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[0:00] If you guys ever played on a really good sports team, let's say basketball for instance, sometimes you know that you get up by a really, really large margin, let's say 50 points.

[0:10] And when that happens, the first stream comes out and the second stream goes in. And that's kind of the way that I feel this morning. Romans seven, it was a neck and neck game. We're going back and forth, the flesh and the sin versus the law of God.

[0:25] And then we got the old man versus the new man. And of course, Romans eight, it seems like it kind of go up by like 50 and they put the subs in. So consider myself the second stream. In light of that, let's just pray to the Lord for making this substitution.

[0:43] Father, we thank you so much that Christ is real. Christ is alive. Christ is in us who know him.

[1:00] God, we pray that your word would just be opened up to us this morning in a great and marvelous way. We pray that it would just change the way that we think, the way that we live our lives, Lord God, so that you would receive more glory through us.

[1:16] And we would, Father, just have the right parts that are filled with joy. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. In psychology, I learned that you tend to remember the first thing and the last thing that you hear from somebody more than all the middle stuff.

[1:34] So I just want to start with kind of the general outline of Romans eight versus one through four, just so you guys can have a have the structure in your mind as we're going through it.

[1:47] I'm only really teaching. I'm supposed to really only teach three and four because Nathan taught one and two a couple of weeks ago. But we're going to we're going to go through all of it really briefly and just focus in on the last two especially.

[1:58] So and I have these kind of, I guess, segmented by ours. All the all the names of these things start with our. So the first verse is really the reality that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

[2:14] OK, it's about our need for righteousness. Verse two is the reason why we have no condemnation.

[2:24] And the buzzword there is justification. And it deals with how God provided us with his righteousness. OK, verse three.

[2:38] Is the route. That God took to alleviate from us this condemnation. And the buzzword is substitution. Route and substitution.

[2:50] And it really has to do with Christ being our righteous sacrifice. And then fourthly. It's the result. This is verse four.

[3:02] Of our salvation and Christ substitutionary work on our behalf. And the key word here is sanctification. And this is going to be talking about our demonstration of God's righteousness.

[3:16] OK, so these are massive topics that obviously I'm not going to be able to touch fully. This is a very abridged version of what these things actually deal with. It's this is I mean, literally the whole scripture is kind of being summarized in these four verses.

[3:28] So you can pretty much go anywhere to teach this. But I'm going to try to stay in Romans as much as possible today. Just so you guys aren't flipping all over the place. Let's begin with a review of verses one and two.

[3:43] Let's just read the passage to start with. OK, this is Romans eight, one through four. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

[4:01] For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did. Sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.

[4:12] In order that we that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

[4:24] OK, so verses one one through four here, it really functions as a summary of the previous seven chapters. It's kind of a hinge point. OK, so it's the previous seven chapters, but it's also the subsequent thirty five verses to follow in chapter eight.

[4:38] It's really a summary of all that's all that that's going on. And again, the first buzzword that we had was the reality of no condemnation. This is verse one. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

[4:51] We see that earlier in the text in Romans in verses 18 through really chapter 118 through verses 20 in chapter three. Paul is talking about condemnation.

[5:03] And the reality of man is guilty before a holy God who was also a judge. Of the worst kind of treason.

[5:14] OK, man is guilty of treason against God. And treason is a violation of a violation of allegiance to one sovereign or a betrayal. I like this definition better. A betrayal of a trust or confidence.

[5:26] It's a breach of faith. We have committed treason against God. And with treason, commonly there's no tolerance, right?

[5:37] Crimes often result in the death penalty. There's been a recent thing, I think, happening in the past couple of years. I just learned about this recently from Josh, in fact. A lot of you guys in the military probably heard about this WikiLeaks thing.

[5:49] It's a young, private first class soldier. A couple of years ago stole a lot of confidential documents and some video footage from the government. And somehow he posted it on the Internet for anyone and everyone to see.

[6:03] I mean, that's enemies and friends alike. And some of the content was very disturbing. It exposed actually a mission that had gone wrong overseas. And needless to say, the man was arrested and is actually awaiting trial and potentially the death penalty.

[6:19] This is just a young man who put some stuff on the Internet. But the severity of the crime is determined by the scale of the offense. The severity of the crime is determined by the scale of the offense.

[6:32] So, you slap your brother or sister on the face, you get time out. You slap the president, you get time in jail. There's a difference between slapping your brother and slapping the president.

[6:42] That's because the scale of offense is greater. If we betray one's country, we get death. If we betray God, we get death and hell.

[6:54] It's greater. Understand in the present predicament of sinners. They are under the condemnation of the King of Kings.

[7:05] Jesus, therefore, says rightly in Matthew 10, 28, Don't fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul. Rather, fear Him who is able to send both soul and body into hell.

[7:16] There's a reverence that God was speaking up there. And so you may ask, what have we done to deserve condemnation? What are we guilty of before God?

[7:30] That would sentence us to death and then eventually hell? Turn to Romans 1. Again, beginning in verse 18, He's dealing with this. Going through chapter 3, verse 20.

[7:42] What have we done? Read verse 18 with me. For the wrath of God, that's the condemnation, is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men who do what?

[7:58] Who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Then skip down to verses 21 through 23. For even though they knew about God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened.

[8:17] Professing to be wise, they became fools. And they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

[8:29] And you might substitute anything there. Any false god or idol that you may serve. A lifestyle, a status, an image, a relationship, etc. They worship and serve and men worship and serve.

[8:41] And we used to worship and serve things that were not God. That's treason. That's betrayal of God. Look at verses 24 and 25.

[8:54] Therefore, God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity. That their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.

[9:05] And they worship and served the creature rather than the creator. Okay? Just a note. Immorality is normal as a symptom of depravity.

[9:16] And normally, within a certain society or a certain country or a certain region where you have gross immorality or growing immorality, normally that means soon the destruction of that society or nation or whatever.

[9:31] This happened to Rome a long time ago. There was just a growing homosexuality, a growing heterosexual sin throughout the region. It was corrupting everybody from the inside out. And Rome fell from the inside out.

[9:44] So immorality is a normal symptom of depravity. So imagine what condition our society and our country is in today. Furthermore, look at 28 through 32.

[9:54] Now, he's kind of speaking, okay? He's writing to the church, so he's speaking to Christians. But these things that he's saying are all, or once were all, true of us. This is going to help us compare what Christ has done better.

[10:10] So look at verses 28 through 32. And just as they did not see fit, this is unbelievers, as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things that are not proper.

[10:27] What things are not proper? Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, and trustworthy, and loving, and merciful.

[10:43] And although they know the ordinance or the commandment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but they also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

[10:55] So that's a laundry list of indictment against us. And that's just chapter 1. This is the condemnation of God that is coming upon people that this is characteristic of.

[11:07] But for those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. So we were all once these things. And yet there's no condemnation.

[11:18] There's no condemnation at all. No penalty to be paid. No judgment to fear. No hell to suffer. All of our guilt absolved.

[11:30] So the question then becomes, well, how do I get in Christ, right? Because the first verse of our text says that those that are in Christ have no condemnation. How do I get in Christ? That's the beauty of verse 2.

[11:46] He rescues you by the power of the gospel. Let's read it. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

[12:04] Has set you free. What does that imply? That you were once in bondage to something, right? You were freed from something. You were incarcerated in something. Now you're freed from something.

[12:15] So again, the second key word was justification. This is the reason why condemnation is no longer applied to us.

[12:30] Man is justified, which really means to be declared innocent or to be holy or to be blameless, by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's how.

[12:41] Before Christ saved you, you were held in captivity to the law, it says, of sin and of death. And in many ways, this refers to the principle of sin that we see Paul struggling with in chapter 7, verses 23 and 24.

[12:58] Let's read that. It's regarding a principle. He says, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members.

[13:15] So something's inside of Paul. Then he says, wretched man that I am, he cries out, who will set me free from the body of this death? So something was inside of Paul.

[13:28] Something was true of Paul that he hated, that he despised. It was a principle that was inside of him. This thing that he couldn't rid himself of in this life. And they that are not in Christ are in the devil.

[13:43] That's a strong comparison. But they that are not in Christ are in the devil. What does that mean? John 8, 44. Jesus himself says to the Pharisees, you are of your father, the devil.

[13:58] In Ephesians 2, 3, Paul says that we are children of wrath. And in 1 John 3, 10, John says, you are children of the devil. That's how he describes the unbelieving, the unregenerate.

[14:11] Children of the devil. And not being in Christ, they have not Christ in them. And therefore, no power to resist sin or combat Satan.

[14:24] They are slaves of sin. They are entirely governed and influenced in every decision by their fallen nature. This is who you once were. This is who some of you may still be. You are totally controlled by sin.

[14:37] There is nothing inside of you that is pleasing to God. You are filled with sin. One cannot escape what one is.

[14:49] Okay? If you are an ant, then you can only work with the faculties of an ant. If you are a lion, then you can only work with the faculties of a lion. If you are not in Christ, then you can only work with your fallen faculties.

[15:01] Meaning what? You can't please God. You can't please God. This is so important to understand. Okay? Romans 8 says that. We are going to get to that in a little while.

[15:12] That those who are not in Christ, who are not in the Spirit, cannot please God. Have no ability to. Now that means something. That puts people that try to work to be good, to get God's approval, in a very, very desperate place.

[15:28] because you can't earn God's favor. There's no outweighing the bad with the good. This is exactly what the truth of Scripture says.

[15:40] Just turn to Romans 8. I just want to see, I just want to read this with you. Romans 8. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

[15:54] So I'm not just making this up. This is truth from Scripture. If you are a Christian, however, you can certainly please God.

[16:05] Because there is now a new principle in you. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as our verse says. This is how the Gospel works, okay?

[16:18] By faith, a man believes that he has sinned against God. And is indeed in a state of just condemnation. So I sin against God, I recognize that, and I admit that, and I believe that.

[16:35] That God is not pleased with me, for me. Know this too, God never refuses or despises the man who is broken in spirit, and who is contrite in heart.

[16:46] Psalm 51. And therefore, God saves this poor man, God has saved you, being justified, made holy, right? As a gift by His grace, as a gift, that's a key word there, by His grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

[17:04] And that's straight out of chapter 3, verse 24. And this person who's been saved has what's called positional righteousness.

[17:18] Positional righteousness. Meaning that if a man were to die the second after he were saved, and he had lived a life of constant sin, let's say that he was the worst of men, and he died one second after he was saved, he would still be seen by God as if he were as holy and as blameless as Christ.

[17:47] Positional righteousness is awesome. Holy and blameless before God, pure as Christ, and I did one second of good things and 45 years of sin.

[18:04] He would then be loved by God for the rest of eternity as a son because of this position. And he would not be condemned to hell as a sinner.

[18:17] And that is what it means to be justified. Now, you say, where is that in Scripture, right? That's an awesome reality. Where is that in Scripture? I want to read more about this. Luke 23, 39-43, is the thief on the cross.

[18:32] That's a great example of that. He was on the cross. He was literally nailed to the cross. And Christ gave him and said, today you will be with me in paradise. But I want to read you from Romans 5.

[18:46] Look at Romans 5. Just turn over one page. Another good example of this. Romans 5, 6-10. For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

[19:03] God died for the Romans one people. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for a good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us.

[19:16] And that while we were yet still sinners, wicked, evil, hating God, rebellious, Christ died for you. In your sin. Not when you cleaned yourself up and made yourself resentable, but in your sin, in the worst of the worst of the worst circumstances, when you were doing nothing but sin, when you were hating God and betraying Him with all the heart that you possibly could, that's when He died for you.

[19:40] much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God, from condemnation through Christ.

[19:53] For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more than having been reconciled, we should be saved by His life. He's like, if God saves you while you were in your sin, while you were hating God, while you were rebellious, then certainly He's going to keep you once you've been given the Holy Spirit, once you've been transformed, once you've been given a love for Christ, there's nothing you can do to get out of that.

[20:18] It's awesome. Thirdly, verse 3, Romans 8, 3, says, for what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did, by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.

[20:45] The key word here is substitution. And this is again, for the R words, the route that God took to alleviate us from condemnation. The route that God took to justify you.

[21:00] Substitution. Meaning, the righteous demands of the law, and the law does have demands, are satisfied in Christ, and thusly, in those who are in Christ.

[21:16] The law here, the word law, is the word nomos in the Greek, and it's a generic word meaning basically any law whatsoever. Any law whatsoever. So it's therefore anything that accurately reflects the moral character or moral nature of God.

[21:31] It can be as explicit, as obvious, as the Mosaic law, the Ten Commandments that were written in stone, or it can be as implicit as the moral law, written in and on the hearts of people, bearing conscious witness of God to even the indigenous tribesmen who's never heard the name of Jesus Christ or read a Bible.

[21:56] The law of God is still written on their hearts. That's Romans 2.15. Romans 2.1 says no man is with excuse.

[22:09] No man's got an excuse before God. There's nothing you can say to him because there's moral laws written on your heart, which is why somebody in an indigenous tribe elsewhere still feels the same conviction for committing adultery or for killing somebody.

[22:28] It's the moral law of God written in the heart. So it can be explicit or it can be implicit. But all of that and everything in between is the law of God. And the law, as we see in our text, couldn't do something.

[22:43] It was incapable of doing something. What? If we read further on in verse 3, condemning sin is what it couldn't do.

[22:57] that's what God was sent for, right? That's why Christ was sent, was to condemn sin. The law cannot condemn or destroy or render powerless Sin.

[23:14] It can only expose it. Romans 7, 7, look over just one column. Paul says, what should we say then?

[23:28] Is the law sin? May it never be. On the contrary, I would not have come to no sin except through the law. The law. That's its function.

[23:40] It can only make a person privy to their offense of God's law. It can only make a person realize or understand that they have committed a transgression against God. That they're rebellious.

[23:51] purpose. That's what its purpose, its function is. It's to tutor you basically. To lead you into the knowledge of your sin. Look at Romans 3.

[24:07] The end of, I guess, 19 and 20. Look at this. Romans 3, 19 and 20. Now, we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed.

[24:21] So, everybody's mouth is shut up. And all the world may become accountable to God. Everybody is. Because by the works of the law, that means by trying to achieve God's favor through working or doing good works.

[24:39] So, by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin. So, it's clear as day. Now, I need to make a point here.

[24:51] The problem is not with the law. The problem is with us. Okay? The verse says, weak as it was through the flesh. What the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh.

[25:04] Okay? Our sin nature is the flesh. That's the issue. We are born with a predisposition towards sin and towards lawlessness. We hate, as sinners, the rigidity of the law.

[25:17] law. Because it feels incarcerating, doesn't it? All these do's and don'ts, all these things to do, all these things not to do, it feels incarcerating to us. We want to rebel against it and to be freed from its requirements.

[25:33] And when the unbelieving feel that way, it's simply the law doing what it's supposed to do. simply doing what it's supposed to do.

[25:45] This helps us very much in understanding why unbelievers hate the gospel. Why some of you hate the gospel. Why you hate hearing this. Why? Because the law exposes your failure to meet God's standard.

[26:00] Anybody and nobody likes to dwell on their weaknesses and on their deficiencies. But you are weak. if you are not in Christ, you are very weak.

[26:13] Very weak. We all were once weak. It exposes you. It makes a mockery of you. You can't live up to it. It's like a father that's never pleased with you if you do something good in the house.

[26:28] Never gives you any kind of encouragement. The law doesn't know how to show encouragement. It only beats you down. That's its function though. It's meant to do that. The law is weak only because our flesh is weak.

[26:44] But our Savior's flesh was not, however, weak. Was it? Notice our verse says, what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did.

[27:01] God did. What the law was incapable of doing through us, that is, rendering powerless, sin, and Satan, and death, and reflecting God's perfect moral righteousness, it mightily achieved through Christ.

[27:16] What the law couldn't do through us, it achieved victoriously, triumphantly through Christ. Notice how our verse here is phrased, right? God did, sending His own Son.

[27:28] God the Father then chose willingly to send Jesus. And let me tell you this, He was compelled by nothing in you or nothing in me. we have no value apart from that which is given to us by God.

[27:45] We are the same as grass apart from Christ, creation. That's all that you are. That's all that I am, is creation. God sent Christ.

[27:59] Why? turn to Isaiah 53. This is awesome.

[28:17] Isaiah 53. We are going to read verses 4 through 6 and then we are going to read a little bit from verse 10. Isaiah 53, 4 through 6 and a little bit from 10.

[28:29] Listen to this. This is so awesome. It says, Surely our griefs He Himself, that is Christ, bore.

[28:42] In our sorrows He carried, yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken. We didn't recognize Him. Smitten of God and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions.

[28:54] He was crushed for our iniquities. And the chastisement for our well-being fell upon Him. And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray.

[29:07] Each of us has turned to his own way. We're all sinners. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Christ. Christ. Verse 10.

[29:19] But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief. So why did God send Christ to die this gruesome death on the cross to save us from our sins simply because it pleased Him.

[29:38] He wanted to. It pleased Him. to crush Christ. God does what He pleases.

[29:51] And the Son, likewise, does what He pleases. Let me read you this. A little Trinity passage here. Check this out. Jesus says, for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

[30:11] no one has taken my life away from me. Nobody. But I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again.

[30:23] This commandment I receive from my Father. That's Jesus saying, the Father sent me, but I sent myself. I do what I want to do.

[30:35] So it pleased Christ to die on the cross. God enjoyed the death of Christ. Why?

[30:46] Because through it, Christ killed the power of sin that had for thousands of years held sway over all creation. In His triumph, He conquered sin, Satan, death, and hell.

[31:00] He brought many sons to glory. That's you, that's me. He made a fool of Satan, which He liked. He perfectly accomplished the will of His Father. That is, He fulfilled the law perfectly.

[31:15] He condemned sin in the flesh. That's what the law couldn't do through us. That's what the law mightily did through Christ. Condemn sin, destroy sin, and the power of it through Christ.

[31:30] The law cannot make men perfect, but Christ can. Turn to Hebrews 10. 10. The law cannot make men perfect, but Christ can. Hebrews 10.

[31:44] Verse 10 and 14. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The word sanctification means to be set apart or made holy.

[31:57] So by this we have been made holy, by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Then 14. 14. For by one offering, that was Christ, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

[32:11] The law can't make men perfect, but Christ can. Now listen, okay? In Christ, listen to this, this is awesome, in Christ we have been freed from the penalty of sin. From the penalty of it.

[32:26] Eternity in hell. Justly. Free from it. Absolved from all guilt of it. We have been freed, we are being freed, excuse me, daily from the power of it.

[32:40] So we were freed, we have been freed, once and for all, from the penalty. We are presently being freed from the power, and one day we will fully be freed from even the presence of sin.

[32:55] In heaven, when we see Christ face to face. glorious truth. Lastly, verse 4.

[33:18] It says, in order that, so he condemns sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

[33:35] The key word here is sanctification, and the R word is the result. We started with the reality of no condemnation, we went to the reason, which was justification, right?

[33:53] From there we went to the route, which was substitution, and then on to fourthly, the result, which is sanctification.

[34:06] As I already said, sanctification meaning to be set apart unto God, to be made holy unto God. Christ saved us to make us holy, it's important, and as, excuse me, to make us holy as he was and is holy.

[34:23] the law is not made void when you become a Christian. Many people are confused about this. A lot of you may say, well, I thought that I was released from the law.

[34:36] I mean, what about Romans 6, or Romans 7, 6, I mean, just go back one column, look at this, what does it say? But now we have been released from the law, John, and I would say keep reading, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in the newness.

[34:53] Serve, serve, serve in the newness of the spirit, not in oldness of the letter. It's true you've been released from the law, but released from the condemning grasp of the law, that is the penalty that comes from transgressing it, you've been released from that, but not from the obligation to it.

[35:15] That's still very much alive. Christ didn't come to abolish the law, didn't he? He came to fulfill it. And we're to be like Christ, fulfilling it.

[35:31] In light of that, we were saved in him from the penalty of the law to the practice of it. Saved from the penalty of it to the practice of it.

[35:45] Be encouraged, okay? Be encouraged by this. This is cool. There's nothing more satisfying for the Christian than keeping God's law. There's nothing more satisfying for the Christian than keeping God's law.

[36:00] Why? Because a cheetah likes to run, a fish likes to swim, a cow likes to graze, and a Christian likes to obey God's law.

[36:15] it is now natural to us. It is why you were created initially anyway. Those animals do instinctually, right?

[36:30] What they've been given to do. Their faculties enable them. Cheetah to run, cow to graze, Christians have been given the Holy Spirit to obey.

[36:46] It's simply how God created us. Now notice the key phrase here in the beginning of verse 4. It says, in order that. In order that.

[36:57] God saves us for a purpose, as I said. That's for holiness. I want you to turn to Titus 2. I want you to see this.

[37:08] Titus 2, he saved you for a reason. Your justification wasn't the end game. but your sanctification and glorification were.

[37:23] Titus 2, verses 11 through 14. Listen to this. Here we go. For the grace of God, that's Christ, basically. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.

[37:36] For what reason? Instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us, that's the cross, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself.

[38:01] There's that pleasure thing again. A people for his own possession, who are what? Zealous for good deeds. That's clear as day.

[38:14] He saved you to make you holy. you say that's the only place in the Bible that says that. No, it's not. Turn to 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2.

[38:28] 1 Peter 2. 21-24. Listen to this. Another in-your-face passage. For you have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps.

[38:43] Who committed no sin or any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.

[38:54] 24. Big kicker. But he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. There's a cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

[39:08] So he died. He saved you. Why? So that you could die to sin and live to righteousness. That is literally the whole chapter 6 of Romans. That's another massive proof text.

[39:25] But he hasn't left you to accomplish this task alone. That's a very daunting task, right, by itself. He's given you the Holy Spirit. He's given you the Holy Spirit. Turn to John 14.

[39:37] I've got to show you this. John 14. Jesus introduces to the disciples the Holy Spirit in many ways. He hasn't left you by himself.

[39:49] That's what he's done. Look at this. Verses 16 and 17. Start there. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may be with you temporarily?

[40:00] No. Forever. Forever. That is the Spirit of truth whom the world can't receive because it does not behold him or know him, but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you.

[40:14] What a promise. Listen, this is how you get power over sin. you have to know this.

[40:27] Okay? And so you may ask, right? How does the Spirit aid us? In what way does it aid us? How does the Spirit do this in us? How do I become holy? How do I walk in holiness?

[40:38] How does the Spirit aid us? Look at this. Firstly, by empowering our faith. This is in verse 19 and 20. Look down. After a little while, the world will behold me no more, but you will behold me.

[40:51] How? By faith. Because I live, you shall live also. In that day you shall know by faith, I might add, that I am in the Father, and that you are in me, and that I am in you. He empowers our faith, number one.

[41:04] Number two, He empowers our love. This is verse 21. He that has my commandments and keeps them, He it is who loves me.

[41:18] And he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him. He empowers our love. He enables you to keep the commandments of God, not because of obligation, but because of love.

[41:33] As you begin to taste what obedience is like, really genuine obedience, you will begin to like it. It's what you were made for. It isn't burdensome to me to love God.

[41:46] It isn't burdensome to you if you were a Christian to love God. It is the joy of your life to serve him. He empowers your love. Thirdly, he empowers your thought life.

[42:00] He teaches you. 26, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

[42:11] Now, in reference, in this context, he was talking about inspiring the word of God. He was talking about writing the scriptures through the apostles, apostles, but for us, it still applies, right? I mean, we're benefactors, or beneficiaries, I should say, of the word.

[42:27] So, thirdly, he empowers your thought. And then, fourthly, what's the result? What's the result of that?

[42:40] Peace and joy and strength in life. 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do I give to you.

[42:52] Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Peace, joy, and strength in peace. The world has no idea.

[43:04] They don't have access to this. No amount of money, no amount of sex, no amount of pleasure, no amount of nothing can get them. this kind of peace and joy. They try hard.

[43:18] They have nothing. Lastly, last thing that I'm going to say. The word here in Romans 8 again, walk.

[43:35] In the Greek it's peripatio. It's one of the oldest and most common verbs in the scripture. It's used, this word walk, I'll read it again in the context here.

[43:46] It says, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. This is going to be encouraging. This word walk is used to describe a person's bent in life, or a normal way in which he lives, or progress of one's life.

[44:04] Which means what? God does not expect you to be perfect, but he expects perfection. A growing perfection in progress.

[44:19] It's the direction of your life, not the perfection, right? One office said it like this, the Christian life is the process of becoming what you are. It's already in you.

[44:32] It's just a matter of working that out. In Christ, we are already positionally righteous, right? We talked about that. We are now becoming behaviorally righteous.

[44:45] And this is the will of God. Note, this is not a suggestion by Paul. This is a statement of fact saying, if you are a Christian, this will be happening. If you are not a Christian, then you won't be able to do this.

[44:59] Or if you are a fake Christian, or a false Christian, then you will be exposed as not being able to progress. Every Christian progresses. It's a fact. There's a lot of texts about that, too.

[45:14] But we're not perfect people. We're struggling. We're growing. We're becoming what we are in Christ. If you are truly a Christian, you will be progressing in holiness and spiritual maturity.

[45:25] God doesn't intend to raise babies forever. That would be a horrible idea. Right? He intends for you to grow. mature. So what does walking like the Spirit look like?

[45:38] Clay is going to teach us that next week. But in closing, I just want to give you guys a quick illustration just to further emphasize and make a picture for you of what we are in Christ.

[45:52] My dad wrote this illustration. Before Christ, picture yourself as a fish. fish. You live in water.

[46:03] Your natural habitat is the water. You swim, you have gills, you breathe in the water. That's where you exist. That's where you have your being. Let's say that fish or you gets saved.

[46:17] Now it's transformed into a man. Its natural habitat now is where? It's on land. It breathes air, not water. It eats the fruit of the land. It walks around.

[46:28] There's a huge difference. Now, that human being can go back in the water for a time.

[46:39] I can get wet again with sin, can't I? I can swim around for a while sometimes, but I can't exist there and I can't have my being there. Even if I go down to all my breath, I've got to come up for air sometime.

[46:55] That's in essence what you are. You are an entirely new creature. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. That word there, new, is kinos, which is new of a totally different kind.

[47:06] It's never been before. Totally different. You are very different than what you want. Praise God, right?

[47:16]  That's great.