:23 --> 00:21:24 dance around and go
00:21:24 --> 00:21:25 hey I can't get in trouble?
00:21:27 --> 00:21:28 Verse 4.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 In order that
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 the righteous requirement
00:21:31 --> 00:21:32 of the law
00:21:32 --> 00:21:33 might be fully met
00:21:33 --> 00:21:34 in us
00:21:34 --> 00:21:35 who do not live
00:21:35 --> 00:21:36 according to the flesh
00:21:36 --> 00:21:37 but according to the spirit.
00:21:38 --> 00:21:39 In order that
00:21:39 --> 00:21:42 that's why Jesus died.
00:21:42 --> 00:21:43 That's why God
00:21:43 --> 00:21:45 takes away condemnation.
00:21:45 --> 00:21:46 So that we don't walk
00:21:46 --> 00:21:47 through life
00:21:47 --> 00:21:47 feeling crushed
00:21:47 --> 00:21:48 by expectation
00:21:48 --> 00:21:49 and guilt.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:51 Jesus died in your place
00:21:51 --> 00:21:52 and set you free
00:21:52 --> 00:21:53 so that
00:21:53 --> 00:21:54 you could start
00:21:54 --> 00:21:55 the process of change.
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 So that with the verdict
00:21:58 --> 00:21:59 already decided
00:21:59 --> 00:22:01 so that with the punishment
00:22:01 --> 00:22:03 possibility gone
00:22:03 --> 00:22:04 with the security
00:22:04 --> 00:22:05 of being a child of God
00:22:05 --> 00:22:06 you could then
00:22:06 --> 00:22:07 begin the process
00:22:07 --> 00:22:08 of growing
00:22:08 --> 00:22:10 in your holiness.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:16 Now I've been struggling
00:22:16 --> 00:22:17 all week to figure out
00:22:17 --> 00:22:18 how to articulate
00:22:18 --> 00:22:19 what I feel
00:22:19 --> 00:22:20 when I say that.
00:22:21 --> 00:22:22 Because it feels
00:22:22 --> 00:22:23 like attention
00:22:23 --> 00:22:24 doesn't it?
00:22:25 --> 00:22:27 Hey there's no condemnation.
00:22:28 --> 00:22:29 Jesus has died
00:22:29 --> 00:22:30 so you can be forgiven
00:22:30 --> 00:22:31 regardless of what you've done
00:22:31 --> 00:22:32 or will do.
00:22:33 --> 00:22:34 And nothing you can do
00:22:34 --> 00:22:34 can undo
00:22:34 --> 00:22:35 what Jesus has done.
00:22:36 --> 00:22:37 But hey by the way
00:22:37 --> 00:22:38 the whole point
00:22:38 --> 00:22:39 was so that you would
00:22:39 --> 00:22:40 start doing some stuff.
00:22:41 --> 00:22:43 So that you would change.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:44 So that you would be
00:22:44 --> 00:22:45 a little bit different.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:45 I mean
00:22:45 --> 00:22:47 isn't that like
00:22:47 --> 00:22:49 an irreconcilable tension?
00:22:51 --> 00:22:52 Doesn't it sound strange
00:22:52 --> 00:22:53 to be completely free
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 with conditions?
00:22:56 --> 00:22:57 It feels like
00:22:57 --> 00:22:58 an oxymoron.
00:22:58 --> 00:23:00 The best word
00:23:00 --> 00:23:01 that I can give for this
00:23:01 --> 00:23:01 I was going to say
00:23:01 --> 00:23:02 it's kind of
00:23:02 --> 00:23:03 an apparent tension
00:23:03 --> 00:23:05 a perceived tension
00:23:05 --> 00:23:06 but I think what it is
00:23:06 --> 00:23:07 is it's an experienced
00:23:07 --> 00:23:08 tension.
00:23:10 --> 00:23:11 Because we do experience this.
00:23:12 --> 00:23:14 We know that God
00:23:14 --> 00:23:14 has died for us.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:15 We know that forgiveness
00:23:15 --> 00:23:16 is in Him alone
00:23:16 --> 00:23:17 and yet
00:23:17 --> 00:23:18 even knowing that
00:23:18 --> 00:23:20 we experience the guilt
00:23:20 --> 00:23:21 of maybe wandering
00:23:21 --> 00:23:23 too far in one direction
00:23:23 --> 00:23:24 and holding these things apart.
00:23:24 --> 00:23:25 So I'm either forgiven
00:23:25 --> 00:23:26 or I'm guilty
00:23:26 --> 00:23:27 and I need to try harder.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:29 We really struggle
00:23:29 --> 00:23:30 to hold those things together
00:23:30 --> 00:23:31 but Paul
00:23:31 --> 00:23:32 writes them
00:23:32 --> 00:23:33 in this chapter
00:23:33 --> 00:23:34 which is
00:23:34 --> 00:23:35 designed
00:23:35 --> 00:23:37 to make you feel secure
00:23:37 --> 00:23:38 as a follower of Jesus.
00:23:39 --> 00:23:40 Every verse in this chapter
00:23:40 --> 00:23:42 is supposed to feed you
00:23:42 --> 00:23:43 and make you walk out of here
00:23:43 --> 00:23:44 feeling invincible
00:23:44 --> 00:23:46 because God's love for you
00:23:46 --> 00:23:46 cannot be taken.
00:23:46 --> 00:23:48 Because His power
00:23:48 --> 00:23:48 dwells in you
00:23:48 --> 00:23:50 because no failure
00:23:50 --> 00:23:51 no opposition
00:23:51 --> 00:23:52 nothing can stop you
00:23:52 --> 00:23:53 from God's good plan.
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 And in the middle of that
00:23:55 --> 00:23:56 with a straight face
00:23:56 --> 00:23:57 He says
00:23:57 --> 00:23:58 you need to become
00:23:58 --> 00:23:59 more like Jesus.
00:24:00 --> 00:24:02 He puts a standard in there.
00:24:03 --> 00:24:04 So He doesn't see it
00:24:04 --> 00:24:05 as a tension
00:24:05 --> 00:24:08 and yet we experience it
00:24:08 --> 00:24:08 that way.
00:24:10 --> 00:24:10 And the reason is
00:24:10 --> 00:24:11 I believe
00:24:11 --> 00:24:12 because the issue
00:24:12 --> 00:24:13 isn't with the rules
00:24:13 --> 00:24:14 themselves.
00:24:15 --> 00:24:16 The issue isn't
00:24:16 --> 00:24:17 with the command
00:24:17 --> 00:24:18 to love your enemy
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 or to love your neighbour
00:24:19 --> 00:24:20 or to honour your parents.
00:24:21 --> 00:24:21 The issue
00:24:21 --> 00:24:23 is that the laws
00:24:23 --> 00:24:24 and the rules
00:24:24 --> 00:24:25 and the standards
00:24:25 --> 00:24:26 which are good
00:24:26 --> 00:24:30 feel oppressive
00:24:30 --> 00:24:33 because we never
00:24:33 --> 00:24:35 ever meet them.
00:24:37 --> 00:24:38 Because we hold them up
00:24:38 --> 00:24:39 as a means
00:24:39 --> 00:24:40 by which we might
00:24:40 --> 00:24:42 somehow please God
00:24:42 --> 00:24:42 or make Him happy
00:24:42 --> 00:24:44 they become something
00:24:44 --> 00:24:45 that has power over us.
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 which means
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 we've heard forgiveness
00:24:47 --> 00:24:48 but we haven't understood
00:24:48 --> 00:24:50 what we've been freed from.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:53 That's what it says
00:24:53 --> 00:24:53 at the beginning
00:24:53 --> 00:24:54 of chapter 8
00:24:54 --> 00:24:54 we've been freed
00:24:54 --> 00:24:55 from the power
00:24:55 --> 00:24:56 of the law.
00:24:57 --> 00:24:58 The power of the law
00:24:58 --> 00:25:00 is that it can crush us
00:25:00 --> 00:25:01 with guilt
00:25:01 --> 00:25:01 and oppression.
00:25:03 --> 00:25:04 The power of the law
00:25:04 --> 00:25:05 is that
00:25:05 --> 00:25:07 it can hold us captive
00:25:07 --> 00:25:08 but can't actually
00:25:08 --> 00:25:09 deliver the thing
00:25:09 --> 00:25:10 that we want
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12 to please the God
00:25:12 --> 00:25:13 who made us.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:15 See the reason
00:25:15 --> 00:25:17 this is an experience
00:25:17 --> 00:25:17 tension
00:25:17 --> 00:25:18 is because
00:25:18 --> 00:25:19 we look at the law
00:25:19 --> 00:25:20 as if it still
00:25:20 --> 00:25:21 has power
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23 without understanding
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 that what Jesus
00:25:24 --> 00:25:25 does on the cross
00:25:25 --> 00:25:26 as well as remove
00:25:26 --> 00:25:26 penalty
00:25:26 --> 00:25:27 as well as
00:25:27 --> 00:25:28 draw us into
00:25:28 --> 00:25:28 His family
00:25:28 --> 00:25:30 is transform
00:25:30 --> 00:25:31 the law
00:25:31 --> 00:25:31 into what it's
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 always supposed to be
00:25:33 --> 00:25:35 a good gift
00:25:35 --> 00:25:36 from God
00:25:36 --> 00:25:36 to show us
00:25:36 --> 00:25:37 what it looks like
00:25:37 --> 00:25:39 to walk the life
00:25:39 --> 00:25:40 that He designed.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:45 It goes from being
00:25:45 --> 00:25:45 this oppressive
00:25:45 --> 00:25:46 bar that we have
00:25:46 --> 00:25:47 to meet
00:25:47 --> 00:25:48 to being a map
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49 to guide us
00:25:49 --> 00:25:50 through life.
00:25:53 --> 00:25:53 Augustine
00:25:53 --> 00:25:55 articulates it
00:25:55 --> 00:25:55 very helpfully
00:25:55 --> 00:25:56 he says
00:25:56 --> 00:25:57 law was given
00:25:57 --> 00:25:58 that grace
00:25:58 --> 00:25:59 might be sought
00:25:59 --> 00:26:01 grace was given
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02 that law
00:26:02 --> 00:26:03 might be fulfilled
00:26:03 --> 00:26:06 the law
00:26:06 --> 00:26:07 was never
00:26:07 --> 00:26:08 going to deliver
00:26:08 --> 00:26:12 but it drives us
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12 to Jesus
00:26:12 --> 00:26:13 who does
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16 and Jesus
00:26:16 --> 00:26:16 takes us
00:26:16 --> 00:26:17 back to the law
00:26:17 --> 00:26:18 to show us
00:26:18 --> 00:26:18 what it was
00:26:18 --> 00:26:19 always supposed
00:26:19 --> 00:26:20 to do anyway
00:26:20 --> 00:26:22 to lead us
00:26:22 --> 00:26:25 to show us
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 that there is
00:26:25 --> 00:26:25 blessing
00:26:25 --> 00:26:26 in loving
00:26:26 --> 00:26:27 your enemy
00:26:27 --> 00:26:29 that God
00:26:29 --> 00:26:29 will bless you
00:26:29 --> 00:26:30 as you seek
00:26:30 --> 00:26:31 to obey Him
00:26:31 --> 00:26:32 and do things
00:26:32 --> 00:26:32 the way
00:26:32 --> 00:26:33 that He designed.
00:26:35 --> 00:26:36 Now a life
00:26:36 --> 00:26:36 that lines up
00:26:36 --> 00:26:37 with God's law
00:26:37 --> 00:26:38 is not the means
00:26:38 --> 00:26:39 by which you
00:26:39 --> 00:26:39 become a Christian
00:26:39 --> 00:26:40 it's not even
00:26:40 --> 00:26:41 the measure
00:26:41 --> 00:26:41 of whether or not
00:26:41 --> 00:26:42 your Christian faith
00:26:42 --> 00:26:43 is genuine
00:26:43 --> 00:26:44 but it is
00:26:44 --> 00:26:45 what it looks
00:26:45 --> 00:26:45 like
00:26:45 --> 00:26:46 to live
00:26:46 --> 00:26:47 as somebody
00:26:47 --> 00:26:47 who's been
00:26:47 --> 00:26:48 freed.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:50 That's why
00:26:50 --> 00:26:51 it says
00:26:51 --> 00:26:52 in verse 12
00:26:52 --> 00:26:53 therefore
00:26:53 --> 00:26:54 brothers and
00:26:54 --> 00:26:54 sisters
00:26:54 --> 00:26:55 we have an
00:26:55 --> 00:26:56 obligation
00:26:56 --> 00:26:58 okay we're
00:26:58 --> 00:26:58 free
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 but brothers
00:26:59 --> 00:27:00 and sisters
00:27:00 --> 00:27:00 we have an
00:27:00 --> 00:27:01 obligation
00:27:01 --> 00:27:01 but it's not
00:27:01 --> 00:27:02 to the flesh
00:27:02 --> 00:27:03 to live
00:27:03 --> 00:27:03 according to it
00:27:03 --> 00:27:04 the flesh
00:27:04 --> 00:27:04 is death
00:27:04 --> 00:27:05 the flesh
00:27:05 --> 00:27:05 delivered
00:27:05 --> 00:27:06 nothing for us
00:27:06 --> 00:27:06 the flesh
00:27:06 --> 00:27:07 is that guilt
00:27:07 --> 00:27:07 and oppression
00:27:07 --> 00:27:09 for if you
00:27:09 --> 00:27:09 live according
00:27:09 --> 00:27:10 to the flesh
00:27:10 --> 00:27:11 you will die
00:27:11 --> 00:27:12 but if by the
00:27:12 --> 00:27:13 spirit
00:27:13 --> 00:27:14 you put to death
00:27:14 --> 00:27:15 the misdeeds
00:27:15 --> 00:27:15 of the body
00:27:15 --> 00:27:17 you will live
00:27:17 --> 00:27:20 the obligation
00:27:20 --> 00:27:22 of the Christian
00:27:22 --> 00:27:23 is to live
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 free
00:27:24 --> 00:27:27 you can't
00:27:27 --> 00:27:28 accept freedom
00:27:28 --> 00:27:29 from God
00:27:29 --> 00:27:30 and then put
00:27:30 --> 00:27:30 the shackles
00:27:30 --> 00:27:31 back on
00:27:31 --> 00:27:33 that's rejecting
00:27:33 --> 00:27:34 freedom
00:27:34 --> 00:27:35 you can't
00:27:35 --> 00:27:35 hold them
00:27:35 --> 00:27:36 together
00:27:36 --> 00:27:37 the obligation
00:27:37 --> 00:27:37 we have
00:27:37 --> 00:27:37 is to
00:27:37 --> 00:27:38 recognize
00:27:38 --> 00:27:38 that what
00:27:38 --> 00:27:39 Jesus
00:27:39 --> 00:27:40 has done
00:27:40 --> 00:27:40 is released
00:27:40 --> 00:27:41 us
00:27:41 --> 00:27:42 to begin
00:27:42 --> 00:27:42 obeying
00:27:42 --> 00:27:43 those laws
00:27:43 --> 00:27:44 not as
00:27:44 --> 00:27:44 oppression
00:27:44 --> 00:27:45 but as
00:27:45 --> 00:27:45 encouragement
00:27:45 --> 00:27:47 as opportunity
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50 it's no longer
00:27:50 --> 00:27:50 a weight
00:27:50 --> 00:27:51 to be carried
00:27:51 --> 00:27:51 it is a torch
00:27:51 --> 00:27:52 to guide
00:27:52 --> 00:27:52 the way
00:27:52 --> 00:27:57 because the
00:27:57 --> 00:27:57 reality is
00:27:57 --> 00:27:58 before Jesus
00:27:58 --> 00:27:59 there wasn't
00:27:59 --> 00:27:59 even the
00:27:59 --> 00:28:00 possibility
00:28:00 --> 00:28:00 of obedience
00:28:00 --> 00:28:01 that's what
00:28:01 --> 00:28:02 makes the
00:28:02 --> 00:28:02 rules and
00:28:02 --> 00:28:03 laws so
00:28:03 --> 00:28:03 oppressive
00:28:03 --> 00:28:05 verse 7
00:28:05 --> 00:28:06 says
00:28:06 --> 00:28:06 the mind
00:28:06 --> 00:28:07 governed by
00:28:07 --> 00:28:07 the flesh
00:28:07 --> 00:28:08 is hostile
00:28:08 --> 00:28:08 to God
00:28:08 --> 00:28:09 this is the
00:28:09 --> 00:28:09 life before
00:28:09 --> 00:28:10 we know
00:28:10 --> 00:28:11 Jesus
00:28:11 --> 00:28:12 it does not
00:28:12 --> 00:28:12 submit to
00:28:12 --> 00:28:13 God's law
00:28:13 --> 00:28:13 nor can it
00:28:13 --> 00:28:14 do so
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 those who
00:28:16 --> 00:28:16 are in the
00:28:16 --> 00:28:17 realm of
00:28:17 --> 00:28:17 the flesh
00:28:17 --> 00:28:18 cannot
00:28:18 --> 00:28:19 please
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20 God
00:28:20 --> 00:28:23 without
00:28:23 --> 00:28:24 Jesus
00:28:24 --> 00:28:25 the word
00:28:25 --> 00:28:26 that hangs
00:28:26 --> 00:28:26 over our
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 life
00:28:27 --> 00:28:27 that summarizes
00:28:27 --> 00:28:28 everything we
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 do
00:28:28 --> 00:28:28 even the
00:28:28 --> 00:28:29 apparently
00:28:29 --> 00:28:30 good things
00:28:30 --> 00:28:30 is death
00:28:30 --> 00:28:34 we are
00:28:34 --> 00:28:35 incapable of
00:28:35 --> 00:28:36 ever pleasing
00:28:36 --> 00:28:36 our creator
00:28:36 --> 00:28:37 in our own
00:28:37 --> 00:28:37 strength
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40 but having
00:28:40 --> 00:28:40 removed
00:28:40 --> 00:28:42 condemnation
00:28:42 --> 00:28:44 he gives us
00:28:44 --> 00:28:45 his spirit
00:28:45 --> 00:28:46 that we might
00:28:46 --> 00:28:46 know the
00:28:46 --> 00:28:47 blessing of
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48 walking the
00:28:48 --> 00:28:48 path that he
00:28:48 --> 00:28:49 designed for
00:28:49 --> 00:28:49 us
00:28:49 --> 00:28:52 that we
00:28:52 --> 00:28:53 might understand
00:28:53 --> 00:28:53 what he
00:28:53 --> 00:28:53 meant when
00:28:53 --> 00:28:54 Jesus said
00:28:54 --> 00:28:55 I've come
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 that you
00:28:55 --> 00:28:55 might have
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56 life and
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 have it to
00:28:56 --> 00:28:56 the full
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 now the
00:29:00 --> 00:29:00 struggle with
00:29:00 --> 00:29:01 sin is going
00:29:01 --> 00:29:01 to continue
00:29:01 --> 00:29:03 as long as
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 with this
00:29:03 --> 00:29:03 side of
00:29:03 --> 00:29:04 heaven it's
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 still going
00:29:04 --> 00:29:04 to be
00:29:04 --> 00:29:05 reality
00:29:05 --> 00:29:05 verse 10
00:29:05 --> 00:29:06 he says
00:29:06 --> 00:29:06 it again
00:29:06 --> 00:29:07 he says
00:29:07 --> 00:29:07 if Christ
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08 is in
00:29:08 --> 00:29:08 you
00:29:08 --> 00:29:09 even though
00:29:09 --> 00:29:09 your body
00:29:09 --> 00:29:10 is subject
00:29:10 --> 00:29:10 to death
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 because of
00:29:11 --> 00:29:11 sin
00:29:11 --> 00:29:12 that is
00:29:12 --> 00:29:12 it's still
00:29:12 --> 00:29:13 around
00:29:13 --> 00:29:13 you're still
00:29:13 --> 00:29:14 dealing with
00:29:14 --> 00:29:14 the pain
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 and consequences
00:29:15 --> 00:29:15 of your
00:29:15 --> 00:29:16 own
00:29:16 --> 00:29:17 disobedience
00:29:17 --> 00:29:18 and stupidity
00:29:18 --> 00:29:19 in that
00:29:19 --> 00:29:20 context
00:29:20 --> 00:29:21 the spirit
00:29:21 --> 00:29:21 gives life
00:29:21 --> 00:29:22 because of
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 righteousness
00:29:23 --> 00:29:23 the war
00:29:23 --> 00:29:24 will continue
00:29:24 --> 00:29:25 to wage
00:29:25 --> 00:29:28 but it's
00:29:28 --> 00:29:28 a battle
00:29:28 --> 00:29:29 that's
00:29:29 --> 00:29:29 already
00:29:29 --> 00:29:29 won
00:29:29 --> 00:29:33 because
00:29:33 --> 00:29:34 verse 11
00:29:34 --> 00:29:35 if the
00:29:35 --> 00:29:36 spirit of
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 him who
00:29:36 --> 00:29:36 raised
00:29:36 --> 00:29:37 Jesus
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 from the
00:29:37 --> 00:29:37 dead
00:29:37 --> 00:29:38 is living
00:29:38 --> 00:29:38 in you
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40 he who
00:29:40 --> 00:29:40 raised
00:29:40 --> 00:29:40 Christ
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41 from the
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 dead
00:29:41 --> 00:29:41 will also
00:29:41 --> 00:29:42 give life
00:29:42 --> 00:29:42 to your
00:29:42 --> 00:29:42 mortal
00:29:42 --> 00:29:43 bodies
00:29:43 --> 00:29:43 because
00:29:43 --> 00:29:44 of his
00:29:44 --> 00:29:45 spirit
00:29:45 --> 00:29:46 who lives
00:29:46 --> 00:29:46 in you
00:29:46 --> 00:29:47 the power
00:29:47 --> 00:29:48 of sin
00:29:48 --> 00:29:48 and failure
00:29:48 --> 00:29:49 its power
00:29:49 --> 00:29:49 to condemn
00:29:49 --> 00:29:50 us
00:29:50 --> 00:29:51 both within
00:29:51 --> 00:29:51 our conscience
00:29:51 --> 00:29:52 and before
00:29:52 --> 00:29:52 God
00:29:52 --> 00:29:53 is nothing
00:29:53 --> 00:29:55 compared
00:29:55 --> 00:29:56 to the
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 power
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 of the
00:29:56 --> 00:29:56 Holy
00:29:56 --> 00:29:57 Spirit
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 that
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 raised
00:29:57 --> 00:29:57 Jesus
00:29:57 --> 00:29:58 from
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 the
00:29:58 --> 00:29:58 dead
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01 the
00:30:01 --> 00:30:01 same
00:30:01 --> 00:30:01 Holy
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02 Spirit
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 that's
00:30:02 --> 00:30:02 now
00:30:02 --> 00:30:03 living
00:30:03 --> 00:30:03 in us
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04 empowering
00:30:04 --> 00:30:04 us
00:30:04 --> 00:30:04 to
00:30:04 --> 00:30:05 progressively
00:30:05 --> 00:30:05 win
00:30:05 --> 00:30:06 the battle
00:30:06 --> 00:30:06 against
00:30:06 --> 00:30:07 sin
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 it's
00:30:07 --> 00:30:07 not
00:30:07 --> 00:30:08 that you
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 become
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 a
00:30:08 --> 00:30:08 Christian
00:30:08 --> 00:30:09 here
00:30:09 --> 00:30:09 and your
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10 holiness
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11 level
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 is here
00:30:11 --> 00:30:11 and then
00:30:11 --> 00:30:12 you're
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 going to
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 be on
00:30:12 --> 00:30:12 a pretty
00:30:12 --> 00:30:13 straight
00:30:13 --> 00:30:13 45 degree
00:30:13 --> 00:30:14 angle
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 until one
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 day you
00:30:14 --> 00:30:14 hit
00:30:14 --> 00:30:15 perfection
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16 that'd
00:30:16 --> 00:30:17 be nice
00:30:17 --> 00:30:18 because at
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 least you
00:30:18 --> 00:30:18 could chart
00:30:18 --> 00:30:19 your progress
00:30:19 --> 00:30:20 you might
00:30:20 --> 00:30:21 have moments
00:30:21 --> 00:30:21 like this
00:30:21 --> 00:30:22 and flatline
00:30:22 --> 00:30:24 you might
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25 win
00:30:25 --> 00:30:26 your struggle
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 against sin
00:30:26 --> 00:30:26 and then
00:30:26 --> 00:30:27 lose
00:30:27 --> 00:30:27 and then
00:30:27 --> 00:30:28 win
00:30:28 --> 00:30:28 and then
00:30:28 --> 00:30:28 win
00:30:28 --> 00:30:29 and then
00:30:29 --> 00:30:29 lose
00:30:29 --> 00:30:30 and then
00:30:30 --> 00:30:30 lose
00:30:30 --> 00:30:31 and then
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 win
00:30:31 --> 00:30:31 and then
00:30:31 --> 00:30:32 it's not
00:30:32 --> 00:30:33 a clean
00:30:33 --> 00:30:33 line like
00:30:33 --> 00:30:34 that
00:30:34 --> 00:30:35 but however
00:30:35 --> 00:30:36 the line
00:30:36 --> 00:30:36 goes
00:30:36 --> 00:30:39 the possibility
00:30:39 --> 00:30:40 of condemnation
00:30:40 --> 00:30:40 is gone
00:30:40 --> 00:30:43 the power
00:30:43 --> 00:30:44 of sin
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 when you
00:30:44 --> 00:30:44 lose
00:30:44 --> 00:30:45 to drag
00:30:45 --> 00:30:46 you deeper
00:30:46 --> 00:30:46 and further
00:30:46 --> 00:30:46 and to
00:30:46 --> 00:30:47 create doubt
00:30:47 --> 00:30:48 is gone
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49 because however
00:30:49 --> 00:30:50 your line
00:30:50 --> 00:30:50 goes
00:30:50 --> 00:30:51 it will
00:30:51 --> 00:30:51 end up
00:30:51 --> 00:30:52 in the
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 same
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 place
00:30:52 --> 00:30:52 as
00:30:52 --> 00:30:53 everybody
00:30:53 --> 00:30:53 who
00:30:53 --> 00:30:53 trusts
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54 Jesus
00:30:54 --> 00:30:56 verse 29
00:30:56 --> 00:30:57 says
00:30:57 --> 00:30:58 those God
00:30:58 --> 00:30:58 foreknew
00:30:58 --> 00:30:59 he also
00:30:59 --> 00:31:00 predestined
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01 to be
00:31:01 --> 00:31:01 conformed
00:31:01 --> 00:31:01 to the
00:31:01 --> 00:31:02 image
00:31:02 --> 00:31:02 of his
00:31:02 --> 00:31:02 son
00:31:02 --> 00:31:05 God's
00:31:05 --> 00:31:05 doing
00:31:05 --> 00:31:06 the work
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07 and then
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08 verse 30
00:31:08 --> 00:31:08 those he
00:31:08 --> 00:31:09 predestined
00:31:09 --> 00:31:10 he called
00:31:10 --> 00:31:11 those he
00:31:11 --> 00:31:11 called
00:31:11 --> 00:31:12 he justified
00:31:12 --> 00:31:13 that's the
00:31:13 --> 00:31:14 condemnation
00:31:14 --> 00:31:14 removed
00:31:14 --> 00:31:15 and those
00:31:15 --> 00:31:16 he justified
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18 he glorified
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19 that's heaven
00:31:19 --> 00:31:21 it's
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22 inevitable
00:31:22 --> 00:31:23 because the
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24 condemnation
00:31:24 --> 00:31:25 is gone
00:31:25 --> 00:31:25 the end
00:31:25 --> 00:31:25 point of
00:31:25 --> 00:31:26 your life
00:31:26 --> 00:31:28 is heaven
00:31:28 --> 00:31:29 if you
00:31:29 --> 00:31:30 trust in
00:31:30 --> 00:31:30 Jesus
00:31:30 --> 00:31:32 there is
00:31:32 --> 00:31:33 no tension
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 between
00:31:34 --> 00:31:34 God's grace
00:31:34 --> 00:31:35 to us
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36 and our
00:31:36 --> 00:31:37 obligation
00:31:37 --> 00:31:37 in this
00:31:37 --> 00:31:38 passage
00:31:38 --> 00:31:39 this chapter
00:31:39 --> 00:31:40 is assuring
00:31:40 --> 00:31:40 us
00:31:40 --> 00:31:41 it's building
00:31:41 --> 00:31:42 our confidence
00:31:42 --> 00:31:42 in what God
00:31:42 --> 00:31:43 has done
00:31:43 --> 00:31:44 so that when
00:31:44 --> 00:31:44 we fail
00:31:44 --> 00:31:45 when we
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 struggle
00:31:45 --> 00:31:45 there will
00:31:45 --> 00:31:46 be peace
00:31:46 --> 00:31:48 that we
00:31:48 --> 00:31:48 might
00:31:48 --> 00:31:49 continue
00:31:49 --> 00:31:51 and that
00:31:51 --> 00:31:51 peace is
00:31:51 --> 00:31:52 found
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53 in living
00:31:53 --> 00:31:53 by his
00:31:53 --> 00:31:54 spirit
00:31:54 --> 00:31:56 living by
00:31:56 --> 00:31:56 the spirit
00:31:56 --> 00:31:57 is not
00:31:57 --> 00:31:57 perfect
00:31:57 --> 00:31:57 living
00:31:57 --> 00:31:58 but it
00:31:58 --> 00:31:59 is active
00:31:59 --> 00:31:59 living
00:31:59 --> 00:32:01 look at
00:32:01 --> 00:32:02 verse 12
00:32:02 --> 00:32:02 this is where
00:32:02 --> 00:32:02 I want to
00:32:02 --> 00:32:03 finish
00:32:03 --> 00:32:05 therefore
00:32:05 --> 00:32:06 brothers and
00:32:06 --> 00:32:06 sisters
00:32:06 --> 00:32:07 we have
00:32:07 --> 00:32:08 an obligation
00:32:08 --> 00:32:09 but it's
00:32:09 --> 00:32:09 not to the
00:32:09 --> 00:32:10 flesh to
00:32:10 --> 00:32:10 live according
00:32:10 --> 00:32:11 to it
00:32:11 --> 00:32:12 for if you
00:32:12 --> 00:32:12 live according
00:32:12 --> 00:32:12 to the flesh
00:32:12 --> 00:32:13 you will
00:32:13 --> 00:32:13 die
00:32:13 --> 00:32:14 but
00:32:14 --> 00:32:16 this is what
00:32:16 --> 00:32:16 it looks
00:32:16 --> 00:32:16 like
00:32:16 --> 00:32:18 but if
00:32:18 --> 00:32:18 by the
00:32:18 --> 00:32:19 spirit
00:32:19 --> 00:32:19 you put
00:32:19 --> 00:32:20 to death
00:32:20 --> 00:32:21 the misdeeds
00:32:21 --> 00:32:21 of the
00:32:21 --> 00:32:21 body
00:32:21 --> 00:32:22 you will
00:32:22 --> 00:32:23 live
00:32:23 --> 00:32:26 put to
00:32:26 --> 00:32:27 death
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28 the misdeeds
00:32:28 --> 00:32:28 of your
00:32:28 --> 00:32:29 body
00:32:29 --> 00:32:31 that's
00:32:31 --> 00:32:31 fairly
00:32:31 --> 00:32:32 serious
00:32:32 --> 00:32:32 language
00:32:32 --> 00:32:34 you don't
00:32:34 --> 00:32:35 tend to
00:32:35 --> 00:32:35 kill anything
00:32:35 --> 00:32:36 through
00:32:36 --> 00:32:38 being passive
00:32:38 --> 00:32:40 actively
00:32:40 --> 00:32:41 fighting with
00:32:41 --> 00:32:42 and killing
00:32:42 --> 00:32:42 sin in your
00:32:42 --> 00:32:43 life
00:32:43 --> 00:32:45 actively
00:32:45 --> 00:32:46 resisting
00:32:46 --> 00:32:46 the things
00:32:46 --> 00:32:47 that try
00:32:47 --> 00:32:47 and drag
00:32:47 --> 00:32:48 you away
00:32:48 --> 00:32:48 from what
00:32:48 --> 00:32:48 Christ
00:32:48 --> 00:32:49 has done
00:32:49 --> 00:32:49 for you
00:32:49 --> 00:32:53 this is
00:32:53 --> 00:32:54 not competing
00:32:54 --> 00:32:54 with verse 1
00:32:54 --> 00:32:55 no condemnation
00:32:55 --> 00:32:56 and put to
00:32:56 --> 00:32:56 death
00:32:56 --> 00:32:57 sit next
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 to each
00:32:57 --> 00:32:57 other
00:32:57 --> 00:32:59 how do
00:32:59 --> 00:32:59 we know
00:32:59 --> 00:33:00 the deep
00:33:00 --> 00:33:00 confidence
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01 of being
00:33:01 --> 00:33:01 loved by
00:33:01 --> 00:33:02 God
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02 through
00:33:02 --> 00:33:02 Jesus
00:33:02 --> 00:33:03 death
00:33:03 --> 00:33:03 and
00:33:03 --> 00:33:03 resurrection
00:33:03 --> 00:33:05 how can
00:33:05 --> 00:33:05 that verse
00:33:05 --> 00:33:05 there is
00:33:05 --> 00:33:06 no condemnation
00:33:06 --> 00:33:07 be imprinted
00:33:07 --> 00:33:08 on us
00:33:08 --> 00:33:08 so deeply
00:33:08 --> 00:33:09 that we
00:33:09 --> 00:33:09 might never
00:33:09 --> 00:33:10 forget
00:33:10 --> 00:33:10 that truth
00:33:10 --> 00:33:19 by putting
00:33:19 --> 00:33:20 to death
00:33:20 --> 00:33:20 the misdeeds
00:33:20 --> 00:33:21 of the body
00:33:21 --> 00:33:23 by living
00:33:23 --> 00:33:23 according to
00:33:23 --> 00:33:24 the spirit
00:33:24 --> 00:33:24 and if that's
00:33:24 --> 00:33:25 the key
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 what does
00:33:26 --> 00:33:26 that look
00:33:26 --> 00:33:27 like
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 for you
00:33:28 --> 00:33:30 how do
00:33:30 --> 00:33:30 you do
00:33:30 --> 00:33:30 it
00:33:30 --> 00:33:31 how do
00:33:31 --> 00:33:32 you kill
00:33:32 --> 00:33:32 sin
00:33:32 --> 00:33:36 verse 2
00:33:36 --> 00:33:39 through
00:33:39 --> 00:33:40 Christ
00:33:40 --> 00:33:40 Jesus
00:33:40 --> 00:33:41 the law
00:33:41 --> 00:33:41 of the
00:33:41 --> 00:33:41 spirit
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42 who gives
00:33:42 --> 00:33:42 life
00:33:42 --> 00:33:43 has set
00:33:43 --> 00:33:44 you free
00:33:44 --> 00:33:45 from the
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 law of
00:33:45 --> 00:33:45 sin
00:33:45 --> 00:33:46 and death
00:33:46 --> 00:33:47 for what
00:33:47 --> 00:33:47 the law
00:33:47 --> 00:33:48 was powerless
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 to do
00:33:48 --> 00:33:48 because it
00:33:48 --> 00:33:49 was weakened
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 by the
00:33:49 --> 00:33:49 flesh
00:33:49 --> 00:33:50 God
00:33:50 --> 00:33:50 did
00:33:50 --> 00:33:51 by sending
00:33:51 --> 00:33:52 his own
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 son
00:33:52 --> 00:33:52 in the
00:33:52 --> 00:33:53 likeness
00:33:53 --> 00:33:53 of sinful
00:33:53 --> 00:33:54 flesh
00:33:54 --> 00:33:54 to be a
00:33:54 --> 00:33:55 sin
00:33:55 --> 00:33:55 offering
00:33:55 --> 00:33:56 and so
00:33:56 --> 00:33:58 he condemned
00:33:58 --> 00:34:00 sin
00:34:00 --> 00:34:01 in the
00:34:01 --> 00:34:01 flesh
00:34:01 --> 00:34:04 Jesus
00:34:04 --> 00:34:05 is the
00:34:05 --> 00:34:05 one
00:34:05 --> 00:34:05 who
00:34:05 --> 00:34:05 kills
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06 sin
00:34:06 --> 00:34:08 it's not
00:34:08 --> 00:34:09 something
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 you have
00:34:09 --> 00:34:09 to do
00:34:09 --> 00:34:12 he empties
00:34:12 --> 00:34:12 of it
00:34:12 --> 00:34:13 of its
00:34:13 --> 00:34:13 power
00:34:13 --> 00:34:14 he condemns
00:34:14 --> 00:34:14 it
00:34:14 --> 00:34:15 he puts
00:34:15 --> 00:34:15 it on
00:34:15 --> 00:34:16 the cross
00:34:16 --> 00:34:16 and leaves
00:34:16 --> 00:34:17 it behind
00:34:17 --> 00:34:17 in the
00:34:17 --> 00:34:17 grave
00:34:17 --> 00:34:18 we must
00:34:18 --> 00:34:19 stop
00:34:19 --> 00:34:19 trying to
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20 do this
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 on our
00:34:20 --> 00:34:20 own
00:34:20 --> 00:34:22 the
00:34:22 --> 00:34:23 greatest
00:34:23 --> 00:34:23 source
00:34:23 --> 00:34:24 of guilt
00:34:24 --> 00:34:24 for the
00:34:24 --> 00:34:25 Christian
00:34:25 --> 00:34:26 the greatest
00:34:26 --> 00:34:26 source
00:34:26 --> 00:34:26 of
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 discouragement
00:34:27 --> 00:34:27 for somebody
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28 who's trying
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 to follow
00:34:28 --> 00:34:28 Jesus
00:34:28 --> 00:34:29 is trying
00:34:29 --> 00:34:30 to do
00:34:30 --> 00:34:30 what God
00:34:30 --> 00:34:31 doesn't ask
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 you to
00:34:31 --> 00:34:31 do
00:34:31 --> 00:34:35 if you
00:34:35 --> 00:34:35 want to
00:34:35 --> 00:34:35 kill
00:34:35 --> 00:34:35 your
00:34:35 --> 00:34:35 sin
00:34:35 --> 00:34:37 if you
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 want to
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 put it
00:34:37 --> 00:34:37 to death
00:34:37 --> 00:34:38 if you
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 want to
00:34:38 --> 00:34:38 stop
00:34:38 --> 00:34:39 being
00:34:39 --> 00:34:39 controlled
00:34:39 --> 00:34:40 by it
00:34:40 --> 00:34:41 then hand
00:34:41 --> 00:34:42 it over
00:34:42 --> 00:34:42 to Jesus
00:34:42 --> 00:34:46 because he
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 condemns it
00:34:46 --> 00:34:46 in the
00:34:46 --> 00:34:47 cross
00:34:47 --> 00:34:50 he defeats
00:34:50 --> 00:34:50 it
00:34:50 --> 00:34:52 he destroys
00:34:52 --> 00:34:53 it
00:34:53 --> 00:34:55 confess it
00:34:55 --> 00:34:55 to him
00:34:55 --> 00:34:58 specifically
00:34:58 --> 00:34:59 explicitly
00:34:59 --> 00:35:00 don't hold
00:35:00 --> 00:35:00 on to it
00:35:00 --> 00:35:01 don't
00:35:01 --> 00:35:01 don't try
00:35:01 --> 00:35:02 and improve
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 a little
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 bit
00:35:02 --> 00:35:02 before you
00:35:02 --> 00:35:03 lay it
00:35:03 --> 00:35:03 bare
00:35:03 --> 00:35:04 before him
00:35:04 --> 00:35:05 don't be
00:35:05 --> 00:35:06 like oh
00:35:06 --> 00:35:06 hey God
00:35:06 --> 00:35:06 I was being
00:35:06 --> 00:35:07 really greedy
00:35:07 --> 00:35:07 with my
00:35:07 --> 00:35:08 money a few
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08 months ago
00:35:08 --> 00:35:08 I'm in a
00:35:08 --> 00:35:09 slightly better
00:35:09 --> 00:35:09 place
00:35:09 --> 00:35:10 please forgive
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 me for that
00:35:10 --> 00:35:10 greed
00:35:10 --> 00:35:11 before
00:35:11 --> 00:35:13 you don't
00:35:13 --> 00:35:13 mean it
00:35:13 --> 00:35:15 you mean
00:35:15 --> 00:35:15 look at how
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16 well I did
00:35:16 --> 00:35:16 God
00:35:16 --> 00:35:19 you're trying
00:35:19 --> 00:35:19 to kill
00:35:19 --> 00:35:19 it yourself
00:35:19 --> 00:35:23 don't hold
00:35:23 --> 00:35:24 on to it
00:35:24 --> 00:35:24 hand it
00:35:24 --> 00:35:25 over
00:35:25 --> 00:35:25 confess it
00:35:25 --> 00:35:26 to him
00:35:26 --> 00:35:27 to the
00:35:27 --> 00:35:27 one place
00:35:27 --> 00:35:28 where it
00:35:28 --> 00:35:28 can be
00:35:28 --> 00:35:28 killed
00:35:28 --> 00:35:30 the cross
00:35:30 --> 00:35:31 of your
00:35:31 --> 00:35:31 saviour
00:35:31 --> 00:35:32 Jesus
00:35:32 --> 00:35:33 because as
00:35:33 --> 00:35:33 a child
00:35:33 --> 00:35:34 of God
00:35:34 --> 00:35:34 no matter
00:35:34 --> 00:35:34 how many
00:35:34 --> 00:35:35 times you
00:35:35 --> 00:35:35 come to
00:35:35 --> 00:35:36 Jesus
00:35:36 --> 00:35:36 with sin
00:35:36 --> 00:35:37 that you
00:35:37 --> 00:35:37 need to
00:35:37 --> 00:35:37 confess
00:35:37 --> 00:35:38 no matter
00:35:38 --> 00:35:38 how many
00:35:38 --> 00:35:39 times you
00:35:39 --> 00:35:39 fail
00:35:39 --> 00:35:39 you will
00:35:39 --> 00:35:40 always be
00:35:40 --> 00:35:41 welcomed
00:35:41 --> 00:35:41 as a
00:35:41 --> 00:35:42 child
00:35:42 --> 00:35:43 no matter
00:35:43 --> 00:35:43 how many
00:35:43 --> 00:35:43 times you
00:35:43 --> 00:35:44 come to
00:35:44 --> 00:35:44 him
00:35:44 --> 00:35:44 in
00:35:44 --> 00:35:45 inadequacy
00:35:45 --> 00:35:45 and
00:35:45 --> 00:35:46 weakness
00:35:46 --> 00:35:46 there is
00:35:46 --> 00:35:47 no
00:35:47 --> 00:35:47 condemnation
00:35:47 --> 00:35:48 for you
00:35:48 --> 00:35:50 when you
00:35:50 --> 00:35:51 confess
00:35:51 --> 00:35:51 and hand
00:35:51 --> 00:35:52 your sin
00:35:52 --> 00:35:52 and failure
00:35:52 --> 00:35:53 to Jesus
00:35:53 --> 00:35:53 you will
00:35:53 --> 00:35:54 always find
00:35:54 --> 00:35:55 grace
00:35:55 --> 00:35:57 always find
00:35:57 --> 00:35:57 forgiveness
00:35:57 --> 00:35:59 and as
00:35:59 --> 00:35:59 Romans 8
00:35:59 --> 00:36:00 promises
00:36:00 --> 00:36:01 in him
00:36:01 --> 00:36:02 there you
00:36:02 --> 00:36:02 will find
00:36:02 --> 00:36:03 life
00:36:03 --> 00:36:04 and peace
00:36:04 --> 00:36:09 right now
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 we're going to
00:36:09 --> 00:36:09 share in the
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 Lord's Supper
00:36:10 --> 00:36:10 together
00:36:10 --> 00:36:12 the whole
00:36:12 --> 00:36:13 point of
00:36:13 --> 00:36:13 this meal
00:36:13 --> 00:36:14 is Romans 8
00:36:14 --> 00:36:17 it's for
00:36:17 --> 00:36:17 us to
00:36:17 --> 00:36:18 remember
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 that
00:36:18 --> 00:36:18 because
00:36:18 --> 00:36:19 of
00:36:19 --> 00:36:19 Jesus
00:36:19 --> 00:36:19 life
00:36:19 --> 00:36:20 and
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 death
00:36:20 --> 00:36:20 there's
00:36:20 --> 00:36:21 no
00:36:21 --> 00:36:21 condemnation
00:36:21 --> 00:36:22 for those
00:36:22 --> 00:36:22 who
00:36:22 --> 00:36:22 trust
00:36:22 --> 00:36:23 in
00:36:23 --> 00:36:23 him
00:36:23 --> 00:36:24 it's
00:36:24 --> 00:36:24 an
00:36:24 --> 00:36:25 opportunity
00:36:25 --> 00:36:25 for us
00:36:25 --> 00:36:25 to put
00:36:25 --> 00:36:26 to death
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26 sin
00:36:26 --> 00:36:27 right now
00:36:27 --> 00:36:27 as we
00:36:27 --> 00:36:27 eat
00:36:27 --> 00:36:28 and drink
00:36:28 --> 00:36:30 for us
00:36:30 --> 00:36:30 to
00:36:30 --> 00:36:31 specifically
00:36:31 --> 00:36:32 and explicitly
00:36:32 --> 00:36:33 hand to
00:36:33 --> 00:36:33 God
00:36:33 --> 00:36:35 the things
00:36:35 --> 00:36:36 we know
00:36:36 --> 00:36:37 are not in
00:36:37 --> 00:36:37 line with
00:36:37 --> 00:36:37 those who
00:36:37 --> 00:36:38 claim to
00:36:38 --> 00:36:38 follow him
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40 hand them
00:36:40 --> 00:36:41 over
00:36:41 --> 00:36:42 and watch
00:36:42 --> 00:36:43 him put
00:36:43 --> 00:36:43 them to
00:36:43 --> 00:36:44 death
00:36:44 --> 00:36:46 as these
00:36:46 --> 00:36:46 elements come
00:36:46 --> 00:36:47 around I
00:36:47 --> 00:36:47 want you to
00:36:47 --> 00:36:47 hold on to
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 them so
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 that we
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 can eat
00:36:48 --> 00:36:48 and drink
00:36:48 --> 00:36:49 together
00:36:49 --> 00:36:50 but as
00:36:50 --> 00:36:51 they're
00:36:51 --> 00:36:51 coming
00:36:51 --> 00:36:51 around
00:36:51 --> 00:36:52 prepare
00:36:52 --> 00:36:52 yourself
00:36:52 --> 00:36:53 to hand
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53 over
00:36:53 --> 00:36:53 whatever it
00:36:53 --> 00:36:54 is that
00:36:54 --> 00:36:54 you need
00:36:54 --> 00:36:55 to hand
00:36:55 --> 00:36:55 over
00:36:55 --> 00:36:58 is there a
00:36:58 --> 00:36:59 sin that
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00 you've been
00:37:00 --> 00:37:00 carrying
00:37:00 --> 00:37:01 yourself
00:37:01 --> 00:37:03 maybe a
00:37:03 --> 00:37:03 really deep
00:37:03 --> 00:37:04 one that
00:37:04 --> 00:37:04 you've been
00:37:04 --> 00:37:05 keeping secret
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06 is there a
00:37:06 --> 00:37:07 weight of
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08 guilt that is
00:37:08 --> 00:37:08 driving you
00:37:08 --> 00:37:09 right now that
00:37:09 --> 00:37:09 you need to
00:37:09 --> 00:37:10 let go of
00:37:10 --> 00:37:12 is there a
00:37:12 --> 00:37:13 fear of
00:37:13 --> 00:37:13 judgment
00:37:13 --> 00:37:17 get ready
00:37:17 --> 00:37:18 to hand
00:37:18 --> 00:37:18 them over
00:37:18 --> 00:37:18 to the
00:37:18 --> 00:37:19 one who
00:37:19 --> 00:37:19 loves
00:37:19 --> 00:37:20 unconditionally
00:37:20 --> 00:37:21 and then
00:37:21 --> 00:37:22 once everybody's
00:37:22 --> 00:37:22 got the
00:37:22 --> 00:37:23 elements we're
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 going to eat
00:37:23 --> 00:37:23 and drink
00:37:23 --> 00:37:24 and celebrate
00:37:24 --> 00:37:25 together
00:37:25 --> 00:37:27 all
00:37:27 --> 00:37:32 how to
00:37:32 --> 00:37:32 forget
00:37:32 --> 00:37:33 what
00:37:33 --> 00:37:34 you
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 have
00:37:34 --> 00:37:34 to
00:37:34 --> 00:37:36 hold on
00:37:36 --> 00:37:38 and
00:37:38 --> 00:37:39 have
00:37:39 --> 00:37:40 what
00:37:40 --> 00:37:42 you
00:37:42 --> 00:37:42 have
00:37:42 --> 00:37:42 to
00:37:42 --> 00:37:43 give
00:37:43 --> 00:37:43 time
00:37:43 --> 00:37:44 and
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 give
00:37:44 --> 00:37:44 a
00:37:44 --> 00:37:45 speech
00:37:45 --> 00:37:45 and
00:37:45 --> 00:37:46 give
00:37:46 --> 00:37:46 them
00:37:46 --> 00:37:47 and
00:37:47 --> 00:37:48 if
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 you
00:37:48 --> 00:37:48 have
00:37:48 --> 00:37:49 them
00:37:49 --> 00:37:50 have
00:37:50 --> 00:37:50 to
00:37:50 --> 00:37:50 invite
00:37:50 --> 00:37:51 them
00:37:51 --> 00:37:51 to
00:37:51 --> 00:37:52 franchise
00:37:52 --> 00:37:53 and
00:37:53 --> 00:37:53 offer
00:37:53 --> 00:37:54 them
00:37:54 --> 00:37:54 is