16. “The Good News of Life in Jesus” (Romans 8, Part 1)

If you were with us last week, Geoff said, as he was teaching on Romans 7, that this is really a two-part sermon.  Echoing what he said, if you weren’t here last week, I would encourage you to go back and listen.  Romans 8 is a glorious chapter in the Bible, but the wonder of this passage will be felt less if you don’t see that what Paul writes here is the answer to Chapter 7. Last week in Chapter 7, Paul described the experience of being “in the flesh.”  And if you’ve been around the last few weeks, we’ve said that to be “in the flesh” is describing a way of living that says, “it’s up to me.”  It’s a way of living that’s disconnected from God where we are on our own.  

And the law, we saw last week, exposes that way of living.  This is what Paul described in Chapter 7, that the law came, and for him and for Israel it exposed the seriousness of the problem with sin.  The law on the one hand points the way toward life, there it is, God shows you the direction, the way. But when the law meets the person “in the flesh,” in the “It’s up to me” way of living, it has this effect where it aggravates sin.  Sin is already in us, but when we hear the commands, even though they are good and given by the God who is love and life, because of sin and evil in us the response of the flesh is, “no one tells me what to do,” or “you don’t tell me what to do.”  It aggravates sin.  And Paul says that this bentness away from God, this evil, it is inside of us, and it goes deep.   It goes so deep that even when we agree with the law and what it says we find ourselves going in the other direction, not doing what we want, but doing the evil we don’t want.  

In other words, we’re stuck.  We are terribly, terribly stuck.  And in that place, stuck in sin’s power, evil having the upper hand in our lives, and bent away from God we are on the path that leads toward death, judgment, and condemnation. This is hard to hear, but we must hear it because, as Geoff said last week, we need to know what we are so that we can know what we need.  If we’re really this stuck, then what we need is news.  We need to hear that someone can rescue us, can free us, can change what we can’t change, can make right what we can’t make right.  

And that’s what Paul tells us in Romans 8:1-11.  

Recently, Erin and I watched a new mini-series on Apple TV called “Masters of the Air.”  It’s a 9-part series about the US Army’s 8th Air Force 100th Bomber Group, also known as “The Bloody Hundredth.”  If you’re familiar with “Band of Brothers” or “The Pacific”, “Masters of the Air” similarly tells the story of World War 2, focusing on this heroic Air Force bomber group.  This group of airmen began flying bombing missions into occupied Europe almost a full year before D-day in June of 1944.  The “Bloody Hundredth”, by which it got its name, in particular took heavy casualties during these bomb raids that sought to disrupt German forces as the allied troops coordinated and prepared for the invasion of Europe.  During that year, 1943, many planes were shot down and many men died.   Some who were shot down were able to parachute out of their planes before crash-landing or being blown up in mid-air, but often these men were captured, interrogated, and then taken to prisoner of war camps, deep into occupied Europe.   

The series focuses on a few men in particular, Buck Cleven and Bucky Eagan, who were both shot down days apart from each other in Oct of 1943, eight months before D-day.   They were captured and wound up together in a German POW camp.  They had little food.  They were tired.  They were trapped; they were stuck.  Even if they could think of escaping the POW camp itself, they couldn’t get out of Europe.  What do you do when you’re stuck in a POW camp?  In one episode you see what occupied their time and focus. They and other POWs did whatever they could to scrounge together pieces that Buck could use to make a radio.  Why were they doing that?  Because what you need when you’re stuck, and you can’t free yourself is NEWS.  You are desperate to hear reports of Good News.  You are desperate to catch a transmission indicating that German forces are retreating, that the Allies have indeed landed, that rescue is coming.  

In Romans 8:1-11 Paul tells us news.  He gives us the gospel, which is the good news about Jesus.  In these 11 verses, Paul doesn’t really tell us to do anything. There are no imperative verbs, no commands. He gives us news, telling us of something that is, something that has been done, something that is true, something that will happen.  it is News.  

Let’s look at the text. Chapter 8 opens a bit shockingly, almost like a distant radio transmission giving good news of what you might not expect given the dire situation of last week and chapter 7.  He writes in verse 1, “Therefore”.  It’s a bit of a shocking “Therefore” because that word usually sums up an argument. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”  How it is that people who were stuck in sin, bent away from God, heading toward death and condemnation, how is it that these words can be said of them, that this could be true?  

That’s really what the rest of this passage is about. Each part of this passage explains why this is the case and why it can be true. What the reason is that “There’s no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”  

It’s because, in verses 2-4, this is what God has done.  It’s Because in verses 5-8, there are two ways to be human and you are the “in the Spirit” type.  And it’s because in verses 9-11, if you’re “in the Spirit” you belong to Jesus. And if that’s true, then it follows that glorious bodily resurrection and fullness of life in Jesus is your future.  There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus BECAUSE of all this.  

Paul wants us to hear good news, and that Good News is that there is Life in Jesus.  Let’s consider each of these three sections of this passage….

First, there is now no condemnation, because in verses 2-4, this is what God has done.  

“2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. “

Here in verse 2 Paul uses the term “law” I think, not referring to the law of Moses, or OT Law, like he does in verse 3, but as he has in other places in Romans, using it metaphorically to mean “A binding authority” or “a power.”  So, in essence he’s saying in verses 1-2, Why is there no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus?  Well, because the power of the Spirit of life in Messiah Jesus has set you free from the power of sin and death. How did this take place?  Well, verse 3, because what the law of Moses couldn’t do, since it was weakened by the flesh, God did.  

There is no condemnation for those in Jesus because God in verse3 already condemned sin.  God sent his Son who came into this world, this fallen world.  And he lived a life of perfect obedience, even in a world dominated by the flesh, bent away from God.  Jesus lived loving God and loving others.  He never sinned; he never did evil; and yet he was condemned; he was judged; he died on a cross.  He died, Paul writes at the end of verse 3, “as a sin offering.”  He died as our substitute.  He died in our place. That’s why there’s no condemnation.  There’s no condemnation for those in Jesus because sin has already been judged in the death of Jesus.

Another place where Paul writes very similarly to this great exchange is 2 Corinthians 5:21 where he writes that God made him (that is, Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  Jesus receives what we deserve – dying our death, judged and condemned for our sin.  And we receive what he deserved – being declared by God as righteous, in the right.  And this is what Paul is saying in these verses, this is what God has done. Verse 3, He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son as a sin offering, and he did this, verse 4, in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us.  The redemption you needed, but couldn’t accomplish, the freedom from the power of sin and death that you needed but couldn’t do GOD HAS DONE.  God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, have done it.  That’s why there’s no condemnation!

Second, there is now no condemnation because in verses 5-8 there are two ways to be human and you who are in Christ are the “in the Spirit” type. Let’s unpack that.  At the end of verse 4 Paul gives a description of those who benefit from this great exchange of being freed from sin and death and condemnation through Jesus and who are considered by God as those who have fully met the laws’ requirement.  Paul says they are, “those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” And in verses 5-8 Paul digs in to explain this difference more.  

If you look at these verses Paul is clearly contrasting “Flesh” and “Spirit, “and by this he is not contrasting physical and spiritual or anything like that.  He’s talking about two ways to be human.  When Paul uses this language, he is contrasting two different “modes of existence,” even two different “ages.”  You’ve probably familiar with “age” language to talk about historical periods, like the “bronze age,” or “iron age,” or the “industrial age.”  By this we mean that something so characterized a certain period of time we could call it the “______” age.  That’s what Paul is doing with this language of “flesh” and “Spirit.”  

There is the age of the flesh, which is a whole way of life, a whole mode of existence that humanity shared from the time of Adam and the fall of humanity into sin and onward.  That way, as we’ve been saying, is disconnected from God and lives an existence of “it’s up to me.”  

Notice in verses 5-8 that Paul contrasts these two ways by specifically pointing to a certain lifestyle or way of being and a certain way of thinking.   Look at what he says about the “flesh.” Verse 5 says, For those who live according to the flesh (that’s the lifestyle or way of being) have their minds set (that’s the thinking) on the things of the flesh.  Verse 6 then says, Now the mindset of the flesh is death. Then in verse 7, the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it doesn’t not submit to God’s law.  Indeed, it is unable to do so. Lastly in verse 8, Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 

This is the way of life and the way of thinking that characterizes humanity apart from being in Christ.  It’s what characterizes humanity apart from a relationship with God based on the gospel.  Think about it. There are probably lots of people we know, maybe even where you’re at right now, who don’t really think about God all that much. You live detached from God, and so of course you’re going to live in a way that lives and thinks and operates in the “it’s up to me.” There are also others who seek to be spiritual or try to relate to God, whether through organized religion by going to some church or a synagogue or a masque, or by seeking to connect to God or spiritual realities privately on their own.  And they can have all sorts of different beliefs about who or what the god is that they are seeking, but again the way they live and think and do religion is “It’s up to me.”  It’s up to me and my prayers or meditations, my works, my deeds, my morality, my connection to the spirit world.   

And Paul tells us this whole way leads to death.  If the way of the flesh says, “it’s up to me,” I rule my life, I make it work, it’s my wisdom, my effort in the end that makes the difference, that whole way is opposed to the one true God.  It’s set against the way you were made to relate to God and what Paul tells us is that this orientation to God, that posture toward God CANNOT please him, it can’t obey him, it can’t relate to God the way we were made to relate to him.  

Consider for a minute someone in your life that you’re really close to, a parent, friend, spouse. A good relationship is one where sure, you do things to love and serve that other person, but what’s the motivation, what’s controlling you and leading you to take them out to dinner, listen to them, get them a present, take them on vacation. It’s because you love them, you want to be close. It’s what we’ve been saying throughout Romans, it’s communion, closeness, intimacy, love, connection.  What if you did all the stuff of relationships: listened, gave them presents, took them out to dinner, served them; but really it was because you weren’t after a relationship but let’s just say this other person had money, lots of money. You didn’t want them, you just wanted to get something from them.  It would be offensive! If they knew that was your motivation, you could never please them. 

If you’re in the flesh, thinking like someone in the flesh, you CANNOT please God and you CANNOT obey him.  Because that way of life and thinking wants control and wants God on your terms and by your efforts. “It’s up to me.” If that’s the way and posture you approach God, there are no works, no efforts, nothing that pleases him that you can “do” …  You can “do” moral things and the law, but you can’t obey the heart of what God wants.  You can look outwardly very good, but the motivation is terribly wrong and offensive, it’s not rooted in communion and relationship. BUT, Paul says, but there is a new way to be human, a new and different mode of being, and it’s so radically different that we could speak of it as a new age of human existence, and it is that of the Spirit.  Because if you are in Christ, you have communion with God.  And so, your life and you’re thinking and how you relate to God comes from that place of already being forgiven and freed from sin and death, loved by the Father, united to the Son, and indwelt by the Spirit.  This is a way of life and a way of thinking that is characterized by life flowing from God’s life and peace with God because you’ve been made right with him.  And Paul says, that’s what you have if you’re one who has received Jesus. There is no condemnation because there are two ways to be human, and you who have received the good news are the “in the Spirit” type.

Third, there is now no condemnation, because in verses 9-11, if you’re “in the Spirit” you belong to Jesus. And if that’s true, then it follows that glorious bodily resurrection and fullness of life in Jesus is your future.

Paul says emphatically in verse 9 about Christians, “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.”  There has been a transfer from one realm, one mode of existence, one age, to a new one. If you are in Christ, you are not “in the flesh” but you are “in the Spirit” and you belong to Jesus.  Verse 10 tells us, Christ is in you, and though your physical body is subject to death, the Spirit gives you life because of your connection to Jesus and the righteousness he accomplished and fulfilled for you. And in verse 11, if the Spirit has made his home in you, the Spirit sent by the Father who raised Jesus from the dead, then God will raise you from the dead by the Spirit.  

You see, though in and of ourselves we are stuck Romans 7, this Romans 8 is the news of what God has done, who God has made us, and what is our future because of this good news, this gospel about Jesus.   This transformation of your life from the place of being stuck in sin, under the power of sin and death and heading toward death, to the place of now being freed, forgiven, justified, part of the new humanity, with a glorious future ahead of you is because you are united to Jesus by faith in him. 

A friend of mine from my time in the campus ministry, RUF, tells this story about his wife and a trip they took as a family to Disney World in Florida.  The first morning they get up and get ready to go to the park, the park that day being the Magic Kingdom.  And Shaun’s wife dresses up as Cinderella.  In his words, “my wife is always beautiful, but she was strikingly beautiful as Cinderella.” They and their kids get on the monorail, and as they do people greet her “Good morning your majesty.”  The children on the monorail come up to her with their little booklets, you know those booklets for getting signatures of all the different Disney characters.  And they are smiling, and awe struck as they approach her and get her to sign their little book.  They get off the monorail and make their way to the entrance of the park and the greeters at the entrance of the park say, “Good Morning your majesty! Welcome home! It’s so good to have you back!” I can’t imagine how hilarious and surreal all of this would have been. While inside the park, as many of you who have been to Disney can probably remember, large lines form as people wait to get on the various rides.  But when the ride manager noticed that it looked like Cinderella was maybe getting a little bit tired, he came up to my friend and his family and ushered them to the front of the line, saying, “This way, your majesty, enjoy your ride.” It was truly a magical experience.  It was a fairy-tale come to life that day.  To use the language of this passage, Shaun’s wife was, “in” Cinderella, she was identified with the character Cinderella, and so that day at the park she received all the benefits of being “in” Cinderella.  

You see, what Romans 8 is telling us is that there is, you could say, a fairy-tale reality for you if you are in Christ. A transformation has occurred (of rags to riches), a transformation of your status, your existence, and your future.  Though you’ve sinned and fallen short, you are not condemned, your guilt and sin has been dealt with. Christ has fulfilled the law on your behalf; You exist in the new way to be human through the Spirit, enjoying communion with God and able to listen to him and obey him and love him; You belong to Jesus and so just as he was raised, you too can know that you will be bodily resurrected, like him, to be fully made like him and to be with him forever.  

If you’re here this morning as one who is “in Christ,” you may experience frustration and feel stuck in sin.  You may be discouraged and feel like a failure. You may think condemning and judging thoughts toward yourself.  What Paul wants is for you is for you to stop and look to Jesus and hear the Good News of what God has done and of who you are, and of where you’re headed. The thing we’re meant to do with news, if it’s true, is to receive it. To listen to it, to take it in and allow the truth of the news to shape how we see the world.  Remember, Paul is writing this letter to a group of Christians, probably not more than a few hundred in house churches, in a city of about one million people.  How is it that this small band of people with their own issues, problems, struggles could ever live as God’s people, growing up into who they are in Jesus?  How could they ever face all this as well as all the social pressures of being misunderstood, being judged and condemned by others for this weird and strange faith in a crucified Jewish peasant? The only way they could live the Christian life is to live from the reality of what God has done for them and what God has already said about them.  There is no condemnation.  You have been set free in Jesus, by the Spirit.  I live in you. You belong to me.  I give you life, and no matter what happens I will raise you up to be with me forever.   

If you’re here and you’re not a Christian, or you’re realizing that, while you have some belief in God, you’re really one who is still very much “in the flesh”, living the “it’s up to me” way of life and perhaps even trying to be religious and seek God in that way,  this passage is news for you to hear and receive as well.  It says that the way of life that says, “It’s up to me,” the way of the flesh, is a dead end.  But you don’t have to stay there.  Receive the good news of Jesus today.  Receive him.  Trust in him and what God has done.  Receive the gift of what God did for you.