Christianity                                         Romans 8:1-17

This morning we’re still working through Romans. And I want you to know that this section of Romans is my favorite. And as I read it, this section of Romans lifts my heart the most. It gives me hope and peace. This is also where I point people who want to know about our faith because these verses are to me the clearest explanation of what Christianity is.

Verse 1, “Therefore…” As we know, when we see “therefore” we need to look to what it’s “there for.” And we do this by looking back a bit to what was written before, and what we examined the past few weeks. Chapter 6 tells us how by our faith we are dead to sin and raised to life in Christ Jesus. Chapter 7 explains how we were never going to be able to keep the Commandments in the spirit God intended. It also tells us what Jesus did and how it is through our faith that Jesus’ total and flawless obedience of the law is credited to us. Now with this in mind, let’s look at verse 1 again:

           “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

I can’t explain how glorious this sentence is. Because we accepted Jesus, we died to sin and were reborn in Christ. And now there is no holy nor heavenly condemnation on us. Verse 2, “because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

This law of the Spirit is the power of the Holy Spirit. And it is this power that unites the believer with Christ. As believers we are united with Christ’s righteousness, and it’s this righteousness that God sees when he looks on us. And the result of this union is eternal life. Romans 8 verses 1& 2 are the explanation of Christianity.

Many people have written a lot about Christianity, about how to become a Christian, about what it means to be a Christian. Two thousand years ago Paul wrote the best and most concise explanation of Christianity, how to become a Christian, and what it means to be a Christian: believe in Jesus and his righteousness is seen in you by God, the Holy Spirit frees us from condemnation, and we are given eternal life.

Now as I said last week, Paul was a Pharisee, he knew the law, the Ten Commandments. And as I said last week, his first audience here were Jewish converts, also people who knew the law. So now in verse 3, Paul explains to them why the change. Why now faith in Christ instead of obedience to the law; “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.”

This verse is important for two reasons. First, at the beginning of Paul’s ministry, people misinterpreted Jesus’s coming by saying the law was flawed, or second, that God was unhappy with his chosen people. In verse three, Paul is telling his fellow Jewish converts that the Commandments given to Moses were not flawed. And he also is telling the Gentile Christians that Jesus did not come because God was unhappy with his chosen people. In this verse Paul is referencing back to what he wrote in Romans 3, verses 30 and 31; “since there is only one God who will justify the Jew by faith and the Gentile through the same faith.”

The law is not flawed, mankind’s nature, Jew and Gentile, is what is flawed. The examples I gave last week were if you see a “Keep off the Grass” sign, you just want to put a foot on the grass; and how the speed on the Thruway is 65 yet we go faster than that. It seems to be human nature to push the boundaries of the rules.

And while I may not be stopped for driving 72 mph, for a perfect and holy God who gave man perfect laws, he must punish those who transgress and break those laws. And since we cannot keep the law in the spirit they are meant, God sent his Son “to be a sin offering.”

In the Old Testament the sin offering of an unblemished animal was to show that sins were being paid for by a death. The animal sacrifices were only temporary because the animals were of earthly imperfection. God loves us so much that he wants our sins to be paid for all eternity. And to pay eternally for the breaking of perfect law, the sacrifice had to be perfect. The sacrifice had to be the one who lived in perfect obedience to the law, and this could only be God’s son, Jesus.

Romans 8, verses 1& 2 explain what a Christian is, and that is uplifting enough, but Romans 8:3 explains why God gave us this “Christianity.” It is because as imperfect humans we couldn’t gain salvation. Yet God loves us so much he solved human nature and did the work for us as it says in verse 4; “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us.”

Verse 5, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires…” What the flesh desires is preservation and satisfaction. “but those who live with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” And that is support, life, aid, satisfaction and preservation of others.

Wow, look at what Paul did here in just five sentences. He explains what a Christian is, why God gave us this great gift of Christianity, and what we’re supposed to do in response to it, live by the Spirit.

And then in verse 9, Paul tells us the great hope God has given to mankind, “You…are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.”

Romans 6:14, “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” We are no longer under the law, no longer under the realm of flesh. We’ll make mistakes. We can still be dismissive and self-centered because we are still imperfect humans, but that is not our spirit. Our spirit is the perfect Spirit of Christ, and this is what God sees when he looks on us.

There are some who say this gift of righteousness is given to everyone, in other words, universal salvation. Paul makes it clear that this is not the case when he wrote,” …if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.” Salvation is indeed offered to every man, woman, and child born on earth, but the key to salvation is faith and trust in Christ, the cross, and the power of God. And it’s this faith and trust that gains us God’s grace and glorifies us. Verse 10, “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

These verses today are appropriate for this season of Advent. Paul shows us Christian hope in his explanation of what a Christian is. Paul shows us Christian peace by his explanation of why God offers us salvation. Paul shows us Christion joy by telling us our future is eternal life with our Savior in the presence of the Heavenly Father. And now Paul tells us about Christian love, the love of God for us; and this happens to be my favorite verses in Romans and in the entire Bible. Verses 16 and 17, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ.”

When you inherit something, it is legally now yours, it cannot be taken from you. As believers we are heirs of God. As co-heirs with Christ we inherit everything he does. And what do we inherit? We inherit glory. Jesus showed his glory to his disciples at his transfiguration, his perfect self, enveloped in the power of God. This is given to us through our inheritance. We will live in perfection, enveloped by the power of God. We inherit eternity. God raised Jesus from the dead and gave him eternal life in body. As the faithful we also inherit eternity in a resurrected body. And through the inheritance of glory and eternity, heaven is ours. And as our inheritance, it can never be taken from us. And at this time of the year let us remember that all this is ours because 2000 years ago, a baby was born in a manger.

I ask us all to make this the center of our Christmas celebrations; Jesus was born so that through our faith in him we are given eternal life through his righteousness. Let this glorious hope, peace, joy and love we experience in this season of Advent change our lives. Let us live these four attributes God gives us and change from lives of self-centered flesh to lives embodying the Spirit’s empathy, compassion, aid, and preservation of others.

I end today with the prayer Paul offered in his first letter to the Corinthians; “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.” (1 Co 16:23-24)