Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Beginning in July new laws often go into effect. Legislative laws change. What might have been illegal last year may now be legal. In many areas we’ve seen legislative laws put right things that are wrong. Conversely, many legal things are now illegal. Before the 1920’s it was legal to make alcohol. One year it changed and national prohibition against it was passed. Then all the bootleggers started. Most of us probably have them in our ancestry. It got bad; then after a few years the law was changed. Alcohol is legal again. How come that once a law is passed that it changes? Mankind. We are in constant change and change laws to match that change.
There are three laws man cannot change. I’m not talking about this but the laws of creation are laws that can’t be changed or altered. One is the law of gravity. We can do nothing about it. Aircraft does not go against gravity to fly; in fact, it works with gravity. Without the law of gravity we’d need seat belts to stay in our seats. Well, everything would have to be bolted down. We’d be in a mess without the law of gravity. The only creation that hasn’t kept its course is mankind.
In these verses here in Romans we see laws of God that man cannot change. Thank God they exist. We’re incomplete without all three of them and without the third one we’d be headed to hell or already there.
Law 1: the law of sin and death. Go back and read Romans 3:9-19 as well as Romans 1. They explain this law very well. What we find out is that the wages of sin is death. James said it works like LSD–lust (L) brings forth sin (S) and sin brings forth death (D). There is only one remedy for it–the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Death for the unsaved is eternal in the lake of fire and it’s never changed. Romans 3:19 says Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Read the previous verses to see how sinful we are. Without a Savior we are under the law of sin and death. We’re born with a sinful nature. That’s because of Adam’s sin. The second Adam–Jesus Christ–was perfect, bringing forgiveness and salvation from sin. ALL mankind is in sin and under sin. ALL are lost in sin and there is no other way to interpret it. You may not believe it but that doesn’t matter. Your belief has no effect to the law. It still stands. People are right smack in the middle of it. Our own old sinful nature gives us problems. We are also UNDER sin, not over it. We are under its dominion, power and influence as well as its sentence and punishment. Everyone is guilty. No excuses before God. All are guilty without the Savior. You can contest and protest but all must acknowledge their guilt. As the saying goes “we’re guilty as sin.” If a person is guilty of a crime he is condemned. Every 28 seconds a baby is deliberately killed by abortion. Our wicked society promotes this. Read Romans 1 to see the debauchery of mankind. On the reverse, even if a person doesn’t agree with abortion and doesn’t believe in sexual perversion but is lost, he or she will die and go to hell. We’re all headed there without the Savior.
Law 2: the law of the righteousness of God. Man is without excuse because he has been informed of who God is. The oracles of God (the Word or the Bible) tell us. God chose Israel to bring it to us. The only place we can learn about the character of God is the Word. When we go to sizing up ourselves, we must do it in comparison to the Word not something or someone else. Romans 3:23 says For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Because of the righteousness of God we see our fallen state and our guilt. There is none righteous, no not one. We cannot conform ourselves to please God. We fall short of his glory. The law of sin and death pushes us further down. But thank God. For verse 23 there is a verse 24-26. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. The way to please God is faith in the blood of Jesus. Even though we have sinned we can be justified freely, at no cost to us. Face sin. Admit failure. In ourselves we can do nothing but everyone who trusts Jesus as Savior is justified. Jesus paid the debt. The cost was his birth, death, burial, and resurrection. God is pleased by our faith in his Son. By giving his body for us and taking our place on the cross, Jesus died as Savior so we can be clothed with his righteousness. God so loved us that he let his Son take our place. His righteousness saves. His blood covers us. We are then made right in the eyes of God because of Christ Jesus. He is just and the justifier. Reach up and take the nail scarred hand. Through Jesus we are justified with God because he is the justifier who reconciles us to God.
Law 3: the law of the spirit of life. Back to the verses we read at the beginning. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. Walking after the flesh takes you down. Following Jesus we’ll make it. We are FREE FREE FREE. FREE AT LAST. How can you not take Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 