Romans 8 – An Expansive Reading
The right-hand column carries the text of Romans 8 as it has been printed in the sermon series
"Embraced by a God of Love" 1-7. Download the full notes for this sermon using the link below.
1 Now, however, nothing can bring condemnation for those who are in Messiah Jesus!
2 For now the law, under the power of the Spirit who gives the life in Messiah Jesus, has itself set you free from
1 The astonishing thing that God has now done in Messiah Jesus is that he has brought the end of all things forward into our present. The past, present, and future come together in Jesus. God’s final righteous verdict on our human life is pronounced – revealed here and now!
Now I know that asserting such a thing may seem very fearsome indeed. When we look at our own weakness in following God’s commands, we are frustrated and, if we are honest, we are inevitably afraid of condemnation before God’s judgment.
But amazingly, what we discover is that for those who are in Messiah Jesus, God imposes no verdict of condemnation at all! “No Condemnation!” Do you hear that? Rather, welcome, acceptance, unconquerable love! It is all because of Jesus’ faithfulness!
By faith we trust in what God has done in Jesus – God’s faithful righteousness in keeping his promises. Our faith simply responds to what Jesus has done, and God by his grace brings us to share in Jesus’ life and identity, in who he is and in all that he did. “No condemnation” defines being in him, participating in all the effects of his faithfulness and sacrifice.
2 Through Jesus, God has brought the way he works within us humans to a new level. The ancient Law or Torah, which expressed God’s will and intended to give us life, was always frustrated by the sin and brokenness dwelling in us – what I’ve called our “flesh.” But now the Law is under the power of God’s Spirit, who is the very