No Condemnation – Romans 8:1-17

• Introduction
o Look at What Goes Give to us as His Children
 No condemnation
 Liberty
 Christ’s Righteous Fulfillment of the Law on our behalf.
 Salvation from Death
 Indwelling Spirit of God
 Life and the Peace
 New Bodies
 Spirit of Adoption
o Going to look at the first 17 verse of Chapter 8
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." (Romans 8:1-17, NKJV)

o Read things in context
 without reading the last few chapters; might misread this
 Look at the first verse
• No Condemnation
o "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1, NKJV)
o Most pastors that use this text this morning will preach a sermon that will sound something like this:
 “We have no condemnation in Christ if we don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
o What has the point of the last few chapters?
 We can not earn salvation – only through Christ; not our works or law
 Why would Paul concluded these chapters and then say we therefore have not condemnation as long as we do good stuff.
o Two things we should know about this verse
 First, the NU Text does not contain “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” So the NU Text only says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
• Even since that part could be part of the original text, it is only a clarifier, not a imperative part of the statement.
 Secondly, Christians in this context can not walk according to the flesh, but only according to the Spirit according to verse 9
• "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." (Romans 8:9, NKJV)
• So if you have the Holy Spirit, you walk according to the Spirit, but if you don’t have the Spirit, you are not God’s
 So the second part of verse 1 is a clarifier of those that receive no condemnation, not a requirement.
 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:1, NKJV)
• There is no “because” or “and” there, it is just a statement of fact about those that are in Christ.
o “I don’t always walk according to the Spirit, am I really saved?”
 We are not the ones who save ourselves
 It wasn’t your good deeds that saved you to begin with; not your good deeds to make you persevere.
 Do all Christians stumble in there walk once and a while?
• Yes, even Paul said, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." (Romans 7:15, NKJV)
• If the mark of a Christian was never to do anything sinful again, there would have only been one, Christ Himself.
 We as Christians do walk according to the Spirit, even when we sin; we are convicted by the Holy Spirit living in us.
o What is condemnation?
 It is reserved for those that are apart from Christ and will receive the full judgment and wrath of God for their sins.
 We have been freed from law and death.
• "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2, NKJV)
o Why is there no condemnation for us?
 Because Christ has already paid the price for all of our sin, past, present, and future, on the cross bearing the full punishment that you and I deserved.
• "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:3-4, NKJV)
o Who wants to condemn us still?
 Anytime you as a believer hear condemnation, it is from our enemies, never from God
 Any time you hear, “I knew you would mess it up.” “You are an awful person.” “You are such a screw up and you always will.” Those are things from our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil.
o What does God do when we sin?
 He convicts us of our sin and points us back to righteousness
 He never condemns you as a child of His. He shows you the error, sometimes even through discipline, and brings you back to a right relationship with Him.
• Carnally Minded – led by flesh VS Spiritually Minded – lead by the Holy Spirit
"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (Romans 8:6-11, NKJV)
o Those that are carnally minded are:
 Dead – spiritually and eventually physically
 Enmity against God
 Cannot please God.
 Do not have the Spirit of Christ
 Are not God’s child.; they are God’s creation, not His Child
 Face eternal death


o Those that are spiritually minded:
 Have life and peace
 Have the Spirit of God dwelling in us.
 Will be resurrected physically
o Will those carnally minded by resurrected?
 Yes, but not into life, but into death, which is separation
• God as our Father
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." (Romans 8:15-17, NKJV)
o To many Christians walk around thinking God is out to get them
 Full of fear and worry
o We have been given the Spirit of adoption
o What does it mean to be adopted?
 We can call God, the maker of heaven and earth, daddy
 We are children of God
 We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ
 Even though we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
• Conclusion
o Important to understand scripture in context
o There is no condemnation for those in Christ
 If the Spirit of Christ lives in us we are not fleshly minded, but spiritually minded
 We may act in the flesh some times, but we are in this context spiritually minded if we have Christ
 We don’t face condemnation because Christ was condemned on our behalf.
 Those that are not in Christ will face condemnation which is the full wrath of God for theirs sins.
 When we as believers sin, we are convicted by the Holy Spirit and disciplined, but we are never condemned.
 If you are feeling condemned it is from one of your enemies, the world, the flesh, or the devil.
o Because of our relationship with Christ we call God our Abba Father or our daddy.
 We are children of God, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
o Next week we will look at suffering as a believer.
• Salvation