Embracing Freedom and Identity in Christ
by Menlo Church on Jun 23, 2024
### Summary
Good morning, Menlo Church! As we embark on our summer Bible study series, we aim to build a strong spiritual foundation for lifelong spiritual formation. Whether you're new to the Bible or looking to reignite your passion for it, this series is designed to help you grow. We will be diving into Romans chapter 8, often considered the greatest chapter in the Bible. Written by the Apostle Paul, this chapter is the heart of his letter to the Romans, addressing the unity of the church and the profound truth of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Paul, once a Jewish religious leader, had a life-changing encounter with Jesus that transformed him into a passionate follower and messenger of Christ. His letter to the Romans was crucial in unifying the early church and expanding the message of Jesus beyond Jewish communities. Romans 8 begins with a powerful promise: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This verse encapsulates the essence of the gospel, freeing us from sin's condemnation and granting us God's commendation.
Paul explains that true freedom comes from a new identity in Christ. We are declared innocent by association with Jesus, not by our own merits. This concept of justification means we are legally freed from the consequences of our sins. Paul contrasts the law of the Spirit of life with the law of sin and death, emphasizing that Jesus fulfilled the law for us because we could never do it on our own.
The gospel is not about mixing our efforts with God's grace; it's about complete reliance on Jesus' perfect work. Our best deeds are like filthy rags compared to God's standards. The law was never meant to save us but to show us our need for a Savior. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross bridges the gap between our sinful nature and God's perfection.
As we study Romans 8, we will see that the gospel not only frees us from the eternal penalty of sin but also empowers us to overcome its power in our daily lives. This freedom is available to all who are in Christ, and it should inspire us to live lives of worship, giving God access to every part of who we are.
### Key Takeaways
1. **The Importance of Spiritual Foundation**: Building a strong spiritual foundation is crucial for lifelong spiritual growth. This summer series aims to help you develop or reignite your passion for Bible study, offering tools and insights to deepen your relationship with God. [22:49]
2. **Freedom Through a New Identity**: True freedom comes from a new identity in Christ. We are declared innocent by association with Jesus, not by our own merits. This concept of justification means we are legally freed from the consequences of our sins. [30:25]
3. **The Law and the Gospel**: The law was never meant to save us but to show us our need for a Savior. Jesus fulfilled the law for us because we could never do it on our own. This highlights the importance of understanding the purpose of the law and the grace offered through Jesus. [44:49]
4. **Complete Reliance on Jesus**: The gospel is not about mixing our efforts with God's grace; it's about complete reliance on Jesus' perfect work. Our best deeds are like filthy rags compared to God's standards. We must acknowledge our need for total grace. [40:45]
5. **Living in the Power of the Gospel**: The gospel not only frees us from the eternal penalty of sin but also empowers us to overcome its power in our daily lives. This freedom should inspire us to live lives of worship, giving God access to every part of who we are. [54:06]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[22:49] - Importance of Spiritual Foundation
[23:24] - Developing a Passion for Bible Study
[25:39] - Introduction to Romans 8
[26:55] - Paul's Transformation and Mission
[28:20] - Unity in the Gospel
[30:25] - Freedom Through a New Identity
[31:40] - No Condemnation in Christ
[33:01] - The Struggle with Sin
[35:10] - Innocent by Association
[38:07] - The Arcade Analogy
[40:45] - Complete Reliance on Jesus
[44:49] - The Law and the Gospel
[46:14] - The Law as a Guardian
[47:29] - The Height Requirement Analogy
[48:48] - Living in the Power of the Gospel
[50:11] - The Purpose of Jesus Fulfilling the Law
[51:28] - God's Love and Justice
[52:50] - The Role of the Holy Spirit
[54:06] - The Gospel as Total Transformation
[55:24] - Closing Prayer
### Bible Reading
1. Romans 8:1-4 (ESV) - "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
2. Romans 7:21-25 (ESV) - "So I find it to be a 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."
3. Galatians 3:24-26 (ESV) - "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith."
### Observation Questions
1. What does Romans 8:1 declare about those who are in Christ Jesus? ([31:40])
2. According to Romans 7:21-25, what internal struggle does Paul describe? ([32:18])
3. How does Galatians 3:24-26 describe the purpose of the law before Christ came? ([46:14])
4. What analogy does the pastor use to explain our reliance on Jesus' work rather than our own efforts? ([39:24])
### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the promise of "no condemnation" in Romans 8:1 impact a believer's understanding of their identity in Christ? ([31:40])
2. In what ways does Paul's struggle in Romans 7:21-25 resonate with your own experiences of trying to live a godly life? ([32:18])
3. How does the concept of the law being a "guardian" until Christ came, as described in Galatians 3:24-26, help us understand the purpose of the Old Testament law? ([46:14])
4. What does the pastor mean when he says that our best deeds are like "filthy rags" compared to God's standards? How does this shape our view of grace? ([40:45])
### Application Questions
1. Reflect on the idea of "no condemnation" in Christ. How does this truth affect your daily life and your view of yourself? ([31:40])
2. Paul describes an internal struggle between wanting to do right and the law of sin. Can you identify a specific area in your life where you experience this struggle? How can you seek God's help in overcoming it? ([32:18])
3. The pastor mentioned that the law was never meant to save us but to show us our need for a Savior. How has this understanding changed your approach to following God's commandments? ([44:49])
4. The analogy of the arcade points and our spiritual growth was used to illustrate our reliance on Jesus. Can you think of a time when you relied on your own efforts rather than God's grace? How did that turn out? ([39:24])
5. The sermon emphasized complete reliance on Jesus' perfect work. What practical steps can you take this week to rely more on Jesus and less on your own efforts? ([40:45])
6. The pastor talked about living in the power of the gospel and giving God access to every part of who we are. Is there a specific area of your life that you have not fully surrendered to God? What steps can you take to change that? ([48:48])
7. How can you cultivate a renewed passion for Bible study and spiritual growth this summer? What specific actions will you take to make this a reality? ([23:24])
Day 1: Building a Strong Spiritual Foundation
Description: Building a strong spiritual foundation is essential for lifelong spiritual growth. This foundation is not just about acquiring knowledge but about developing a deep, personal relationship with God. Whether you are new to the Bible or looking to reignite your passion for it, this journey is designed to help you grow. Romans 8 is a powerful chapter that addresses the unity of the church and the profound truth of salvation through Jesus Christ. It begins with the promise that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, setting the stage for understanding our new identity in Him. [22:49]
Isaiah 28:16 (ESV): "Therefore thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.'"
Reflection: What steps can you take this week to deepen your relationship with God and build a stronger spiritual foundation?
Day 2: Freedom Through a New Identity
Description: True freedom comes from a new identity in Christ. We are declared innocent by association with Jesus, not by our own merits. This concept of justification means we are legally freed from the consequences of our sins. Paul emphasizes that our new identity in Christ is the source of our freedom, and it is through Him that we are no longer condemned. This freedom is not something we earn but something we receive by faith. Understanding this can transform how we live our daily lives, knowing that our worth and identity are secure in Christ. [30:25]
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV): "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
Reflection: How does knowing your identity in Christ change the way you view yourself and your actions today?
Day 3: The Law and the Gospel
Description: The law was never meant to save us but to show us our need for a Savior. Jesus fulfilled the law for us because we could never do it on our own. This highlights the importance of understanding the purpose of the law and the grace offered through Jesus. The law serves as a mirror, reflecting our sinful nature and our inability to meet God's standards. Jesus' perfect obedience and sacrifice bridge the gap between our imperfection and God's holiness, offering us grace and salvation. This understanding should lead us to a deeper appreciation of God's love and a greater reliance on His grace. [44:49]
Galatians 3:24 (ESV): "So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith."
Reflection: In what ways has the law shown you your need for a Savior, and how can you embrace the grace offered through Jesus today?
Day 4: Complete Reliance on Jesus
Description: The gospel is not about mixing our efforts with God's grace; it's about complete reliance on Jesus' perfect work. Our best deeds are like filthy rags compared to God's standards. We must acknowledge our need for total grace and depend entirely on Jesus for our salvation. This means letting go of our attempts to earn God's favor and resting in the finished work of Christ. It is a humbling realization that our righteousness comes solely from Him, and it should lead us to live lives of gratitude and worship. [40:45]
Isaiah 64:6 (ESV): "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
Reflection: What areas of your life are you still trying to control or earn God's favor? How can you shift to complete reliance on Jesus today?
Day 5: Living in the Power of the Gospel
Description: The gospel not only frees us from the eternal penalty of sin but also empowers us to overcome its power in our daily lives. This freedom should inspire us to live lives of worship, giving God access to every part of who we are. The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in this transformation, guiding us and empowering us to live according to God's will. As we study Romans 8, we see that the gospel is about total transformation, affecting every aspect of our lives. This understanding should lead us to a deeper commitment to living out our faith daily. [54:06]
Galatians 5:16 (ESV): "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."
Reflection: How can you allow the Holy Spirit to guide and empower you to live out the gospel in your daily life? What specific changes can you make to give God access to every part of who you are?
Well, good morning, Menlo Church.
No matter what campus you are joining us from today here in Menlo Park, Mountain View, San Mateo, Saratoga, or joining us online, I'm so honored that you have chosen to be with us this weekend as we begin our summer series together, really a summer Bible study.
As one church in multiple locations, I think that this series is going to be really important, and I'm so glad you're a part of it. I know personally how full a summer schedule can get. You're trying to fit it all in, especially if you have kids in school. And it's easy for some of our faith habits to die.
And so I hope that through online tools and through the chance to catch up afterwards, even when you maybe can't be with us this summer, you will still be with us this summer. This series is about forming an important spiritual foundation for our lifelong spiritual formation. That's really the heart behind it.
Maybe for you, you're new to the Bible, or maybe just your habits of Bible study have stalled over the years. This series will offer you a chance to have God read your Bible, reignite a passion in you, or maybe for you, develop a spiritual appetite in the first place. Either way, or whatever you are along that continuum, we're so glad, so honored that you would choose to invest in that time with us.
Now, if you have never studied the Bible verse by verse, like the one that we're going to take on over the course of the next few weeks together, it might be a perfect time to download the Bible app to your phone or to your device, or maybe to start writing in a journal as you study it, or maybe even to get a solid study Bible that will give you some explanations as we study the text together and hopefully set you up to do more of that even on your own in the future as well.
Now, before we get started, I'm going to pray for us. And if you've never been here before or ever heard me speak, before I speak, I pray kneeling. And part of the reason for that is out of an overwhelming sense of appreciation I have for the truth of God's love that we're about to study together.
So wherever you are in your journey of faith, would you pray with me?
God, thank you so much. Thank you that your love for us is inexhaustible, that no matter what brought somebody into a room here at Menlo today or what's brought somebody online today, that God, your love for them is ever present and available. Would you help us to see that today? Would you help some of us, God, who have been walking with you for a long time, maybe be reawakened to a relationship that you long to get deeper, not just a status or a checkbox I'm trying to take care of. God, would you be with us now? It's in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, the NBA finals just wrapped up last week. And even if you're not a basketball or sports person, I bet I could show you the pictures of Michael Jordan and LeBron James. And you have seen those people before, and you will have heard those names before. They are two of, undeniably, the best basketball players to have ever played. Ever.
And from kind of sports television to online debates, there is this ever-present conversation about who the GOAT, the greatest of all time, really is. And there is this debate of passionate supporters on one side and detractors on the other side. A lot of it because of how subjective the conversation feels. Like, what was the style of game when each one was playing? And what was their specific skill set that they brought to it? It can feel very personal.
Today, we're gonna begin our study in Romans chapter eight. A chapter that actually scholars have argued for quite some time is the GOAT, the greatest of all time chapter in the whole Bible. Romans is a really important letter, and this has been described as the heart of the entire letter of Romans. And so I'm so pumped to be able to study it with you over the next several weeks.
The book of Romans was written by the Apostle Paul for a really good reason. See, he was a Jewish religious leader who had spent his entire life trying to memorize and follow the law, hundreds of rules, to try to pursue God through Judaism. And then eventually, he would find himself so passionate that he was actually persecuting the early church, trying to stop this early movement of Jesus followers, until he had a personal miraculous encounter with a risen Jesus, and it changed everything for him.
Not only did he become a follower of Jesus, but he received this very clear call from God to take the message of Jesus and to make sure that it was effectively communicated to Gentiles or non-Jewish people. This was really important because up to this point, the message of Jesus really had only been communicated within Jewish communities.
The church in Rome, where this letter was written, had been growing for years by the time we get introduced to it in the letter that Paul wrote to the church at Rome. After years, after years, after years, after years, when the Jewish people, including Paul, were allowed back in, many of the Jewish customs that had been integrated into sort of Jewish-first early versions of faith in Jesus, those customs were nowhere to be found in the church at Rome.
And so Paul was writing to the Roman church to address some very important issues. And first, he really wanted to unify the church on the gospel. It wasn't going to be about the specific practices of Sabbath or the dietary restrictions. It had kind of been the calling card for the Jewish people. It was going to be about the simple and profound truth of salvation in Jesus, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Second, Paul was hoping that unity in the gospel would lead to the opportunity for further expansion. We think about the church, or we think about Christianity, we think about Jesus, and we think about this multi-millennia, multi-continent, multi-ethnic, unbelievable movement. That seems like nothing could ever take it down. But in the first century, it very, very much hung in the balance, it felt like, to this early group of followers, about what it would look like. Would this just be some spinoff Jewish sect, or would it expand beyond that?
Romans is Paul's longest letter that he writes in the New Testament, and the most comprehensive explanation of the gospel, or the good news of Jesus, and the implications of that good news in a pluralistic society. So, certainly speaking, it's a good news. It's something we have to learn from.
Paul knew how important Rome was, how pivotal this region and this church would be to expanding the message of Jesus even further. Paul knew that, and he knew that this letter would have deep and profound implications for the future. Some things that we read in the New Testament feel very personal. God inspired them, but the author and the recipient maybe didn't realize it was gonna end up in the Bible. God knew they didn't. Romans feels like Paul knew it was going to have massive impacts.
Now, that exercise that we just took three minutes to do, where we look at the context of a passage, the occasion of its writing, the intent of the author, it's critical for us as we examine any particular passage that we study, and we begin our interpretation of how the author intended his original audience to receive the writings he's provided. Much of our biblical confusion, of our lack of correct study, or what's called hermeneutics, would be solved with just these two simple practices of authorial intent and context, or the occasion of the writing.
In this passage, with those things as the backdrop, we will see that the gospel frees us from sin's condemnation to God's commendation. Not a fake sense of our performance and potential, but a real sense of Jesus' perfect status and standing with God, given to us as a gift. That's a very important point. That's a very important exchange at the heart of Romans 8.
Paul begins the chapter with a very important promise and a qualification that is available to all of us. Specifically, he shares about it this way. He says, real freedom comes from a new identity. I say that; he doesn't say that. I think real freedom comes from a new identity. There is no substitute for you and me other than Jesus. And the really good news is, he is the only substitute that you need. He is the only substitute available, and he is the only substitute that would qualify.
We've all heard of the phrase, guilty by association, right? Hopefully, you haven't heard it described of you this week, but you've heard of that phrase before. There were times in high school, based on the people that I would hang out with, that I would be thought of or considered guilty by association. It hurts your feelings, but you kind of get why. You see the people that are around you. It can be frustrating, but it doesn't always feel like you earn it, but it's true in the way that people think of you.
In a sense, Paul is saying that we are innocent by association when we are in Christ. We are declared not guilty for the things that we really have done. We actually are guilty, and the inherent sinfulness that is present in all of humanity. Paul puts it this way. He says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Now that is a profoundly important verse. And when we read a verse like this, there are a few things that will help us look for clues. One of them is the therefore that we see in the verse. And whenever we see a therefore, we have to ask what it's there for. What's it pointing to? Backwards or forwards? In Paul's case, he is referencing back to the previous chapter in which he grieved his own personal struggle.
He said it like this in Romans chapter 7. He said, so I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law. 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. What's that? It's the law of God that is sincerely struggling between what he wants and what he really wants, or what he wants and what he wants right now. He's describing a war with the law of sin that is still influencing his decision-making.
You've been there, right? Like, we can all feel that. Whether you're a follower of Jesus and you have these kind of Jesus-shaped ways of living that you know you don't always meet, or even if you're not a follower of Jesus, the Bible actually says that there are rules that we set up in our head. If you're not a person of faith, if you're not a person of faith at all. And you go, well, this is what it would mean for me to be a good person. If I were to stand before God, here's why I would say you should let me in. And the Bible says that we will fail our own standards.
Forget about the Bibles. For you, maybe it's the stress of personal indecision about something really big in your life, or the competing desires of longing for real community, but maintaining superficial relationships because you're so scared of being hurt, or maybe being hurt again. Maybe for you, it's simpler than that. It's just the choice to have a late afternoon cup of coffee, knowing that it will rob you of sleep just a few hours later.
We can all relate to this idea of there are things that I want, and there are things that I want right now that will undermine the things that I want ultimately or later. Much of what we battle is this choice, what we want and what we want right now. And the short-term satisfaction is not what Paul has here. It's not what he has here. It's not what he has here. It's not what he has in view in Romans 8. He is focused on the eternal stakes of our salvation.
The condemnation that we are free from, it doesn't mean that we are not actually guilty of. The sense that we have in the passage is that we have committed a crime, or more specifically, we have missed the mark of God's perfection, what the Bible calls sin. But in Christ, we are declared not guilty. The theological idea is called justification. That we are legally freed from the consequences that we deserve.
But the qualification raises some really important questions. According to Paul, who is writing this to explain the gospel, this is the point of why he's writing this letter, the point of why he's writing this chapter. He says that this applies to all of those who are in Christ. And so what does that mean? He's actually using this concept here as a way of introducing and framing what he will explain throughout the entire chapter.
But we see this explanation in another letter that Paul wrote in the New Testament to the church at Corinth, when he says it this way, he says, See, this is really important. We see this explanation as so central to the idea of innocent by association. That you and me would say we are going to connect our identity, who we truly are, exclusively to the person and work of Jesus.
It's not like a little bit of Jesus, and then I follow his lead. It's not like, well, he reminds me what I need to do, and then I accomplish it. It's that Jesus' work on my behalf is my only standing before God that actually matters. He did it for us to secure not only the freedom from the eternal penalty of sin, which is very real, but also increasingly, as we follow the gospel, we are going to be able to follow Jesus, increasingly to free us from the power of sin right now in our everyday life.
And someday, as we look forward, that we would be freed from the presence of sin entirely. So you don't boast in what you've done, in what you achieve, in what your accomplishments this side of eternity look like. You only boast. You only celebrate what Jesus has done for you. That's so important.
Whatever you are struggling with, whatever you think, I just, I'm so exhausted by this internal battle, by this internal tension between what I want and what I want right now. I'm so exhausted by this addiction, by this secret part of my life over here. If you are in Christ, I'm telling you, there will come a time when that tension will no longer exist. There will come a time in eternity when following God faithfully is the only thing that you will do, and you will do it full of joy without any temptation whatsoever.
Now, we have four kids, and one of the things that we do with our kids from time to time is we go to a video arcade, which I think for them is just like a fun, silly thing to do. For me, I'm like, these games by today's standards are all terrible. You could play them at our house. But we go there, and while we're there, you get these little cards. This is the only thing that's really different about going to the arcade. You get these little cards, and on them, you amass points by playing these different games. And then when you get a certain number, you go to a counter, and you get really terrible prizes that will either be lost or broken by the time you get home. That's the way the arcade works. If you're unfamiliar, you're welcome.
Now, when we go to the arcade, all of our kids, they have different styles of what they do with their earned points, right? We have one child who is really generous with their siblings. I'm not going to tell you their name. It rhymes with her name's Maisie. It's my daughter that does that. She's very generous with her brothers. We have one child who will maximize the amount of his points to get as much candy as possible. That's his only goal. He doesn't even really care about the quality of candy. I'm like, who's getting Tootsie Rolls in 2024? My son. He's getting them. And then we have one who actually saves up what he gets every time he goes. So he has a card that has like multiple stops at this arcade so that eventually he can get one of those top shelf prizes, which I actually think is numerically impossible to achieve, but he's going for it, right? He's still doing it.
Now, our youngest, he needs help, right? He's five years old. So when he's playing a game, I'm standing right next to him, typically playing it on another of the same arcade. And so we're playing back and forth. I'm encouraging him. And at the end, he has these points that he's earned and he wants to go take these points and get some prizes for them. What he doesn't realize is all the games that I've been playing, I've been putting the points that I've earned onto his card.
Now, before you're thoughtful, Phil, the prizes are trash. I want nothing to do with them. So it's really, it's not a sacrifice at all. But he doesn't realize that's what happens. He thinks that he has earned all of them. He is so impressed by himself, right? Some of us, we do the same thing with how we think about our spiritual growth, don't we? We know that Jesus had something to do with what we're experiencing or how we're growing, but we're pretty convinced somewhere along the way we could measure up on our own.
That at some point we've qualified or re-qualified. That at some point God can take the bench because we've got it. We can keep performing. We can keep qualifying on our own. But I'm telling you, God gave you the points to get where you are. You couldn't earn it if you tried. In order to be in Christ, we have to acknowledge our need for complete and total grace. That it's not a little bit of us plus what we don't have. It's that we need all of grace, not mixed with our qualifying.
See, when Wells gets his few points, they get added to mine for prizes. But the scriptures tell you and me that without Jesus, when we think we're trying to get to God on our own, that all of our best deeds, it says, are like filthy rags. It's incompatible currency. The thing you think you've done to measure up actually hasn't measured at all. It would be like if Wells came up to the counter with points from a different video game arcade, and he said, I want you to cash these in. They would say, well, you should do that. I would say, well, you should do that. I would say, well, you should take it to that other arcade because they are irrelevant to the current need at this counter, at this arcade.
Our works are irrelevant to our salvation or to our qualification with God. The reason that you are qualified for salvation is because God loves you, because you're created in his image with infinite dignity, value, and worth. There's nothing you could do to earn more love, and there's nothing that you could do to disqualify yourself from love because it really doesn't have to do with your performance at all.
Now, like we studied last week, we will live in light of that reality. And if you're in Christ, it will produce works, but that's from the power of the gospel, not for the gospel. We're not doing it so that God will love us. We're doing it because we realize how much he actually does. Because remember, the gospel frees us from sin's condemnation, the thing we actually deserve, to God's commendation. It's not even that it's just God's commendation to give. It's that he's giving you his commendation, the one he earned, walking out a perfect life as your sole qualification for right standing to the divine.
This week, Alyssa and I had a quick trip to a denominational gathering in Florida. In case you're wondering, yes, it's still very hot. And we traveled without kids, which is kind of like a mini vacation, right, when you're on an airplane without kids. And whenever I do that, whenever I travel like that, I take this little handheld game thing with me. And I don't really use it except when I'm on a plane. I take this little handheld game thing with me. And so before I travel, the night before, I just turn it on and I let it run whatever updates it needs to run. Because there's nothing more annoying than like firing it up and be like, I have 27 hours of updates to do. So I just let it do its thing. It took all night to be able to update.
And the next morning when I picked the thing up, it had had so many different updates, including an operating system. It didn't even look the same on the screen as it did the night before. And it definitely didn't work the same way. Now, if you've ever picked up an old phone or maybe looked at a computer from just a few years ago, it can be surprising how different it looks and feels through just small incremental changes over time and then these quantum leaps.
For the Apostle Paul, he had spent his entire life, not just as a good Jewish boy, but as a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was a leader in the law. He was an expert in biblical law version 1.0. He had built his entire life around it, trying to perfectly obey a law that wasn't actually designed to do what he was trying to do with it. The sacrificial system that the Jewish people had employed was designed to show them their insufficiency to achieve it without God.
Now, after a miraculous encounter with Jesus, he contrasts these two different laws, and we relate to them this way. He says, For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh.
You can see the two laws that he highlights, right? There's the law of Spirit and the life, and then sin, the law of sin and death. Paul wrote it in this way in order to create a visual parallel that would be easy for you and me to see as we study the passage. As a matter of fact, this letter, which was originally written in Greek, if you look at it, in the language that it was originally written, the way that he wrote it was to underscore this intensity, this choice, this different option, really the polarity between these two implications.
That without Jesus, we could never fulfill the laws that would give us right standing with the creator of the universe. Now, before you accuse me of making that up, you're like, are you saying that the law of the Old Testament is bad? No, no, it's great. Actually, that's the problem. It's perfect. Before you accuse me of making that up, I'm going to give you a little tip for how you and I can kind of look at this and focus on this, that we would understand that the gospel is good news for us to understand that there's law that comes from the life of Jesus, and there's this law of sin and death.
It's really important for you and me to understand what the law was trying to achieve before. Paul is actually trying to follow hundreds of laws, and he says that Jesus came to declare death to that law. He came to fulfill it for us, not because it's bad, but because we are. Without Jesus, we could never fulfill the laws that he gave us. Without Jesus, we have no hope.
As a matter of fact, as it relates to how we think about this, the way we study it should often correlate to other passages that help us learn this concept. And so Paul is writing a letter to the church in the region of Galatia when he says these words. He says, So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came. In order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ, you are all children of God through faith.
Some translations translate guardian what we just read as tutor. The Old Testament law was put in place to show us our need for salvation by someone else's performance. We were never going to get there on our own. If you aren't a Christian, like I said, if you're not even a person of faith, I tell people, as you're exploring faith, not only do I think Christianity is the only one that's true, I think it's the only one that's possible.
I don't know how you think about it, but if the way that I was going to hold up to judgment, to the supreme ruler of the universe, was being flawless or increasingly as close to flawless as I could get by a system of beliefs, that doesn't help me because I understand myself too much. I understand the gap between a perfect God and me is too big.
Paul makes a statement, Paul makes it clear that the law wasn't the problem. Actually, it achieved exactly what it was supposed to achieve. Our flesh was trying to obey it on its own unsuccessfully, which showed you and me our supreme need for a Savior.
Recently, we brought all of our kids to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz on a busy day. Do not recommend. And our youngest was just a little too short to ride the bumper cars. And we get there, he's five years old, he'll get there, he'll be able to ride bumper cars, don't feel too bad for him, he'll be okay. But he's just a little too short for it. And you know, he still had a good day, but it was a really tough moment.
The problem, by the way, was not the sign that had the height requirement. It was not a defective sign. See, the sign simply revealed the gap between where he was and the requirement of where he needed to be, right? If you're a kid, you have a memory of that, maybe, of like trying to step on your tippy toes just a little bit, just like, let me just see if I can get there just a little bit.
And Paul had watched lots and lots of people his entire life, including himself, sort of try to moralistically stand on their tippy toes to clear the bar. And it was like, oh, you do not understand how far you are from the bar of God's perfection. As a matter of fact, Jesus describes the laws and the expression of this divine kingdom in his ministry in a way that showed even more. It accentuated how far short you and I would fall and how much we needed.
It was like, oh, you do not understand how far short you and I would fall. And it was like, oh, remember, Jesus didn't come to free us just from the penalty of sin. But increasingly, as we live in connection with him, he grants us more and more freedom over the power of sin. But if we're letting him control our lives, and we see that, it's amazing.
But like, where maybe are you struggling to do that? Where in your life are you still surrendering to what you want right now versus what you really want? Are there areas that you're not able to do that? Are there areas that you are simply unwilling to release control? Things you've quarantined in your life to say, Jesus doesn't get access to these things, these people, these contexts.
Maybe work is really stressful and you are essentially leaving God on the shelf at home rather than praying throughout your day, rather than committing his word to your memory, to take it with you, asking him to practically provide wisdom and the courage for you to carry out and live out that wisdom, empowered by the spirit of God living inside of you in that difficult meeting.
And I think that's a really good and that hard class and that really intimidating conversation. Jesus suffered in all the ways that you and I did. He was tempted just like us, and yet he was unstained by sin. So even though he took on flesh, he could live without succumbing to temptation. He gave sin the death penalty for you and me.
The problem is that a lot of us are living like that kind of power isn't available to us. That leads us to our final verse of the day, because Paul is regularly, he's pushing, the tension of our freedom of the gospel so far that it sort of brings up these potential objections or extremes as a reader that he actually answers that proactively, because the gospel frees us from sin's condemnation to God's commendation.
He wants you to understand, okay, here's the boundaries of that idea. Here's how that works together. After building over the course of these three verses, we get introduced to something called a henna clause in the original language. In verse four, it's communicating the purpose for everything we've read. All of what we've read for these first three verses point to this other thing.
Paul describes it this way. In order that, here's the purpose, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, that we would be counted worthy, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
So the purpose of Jesus fulfilling the law for us is that we could be seen by God as having met the requirements necessary to restore our relationship, permanently and perfectly forever. That's an incredible gift. That's why, remember back to verse one, there is now no condemnation in Christ Jesus.
All of that law that the Jewish people had tried so hard to complete on their own would be completed by God for his own. What an awesome expression of love and justice at the same time in the same verse. In one verse, we have this expression of God's supreme judgment and supreme love.
The late Christ, the Lord, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Great Author and Pastor Tim Keller beautifully describes the combination this way. He says, only a grasp of what Jesus did on the cross, the doctrine of substitutionary atonement, can prevent spiritual distortions. Only this doctrine keeps us from thinking God is mainly holy with some love or mainly loving with some holiness. But instead, he is both holy and loving equally, interdependently.
That's the God we worship. That's the God who made a way for you and me to know him forever. Another key concept when we study the Bible is that we want to form our theological ideas around topics from passages that are trying to address that topic.
So if we take something like soteriology or the study of how God saves people, we wouldn't go to like a random story or a narrative from the Hebrew scriptures. We go to Paul's writing in Romans because that's the question he's trying to answer. He's trying to answer the question of how God saves people. That's the issue he's trying to address. That's directly what he has in mind.
That once we are in Christ, we become people who are not perfect, but we are being perfected. People whom God is regularly moving from flesh-driven living by the impulses within us and the world around us to increasingly depending on and listening to the Spirit of God in our life.
Now we'll dive more into the Holy Spirit in the weeks to come, but suffice to say that this was not a throwaway line for Paul. He knew an expression of the Holy Spirit that was limited to kings, that seemed temporary, that seemed conditional, that seemed inaccessible. And now all of a sudden, as a follower of Jesus, he was walking in and witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit in a way that had felt completely foreign to him, that was something he had only ever read about.
I think that sometimes even Christians, we have this vision of the gospel that looks like a person who needs an organ transplant. Like most of our body is functional, but there is something that isn't quite right. And there's someone in our life that's so loving that they are willing to give us a non-life-threatening organ so that we can live.
And I want to be clear that that would be an absolutely incredible gift of supreme kindness, but it pales in comparison to what the gospel communicates. The gospel would be like if you and I were diagnosed with such an aggressive form of cancer, we would be like, oh my God, every cell in our body was infected. Nothing was salvageable. And someone through incredibly miraculous scientific discovery, someone could donate their entire body to you so that you could live and they would die because of it.
You bring nothing to the table. You aren't helping at all. You meet no qualifications. And out of love, someone met the needs and the requirements for you. The gospel is the good news that God loves you and me, that even though we deserved judgment, make no mistake about it, there is not no condemnation because we don't deserve it. We deserve it. He took what we deserved. He took the punishment that we earned by living a perfect life on your behalf, by dying in your place and by coming back from the dead so that anyone who is found in Christ would be restored.
Jesus' righteousness gets credited to our account. That's the good news of the gospel. And not to just free us of an eventual death, but to free us of an eventual death. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel. And that's the good news of the gospel.
And that's the good news of the go
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "This series is about forming an important spiritual foundation for our lifelong spiritual formation. That's really the heart behind it. Maybe for you, you're new to the Bible or maybe just your habits of Bible study have stalled over the years. This series will offer you a chance to have God read your Bible. Reignite a passion in you or maybe for you, develop a spiritual appetite in the first place." (25 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "It wasn't going to be about the specific practices of Sabbath or the dietary restrictions. It had kind of been the calling card for the Jewish people. It was going to be about the simple and profound truth of salvation in Jesus, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone." (17 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "The gospel frees us from sin's condemnation to God's commendation. Not a fake sense of our performance and potential, but a real sense of Jesus' perfect status and standing with God, given to us as a gift." (16 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "In a sense, Paul is saying that we are innocent by association when we are in Christ. We are declared not guilty for the things that we really have done. We actually are guilty, and the inherent sinfulness that is present in all of humanity." (17 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "The gospel is the good news that God loves you and me, that even though we deserved judgment, make no mistake about it, there is not no condemnation because we don't deserve it. We deserve it. He took what we deserved. He took the punishment that we earned by living a perfect life on your behalf, by dying in your place and by coming back from the dead so that anyone who is found in Christ would be restored." (27 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
### Quotes for Members
1. "Paul begins the chapter with a very important promise and a qualification that is available to all of us. Specifically, he shares about it this way. He says, real freedom comes from a new identity. I say that, he doesn't say that. I think real freedom comes from a new identity. There is no substitute for you and me other than Jesus. And the really good news is, he is the only substitute that you need. He is the only substitute available, and he is the only substitute that would qualify." (29 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Much of our biblical confusion, of our lack of correct study, or what's called hermeneutics, would be solved, with just these two simple practices of authorial intent and context, or the occasion of the writing. In this passage, with those things as the backdrop, we will see that the gospel frees us from sin's condemnation to God's commendation. Not a fake sense of our performance and potential, but a real sense of Jesus' perfect status and standing with God, given to us as a gift." (16 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "The reason that you are qualified for salvation is because God loves you, because you're created in his image with infinite dignity, value, and worth. There's nothing you could do to earn more love, and there's nothing that you could do to disqualify yourself from love because it really doesn't have to do with your performance at all. Now, like we studied last week, we will live in light of that reality. And if you're in Christ, it will produce works, but that's from the power of the gospel, not for the gospel." (29 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "Remember, Jesus didn't come to free us just from the penalty of sin. But increasingly, as we live in connection with him, he grants us more and more freedom over the power of sin. But if we're letting him control our lives, and we see that, it's amazing. But like, where maybe are you struggling to do that? Where in your life are you still surrendering to what you want right now versus what you really want?" (25 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "The gospel would be like if you and I were diagnosed with such an aggressive form of cancer, every cell in our body was infected. Nothing was salvageable. And someone through incredibly miraculous scientific discovery, someone could donate their entire body to you so that you could live and they would die because of it. You bring nothing to the table. You aren't helping at all. You meet no qualifications. And out of love, someone met the needs and the requirements for you." (27 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
Embracing Freedom and Identity in Christ
-
Hi, I'm an AI assistant for the pastor that gave this sermon. What would you like to make from it?