“In Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1)

Good morning. Boy, you look and sound good. If you’ve got a Bible, go ahead and get it out and go with me to Romans chapter eight and verse one. We are going to finish verse one. The title of this message is taken from verse one. We’ll get to it in a moment. It is “In Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “In Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), if you’re taking notes, you can write that down. If you’re not taking notes, you can write that down that way you’ll have it handy. Let me point something out to you, a little bit of a change that we’re going to start doing moving forward. I’m going to be switching over and preaching to the LSB that is the Legacy Standard Bible, not to be confused with the LSV. I’ve been tracking in this Bible for many, many years. Now, I’m in my 10th year here at Sherman Bible Church, and this is, you know, going to stay forever. You’re stuck, but I have been doing ESV because they were the Pew Bibles when I got here. I love ESV. If you have an ESV, don’t throw your ESV away. If you’ve got an ESV verse tattooed on, you don’t go get it taken off or anything like that. It’s not bad. But the LSB is far more literal in many places. It’s got a few nuances that are maybe a little annoying, but every single translation has those, unless you go right to the original languages. So, we’re going to be in LSB just so, you know. So when those come up, if they don’t match your Bible anymore, maybe you’ll know why. We’re in the LSB, it’s more literal. It’s basically a continuation of the 1995 NASB, which I grew up in once it came out in 95 I got it before that, I had the 1972 and so now we’re doing LSB. All right. Probably nobody cares. I care.

Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation.” Last week, what do we do? We talked about what this means. What does that mean? It is, what? Eternal, damnatory, separation and punishment. There’s none of that. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those (and he names a specific group) who are in Christ Jesus.” That is what he’s talking about. And if you are like most people and myself included, you need a lot of repetition to actually learn something and apply it to your life. And along those lines, let me encourage you in this. If you’re not yet in a D-group that goes over the sermon in community, you need to get in one, because there’s no way you’re getting all of this and able to digest it within one week. In fact, I’m just curious, can I ask for a show of hands? I never do this if you’re new, but here I go, how many of you, if you would say, and I’m going to raise my hand because I’m one were at least in one time, or maybe you were raised in a church that had three services a week, Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday, right? Wow. That’s a lot of hands. How many guys want to go back to that? They’re like, “No, please.” It’s not a sin to have those services. Okay? I just really don’t believe that anyone who’s fed the Word of God in its proper context and given a full meal on Sunday morning is ready to digest a whole new topic from a whole new text on Sunday night. I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it. It doesn’t mean the men that do it are saying sin, but I don’t believe we’re able to digest that way. And for the Wednesday night, we’d always hear another, even a third, message, and you’re certainly not ready for that. Basically, what’s better is to take that in, absorb it, weigh it, meditate on it, think about it, and then be with a group of people who will share those things. That’s called community, by the way. The word “fellowship” in your Bible, in the Greek, means a sharing. It doesn’t mean a potluck, guys. You remember fellowship halls back in the day, which is a place where you brought the potluck, all the Baptists are going, “Yeah, remember that.” You probably paid to build a few of them, right? That’s how you can tell a Baptist church has had a revival. They built the fellowship hall. I love Baptist churches, by the way, we came here from a Baptist church in Flower Mound. But anyway, yeah, if you’re not in a D-group, that would be valuable to you.

“No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “In” is the operative word here. What does he mean here? What is it talking about? Well, first, let me make a couple of comments on what condemnation, some details on what condemnation is and isn’t. Number one, condemnation or lack thereof is not based on any form of perfection achieved by the believer. You don’t get out of out of condemnation, because you finally cleaned up your behavior. That’s not what happens. You have no condemnation as a believer the moment you are justified in Christ, also without understanding that there is no condemnation, you will experience very little transformation in your actual daily life. You really will, because here’s what I want you to know this. If you’re going to have victory over sin, that sin that you’re thinking of right now, the only way you’re going to have victory over it is when you come to realize that it has been forgiven. Now that might be contrary to way you were raised. You might be thinking, “Well, no, no, I need to think that I need to earn it, therefore that will modify my behavior.” Gospel is good news, not bad news. If you have to earn it, that’s not good news. That’s bad news. The good news is, if your sin has been forgiven and you become convinced of how great and deep the love of God is for you in Christ, Jesus, love becomes your motivator, and you love because you’ve been first loved, the thing you’re battling is ultimately a disbelief in the love of God, because you’re still walking in something that grieves His heart when you love someone, you don’t want to do that to them. And so, this is a growth, and you realizing the truth of Romans 81 is worth way more than even a second week. Just as justification precedes sanctification, being right with God and realizing there’s no condemnation precedes doing right for God. Does that make sense? It’s when you realize what He’s done that you respond in love.

So, when we say the phrase, when we read the phrase “In Christ” or “in Christ Jesus” in the Bible, what is it talking about? Namely, where did that begin? Where was that initiated? Who started that? Is that something that began when you were saved? Was it that you had no condemnation the moment that you were born again? Or is it possible that it preceded that even? That in Christ, there was something going on behind the scenes before you were saved? And if that’s the case, then how long does it last into the future? If there’s no condemnation, can you mess it up? Are you able to get more condemnation put on you? Can you back that off and become unjustified? I want to show you what this means from a holistic perspective, and hopefully it’ll help open our eyes that when we read, “There’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” will carry a greater understanding of what that means, and therefore a greater appreciation, and that will be the root of the fruit of love that brings about the behavior that God will call for when we finally get to Romans 12, right? No condemnation. Where did it begin?

1. From Eternity Past

Pardon me, I’m allergic to the place I’m called. For some reason, God sent me to a place that I was allergic to, Grayson County. I am a missionary. You know that? I come from the country of Flower Mound. Number one, from eternity past. “Wait a minute. What do you mean? There was no condemnation for me. Wait, but I wasn’t in Christ yet.” Okay. Well, let’s let the Bible answer that. Okay. From eternity past, Ephesians 1:3-5, says this, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly place in Christ.” “Blessed in Christ”. When do you think He did that? Well, it answers this. Look at verse four, “Just as He chose us.” Now there’s going to be a lot of people here this weekend. At least somebody’s going to be mad just because I read that. “I don’t like this theology. I don’t like the way you’re interpreting it.” I didn’t interpret it. I just read it. “He chose us in him (that’s in Christ).” Now, some people don’t like it when God acts like God, or explains himself that way. Some people like a little, impotent, tiny, little God, because then they can feel better about themselves. But God chose things before you existed, because it says, “He chose us in Christ, in him (when?) before the foundation of the world.” That’s before any of this started. That means you were chosen in Christ to not be under condemnation because of what Jesus Christ would accomplish in His person and in His finished work on the cross, His sinless life and His atoning death, that you would not face condemnation and that you were chosen for that from before the foundation of the world. Now pause with me please. Don’t get hung up on this. Don’t be out there going, “Well, how do I know if I’m chosen? What if my Aunt Bertha, who died, wasn’t chosen? And what happens to free will?” And instead of having the wrestling match, can you first just do this? Can we approach the Word of God and say this? “Okay, yes, okay, yes. If it says it, I’m going to submit to it. I’m going to say ‘yes’ to it.” And you say, “Well, I don’t understand all that.” Right? You say, “Well, that causes me angst.” Okay, I get it. “Well, I’m going to have to wrestle with that.” Well, then go into it to wrestle with it. Don’t back away from it. Don’t turn away. Don’t shy away. It says this that “He chose us in Christ from before the foundation of the world.” What? “That we would be holy and blameless before him.” Wow. You know what that means? He chose you unto salvation, because nobody’s holy and blameless before God until they’re regenerated by the Spirit, by grace through faith. But God was the one that made the choice, and He did it in eternity past. Look “Just as he chose us before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him in love. (Verse five) By predestining us (yes, that word’s in your Bible) to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself.” Now, if you don’t like that word, that’s your problem. That’s not our problem. I remember when I didn’t like that word. I remember it clearly, and I wrestled with it. And it didn’t take weeks or days, it took years, and at times, I still wrestle with it, because it’s transcendent of my tiny, little brain. He predestined us, and I used to say, “Well, what about free will? You mean I don’t have a choice in anything? So I’m just a robot.” It’s like, no. Then I get to know the Bible more and learn more and understand it more. And two things exist: God is sovereign and man is accountable. And people will say, “Well, what about the free will of man? What about the free will of man?” Listen to me saying, man has a free will is not the answer. It’s the problem. Man, in his unregenerate condition, does not love God, nor does he want God, nor will he go to God. He has to be acted upon by an outside force, namely the Holy Spirit, in order to come to God. “He chose us before the foundation of the world, in love by predestining us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ or himself according to the good pleasure of (uh oh) His will.” There He is acting like God. Did you know God has free will? No, really, did you know that? He can do whatever He wants? The Bible says God is in heaven and He does what pleases Him. Now some might hear this, and they’ll be like, “Oh, this is Calvinism.” No, it’s not. It’s just scripture. All Calvin was doing was expositing the text. It’s unmistakable. And there are other verses that could seem to go against this. They don’t, by the way. But we have to lean into this, because this is where in the mind of God, He purposed that you would not go under condemnation. It transcends your being, your existence. It goes before you.

I want to give you just another reference, just so we let the mouth of two or more witnesses bear witness. Here 2 Timothy 1:9, speaking of God, “Who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works.” You weren’t called because of your works. You were called because of His will. “But according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us (here it is again) in Christ Jesus from (where?) from all eternity.” From all eternity past. He knew you. He chose you. He loved you. He called you. And all of that was His predetermined plan to accomplish what He has accomplished in Jesus Christ. People that wrestle with this are actually robbing themselves a tremendous amount of joy, because what they do is they try to take some of the credit for their salvation, which empties you of the doxology, because you start getting some of the credit, then you want some of the glory. But I want you to see this, from all eternity past, there was no condemnation coming your way. That doesn’t mean that you weren’t once under His wrath, but that He knew He would rescue you. How would He do that? He would do it in Christ.

2. In The Atonement

In the atonement, in the person and work of Jesus, in a sinless life that deserved life, bearing your sin and paying the price thereof. And so, a few years ago back, we did a series called “At The Cross”. If you’ve never heard it, I’d recommend it to you, talks about the five things that Christ accomplished on the cross. I’ll go through those with you just briefly. Number one, He became the sacrifice. God’s Lamb was hung on a tree. He was the sacrifice. So, sacrifice was made. Now what happened was God then did what? He then laid the sins of His people on the sacrifice. And when God saw that sin on the cross, what did He do? He poured His wrath out on His own Son, Isaiah 53. This is basic substitutionary atonement, and that is called propitiation. So, Christ accomplished sacrifice. He accomplished the propitiation. He absorbed the wrath that we deserved. And in doing that, what did He do? He reconciled God and man. He reconciled His people to Himself, because He took all the guilt out of the way, and then He put His righteousness on us in reconciliation. Thus, here’s the fourth thing, redeeming us from the graveyard, redeeming us from sin, death, hell and the grave, purchasing us to Himself, and putting to death in conquest. That’s the fifth thing, conquest over sin, death, hell and the grave. He accomplished these things. Was there condemnation for you when the atonement took place? I’m going to tell you this. That’s where it was taken off, not where it was put on. It was taken off you because it was put upon the Lamb. And what Jesus was accomplishing was the ministry of the priest.

I don’t know if you know this, but Jesus had a three fold ministry on earth, Prophet, Priest and King. Prophet, Priest and King. He still fulfills those roles, but let’s understand the first two prophet and priest. What does a prophet do? A prophet speaks for God to man. Very simple. What does a priest do? A priest goes to God for man. He goes from man to God. Does that make sense? A prophet goes from God to man. A priest goes from man to God, and he ministers on behalf of someone else. Well, Jesus accomplished the eternal purpose of an eternal High Priest. In fact, this is Romans 9:24 says, “For Christ did not enter holy places.” Now that means it’s referring to the tabernacle. In reference, but he says, “He did not enter into holy places made with hands.” In other words, when Christ made His sacrifice, when He made atonement for your sin, He did not enter the temple in Jerusalem because it was made with hands. He made atonement, but He didn’t do it the way that the type and shadow did, okay? Now watch he goes on. “They were mere copies of the true ones.” Now, what does that mean? That means that the way God designed the temple, the way He gave it to Moses and told him to build it was a copy of something that actually exists in the heavens. Now, how big is that? I don’t know. Is it bigger? I bet it is. But that’s the real one. That’s where the real outer court, the real holy place, the real Holy of Holies, actually exists. That’s where all the furniture that is described in your Bible, that was in the tabernacle, is actual in the heavenlies. And that is where the mercy seat is, the real one, not just the copy. And that’s where the actual presence of God dwells here right now. He’s doing it right now. God reigns and rules from that very tabernacle. He still has it. Christ didn’t enter the one that was a mere copy. He entered the real one. He entered “Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” This is a priest, and when He did it, the only descriptions that we have about what that looked like are not by guesswork or hoping. We can look back into the Old Testament, and we can see what did the earthly priests do, which was simply a foreshadowing of what the heavenly one would do. Does that make sense? So, they offered blood, but it wasn’t their own blood, right? They made sacrifices, but it wasn’t themselves.

I want to show you one other thing that they also did, and this is in Exodus 28:15-29 we’re going to read a little bit here, but you’ll figure out where we’re going here. It’s very important. You see this God is giving the description of how He’s going to dress the priests. And there’s a reason for it. I believe you’ll get it. He says, “You shall make a breastpiece of judgment (something that goes over the chest) the work of a skilled designer, like the work of the ephod. You shall make it of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. You shall make it. It shall be square, having been folded double in a span in length and a span in width. (A span is nine inches. So it’s a nine by nine square that that hung on the chest of the priest) You shall mount on it four rows of stones. (So 1, 2, 3, 4) The first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz and emerald. The second row a turquoise, a sapphire and a diamond. The third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst. And the fourth row, a beryl and an onyx and a jasper. They shall be set in gold settings.” He had nine by nine hanging on his chest with twelve stones. So far so good? Verse 21, “The stones shall be according to the names (keep that) of the sons of Israel: twelve, according to their names, they shall be like the engravings of a signet each according to his name for the twelve tribes.” Now, why is this? Here’s why, because the priest was going to go into the presence of God within the Holy of Holies, which was a mere copy of what our High Priest would one day do, wearing that garment only, the actual one, into the actual Holy of Holies. And I want you to see this. The priest had on his chest the names of those tribes, representing those people that he was going in to minister on behalf of. Okay? Verse 22 says, “You shall make on the breastplate chains of a twisted work of cord and pure gold. You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold. And you shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. You shall put the two cords of gold on the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. You shall put the two ends of the two cords on the on the two filigree settings.” Are you confused yet, by the way? “And you shall put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it.” It’s going to hang like this. 26, “You shall make two rings of gold and shall place them on the two ends of the breast piece on the edge of it which is toward the inner side of the ephod. You shall make two rings of gold and put them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod on the front of it, close to the place where it is joined above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings on the ephod with a blue cord, so that it will be on the skillfully woven band on the ephod and that the breastplate will not come loose from the ephod.” Now, there’s the description, but watch this “Aaron (who was who? he was the high priest, who’s the type of Christ doing something that was going to be only a copy of what was actually going to happen with Jesus) Aaron shall (what?) shall carry the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he comes into the holy place for a remembrance before Yahweh continually.” What is this telling you? It’s telling you that your name was on the breastplate and the ephod when He walked into the presence of God on your behalf. He went on your behalf, if you’re in Christ, He went on my behalf, as I’m in Christ, and He brought our names before God Almighty to make intercession for us when? He brought and offered His blood on the actual mercy seat, not the one what’s a copy here on Earth, but the actual one in heaven. Was there condemnation when He did that for you? No! Why? Because your sin was atoned for. You say, “Wait a minute, but I wasn’t saved yet.” Correct. You weren’t saved yet. It was a what? It was an “Already and not yet.” Get used to that, by the way, it was an already and not yet. The sin was atoned for. Had it been applied to your account yet? No, you’d not been regenerated. But in the mind of God, what He decrees, He sets out His purposes, and He accomplishes 100%. He cannot fail. He paid for your sin, and there was no condemnation left for you. You say, “Well, wait a minute, but I was a sinner, and He had to track me down here to save me.” Some people think, “Well, I was a goat.” No, you weren’t a goat. You were a lost sheep. Show me anywhere in scripture where a goat becomes a sheep. It doesn’t happen. But what happens is lost sheep get found. But guess what? They were already sheep. Why? Because, in the mind of God, an eternity past, He chose them, and in the offering of Jesus Christ, when He made atonement in the sanctuary in heaven. He bought you. And all that the Father gives to the Son will come to Him, and all that comes to the Son, Jesus said this, “I will raise them up on the last day.” He didn’t say, “Some of them.” He didn’t say “If they nail the discipleship process,” He didn’t say, “If they finally get that haircut, if they just clean up their life enough, I’ll raise them from the dead.” No, He chose you. He bought you. And there was no condemnation for you in that very moment.

Hebrews 7:23-25 says it this way, “And the former priests (that’s the humans) on the one hand existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing.” Right. You know, when you die, it really ends your career. “But Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, He holds His priesthood permanently” means He’s there now, He’s there now He offered it once for all, but He’s still standing there, isn’t He? He’s still ministering. He’s seated, actually, because the work is done. “Therefore He is able to save forever (forever) those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives (to do what?) to make intercession for them.” And what is that intercession? It’s simply this, “They are mine. They are mine. I brought their name to You. Father, I poured out My blood for them. Father, I laid down My life, and just as I rose, You will raise them from the dead.” That’s how the atonement was made. Was there condemnation in the atonement at the moment of it? No, there was not, not for you there wasn’t. There was no condemnation in eternity past, even though the wrath of God would sit over you until He removed it, and there was no condemnation for you when He offered His blood.

Here’s what about?

3. At Our Salvation

Now, this is very, fairly simple. This is where people tend to think, “Well, this is where it starts and maybe where it ends.” Ephesians 2:13, he says. “But now (look at the verse) in Christ Jesus (there it is) again, you who formerly were far off have been brought near (how?) by the blood of Christ.” You were far off, you were brought near. You were a lost sheep, and then you were a found sheep. Do you understand that’s what salvation really is? It is the shepherd calling the lost sheep. And what does Jesus say? “My sheep hear My voice. They hear My voice, and they follow Me and the voice of another, they will not hear, they will not follow.” His sheep hear His voice. Why do we preach the gospel? Why do we proclaim the Word of God? So that lost sheep will become found sheep. That’s why we’re not here to entertain goats. That’s not what the church is to be about. America’s made it real popular to just try to entertain goats. You will never entertain a goat into eternal life. Why? Because they may love the entertainment, but they’re going to hate the God behind it. So best to get down with it. Jesus says to Peter three times, “If you love me (what?), feed my sheep. Feed my sheep.” What did He tell Him? “I have other sheep also that are not of this fold. I must go find them too.” This is what He’s still in the business of doing at the time of your salvation. There was no condemnation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he’s a new creation; the old things passed away; behold the new things have come.” Not in eternity past, not at the atonement, not at your salvation was there any condemnation. You were removed permanently from eternal, damnatory, separation from God and punishment in hell, it was taken off of you.

What about the here and now?

4. Here And Now

What about now? Because, remember, last week we talked about, sometimes our heart condemns us, sometimes we’re aware that we fall short, and boy, do we see it. What about the here and now? Well, Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved and raised us up with Him (this is current) and seated (this is past tense) us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” If you are in Christ Jesus, you are seated with Him in heavenly places. Now, some of you are probably thinking, “I think we’re on Lamberth right now. I think I know where I am. We’re at the corner of 1417, and Lamberth right by Walmart. Dude. This is not the heavenly places.” Already and not yet. You already are. Why? Because in the mind of God, it’s done. And He who began a good work in you, He will be faithful to complete it all the way into the day of Jesus Christ. The one that began a good work in you, He will finish it. He is the author and the perfecter of your faith. He started it. And He didn’t save you to let you go. He saved you to hold you. And no man can snatch you out of His hand, because no man can snatch you out of the Father’s hand. Why? Because He chose you. He called you. He atoned for you. He saved you. And here and now, He secures you. Family, this is important. You’re not going to have freedom over something that you don’t realize is forgiven, and that’s not a license for you to go continue it. That’s the motivator that Stokes love. We love because we because He first loved us. And if you think you that, He loved you this much, you’re going to love Him that much back, but if you think He loved you more, you’re going to love Him more, the one who’s forgiven much, what? Loves much. That’s the same principle that’s operating, that is in the here and now, no condemnation. Well, what about the later on?

What about?

5. At The Second Coming

Is there condemnation waiting for you at the Second Coming? I mean, some people think that. I grew up Catholic. I’ve told you that before. It’s the source of all my trauma. I’m the source of all my trauma, believe me. But in Catholicism, they paint the picture that one day you’re going to stand before God and He’s going to weigh out what you did good versus what you did bad, and if the good outweighs the bad, you get to go to purgatory. Boy, that’s a horrible religion. Man, if that’s the case, we’re all going to hell and we’re never getting out, because there are none righteous. No, not one. Only Jesus Christ satisfied God’s perfect law. At the Second Coming, is there condemnation? This is 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God and the dead (who?) in Christ will rise first.” Okay, this is not talking about the Methodist Church. Sorry, that’s a fun joke for my Methodist friends. Never mind. Just forget I said that for all the Methodists out there. I was kidding mostly, yeah, so the dead in Christ will rise first. So how could you rise first if there’s condemnation at the Second Coming? Because there is no condemnation for those of you that are in Christ Jesus. And the next verse says, “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (meet the Lord in the air) and so shall we always be with the Lord.”

If we’re always going to be with Him, that brings us to

6. Throughout All Eternity

What about any condemnation ever at all? We saw eternity past, you were not destined for condemnation. You were destined for eternal life. What about through all eternity? Well, many of the Old Testament prophets spoke about this. I’m going to pick one. This is Daniel 7:18. He says this, “But the saints of the highest one.” By the way, if you’re in Christ, you no longer have an identity as a sinner. You’re a saint. Now you may not realize that, because you still sin, but your identity so you really are on the inside. That’s why Paul never wrote any epistle “To the filthy sinners at Philippi”, right? It’s always “To the saints.” He’s writing to the saints. Do they still sin? Yeah, they struggle. They stumble. Romans chapter seven, we understand that. We still have the vestiges of sin in our members, in our body. One day we will be free from that. But he says this to “The saints of the Highest One will (watch this) receive the kingdom.” We don’t build the kingdom. We receive it. “And possess the kingdom forever for all ages to come.” In other words, it’s never going to end. There’s no condemnation in Christ throughout all eternity.

Again, back to Ephesians 2:6-7. We saw six before, “And raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that, (yep) in the ages to come He might (what? He might) show (show who? Show) us the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness towards us (and here it is again) in Christ Jesus.” This means that from eternity past, you are not destined for condemnation. At the atonement, He was taking care of what could have condemned you. At your salvation in the here and the now, at the resurrection, at the Second Coming, right? And in eternity future, there is therefore now no condemnation for those of you who are in Christ Jesus. There is none. It doesn’t exist. It’s not hanging over your head. Your heart may condemn you, but He does not, why? Because the finished work of Jesus Christ not because of your own work.

Let’s look at the text one more time. Hopefully it’s broadened our understanding. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” If you are in Him, you don’t have that waiting for you. How important is this in discipleship? Well, I believe it’s everything. I think this is the pinnacle of the Christian life is eight one. It really is. If you miss this part, there’s going to be a hole in your discipleship. You’re going to have a foundation, it’s like honeycomb, because you keep thinking that things are going to collapse and in fact, it will. Your theology is not robust enough for it to be solid rock below your feet when the pratfalls of life hit you. And consequently, what God wants to do is He wants to bolster that. He wants to strengthen your faith in what? In your ability? No. In His ability and in His accomplishment and in His faithfulness. That’s what God’s wanting to do here. That is, you see through all of time, He’s accomplished your freedom from condemnation. And so, when we read that, what that should do in our heart is transcend normal modes that would produce like what we would call worship from our heart.

Let me give you an example, some people can confuse music and emotion with worship. And so, what they think worship is, is when you have these feelings come up, and you have these emotions emerge, and so we try to stir those emotions, and we don’t actually do that. We take a stand against that. But a lot of places, what they want to do is they want to have smoke, they smoke up the place, which sometimes I can’t say what I’m thinking, because I’m accountable, and then they have motion lights, and the lights move and they it’s like a disco and then everybody’s cool and it’s loud and the bass is pumping. Now we have good sound system, but it’s not for the purpose of causing you to be sensually stimulated. It’s for the purpose of you enjoying that music, and thus it not being a distraction. Please understand the difference. And we don’t have cheerleaders. We’re not trying to stimulate you, but “Come on, everybody, let’s go!” You know why? Because those things can happen at a Cowboy No, at a Bills game. They can happen at a concert, can’t they? But the real joy of real worship, real doxology is always theological. It’s always when you have grasped something, not only in your mind, but you have it, and then it goes down into your heart, and the Holy Spirit applies that to you, and you meditate upon that, and you learn it, and you grow in it, and the grace starts overwhelming you, and you say, “Oh gosh. How can it be?” And then you have doxology throughout your entire day, and you’re loving the Lord. And then you can pray without ceasing, even in your own guilt. You can go, “God, I just say I see that again, Lord, now I’m coming to You again.” And there’s something of a deeper joy. It’s transcendent of what is earthly. And that comes by how? It comes by really understanding what the Word says, what it means by what it says, how it applies to your life under the glory and the person the work of Jesus Christ. That’s what we’re doing.

So, when we see this again, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Here’s the prayer that the next time you read that in your Bible, which will be next week, by the way, if you miss it, but something in your heart will capture some of what was taught here, and you’ll recognize how transcendent it is. It’s not just, “A man 2000 years ago got some things done, and then there was a person who told me this good news, and so I decided to accept Jesus in my heart,” that’s very narrow view of what the Bible teaches, but rather the transcendent God, omniscient and eternal, all knowing, His will, omniscient and omnipotent, all powerful purpose to do what He was going to do that you wouldn’t be under condemnation, and that, sitting under that causes a stirring in the heart, if you really let it, and the Holy Spirit starts opening your eyes to that truth, and you’re able to say this, “Oh, it’s bigger than I thought. It’s better than I thought. It’s more stable than I thought. Oh my gosh, God did this. I didn’t do this. Oh my gosh. I got in on this, not because of my works, because of His, because of His will, His choosing.” And the security that comes in that moment, and in those moments breeds intimacy with God. It allows you to approach Him, His throne of grace, with boldness, with confidence, because you know you’re not, you’re not coming on your own merit, you’re coming on the merit of Christ. And you come and you find mercy and you find grace to help in the time of need. 4:16 Hebrews, right? Why? Because you understand this, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.” Here’s my prayer, and I pray you do this, I’m going to pray right now, here in a moment. Can I tell you what my prayer is? So maybe you can agree with it or not? I pray you’d meditate on this. I pray you’d listen to this again. I pray you’d get in a D-group and sit around with some people that maybe some of them you like, maybe some of them, maybe not so much. Doesn’t matter, that can actually be really for your good. And you interact with this and you struggle with it, and you talk about it, and you say, “I’m struggling with this concept. I don’t really understand this thought.” And there’s a sharing, and there’s a Koinonia, and there’s a meditation, and you’re letting that run through and through and through, and in His Word, does he meditate day and night? This is how we do it. It’s not just the self-study that’s very important, but it’s coming back and gathering around the same truth. My prayer is that you do it, and in doing that, that you’d grow in your knowledge and your understanding of the fact of who you are in Christ Jesus.

KEYWORDS

God, Gospel, Romans 8:1, Condemnation, In Christ Jesus, LSB Bible, Eternity, Past, Present, Here And Now, Future, Bema Seat, Eternal, Damnatory, Separation, Punishment, Eternal Life, Atonement, Sacrifice, Propitiation, Reconciliation, Redemption, Conquest, Salvation, Discipleship, Community, Fellowship, Worship, Cross, Predestine, Chose, Predestination, Free Will, Prophet, Priest, King, Sheep, Goat, Audio Sermon, Texas, Bible Church

Speaker

Steve LeBlanc