THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
"Now No Condemnation”
Rev. Carl Haak
April
26, 2009; No. 3460
(Printed copies in a four-message booklet
can be sent monthly without charge. Request from: Reformed Witness
Hour, |
prca.org
Dear Radio Friends,
The
greatest danger that we face today as Christians is that we begin to
view our faith the way the world
does. There is a great temptation to
do that. It arises both from outside and from inside
the church of
Jesus Christ.
The world views Christianity (and, for that matter, all religions)
in terms of: “Is it useful?” “What social, physical, psychological
benefits does this religion bring?” “Does Christianity improve
man’s
earthly condition?” The world does not assess Christianity in
terms of
“Is it true?” For the world has forsaken any hope of ever
knowing
absolute truth. The world assesses Christianity only in terms
of “Is it
useful?”
They do not look at it in terms of divine revelation from God
Himself, of truth.
But they look at it terms of human opinion.
This, of course, is to set up the criterion by which everything
must be judged, namely, man’s earthly
good. All things must be judged
in terms of its usefulness to
man. The world does not believe that God
must reveal our deepest need and provide
a remedy. But the world
believes that it knows its deepest need and
that religions are
respectable if they are able to meet that need.
So a reporter will interview a pastor in the Christian church.
And the reporter’s questions will
reveal the criteria he uses to judge
the importance of Christianity. “What are you doing about affordable
housing?”
“How are you helping people get jobs?”
“Which ways will you
improve health care?” These are, of course, important
questions. But
if you let the world set the starting
point and present the gospel of
Jesus Christ first of all as an
activity of people that is useful, then
you will have denied Christianity.
Romans 8:1
is the essence of the Christian
faith. “There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.” In the light of the
inspired Scriptures, that verse is saying,
“God is the supreme value in
the universe—not man. No one in the whole world, of himself, lives
the
way that God requires. Man is a rebel. He is a sinner, and therefore
under condemnation, that is, guilty of
sin. He is under the holy,
omnipotent, just wrath of the living God. And God alone can rescue from
condemnation through His Son, by grace, in a
cross, washing and renewing
from sin.”
If we do not see what Christ has done in the removing of the
condemnation of our sin, if we do not see that
as the essence of the
Christian faith, we lose the
Christian faith. And if we fail to bring
that message to the world, but rather
merely promote activity from the
church (health care, jobs, and social
interests), then we are cruel.
Then those who hold the Christian
faith have become cruel. For that is
the same as combing a man’s hair as he
sits in the electric chair and
hide from him the only way of eternal freedom.
The essence of the Christian faith is not to be understood in
terms of man’s notion of its usefulness,
but the essence of Christian
faith addresses what God says man’s great
need is—the removal of his
sin.
“There is therefore,” cries the apostle Paul in
Romans 8:1,
“No
condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus.” The word “therefore”
indicates that the apostle Paul is bringing a
conclusion, he is tying
things together. Really it is the conclusion of everything he
said in
chapters 1-7 of the book of Romans. There he laid down the building
blocks of the Christian faith. He taught us about a holy God and about
a sinful man, unable to save himself
and guilty before God. He shows us
a perfect Savior (Jesus Christ), and
a perfect work through Christ,
whereby Christ and Christ alone justifies
sinners, that is, makes them
right in the presence of God through His
work upon a cross, a salvation
received by the gift of faith alone. He went on to show that the result
of this glorious work of pardon and
righteousness will be a new and holy
life, produced within believers by the
Spirit of Christ. And then he
went on to tell us that the Christian
life now will consist of a battle—
a battle against his sins—but not a
hopeless battle, a battle, rather,
that is finished, with the victory that
is ours already in Christ.
And now he will sum it all up:
Therefore, in view of everything
that I’ve said, there is now no
condemnation to them who are in Christ
Jesus. That is the essence of the Christian
faith. That is the
message, the only message, worthy to hear
that we carry into all the
world.
That is life. And around that
message we arrange all of our
life.
We keep our life as Christians from becoming cluttered with the
things of this world, and we live out of
this precious gospel. There is
no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus!
That is the gift of God’s grace.
To be condemned is to be sentenced to punishment for one’s guilt.
It is to be found guilty before the
judge. The apostle speaks of God’s
condemnation.
To hear God’s condemnation would be to have the iron door
slammed shut and to be sentenced, justly,
to an eternity of hell,
banished from God because of my sin.
It is to have the responsibility of my sin upon my back, upon my
conscience, and to have no peace as I stand
before the living God. It
is the truth of the courtroom, the
real courtroom, to which all (you and
I) are
summoned. God is the Judge. And all my sins and deeds and all
the thoughts of my heart and words of
my mouth and all the awful vile
things deep within me are brought forth.
To be condemned is to appear before God with all of this, my sin
and guilt, upon my back, upon me. And it is to live today with that
guilt upon me now.
In a sense, men and women (apart from Jesus Christ) know this
condemnation as well. The apostle Paul, in
Romans 2:14,
tells us
that
by nature, apart from the grace of
God, we excuse or we accuse
ourselves.
That is, we use the devices of a guilty conscience. We
either dodge the reality of our sin and
guilt by excusing, or we
blame-shift by accusing. But it is the Holy Spirit who awakens within
our hearts the reality of our sinful
condition and we cry out that we
are guilty before God.
And then, we hear the gospel:
“There is now no condemnation to
them who are in Christ Jesus.” That means that the guilt of my sin, the
responsibility of my sin, and the punishment that
my sin would deserve
are lifted from me. I bear it no more. It is abolished. It is gone.
It is a divine and glorious verdict
that has been declared concerning
me:
“There is no condemnation!” It is
the bliss, the indescribable joy
of the sinner, that the punishment of
his sins is gone! And that God
has proclaimed him to be righteous
before Him. It is as we read in John
8 concerning the woman who was taken
in adultery and placed before
Jesus. Jesus spoke these words to her: “Woman, hath no man condemned
thee?
Neither do I condemn thee. Go and
sin no more.” Instead of
fear, anguish, hopelessness, and
despair, God says, “No condemnation. I
have forgiven you. You may go in peace.”
There is no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus. How
important!
This condemnation does not come to us of ourselves. It is
not on the basis of any merit, credit,
or work that we have or could do.
But it is the work of the Holy
Spirit, who applies the benefits and the
merits and the work of Jesus Christ to my
account.
There is no condemnation in Christ.
That means that the
punishment that our sins deserved was not
overlooked. But it was heaped
upon the back of God’s own beloved Son
Jesus Christ. My punishment was
placed upon Him. Apart from Jesus Christ, one glance of the
holy God
and I would be burned forever in the
judgment of God for my sin. But
now there is no condemnation in Christ,
who was given of God freely, to
take the place of every sinner whom God
chose merely of His grace.
Christ delivers them from
condemnation.
There is no condemnation now says the apostle. And that is so
precious.
It means that Christ has accomplished our pardon right now. It is
a present reality. It is not a possibility, it is not a perhaps
or
someday might be. It is not that the court of heaven is
recessed and
the verdict is still out. There has not been a delay of the verdict.
It is not, “Well, we’ll wait and
see. We have good hope, but we’re not
sure.”
No, the apostle says, Right now there is no condemnation for all
those who are in Christ Jesus. There is forgiveness now for the child
of God. I need to know that now, or I cannot
live.
Certainly, in this beautiful chapter of
Romans 8,
the apostle
looks into the future, and as perhaps you
know, in the last part of the
chapter (very important!), he says, “I’m
not afraid of the verdict in
the last day. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s
elect? Who
is he that condemneth?” The verdict shall be declared, in that
courtroom on the last day, that we are not
guilty. But that verdict
will not be declared then for the first
time. It has been handed down
already, because of the work of Jesus
Christ upon the cross in A.D. 33.
There is no condemnation for all
those who are in Christ Jesus. In the
last judgment, when all will stand
before God (and you will stand
there!), and all of our lifelong failures
will be made plain before all,
what will you say before the flaming
Judge? This is what you will say,
“My judgment took place already long
ago—A.D. 33—when my condemnation
fell upon my Lord, the just for the
unjust, that He might bring me to
God.”
And now today, for I am a vile sinner (and so are you), it is
different.
Praise God, it is different! Now,
through this verdict, I
see and confess and hate my sin. My sin is there. But now there is no
condemnation for me. It vanished because Jesus Christ bore it
merely of
grace and took it away.
This message is Christianity.
Christianity is that message and
nothing less. Do you know that?
There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh but after the
Spirit.
This is not for all. Not everyone
can say “there is no
condemnation over my life.” The apostle Paul is no universalist.
He
says, “Only for those who are in Christ
Jesus.” That is a phrase that
the apostle uses often. “In Christ Jesus” means to be joined to
Christ
inseparably.
It is to be reckoned by God to be in Him. It is to be
entrusted into Christ.
According to the Word of God, there are those who by grace are in
Christ. And there are those in the obstinacy of their
sin outside of
Christ and without faith. The most terrible phrase to be pronounced
over you is not “Homeless,” “Poor,”
“Abused,” “Terminal cancer,” “Near
death.”
But the most horrible phrase to be pronounced over a person is:
“Apart from
Christ.” It is eternal ruin. It is crushing condemnation.
It is a barren an empty soul. Where are you?
Yes, it is by grace, through eternal election, in irresistible
love, that we come to be in Christ. But God works that grace today
through the call of the gospel. In His name, I say, forsake your sin.
Stop your attempts to cover your
sin. Cease from your rebellion.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ by
the wondrous grace of God. For to
them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh but after the
Spirit, there is no
condemnation.
The apostle is saying here that where this gracious pardon has
been given, there will also, by the same
power of grace, be a change, a
renewal of life. I can put it this way: Those who are justified, made
right with God, merely of grace through
faith, are also sanctified, that
is, made new and holy by the Holy
Spirit within them.
Am I one for whom there is no condemnation? How would I
know
that?
Well, do you, by the grace of God, walk not after the flesh but
after the Spirit of Jesus Christ? You say to me, “What does that mean?”
Your walk, in the Bible, is not
simply your external life, the life that
is seen of men. That is not your walk. But, according to the Bible,
your walk is your life as you live it
from your heart. The Christian
walk of life is not simply, “Well, here
I am—externally. I’m in the
Christian
community. Look, I’m a Christian. Of course I’m a Christian!
I’m in the church.” That is not what it means to walk with
Christ.
To “walk with Christ” is your life, your life as it proceeds from
your heart, and as your heart is
directed to please God. There are only
two walks from the heart. It could be a walk, says the apostle,
according to the flesh, that is, according to
yourself, according to
your own pride, your own way, your own
rules. You set the direction,
the approach. You live for yourself. It is all about you. Or, you
live by the Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus
Christ, that is, to follow the
impulses of the Holy Spirit. That is a walk that is contrary to the
flesh, it is contrary to the world; but
it is a wonderful walk. The
Holy Spirit whispers and sings to us
of Jesus Christ and creates within
us affections and desires to be like
Him.
Do you know your need? Do you
know it because God has shown it to
you?
You are a sinner. There is over
you condemnation and guilt. It
must be addressed or your soul cannot
find rest. You can find no place
to stand. Do you seek the assurance of that pardon and
grace?
This is the message of God to you:
There is no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, who by the
grace of God, from their
heart, walk not after their own sinful
flesh but now desire to live with
all their impulses according to the
Spirit of the Lord Jesus.
This is the most useful, this is the most practical, this is the
most blessed thing that your soul could
ever hear. This is the most
sweet and the most precious message known
throughout the world.
Maybe, today, as you are in the world with all of its earthly
pleasures and needs, you are not convinced
that the gospel of Jesus
Christ and
Romans 8:1
are the most
blessed thing that a soul could hear.
Perhaps you say to me: “Well, yes, but would it not be better for
Christians and for the church that
our leading message today is what
Christ can do for you in terms of
your hunger, in terms of jobs, in
terms of health care, in terms of clothing? Then, after we address
those issues, then, perhaps, later in the
evening, bring in the message
of the gospel of Jesus Christ?”
Or, perhaps, someone would say to me, “Well, what difference does
it really make if there is no
condemnation now. How does that help
me
now with my practical problems, with
these problems that are just too
much—I can’t take them anymore? I need answers now,” you say.
Well, I will answer in behalf of my Master Jesus Christ. To hear
from God the words “No condemnation for
you,” is ten-thousand times, a
million times, more valuable than any other
need. If you live for
eighty-five years, ninety years, in
troubles and in hardships; if your
little girl is taken away from you in
death; if your father or your
brother is taken from you in death; if
nothing goes right and your
business fails and your past haunts you;
nevertheless, if you hear these
words in your soul: “There is no condemnation for you in Christ
Jesus”—
then all is well. You will have an eternity in the presence of
God, who
satisfies and fills all your wants and
needs. And now, with His
blessing upon you, He calls you even in that
difficult way that you
live, that difficult trial before you,
He calls you and tells you that
you may go through those trials not
thinking that everything is against
you, but that those very trials are for
your good, and that they do not
contain condemnation from God.
We, as the Christian church, do not apologize for the message that
Christ has given us. We are not intimidated by the world when it
says,
“What good is it? If you can’t tell us something about earthly
ease,
how can you be relevant?” We are not intimidated by that. We proclaim
the good news.
And then we sacrifice our lives in thankful service of our God.
You who suffer pain that seems only
to get worse; you who have cancer
and sickness and trials of the body and
the devil comes and your own
thoughts in the night arise within you and
you say, “It’s punishment. I
deserve this”—child of God, the message of
the gospel is, “There is no
condemnation.”
This is what you must hear.
“There is therefore now no
condemnation for me. Christ is my righteousness and pardon. I have
passed from death to life.”
You who suffer problems in marriage and, perhaps, with your
children and family, and you say, “How can I
possibly keep going? How
will I not return evil for evil to those
who have done evil to me? How
can I go on forgiving, hoping, and loving?” The answer is
Romans 8:1.
Sink your soul into the
mercy for your spouse, for your child,
for your parents. Deal with
others as God has dealt with you. This is the gospel: Christ took my
condemnation on Himself when He was nailed to
the tree. Now, alive in
Christ, by the Spirit, there is one
holy impulse that would control our
living, thinking, willing, acting, and
speaking. A testimony of thanks
and praise to God is upon our
hearts.
May God Himself bind His Word to your heart. And may you hear Him
say to you, “Son, daughter, neither do
I condemn thee. Go and sin no
more.”
Let us pray.
Father, we thank Thee for the gospel, for the truth. Now, by the
living Holy Spirit, apply it unto the
hearts of Thy children. In Jesus’
name, Amen.