Grace Abounds; No Condemnation
Romans 7:25 I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. 8:1 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. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
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Sometimes chapter numbers and verse numbers can be cumbersome to our understanding to the Word of God. We should always we remember the chapter and verse numbers were added hundreds of years later. One should never assume verse and chapter separation is the way to gain understanding of the Word. In fact, this is one case I believe if relying upon the numbering we could very well miss the whole of the message.
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If you remember last week’s Bible Study we showed the difference between spirit, soul, and body of man. At salvation we gained a new creation in us, being joined to God Spirit to spirit. Our souls begins a transformation that never ends and our bodies await that final redemption. Paul in Romans 7:25 talked about the two laws. One is the law of Moses and one is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. When we have come to Jesus we have been set free from the law of sin and death. We are now joined to Christ Jesus; being joined to Jesus brings us into the covenant of no condemnation!
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John 3:17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
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Believing in the precious name of Jesus Christ is where the condemnation is lifted. The bible has set the standard high for the defining of “believe”. It is greater than recognizing Jesus as Messiah; it is surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If the object of your faith is exclusively in Jesus and His atoning work at the cross you have found the way to victory. Those who truly believe have passed from death unto life. He who believes in Jesus is not condemned! He who believes in Jesus is not condemned. Repeated purposefully! Condemnation is lifted at faith in Jesus Christ.
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Paul testimony in Romans 7:25 was he found his victory through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 8:1 starts with “There is therefore…” We must consider the therefore to understand the stated truth. The therefore was all of the building blocks laid in the letter from Romans 1 to Romans 8. The just shall live by faith, righteousness can only come through faith in Jesus Christ, sin is not imputed to those who have entered this covenant of faith, through faith we have the how much the more covenant, we are slaves to righteousness, and we are married to Jesus. Because of the these truths there is now no condemnation.
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Romans 8:1 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.
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Now no condemnation! At the point of faith in Jesus the condemnation is lifted. Who are the ones who do not walk according to the flesh? Let’s go to the Word itself to define the who!
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Romans 8:9 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.
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1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
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The confession of faith that Jesus is our Lord, is a work of the Holy Spirit in us.
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1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
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At a genuine confession of faith the Spirit of God abides in a man; this is where the man is separated from the condemnation. There is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus!
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Those who are walking in the flesh have not been born again; they are under the condemnation because they have not believed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Romans 8:1 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. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 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,
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There is a greater glory than the glory of the law of Moses. 2 Corinthians 3 called the law of Moses the ministry of condemnation and death. However the greater law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. Sin has been condemned in the flesh! We are joined to God Spirit to spirit but sin has been condemned in the flesh! Whose flesh, at what point, and where in the flesh is sin condemned?
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Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity,
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1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
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Jesus was the sin bearer with His own body on the tree! The law of Moses could never do what Jesus did with His body on the tree. That is why we have been made free from the law of sin and death!
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Hebrews 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law…15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." 18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
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There is an annulling of the former commandment… for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. Jesus came setting us free from the former so we might walk in the better hope. This better hope is the greater glory by which we live. The grace abounding is so great that there is NOW no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!
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Romans 8:3 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, 4 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. 5 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. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
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Those who walk in the flesh in this passage are those who have never surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is a strong measuring stick here. If one’s pursuit is the flesh and the things of the flesh that one does not belong to God. Those who live according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit is their pursuit. You are either one or the other. The carnal mind is enmity against God and can not be subject to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus! This is not the up and down of a Christian! This is a measuring stick of genuine faith in Christ. The next verses show beyond shadow of a doubt that is the truth.
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Romans 8:9 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. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
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If you are in the flesh the Spirit of God does not dwell in you; if the Spirit of God does not dwell in you, you do not belong to God! If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If you are in the flesh you have no salvation; if the Spirit of God dwells in you the body is dead because of sin. This is either you are saved with no condemnation or you are in the flesh and you still need set free from that condemnation.
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Romans 8:11 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. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors; not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
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If you have been born again you are not a debtor to the flesh in any way! He who the Son sets free from sin is free indeed. What did Paul through the Holy Spirit teach us in Romans 6? Likewise, reckon yourself dead indeed to sin and alive unto God.
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Romans 8:13 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. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
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The abounding grace of God gives the believer power by the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the body! The grace of God is so strong it causes us to be lead by the Spirit of God. Another very strong measuring stick, if one is not lead by the Spirit of God they are not the sons of God. That one still needs to be born again!
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Romans 8:15 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." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 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.
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Grace abounding brings no condemnation; grace abounding releases you from fear. Grace abounding cause us to receive the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father.” Grace abounding brings the Spirit Himself to bear witness with our spirit that we are the children of God!
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John 1:12 But as many as received Him (Jesus as the Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 3 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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