No Condemnation
Romans 8:1-4

Michael Breissen was a new father, and he was not about to let his wife’s first Mother’s Day pass uncelebrated. But she was a nurse, and on that particular Sunday was working at the local hospital. They weren’t able to celebrate together at home. So Michael plunked his new son, Jason, in the baby carrier, drove to the hospital, and in front of all the patients and co-workers he surprised Miriam with candy, flowers and balloons that said, "World’s Greatest Mom."

It was a great Mother’s Day. But after celebrating, it was time for Miriam to go back to work, and for Jason and Michael to go back home. Michael gathered all the things that had been part of the celebration – the candy, flowers, and balloons. It wasn’t as much fun taking those things out to the car as it was taking them in to the hospital for the surprise. He begrudgingly tossed the candy on the front seat and got the flowers arranged on the floor where they wouldn’t tip over. He pulled the balloons in out of the wind, got everything arranged, and headed home.

On the way home, people began to honk their horns and flash their lights at him. He didn’t realize what was going on until he hit 55 miles per hour on the highway. He heard a long scraping noise go down the roof, followed by a loud thump. He watched in horror in the rearview mirror as the baby carrier bounced off the trunk onto the highway and began to slide along behind the car.

Michael screeched to a halt. He ran back down the highway to the baby carrier. Jason was okay. As the waves of guilt and fear and ultimately, relief, began to wash over him, Michael fell on the highway and began to sob. This did not stop a passing policeman from writing him up, or keep the local newspaper from writing a story about it. A reporter interviewed Miriam, who showed amazing understanding. She said, "It’s so unlike him. He really is a good father."

I love Michael, because Michael makes me look good. And even though my wife is probably saying inside, “That’s something my husband would do,” I never let it happen to our son.

Have you ever messed up? I mean big time. You may look over your life and see all of the failures and mishaps you would rather no one brought up. We all have such experiences. We are like the person who trips over his foot, falls flat to the ground, and is more embarrassed over the incident than hurt. This person quickly looks around to make sure no one saw him and then jumps up, pretending nothing ever happened. Hopefully, no one is aware of the embarrassment.

During our study of Romans, Romans 3:23 has been mentioned or referenced on numerous occasions to remind us of our propensity to sin. We are relieved at God’s good news in Romans 6:23, which tells us despite it all God loved us and gave us the gift of everlasting life when we placed our trust in His Son Jesus Christ.

In Romans 8:1, we see the impact of God’s grace. Despite the failures in our lives which resulted from our sin, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loved us enough to forgive us of our sins. We can stand before the devil and announce with conviction, "There is 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." And even though I may have sinned and fallen short of the divine standards of God, through the power of His Holy Spirit, I am able to walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Now here’s why, verse 2 tells us the Spirit gives life. The term “the law of the Spirit of life” refers to the law of the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus. The non-believer doesn’t realize it, but life exists in Christ and in Him alone. Whatever life we have is all in Jesus.  John 1:4 explains, "In him was life; and the life was the light of men," and Jesus Himself said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life" [emphasis added].

When the Spirit does His work in us, He frees us from sin and death. That is the “law of sin and death.” I know this is another law I’m giving you, but it is just as important. The “law of sin and death” refers to the rule and reign of death. Now unless the Rapture should come first, every man will die. Death rules and reigns over every man. But the Spirit of God frees a man from the rule and reign of death.

If a person has the Spirit of life, he does not have the spirit of sin and death. The Spirit of life gives the Believer power to live a life that honors Christ. As new creations in Christ, we have eternal life. This means that even though the physical body may one day die, our soul will go on to live with the Lord forever! And even though like Michael, we still make mistakes, because we are in Christ, we receive the forgiveness of Christ so there is no condemnation. It doesn’t mean that we will not reap what we sow from the mistakes that we make—Michael’s wife forgave him-but he still received the driving citation.

In verse 3, we are told, “What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” The law could not make us righteous because of the weakness of our flesh to keep the law.

When you read chapter 7, even Paul talks about his own personal struggle. You see, no man has ever been able to keep the law of God with perfection except Christ. This is why righteousness and life could not come by the law. But what the law could not do, the Spirit is able to do. The Spirit provided righteousness and life through Jesus Christ. 1 John 5:12, explained it this way, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" [emphasis added].

So when we place our trust in Christ, the Son of God, we have life.  When we believe the Word of God, we realize we can live a holy life. But the trick of the enemy is to make us doubt.

This reminds me of the story of a girl who was the daughter of one of Europe’s royal families. She had a big, round nose that destroyed her beauty in the eyes of others – and especially in her own eyes. She grew up with this terrible image of herself as an ugly person. So her family hired a plastic surgeon to change the contour of her nose. He did his work, and the moment came when they took the bandages off and the girl could see what happened.

The doctor saw that the operation had been a total success. All the ugly contours were gone. Her nose was different. When the incisions healed and the redness disappeared, she would be a beautiful girl. He held a mirror up for the girl to see. But so deeply embedded was this girl’s ugly image of herself that when she saw herself in the mirror, she couldn’t see any change. She broke into tears and cried out, "Oh, I knew it wouldn’t work!"

The doctor labored with the girl for six months before she would finally accept the fact that she was indeed different. But the moment she accepted the fact, her behavior began to change. Satan, the accuser, wants us to believe that because of our pasts, we are incapable of living a life that would honor the Lord. He brings up over and over again all of our past failures, until we stand on the Word God, which boldly states, “There is Now No Condemnation to Them Which are in Christ Jesus!

Satan wants to condemn me; but Jesus has already forgiven me! Satan wants to give me death; but Jesus died that I can have everlasting life. Satan wants to put me in bondage; but Jesus has set me free!