Romans 8

BIG IDEA 

You are called to leave behind the world differently, live in the world differently, and look at the world differently.

INTRODUCTION: “NO..”

The word “no” is a funny word. It can have so many nuances. 

Just think about the word “no” in the mouth of a three-year-old. “Sweetheart, it’s time for bed. Baby, it’s bath time. Honey, eat your broccoli.” The word “no” may come out of their mouth in a less than sweet manner.

But think of the word “no” in the mouth of a medical doctor. In 1994, I was tired of struggling with daily headaches, and so I went to a doctor. They ran all kinds of tests and nothing was conclusive, so they did a CT-scan. The good news was they found a brain. The bad news was they found a dark spot on the brain. The doctor told me it could be cancer. Not the words you wanted to hear when you are 24, starting a promising career in radio, and dating a young lady named Catherine. So, on a Friday, on a holiday weekend, they ran an MRI of my head. 

When it was finished, the doctor said, “we have no answers right now.” “But what is it?” I asked desperately. “We have no idea right now.” No. It was not the word I wanted to hear. No. It was not the word that I needed. No. It failed to satisfy my worried heart. No.

Just two letters, with such a profound power.

There is no hope.

There are no charges.

There is no solution.

There is no damage.

There is no future.

There is no condemnation, no opposition, and no separation.

Today we will look at these three “no’s” taken from Romans 8. If there was a Hall of Fame for individual chapters in the Bible, this would be one of them that would be inducted. Honestly, I could spend the next year dissecting and discussing the powerful doctrinal truths found in this text. But today, I want to do a 30,000 foot flyover. And as we do, we will not only get a view of this text from high altitude, you will understand how God views you from highest heaven.

You see, for those of you “in Christ,” there is to be found no condemnation, there is no opposition, and there will be no separation.

EXPLANATION

I. NO CONDEMNATION.

“THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS.” ROMANS 8:1

In his letter to the Roman Church, Paul spent the first three chapters describing man’s hopeless condition under the law. He made it clear that God’s wrath is to be poured out against man’s unrighteousness. The words “judgment,” and “law,” dominate the discussion. God is just, therefore He must punish sin. Man is sinful, therefore God must punish him. All of this builds to a crescendo in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

But beginning in Romans 3:24, there is a transition… “Those that have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God are ‘justified by his grace as a gift.’” Here is where the Gospel comes crashing in! This is the God news!

By grace, God makes a legal determination of guiltlessness. It’s literally an act of God declaring something as holy. Do you get that? When you are saved, you are not just made better; you are declared holy. You are declared righteous. Paul goes on through the remainder of chapters 3, 4, and 5 to give examples of the grace that comes through faith. In chapters 6 and 7, Paul declares that we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness who have been released from the law.

All of this leads to Romans 8:1, “There is, therefore…” On the basis of all of this grace that comes through faith despite our guilt, there is “therefore no condemnation…” There is no guilt for those who are in Christ. There are no charges against those who are in Christ.

It’s interesting to read this verse in Greek. When Paul wrote it, he used a different word order. When the New Testament writers wanted to emphasize a particular word, they would put it at the first part of the sentence. That was their way of saying, “This is important. Notice this. Pay attention to it.” In the Greek the first word is not “therefore.” The first word is not “there.” The first word is not “is.” The first word is not “now.” The first word in this verse in the Greek is the word “no.” The fifth word in our translation is first in the original because Paul wants to emphasize in the strongest possible way that there is no condemnation. That’s why he took the word “no” and moved it to the front. And it’s not ou, but oude, which is an even stronger negation in the Greek language. There is therefore, no condemnation. You might translate it this way: “There is no condemnation—none whatsoever—for the believer in Christ Jesus.”

(https://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/no-condemnation/

• This does not mean that there is no cause for condemnation. That would be untrue. You have sinned. You may be sinning right now. You will sin again. There is a cause for condemnation, but God in His mercy and grace says, “NO condemnation.” 
• This does not mean that there is no failure. You fall. I fall. We all fall down. But God in His mercy and grace says, “NO condemnation.” 
• This does not mean that there will be no struggle. It’s a daily battle friend! Look right before the verse for our consideration. Romans 7:15. “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.” Jump down to Romans 7:21 “So I find it to be the law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Paul, the great apostle was stating the struggle. “I do what I don’t want to do.” He lapses into a moment of frustration, “Wretched man that I am!” But then returns to the grace of God, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!”

Listen, if God has cleared you of all charges, why are you still condemning yourself? If God has freed you from condemnation, what gives you the right to declare guilty what God has declared innocent?

II. NO OPPOSITION.

31 WHAT THEN SHALL WE SAY TO THESE THINGS? IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US?

Not only is there no condemnation, there is also no opposition. Again, this is in the context of legal charges. This verse does not mean that you will have no opposition in this world.

• There is political opposition
• There is social opposition
• There is athletic opposition
• There is philosophical opposition
• There is moral opposition

These are all very real. Paul is not denying their existence. But what he is asking is, in God’s courtroom, who has the right to bring charges against you? If God has already concluded court proceedings and declared you “not guilty,” who has the right to bring further charges?

Look at Paul’s justification in verse 32. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died–more than that, who was raised–who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Christ is not only our defense attorney arguing on our behalf. These verses remind us that Christ is the substitutionary sacrifice who paid the price on our behalf. 

III. NO SEPARATION.

35 WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST? SHALL TRIBULATION, OR DISTRESS OR PERSECUTION, OR FAMINE, OR NAKEDNESS, OR DANGER, OR SWORD?…37 NO…

There it is again, that little word “no.” Can anything separate you from God’s love if we are in Christ Jesus? NO. For those in Christ, there is NO CONDEMNATION, NO OPPOSITION, NO SEPARATION. There is nothing external that can happen to you that can remove you from your relationship with God. Nothing. Nothing environmental, nothing external, nothing.

37 NO…IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS.

Not just conquerors…The Greek translation says, “Super-conquerors.” Through Christ, you have victory over everything external when it comes to your position as justified before God. And I think this is a comfortable truth to many people. We understand that it is a personal relationship that we have in Christ, therefore, how could something external destroy something that is internal.

But there still lingers a question in some of your minds. Okay. So, nothing external can get me, but what about internal things? What about the things I do? What about my sin? Surely that will disqualify me from God’s grace?

Not so fast, friend. 

I AM SURE THAT NEITHER DEATH NOR LIFE, NOR ANGELS NOR RULERS, NOR THINGS PRESENT NOR THINGS TO COME, NOR POWERS, NOR HEIGHT NOR DEPTH, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION, WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD. ROMANS 8:39

• Death. Yes, even dying with unconfessed sin. Death. Yes, even suicide. Death. Yes, even death as a result of a sinful activity cannot separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
• Life. Yes, even a life that is less than pleasing. Life. Yes, even a life of disappointments and failures. Life. Yes, even a life evidenced by sinful choices cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
• Heavenly things. Earthly things. Powerful things. High things. Low things. None can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
• Past things. Present things. Future things. None of these things can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing you did in your past will separate you, nothing you are doing will separate you, and nothing you will ever do can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

APPLICATION:  

Watch this closely. I know some of you are worrying about whether or not you have lost your salvation. Let’s be clear; you never found it. You never found your salvation. God found you. You never found your salvation, so how could you ever lose it? Don’t worry about losing your salvation; just make sure you have been saved. Salvation found you. You never earned it. You can never lose it.

1. Will God remove your salvation? No. There is no condemnation.
2. Will Satan remove your salvation? No. There is no opposition.
3. Will you sin and lose your salvation? No. There is no separation.

CONCLUSION

Business took me out of town for that weekend of my MRI. Between my obligations, I paced around a hotel room in Philadelphia. Brain cancer? At 24? I drifted off in my mind during my business obligations. I got no rest. I had no focus. I had no peace. Was I going to lose my hair? Was I going to be sick? Was I going to suffer? Was I going to die?

 Finally, from an airport payphone, I was able to contact the doctor. Over the noise of fellow travelers, I heard the words, “There is NO cancer.” “No” was a sweet word at that moment. “There is NO tumor. There is NO need to worry. It is just a dark spot caused by some of your sports concussions. There is NO need to worry.”

Never had the words “no” sounded so wonderful. At least until I understood that in Christ I am His; He is mine. If you will surrender your life to the Leadership of Jesus Christ, your life will be identified with the word “NO” today. NO. there is no condemnation, no opposition, and no separation.