Dale Partridge - The Assurance of Salvation - Romans 8_1-4

00:00:00.840 Well, amen. I'm glad that Corbin read it in the New King James because there's actually

00:00:06.760 a two textual variants in the New King James compared to the ESV or the NASB. So you actually

00:00:11.880 got a chance to hear both versions of that text because I'm going to be reading that

00:00:16.260 of the ESV. Excited to go through this passage of scripture. Over the past few weeks, we

00:00:23.400 have been dealing with a proper appraisal of God's law, a proper appraisal of God's law.

00:00:31.740 Paul, who proclaims a gospel of grace, right? This is his gospel. It's a gospel of grace,

00:00:37.900 was often accused of being antinomian or anti-law. This was the accusation of the Jews.

00:00:45.480 And if salvation is essentially by grace and not by works, then Paul must have been against

00:00:53.420 law following, right?

00:00:54.580 That's essentially the perspective that was had at the time.

00:00:59.640 And as we saw in chapter seven, this is obviously the furthest thing from the truth.

00:01:04.100 Paul describes a Christian's relationship with the law by saying, in the gospel, we

00:01:09.740 are like a wife that was delivered from a covenant relationship by death and joined into a new

00:01:20.060 covenant a covenant of grace with a new husband that is jesus christ we saw that in romans chapter

00:01:25.260 seven and essentially what was taught there is that in the same way that the covenant authority

00:01:30.460 of a husband is eliminated through death uh the the law's authority covenantally over us is

00:01:38.300 eliminated through the gospel that's essentially the parallel that paul was trying to make there

00:01:43.980 and that transfer of covenant authority from the law to grace or from adam to christ however you

00:01:50.060 want to look at it as we've gone through systematically here through romans that when

00:01:54.300 a person has faith in christ we are essentially dead to the law and united with christ and so uh

00:02:01.180 death essentially becomes uh the means by which we have been separated from that authority and it's

00:02:06.780 It's not our death, it's that Christ's death and our death is within Christ's death because

00:02:12.560 we're united to him.

00:02:13.440 So there's lots of theological context that's happening here that's been going through Romans

00:02:18.920 chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, and it's culminating here in chapter eight.

00:02:25.440 And so I'm going to read Romans chapter six, five through eight, just to give us a little

00:02:30.960 bit more theological context, because some of you guys haven't been with us since I've

00:02:35.180 in Romans chapter six it says in Romans chapter six five through eight it says for if we have

00:02:39.900 become united with him in the likeness of his death certainly we shall also be united to him

00:02:44.860 in the likeness of his resurrection knowing this that our old self was crucified with him in order

00:02:51.500 that our body of sin might be done away so that we would no longer be slaves to sin for he has

00:02:57.420 died and has freed us from sin and so this is some of the theological context the landscape

00:03:04.940 that we're gonna be dealing with in our text today.

00:03:07.280 So again, this might lead some people

00:03:10.260 after reading chapter five, after reading chapter six,

00:03:13.080 after reading some of chapter seven,

00:03:14.900 it might lead some to believe that Paul was anti-law.

00:03:17.720 What, you've been freed from the law?

00:03:18.880 What's the purpose of the law?

00:03:21.420 So Paul clarifies his love for the law in Romans 7, 12.

00:03:24.180 He says, so then the law is holy

00:03:26.460 and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

00:03:31.120 He wants people to know that he loves the law.

00:03:34.580 The law is great.

00:03:37.700 Paul didn't love the law because of its ability to save.

00:03:41.840 Paul loved the law because of its ability to show him that he needs to be saved.

00:03:47.180 Very different perspective.

00:03:48.780 It was the revealing power of the law that showed Paul how unlawful he truly was.

00:03:55.180 It was the mirror of the law that revealed his need for a savior.

00:03:59.880 and then in the latter part of chapter 7 we got to see this testimony this Christian testimony

00:04:07.680 of Paul about how this the law's ability to reveal the filthiness of his sin is now put him at

00:04:15.980 conflict with the indwelling spirit of God he's now at war that essentially there's this conviction

00:04:23.660 that wasn't there before and now he sees that he's a sinner and he's constantly being convicted by

00:04:29.660 the spirit. And he's trying to walk in the flesh or trying to walk in the spirit, but he continues

00:04:33.800 to walk in the flesh. And he says, oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body

00:04:37.800 of death? And then he says, Jesus Christ will. And so this is again, the context that we are

00:04:45.760 laying down. And as we know, Christians are at war. We are at war. We are at war with the sin 0.97

00:04:55.160 in our life, not because the law has power over us, but because we can finally see that the

00:05:00.440 standard of law is greater than what we can walk out in the flesh. We're aware of the wickedness

00:05:08.360 remaining in us. And for that reason, the conflict can often feel like condemnation.

00:05:13.420 The conflict, when you're walking out and you bring this conviction and every single day,

00:05:17.220 you're dealing with conflict, internal conflict. You start to go, oh Lord, is this sin going to

00:05:24.940 be here on Judgment Day. It can feel like that sin is going to stand there and judge you before

00:05:31.800 Christ. And that is, again, the layers of theological discourse that Paul has laid out

00:05:43.540 before he gets here to chapter 8. And so, essentially, Paul here in Romans 8.1,

00:05:51.580 this is the great conclusion and confirmation of these last several chapters, at least the

00:05:57.940 theological development. He confirms with absolute clarity that those who have been separated from

00:06:03.300 the ruling power of the law, those who have been separated from the condemning power of the law

00:06:08.040 have been united to Christ in faith and will not experience condemnation before God.

00:06:16.040 That's essentially what he's saying. I know I've said all of these things,

00:06:19.820 but what I want to make ultra clear here is that those who are in Christ will not experience

00:06:27.120 condemnation. He goes on later in this chapter and I think it's really fantastic over the next

00:06:32.220 few weeks you are going to see this and he offers Christians what I think is probably the Bible's

00:06:36.040 most significant passage of scripture on the assurance of your salvation. It's this great

00:06:42.640 eternal unending unchangeable peace with God in Christ. Derek Thomas he once wrote he says

00:06:49.720 quote, no chapter of scripture reaches the same sustained levels or covers the same ground as

00:06:58.200 Romans 8. And no chapter has been cited more than this one in expounding the application of

00:07:04.120 redemption in the life of an individual. In short, Romans 8 gives us a picture of salvation

00:07:09.440 in its completeness, end quote. It is a magnificent passage of scripture. If there are a handful of

00:07:18.540 pages that you could tear out of your Bible and carry with you in prison, it might be Romans 8.

00:07:26.380 So let's look at verse 1. There is there now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

00:07:36.160 I want you guys to take note of the therefore, right? We are smart Bible interpreters. I'm going

00:07:40.180 to say this over and over again. You're going to continuously hear this from me over the years.

00:07:45.740 This term, therefore, signals a connection between his argument and his conclusion.

00:07:54.620 He's giving us essentially what's called a result clause.

00:07:58.580 As a result, you could almost translate.

00:08:02.320 He told us in chapter six through seven, a handful of very important truths,

00:08:05.840 and I'm going to rattle through them real quick for you.

00:08:08.300 We have been buried in Christ's death, 6-4.

00:08:11.440 We have been united with him in his death

00:08:13.500 and we will be united with him in his resurrection, 6.5.

00:08:17.080 We've been crucified with him that our body of sin

00:08:19.220 might be done away with

00:08:20.000 and that we would be no longer slaves to sin, 6.6.

00:08:24.100 We are now dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus, 6.11.

00:08:28.180 Sin shall no longer be master over us

00:08:30.100 for we are not under the law but under grace, 6.14.

00:08:33.400 We have been freed from sin and slaves of righteousness, 6.18.

00:08:37.720 We have died to the law and been joined to another, 7.4.

00:08:40.760 We have been released from the law, which we were bound, 7-6.

00:08:45.140 So this is essentially the line of reasoning.

00:08:48.940 This is the line of reasoning that Paul is walking us through that says,

00:08:54.540 therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

00:09:00.080 Point, point, point, point, point, conclusion.

00:09:05.200 There's a line of reasoning that you can see and you go, of course.

00:09:09.360 There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

00:09:13.980 Condemnation is not possible within the paradigm of those truths.

00:09:18.220 It's impossible.

00:09:21.520 If you've died with Christ, you've been separated from the power of sin.

00:09:28.680 And you've been joined to a new covenant head.

00:09:31.320 You have a new ruler.

00:09:33.240 You have a new master.

00:09:35.760 You're now under grace.

00:09:37.220 condemnation has been eliminated. And the reason I tell you these things because I want you guys to

00:09:45.160 have these truths anchored not in emotions, but in absolute concrete truth. Because when the

00:09:54.080 emotions go sideways, when something significant happens in your life, and it will, you don't need

00:10:01.940 to feel a certain way. You need to understand certain truths that will direct how you feel.

00:10:09.540 This is the importance of having theological realities implanted, not just into your heart,

00:10:17.600 but into your mind. You need to have the deep theological context behind these truths

00:10:24.560 because the thin stuff, that stuff will be scratched away with a trial.

00:10:31.940 But when you have reason, banked on reason,

00:10:35.780 that's anchored in concrete, that's anchored in truth,

00:10:40.400 that really holds you down when things get rough.

00:10:50.580 This war that is within you, this conflict, again,

00:10:53.300 that can feel like condemnation,

00:10:55.880 Paul is essentially saying,

00:10:56.840 I assure you that there is no condemnation.

00:11:01.940 Now, as I said in the KJV, the New King James, the Geneva Bible, there is an additional statement

00:11:07.540 in verse 1. And for those of you that have those versions, you can look down and see that.

00:11:13.300 It's not in the ESV. It's not in the NASB. It says, there is therefore no condemnation for

00:11:18.000 those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the

00:11:22.060 Spirit. So there's another layer in there. And I'm going to deal with that there because I think

00:11:28.040 it's important. Before I understood the salvation of, or the sovereignty of God and salvation,

00:11:33.540 before I understood the doctrines of grace, I would actually use this particular textual

00:11:39.520 variant that is found in the New King James Version to discredit the doctrine of eternal

00:11:45.760 security. This was a tool that I used to essentially create a workspace gospel. I would

00:11:52.320 say, hey, sure, there's no condemnation for those who do not walk according to the flesh,

00:11:56.460 but according to the spirit. But there is condemnation for those people that are in the

00:12:01.300 church that do walk according to the flesh at times, right? And so it creates a situation where

00:12:07.960 essentially you're looking at people, are you walking in the spirit or are you walking in the

00:12:14.120 flesh? It creates essentially a contingency that the no condemnation runs on. And of course,

00:12:23.520 this is a heretical gospel doctrine. This is foolish interpretation. What Paul is saying here 0.98

00:12:28.860 is that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And then he qualifies

00:12:32.940 and identifies who those people that are in Christ Jesus are. And he does this by looking

00:12:40.440 at the demonstrative pronoun, those, look down at your Bible. It says, there is therefore now 0.83

00:12:44.960 no condemnation for those, those, that's a demonstrative pronoun. Okay. And he says by

00:12:51.680 saying, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Those people who do

00:12:57.880 not walk according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. Walking, and this is important. I want

00:13:05.780 you guys to hear me here. I'm going to say it twice. Walking according to the spirit is not a

00:13:10.560 command or a requirement to escape condemnation. It is a quality of those who have already escaped 0.95

00:13:21.220 it. Okay. I'm going to say it one more time. Walking according to the spirit is not a command

00:13:27.060 or a requirement to escape condemnation. It is a quality of those who already escaped it.

00:13:34.840 We who are not condemned, who are in Christ Jesus, walk according to the spirit. That's what we do.

00:13:42.660 Paul's not saying there's no condemnation and those for those in Christ Jesus if there's no if

00:13:51.480 there he's saying Christians are those who do not walk according to the flesh they do not live like

00:13:58.240 the old man they do not live as slaves to sin they do not walk as those that are under the law

00:14:04.320 they are completely opposite we have seen that argument that line of reasoning over and over and

00:14:09.420 over dealing not just with activity, but dealing with identity. Christians walk according to the 0.85

00:14:18.480 spirit. That's what we do. And I'll tell you what, if you want to know that for sure, you should look

00:14:25.020 at your life. And if there's conflict, you're walking in the spirit. Because if there's no

00:14:29.320 conflict, if there's no conviction, if there's no shame when you sin, then you're walking in the

00:14:35.580 flesh because you're lost and you're not saved. But when you're born again and you're regenerate

00:14:41.460 and you're new, you start to see that those thoughts are wrong and that that action is wrong

00:14:52.140 and that I should do this thing and I should obey this passage of scripture.

00:14:58.300 You have a war within you, but the conflict does not equal condemnation.

00:15:03.440 In other words, walking in the spirit is the evidence that Paul points out, not a work

00:15:12.060 that Paul requires for salvation.

00:15:14.260 It's the evidence.

00:15:15.980 Look at that person over there.

00:15:16.980 He walks in the spirit.

00:15:17.980 He's warring with the flesh.

00:15:20.480 He has no condemnation.

00:15:22.340 That's who he is.

00:15:25.640 He makes this point actually abundantly clear in the following verses.

00:15:29.280 If you look down to verse four in your Bible there,

00:15:33.040 I'll back up a second.

00:15:34.500 He says, he condemns sin in the flesh talking about Jesus

00:15:36.980 so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us

00:15:43.600 who do not walk according to the flesh,

00:15:44.960 but according to the spirit.

00:15:46.380 There it is.

00:15:47.240 If you're looking for the passage of scripture

00:15:48.580 to back the argument that I just said, it's right there.

00:15:53.940 That the law might be fulfilled in us.

00:15:56.860 And then the pronoun us,

00:16:00.000 he identifies with the next pronoun who?

00:16:02.740 Us who do not walk according to the flesh,

00:16:04.800 but according to the spirit.

00:16:06.300 We're those people.

00:16:08.520 God's people do not walk according to the flesh.

00:16:10.660 We walk according to the spirit.

00:16:12.080 Yeah, we fail.

00:16:13.600 We have moments that we exercise our flesh.

00:16:17.020 Again, the Thomas Watson quote, 0.97

00:16:18.800 is that in the born again Christian, sin will remain,

00:16:22.020 but in the born again Christian, sin will not reign.

00:16:25.360 It will not rain.

00:16:29.080 Now, as for verse two,

00:16:34.340 it says,

00:16:35.120 for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus

00:16:37.320 has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

00:16:42.880 And so here, Paul is giving Christians the reason. 0.89

00:16:47.200 He's giving you the ground 0.94

00:16:48.760 for why we are not those who walk according to the flesh.

00:16:53.600 Why are we not the ones that walk according to the flesh?

00:16:56.140 For the law of the spirit of the life in Christ Jesus

00:16:58.540 has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

00:17:02.640 That's why.

00:17:04.980 There's the anchor.

00:17:07.100 It's right there.

00:17:08.420 We do not walk according to the law of sin and death,

00:17:11.560 the flesh, because the law of the spirit of life is in Christ

00:17:14.380 and has set us free from the flesh.

00:17:18.400 And in verse three, he goes on to explain how.

00:17:21.700 So pay attention.

00:17:22.300 I want you guys again to, we need a church filled with people who can not just follow

00:17:27.680 the preacher, but also understand their Bible.

00:17:30.860 And so follow along with me.

00:17:31.860 It says in verse three, it says, for what the law could not do, weak as it was through

00:17:38.360 the flesh, God did, sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

00:17:43.780 And as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.

00:17:48.280 So first he gives us the ground.

00:17:50.200 And now he gives us the how.

00:17:54.220 How was this accomplished?

00:17:57.600 Well, for what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did.

00:18:01.940 This is the how.

00:18:04.120 It's important to see these, how Paul speaks and communicates.

00:18:10.580 He says, essentially, what the moral law could not do because of the sinfulness,

00:18:19.740 the weakness of our flesh. God did in Jesus to meet the demands of the law, the righteous

00:18:26.580 requirement of the law in the flesh on our behalf. Derek Thomas, he actually writes another quote I

00:18:35.280 had to put in here today. He says, quote, the law cannot put us in a right standing with God.

00:18:41.200 it knows how to do only one thing condemn us it is relentless and unforgiving in this task

00:18:51.640 it is not because the law itself is sinful or desires our condemnation the law says do this

00:18:58.380 and live but we cannot the problem lies in us not in the law the law is good but we are sinful

00:19:07.680 In other words, the law is weakened by the flesh.

00:19:12.300 It is not the law that is at fault.

00:19:14.340 The problem lies in our inability to do what the law demands.

00:19:17.580 End quote.

00:19:18.700 Amazing.

00:19:20.740 Amazing distinctions.

00:19:23.200 So that we might love the law.

00:19:26.640 Realizing what it's for.

00:19:30.080 And this is the backdrop of the spiritual poverty

00:19:33.300 that essentially necessitates the need for a savior.

00:19:37.400 You can't meet the demands of the law.

00:19:41.420 You can't do it.

00:19:43.920 I have lived the moralism life.

00:19:47.300 I used to be a legalist.

00:19:50.020 And the burden of trying to meet the demands of the law will lead you to misery.

00:19:57.580 It is when you understand that Jesus says, my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

00:20:08.180 Come to me, all who are weary. It starts to make sense.

00:20:18.320 What we could not do because of our flesh, God did by the sending of his son.

00:20:24.880 This is straight gospel doctrine right here, guys.

00:20:27.380 This is very important.

00:20:31.200 God didn't just send his son.

00:20:32.960 It says he sent his son as an offering for sin. 0.98

00:20:37.620 Now, the average Christian doesn't have

00:20:39.180 a pretty robust understanding of atonement

00:20:41.240 or even gospel mechanics,

00:20:43.320 and I want that to not be true here.

00:20:46.640 I want to discuss Romans 6.23

00:20:48.400 because I think it interacts here.

00:20:50.480 It says the wages of sin is death.

00:20:53.380 The wages of sin is death.

00:20:55.780 That is when you sin, someone needs to die. 0.93

00:21:00.820 When you sin, someone needs to die.

00:21:05.420 In other words, the reason that all people die is because all people sin.

00:21:09.220 That's why everybody outside of Christ has died and stayed dead.

00:21:15.880 and because we have to die for our own sin,

00:21:24.700 we essentially cannot die for the sins of others.

00:21:27.460 Does that make sense?

00:21:28.960 We can't pay the debt of someone else

00:21:31.140 because we have to pay our own debt with our own lives.

00:21:37.020 That is that we're not qualified to act as a substitute

00:21:39.660 because we need a substitute.

00:21:42.940 We need someone to die on our behalf.

00:21:45.880 See, but this is different with Christ.

00:21:50.240 See, Christ, who had no sin of his own

00:21:53.600 and who is God in the flesh

00:21:55.840 and giving his life of infinite value,

00:22:00.160 he could die for the sins of others.

00:22:04.400 He could act as a substitute for others.

00:22:08.200 He could be a legitimate offering for sin.

00:22:10.720 because when he dies, he's not dying for his sin.

00:22:18.580 He's dying for the sins of his people imputed to him.

00:22:21.700 And the reason he's resurrected is why?

00:22:24.360 Because he had no sin of his own.

00:22:26.340 He can't stay dead if the wages of sin is death

00:22:29.360 and he had no sin, he can't stay dead.

00:22:34.480 Therefore, he needed to be resurrected,

00:22:36.500 which is the evidence in vindication of God

00:22:39.560 that he had no sin.

00:22:43.680 Paul says of Jesus,

00:22:46.600 he condemns sin in the flesh,

00:22:49.160 going into verse four,

00:22:50.600 so that the righteous requirement of the law

00:22:53.500 might be fulfilled in us.

00:22:55.640 This is amazing.

00:22:57.700 This is amazing.

00:22:59.140 In a second, you're going to grasp this.

00:23:00.800 So that the righteous requirement of the law

00:23:02.900 might be fulfilled in us.

00:23:04.020 He condemns sin in the flesh

00:23:06.120 so that the righteous requirement of the law

00:23:08.040 might be fulfilled in us.

00:23:09.560 so Jesus overcame sin in the same medium that sin was present catch this with me okay sin

00:23:24.060 was in the form of flesh therefore Christ had to come in the form of flesh to overcome sin

00:23:30.160 God didn't require a stone to overcome the sin of humanity God didn't require an animal

00:23:37.420 to overcome the sin of humanity.

00:23:40.700 God required humanity to overcome the sin of humanity.

00:23:47.060 Hebrews 2.14 says,

00:23:49.120 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood,

00:23:52.040 he himself likewise partook of the same things,

00:23:54.840 that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death,

00:23:58.980 that is the devil.

00:24:00.620 Galatians 4.4-5 says,

00:24:03.020 But when the fullness of time had come, God set forth his son, born of a woman,

00:24:08.180 born under the law,

00:24:10.020 to redeem those who were under the law

00:24:12.320 so that we might receive adoption as sons.

00:24:17.260 Beautiful.

00:24:19.580 Paul says that he did this in the flesh

00:24:21.280 so that the righteous requirement of the law

00:24:23.040 might be fulfilled in us.

00:24:25.200 That is that the perfect obedience,

00:24:26.900 the requirement of the law,

00:24:29.580 the perfect obedience of the law

00:24:32.080 and the just penalty of the law

00:24:36.920 demanded by it, might be fulfilled in us.

00:24:41.660 Not only did Christ die for us, but Christ also lived for us.

00:24:45.520 And not only did Christ live for us,

00:24:47.160 but Christ also died for us.

00:24:50.080 A double dimension.

00:24:53.940 In the gospel, we see this beautiful imputation

00:24:56.800 or this attribution.

00:24:59.140 We see that there is something that Christ did

00:25:01.780 that was applied to his people.

00:25:05.920 We understand that essentially what the gospel is,

00:25:08.380 is that we impute our sins to Christ.

00:25:13.160 Christ pays for those sins with his perfect life.

00:25:18.380 And essentially Christ imputes his perfect righteousness

00:25:21.500 to us and all of that happens through faith.

00:25:25.920 Amazing.

00:25:28.000 Second Corinthians 521.

00:25:30.600 For our sake, he, God the Father, made Christ sin

00:25:35.920 who knew no sin, so that in Christ, we might become the righteousness of God.

00:25:43.460 Like that's a passage you should memorize.

00:25:47.220 For our sake, he made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become

00:25:51.540 the righteousness of God.

00:25:57.080 This is amazing. And then we need to see this two-dimensionally for another reason. First,

00:26:02.660 we need to see that the loving nature of God

00:26:05.320 and the fact that he willed a plan of redemption

00:26:08.580 that saves his people and glorifies his name.

00:26:11.760 That is talked about quite often in the church.

00:26:17.040 The second dimension that we often miss

00:26:19.500 is that we need to see the forensic

00:26:21.780 or the legal nature of the gospel

00:26:24.080 that essentially in the gospel

00:26:27.740 is the satisfaction of justice,

00:26:29.640 not upon us, but upon Christ.

00:26:32.660 We love the emotional dimension of the gospel.

00:26:38.460 We like looking about the love of God.

00:26:41.540 But I want you to also pay attention to the forensic and legal nature of the gospel.

00:26:46.780 The justice nature of the gospel.

00:26:49.640 That there was righteous requirements that needed to happen. 0.98

00:26:52.560 That a life needed to be slaughtered.

00:26:54.780 That blood needed to be spilled.

00:26:57.260 That justice needed to be served.

00:27:02.660 You will never be punished because Christ was punished for you.

00:27:09.540 Like, you need to understand that. 0.98

00:27:12.780 When you attribute guilt or a forthcoming punishment as a Christian, 0.51

00:27:21.260 you're essentially saying, Christ, what you did wasn't enough. 0.98

00:27:28.540 I'll take on the rest. 0.99

00:27:31.180 It's ridiculous. 0.98

00:27:33.420 You can't. 0.99

00:27:36.880 Christ already did it for you.

00:27:40.360 And what that should do is you should land on your knees

00:27:43.740 and you should go, wait, I don't have to pay for that?

00:27:50.520 I don't have to pay for that sin that I just did?

00:27:54.980 It should bring tears to your eyes

00:27:56.500 because there is no condemnation.

00:28:00.540 And from that place, from that place of mercy, from the place of grace, that becomes your motive

00:28:10.060 to obey. That becomes your motive to be holy. I want to talk about the justice of God just briefly.

00:28:20.300 Romans 3, 21 through 26. As you start to see when you read Romans over and over, you start to see

00:28:26.920 that Paul is doing something like concentric circles,

00:28:29.740 where he's like saying the gospel

00:28:31.020 and then he's hovering over it again in a different dimension

00:28:33.520 and hovering over it again in a different dimension.

00:28:36.320 Romans 3, 21 through 26 says,

00:28:39.160 but now the righteousness of God

00:28:41.520 has been manifested apart from the law.

00:28:43.960 Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it,

00:28:46.220 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ

00:28:48.540 for all who believe.

00:28:50.520 For there is no distinction for all have sinned

00:28:52.820 and fall short of the glory of God

00:28:54.260 and are justified by his grace as a gift

00:28:57.300 through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

00:28:59.700 whom God put forward as a propitiation,

00:29:01.920 as a sacrifice by his blood to be received by faith.

00:29:07.600 Pay attention here.

00:29:08.520 This is the justice of God.

00:29:10.280 This was to show God's righteousness

00:29:12.440 because of his divine forbearance

00:29:14.980 that he passed over former sins.

00:29:17.940 It was to show his righteousness at the present time

00:29:20.580 so that he might be the just and the justifier.

00:29:25.040 of the one who has faith in Jesus.

00:29:30.320 God is not a one dimensional God

00:29:33.480 where you just have this emotional relationship with God

00:29:36.920 that's all about the love of God extended in Christ.

00:29:39.040 That's one dimension of it.

00:29:41.880 There is God the judge and God the justice.

00:29:47.720 And there is Jesus the sacrifice

00:29:49.540 and there is Jesus's death and crucifixion.

00:29:52.540 And there is Jesus's extreme obedience.

00:29:58.220 These are dimensions of the gospel

00:29:59.520 that need to be appreciated.

00:30:02.500 Paul closes in verse four with, again,

00:30:05.760 this characterization of those who have received

00:30:09.300 the imputation of Christ's redemptive work by faith.

00:30:14.540 He says that they are those, quote, 0.95

00:30:16.900 who do not walk according to the flesh,

00:30:18.540 but according to the spirit.

00:30:19.580 They are changed people.

00:30:22.540 Okay, we're not like the gospel is the gospel is don't be better. It's be new.

00:30:31.060 Yes, you will be better because you were new. Yes, you will be better because you

00:30:34.300 were being sanctified. It's not of your own doing. It's Christ in you.

00:30:38.980 But they are changed people. They are new people. They are redeemed people. They are

00:30:42.140 holy people. They are people at war with the flesh and at peace with God.

00:30:46.760 that's who we are that's what we do it's an identity of a christian we are free

00:30:54.540 from condemnation because we are at war with wickedness through christ by faith

00:31:00.560 the question you need to ask yourself is this is that true of me is that true of me

00:31:11.100 We live in America.

00:31:13.300 We live in a place where many, many people have come to the church and never come to Christ.

00:31:17.940 We have people in the church all across this country that have heard a false gospel,

00:31:23.280 that are falsely assured, that do not know Christ, that have never been born again.

00:31:29.500 They're moralists.

00:31:30.600 They're religious people.

00:31:31.480 They're legalists.

00:31:32.260 They don't understand the gospel.

00:31:36.720 Do not be shocked at pastors who aren't saved.

00:31:38.920 Do not be shocked at deacons who are not saved.

00:31:41.440 Do not be shocked at people who have been at the church for 20 years and are not saved.

00:31:46.560 Once that opens up in your paradigm, you realize, whoa.

00:31:54.500 I have preached the gospel to a student at Reformation Seminary in our interview call,

00:32:00.220 and he came to Christ in our interview call.

00:32:04.260 This guy was applying to be a pastor.

00:32:08.920 is your life characterized by a life that's directed by the spirit or directed by the flesh

00:32:16.900 do you war with sin or do you seek it out do you find joy and lust drunkenness or materialism

00:32:27.460 do you sulk and worry are you ruled by fear and envy and covetousness

00:32:34.760 Do you live a life around carnal pleasures?

00:32:42.120 Now, I'm not trying to produce doubt in someone who needs assurance.

00:32:49.700 But I'd rather push someone to the edge that is saved to self-examination

00:32:55.460 than let someone who thinks they're saved remain in that false assurance.

00:33:01.640 It was Steve Lawson who says, the only thing worse than not having the assurance of salvation

00:33:08.460 is having the false assurance of salvation. To think you're saved and not be saved, that is the

00:33:15.080 worst. All of us are on one of two roads. We are either on the road of condemnation or the road

00:33:25.400 of justification. And if we live in a way that rationalizes sin or enjoys sin, we are

00:33:32.100 condemned. But if we live in a life that essentially leads us to the publican's prayer,

00:33:40.140 oh Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. That should be a regular posture in the Christian 1.00

00:33:48.440 life. Oh, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. I cannot believe that I did that in light of your 0.94

00:33:57.040 grace. If that's you, then you're justified. That's the evidence of someone walking in the spirit.

00:34:08.220 And we get to rest in the great promise of this passage that says,

00:34:12.780 Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

00:34:19.480 Amen?

00:34:21.000 Amen.

00:34:21.720 Let's pray.

00:34:23.260 Father, we thank you, Lord, for the beautiful plan of redemption.

00:34:30.620 The drama.

00:34:32.960 The story.

00:34:36.560 The peaks and the valleys.

00:34:39.300 The magnificence of the gospel.

00:34:42.780 Lord, we know that you have chosen this path of redemption

00:34:46.620 because it is the path that gives you the most glory.

00:34:52.500 That fallenness somehow contributes to giving you glory.

00:34:58.660 That sin somehow contributes to giving you glory.

00:35:06.360 Lord, we know that you have designed this beautiful plan of redemption.

00:35:12.780 because it's good for us.

00:35:17.020 That we are always seeking to understand it more.

00:35:22.600 Lord, we pray that you would continue to give us

00:35:24.720 greater and greater comprehension.

00:35:26.720 Lord, that we would be a holy people,

00:35:30.220 that we would be contributing to the great commission

00:35:32.640 here in this town.

00:35:36.000 Lord, that this church would be used by you

00:35:39.980 because we understand the gospel.

00:35:42.780 because we can communicate the saving nature of the truth.

00:35:47.720 We thank you for this. In Jesus' name, amen.

00:35:51.800 Amen.

Dale Partridge - January 01, 2024

The Assurance of Salvation - Romans 8_1-4

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