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No Condemnation

Romans 8:1-2

I knew a guy in seminary who wanted to be a seminary professor. But he felt so dirty, so sinful that God could never use him for anything great. He felt that he did not have what it took to be a seminary professor because he felt like he did not have what it took to be a man. Somewhere along the line, he believed a lie—“you are a sissy.” His Dad was never affirming of his manhood, and he felt that he could never live up to his dad’s standards. So he resorted to leading his Church Youth Group, and found affirmation there. He dated pretty Christian girls in college, and found affirmation there. But he also struggled with pornography, and could not understand why. I can now tell him the reason: He was still seeking to find affirmation that he was a man…the women who offered themselves to him in those glossy nude photographs were telling him, in a sense, that he was attractive and manly. But that was an insidious lie from Satan—for my friend, being a Christian, would come out of his pornographic binge knowing the depth of his sin, and feeling even less like a man. Each time he would fall into sin, he knew that no matter how much he thought he was in control, he was actually out of control. He could not, in his own power, control the condemnation within him. My friend lived in an awful cycle of condemnation.

Then there’s the girl who also believed the lies of Satan. She believed the lie that she was not attractive, and that she had to control her appearance in her own power. So, in a desperate attempt to handle her condemnation, she began starving herself. She would go for days eating hardly a thing. But she could not keep up the starvation for long periods of time, so she would end up binging on food. But she thought she was still in control—for the food could be thrown up or worked off with vigorous time at the gym. But each time she binged, she knew that no matter how much she thought she was in control, she was actually out of control. She could not, in her own power, control the condemnation within her.

We all can relate to these stories in one way or another. Each one of us, when we are really honest with ourselves and with God, knows that we fall way short of God’s glorious standard of holiness. There is some sin, or maybe more than one sin, that keeps bearing its ugly head and condemns us. And, it seems, the harder we try to overcome our sin, the more we fail.

How can we overcome our sin so that we are no longer under condemnation? What do we do with that guilt? How do we deal with the accusations from Satan, that even though we are Christians, we are dirty, useless failures? How do we handle the condemnation? Here is the awful truth: We cannot, WE CAN NOT, deal with our sin in our own strength. We cannot force ourselves into behaving. We are incapable of living life the way we know we should! And if we do try to handle our sin in our own strength, we’re going to do it in fake ways. We have to become pretenders.

Some of us deal with sin by rejecting Christianity outright—we pretend that God does not exist and sin is only silly rules from some ancient men in order to keep us in line with their antiquated morals.

Others of us, though, actually believe in God. We even claim Christ as our Savior and Lord. But we still do not know what to do with our sinfulness, so we pretend as well. Some of us pretend that we have not really sinned. We start to buy the lie that some things really aren’t that bad. After all, we are living in the 21st Century, and those old, antiquated ways of thinking were for medieval times. So what if I watch a little raunchy TV or buy something extravagant for myself at the mall instead of giving to the poor. Sin today is different than back then. We gloss over sin as if it really didn’t matter, and then we paint it as righteous, by saying, “God’s grace in the cross of Christ covers all my sin, no matter what it is, so my sinning really isn’t a big deal anymore.” But that is pretending. Earlier in Romans, we read, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1) It simply won’t work. Sin is offensive to God, even for a Christian. Sin is destructive to our souls, even for a Christian. We cannot pretend that sin is not a big deal. That is not the right route to deal with our condemnation. We can’t pretend that the guilt is not there.

If we attempt to push the guilt of our sinfulness down, it will just wreak havoc on our lives. That is what happens when we try to deal with our sinfulness in our own strength—we fail and we fail, and it leads to despair—a feeling of utter condemnation, for not being able to live up to God’s standards. And that often drives us to either escape from the despair (and that is what causes much of addiction in our culture today), or it drives us to varying levels of depression. What does it look like to feel defeated over and over again by our sin? Look at Paul’s words in Romans 7!

"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."  (Romans 7:15-20)

Have you ever said words like that? Paul is echoing each and every one of us when we think of how often we fail to keep God’s righteous standards. He says, basically, that when he attempts to live according to the “law” (that is, up to God’s rules of living in righteousness), it becomes increasingly, unbearably, evident that he cannot do it! He has the desire to do good, he wants to do good, but something keeps getting in the way, and he does what he hates instead—look at verse 17. “it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” He realizes that, as a Christian, he is a new creature, made holy and righteous by the righteousness of Christ, that he has been “set free from sin” (Romans 6:6, 18, 22). But there is a traitor that remains—the sinful nature (literally, “the flesh”) that still resides within him.

While his new, redeemed and justified self is good, there remains nothing good in that old, sinful nature. That old, sinful nature is not the new Paul, the justified Paul, the Christian Paul—that is why he can say with confidence that when he sins, “it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

But he knows that because of the sin that remains in him, he is too weak to keep the law. That is why he falls into despair—a few verses later he cries out, “What a wretched man I am!” (7:24).

Do you hear it? CONDEMNATION! “What can be done for me? I want to live for the glory of God, but I fail him day after day! What a wretched man I am! I am still under the authority of sin and death!”

That is what Romans chapter 7 is all about—the failure of trying to live the Christian life in our own strength.

In our strength, we come up with all sorts of rules to follow in order to try to be more holy, but the result is only an external look of holiness, not an internal transformation. If we try to meet the challenge of God’s holy law through our self-mastery, we may end up as legalists, and end up in deeper trouble, for our sins will be concealed beneath a veneer of self-righteousness—we will look like good Christians, but our hearts will still be mired in sin.

This kind of Christianity is attractive to us, though…

As Ray Ortlund Jr. writes, “Legalism is attractive to the human heart, because it reduces righteousness to humanly manageable dimensions. It reduces holiness to sin management, behavior modification. Lacking the Spirit’s power…it hollows a person out. It turns righteousness into a role play, and make-believe moral character is unsustainable.” (Ortlund, Supernatural Living for Natural People)

That is what happens when we try to be righteous in our own power. We merely pretend. We act more righteous than we really are. And the hypocrisy begins to rot away in our souls. And we find that the more we try to look righteous, the more we fail. And we cry out, “Oh what a wretched person I am!”

But God has done something about our predicament! “He has replaced the best that we can do with the best that he can do.” (Ortlund, Supernatural Living for Natural People)

Romans chapter 7 is in sharp contrast with Romans chapter 8. The key word in Romans 7 is “Law,” which appears 23 times. Romans 8 shifts the focus—the key word in Romans 8 is “Spirit,” which appears 21 times. In fact, over 50% of all the references to the Holy Spirit in Romans are found in Romans 8! As John Stott writes, “The essential contrast which Paul paints is between the weakness of the law and the power of the Spirit.”

God wants us to grasp the contrast between our indwelling sin which the law cannot free us from, with the indwelling Spirit who is our liberator from sin. Possessing the Holy Spirit is the mark of being a New Covenant believer. The Old Covenant of trying to live righteously under the law has been replaced with a New Covenant in which the Law is written on the heart through the indwelling Spirit of God.

In Romans 7, Paul rhetorically voices the frustration of a believer who is trying to live righteously in his own strength, without the power of the Holy Spirit—like Old Testament Jews, many Christians live frustrating lives trying to live up to the standard of God’s law in their own weakness.

In Romans 8, Paul offers hope for the frustrated. 

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”  (Romans 8:1-2)

Ahh! Hope in the midst of despair!

For the person who cannot overcome his or her habitual sins, who constantly hears the words, “I’m nothing but a sinner,” or “I’m no good—through and through,” or “God could never be pleased with me, for I’m too dirty,” or “God would never use me for his glory, I’m not worthy…” God proclaims, “Don’t believe the lies! There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

Now, be sure to get this right: The Word of God does not say, “There is now no sin,” nor, “If you are in Christ, you will not now sin,” nor “If you sin, it’s really not a big deal.”

No, the Bible never belittles sin as if it were no big deal. Sin is ugly and destructive. In fact in verse 4, we read that through Jesus Christ, God “condemned sin in sinful man.”

The way to deal with sin is not to sweep it under the rug; it is to deal with it head-on. And that is exactly what Jesus Christ did when he died for our sins. And that is exactly what we do when we believe in Christ’s death for our justification. Romans 8:1-2 is Romans 5:1-2 repeated in different words.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2)

When we are justified, the condemnation of our sin is taken away. We experience PEACE and JOY and HOPE! “We have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

No one should ever try to deal with their condemnation by pretending that sin is not real, or that it is not a big deal, or by living with a veneer of righteousness on the outside to cover the sinfulness on the inside. God believed that sin was so serious that the life of his own Son was required to pay its price. But (and hear this!), even as God clearly says that sin is gravely serious, he lifts up the banner of hope—“No condemnation! The full penalty of sin has been paid on the cross of Christ!”

And, so how does a Christian find peace? How does a believer deal with the sin in his or her life? How do we overcome the constant condemnation we feel?

This much I know: It is not by living a Romans 7 kind of Christianity!

Romans 7 Christianity is frustrating because it says, “I’m just a sinner forgiven by grace, and I am left on my own to try to live up to God’s standards.” Many Christians will even point to Paul in Romans 7 as the normal Christian experience, as a kind of “Whew! If the great apostle, Saint Paul, struggles with sin like that, then I’ve gotta be off the hook! I’m just a sinner—bad through and through. Thank God that he has forgiven me!” But I believe that they are missing Paul’s point! He is not saying that he is nothing but a sinner through and through, completely helpless in his situation. He says that the sinful nature in him is fighting his new redeemed, good nature. And that when he tries to live up to the standards of God’s law in his own natural power, he cannot do it, for the sinful nature is more powerful. He needs supernatural power if he is going to overcome this frustration! Romans 7 has to be read along with Romans 8! 

We are not supposed to live a Romans 7 kind of Christianity, we are supposed to live a Romans 8 kind of Christianity!

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. "

The wonderful news is that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Why not? Verse 2 says, “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” In other words, because of Jesus, a greater authority has come into my life! The authority of the Holy Spirit has liberated me from the authority of sin and death! At one time, all humanity was under one authority (one “law”), the authority of sin—the inability to live up to God’s glorious standard of righteousness. But now, because of what Jesus Christ has done, another authority has come into believer’s hearts—the “law of the Spirit of life.” Our freedom from sin and death is not just something to wait for, it is ours NOW! Not sometime in the future—NOW! The Greek word (nun) means right here in our present situation!

For decades, Iraq was under the law, or the authority, of Saddam Hussein and his evil sons. Now a new authority has entered Iraq, one that is seeking to liberate the people, if only they would believe it! The Iraqi people are struggling to have faith in the American and British occupation—that they are really there as liberators. In fact, some are rebelling against the very troops that are seeking to free them from the oppressing regime of the Baath Party. Many Iraqis do not yet believe that they have been liberated! And they are missing out on the peace and joy and hope that this truth can mean for their oppressed lives!

How about you? Do you know that the Holy Spirit seeks to comes in to occupy a person’s soul—in order to liberate you from the evil oppressive rule of sin and death that has ruled there all your life? Are you rebelling against his seeking to liberate you? How long have you fought against what Jesus Christ offers? It may be time to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior and receive the gift of the Liberator—the Holy Spirit into your life.

Most of us in this church are probably not consciously rebelling against God in that way, but we are struggling to truly believe that the Holy Spirit has the kind of power that he has. We have lived far too long under the condemnation of the evil regime of our sinful nature. And even though the Liberator has occupied this place for some time, all we know is how to live as captives to the Old Regime. We are still captive to old habitual ways of dealing with life, old habits of sin.

God is calling us to a life of freedom! And that freedom is not found in pretending to be a good Christian and then becoming frustrated that no real change is happening. That is living New Covenant Christianity as if you were still in the Old Covenant! That is trying to be good by obeying the law! The freedom is found spiritually. The freedom is found by first believing the truth. I must believe that God has made me a new creation. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). I will quickly lose heart and motivation if I believe that all I am is a no-good sinner.

God is calling us to a grander truth! Yes, he says, sin is real and you will constantly struggle with it. But the sinful nature is not the new you! You now have the might Holy Spirit ruling in you! He is the liberator of your soul! But you must choose to believe in his power in you! Trust the occupying liberation force in your heart!  

Taking this step of faith will bring you out of pretending—you will be able to face your sin straight on. As deep as your sin may be, God says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. God says that we can find ever-increasing victory over sin in our lives the more we allow the Holy Spirit to occupy our hearts. God’s provision for weak Christians is the Holy Spirit. While we must choose to put to death our old sinful nature, we can only do that in the power of the Holy Spirit. Our own self-monitoring and the managing of our sins cannot actually change us. The only way to find spiritual transformation is to allow it to be just that—Spiritual transformation—transformation that comes from the Holy Spirit.

The reason God’s way works and our way does not is that our way is empowered merely by our own good intentions, while God’s way is empowered by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.

The law tells us to pump at the well all the harder to please God. But the Holy Spirit make springs of living water flow from within. The law said, “Grit your teeth, and do your best, and (guess what) you are destined to fail!” The Holy Spirit says, “You’re old sinful nature was too weak and could only fail. But now you are empowered by the Spirit of God! Live free from condemnation, live in the freedom of the Holy Spirit! As you learn to trust more and more in me, you will find more and more power to live the condemnation-free life!”

You will not become sinless, but you will certainly sin less!

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