Amen. Let us turn to our confessional reading for this evening. And we'll go to page 280 in the Smaller Forms and Prayers book. 280 in the Smaller Forms and Prayers. And we're looking at Head 5, Article 8, The Certainty of This Preservation. And again, just a little bit longer, so I will read it myself. Lord willing, we'll have, I think, one more sermon in the canons before we go to the catechism again. But for tonight, we're at Head Five, Article Eight. I'll read the article there at the top of page 280. the certainty of this preservation. So it is not by their own merits or strength, but by God's undeserved mercy that they neither forfeit faith and grace totally, nor remain in their downfalls to the end and are lost. With respect to themselves, that is, those who would have fallen into grievous sins, as mentioned in the previous articles, with respect to themselves this not only easily could happen, but undoubtedly would happen. But with respect to God, it cannot possibly happen, since His plan cannot be changed, His promise cannot fail, and the calling according to His purpose cannot be revoked. The merit of Christ, as well as His interceding and preserving, cannot be nullified, and the sealing of the Holy Spirit can neither be invalidated nor wiped out. Now we turn, brothers and sisters, to the very Word of God, Romans chapter 8, page 1200 in the Bibles under the seats. Romans chapter 8. Noel Reed through verse 11. We'll look especially at the first eight verses. Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. Romans 8, we begin our reading at verse 1. 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. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, But those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades, the Word of our Lord endures forever. Dear brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we speak about something that is forensic. We're speaking about something that is related to the court of law. And the Apostle is speaking here at the beginning of chapter 8 in forensic courtroom language. And this is clear from the first words, from the first words, that first verse of our text and this language of no condemnation. In our legal system the way that is said is this way not guilty not guilty but this is not like a normal courtroom because in a normal courtroom you hear the words not guilty because the person who is on trial is found innocent of the charge but here the not guilty comes not because the one who is on trial but because of what someone else has done because of someone else fulfilling the requirement. It is, brothers and sisters, in courtroom language, the gospel. It is in certain language, the gospel. It is the gospel with the certainty of the pounding of the gavel, and not just the pounding of any gavel, the pounding of the gavel in the courtroom of heaven. It is about how peace is not only possible, but how peace can indeed be assured by the final word from that courtroom of courtrooms. And so that's our theme tonight, brothers and sisters. Peace is assured by, not by the one who is under the charge, not by the one who's standing there, but by divine words. by the divine work of God, by someone else stepping in for the requirement. And so our three points work through this gospel as it is declared to us from the language of the courtroom of heaven. First the result of peace, and then the requirement of peace, and then a language in verses five and eight reminding us that yes, we need this peace. Brothers and sisters, Paul begins chapter eight by giving us a summary statement of what has gone before. We see that in the language, the language there in the first words. There is, therefore now, therefore now, what do we mean? That means we're talking about what came before. Therefore now, because of these things that I just summarized for you in the previous chapters, therefore now there is no condemnation. Chapter 8 verse 1 is a summary statement. It's a summary statement tied to the truths that the Apostle has been speaking about in the previous chapters and it's a summary statement that stands before the following verses which will go into one and another thing in more detail. And how far back is the summary statement going? Well, we can make various outlines of the Book of Romans in different ways and if we did that we'd We'd say, well, he's probably going at least back to chapter 5 just for various reasons and for reasons of theme. But even just thinking beyond trying to outline the chapter or looking for common themes, the Apostle has even given us a clue in the language that he uses that he's going back at least to chapter 5. Because that word condemnation It's in the Greek, it's one of those words where there's two words to say condemnation and they mean exactly the same thing, just one is a little bit longer than the other. So if you're speaking in Greek and you want to talk about no condemnation, you want to use language of condemnation or put the word no in front of it, no condemnation, you can either use the word crema or you can use the word katakrema. And they mean exactly the same thing. The only difference is one is twice as long as the other. That's really the only difference. And so why is this important for this summary in Romans 8? Well, the Apostle Paul uses that longer and unusual word as a clue that he's at least going back to Romans 5. Because he uses that exact same unusual word twice in Romans chapter 5 verses 16 to 18. Turn back with me. In our English translations, we see the word condemnation there. And it's that longer word, which again, brothers and sisters, the first time someone read through the book of Romans, they didn't have a little introduction with an outline in the front. They didn't have chapter or verse divisions. They would have just sat and heard it. And so a longer word like this would have been a cue for those first hearers. They get to what we call Romans 5 and the Apostle Paul talks about condemnation and, oh, he used that longer word, okay. And then they're listening and it's going along and then you get to Romans 8 and he talks about condemnation again and he uses that longer word again. It's a way that Paul tied this together for the first hearers and also for us. And so we listen for the word condemnation twice in Romans 5 verses 16 to 18. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin, for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification, for if Because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man. Much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life. for all men. And so now back to Romans 8 verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He's summarizing what came before in chapter 7 and chapter 6 and at least back to chapter 5 where he contrasts Adam with Jesus Christ. The federal head Adam in whom were all sinners and the federal head Jesus Christ in whom there's life. Therefore, if you are one who is in Christ Jesus, there's no condemnation. Because of your union with Him, by faith, God looks at you and says, not guilty. This is the great truth of the gospel for everyone who by faith is now under Christ's headship, Christ's perfect headship. And then, brothers and sisters, after giving that summary statement in verse 1, the Apostle Paul begins to dig into different things in verse 2 and following. And there he starts with this contrast between the law of the spirit of life and the law of sin and death. And now here, brothers and sisters, this is one of those places where it would be very difficult to be a translator. Praise the Lord for the wonderful English translations of the Bible that we have. Every once in a while, being a translator must just be very difficult. Because this is the Greek word for law. It is. But the Greek word for law can mean law, the way we usually speak of it, and the way Greeks usually speak of the law, with reference to that law, or this law, or whatever. But the Greek word for law can also mean the practice of the law. That's not how it's usually mean, but that's how it can be used. We just don't use it that way in English. We have plenty of our own words that we use in all different kinds of ways. English does plenty of its own, what we might call, funny things. And it's not really so strange, it's just strange to us. And so, how do we translate verse 3 then? Well, some English translations do put in a different word instead of law to capture the fact that we're talking From the context we can see he's not referring to the law itself. He's talking to something that's lived out. He's using it in that Greek sense of the practice of the law. For the practice of the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus. Or what's tied then to practice and ability, we might use the word power. That's what one translation does. The power of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the practice of the law of sin and death, or the power of the law of sin and death. What is that? The end of verse 2. And brothers and sisters, we can simply rephrase it this way. If we're trying to practice the law, and here's where they all come back together, all the different uses of the word law. If we're trying to practice the law on our own power, that's not going to work. That's not going to work. It's only going to be sin and death because we can't accomplish it. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to give us a true practice of the law. If we try on our own power, it's sin and death. It's not the simplest way of saying it, especially because we don't use the law this way in English, but it's just another way that scripture tells us. We're standing there. We can't fulfill the requirement. We do not have the power to do it. We cannot practice the law ourselves. And so it leads into our second point. The requirement for peace. And who fulfilled the requirement? And here, brothers and sisters, the language quickly goes back to, again, something we can very readily understand. For God has done what the... We could add the word practice of the law one more time. We could paraphrase verse 3. For God has done what the practice of the law by sinful flesh, sinful mankind, weakened by His own human flesh, could not do. And now into the end of verse 3 and verse 4, How then is it done? How is the requirement fulfilled? How can anyone stand and hear the words not guilty? Where is the act of innocence that does it? 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. This is where the requirement is fulfilled. The sending of the Son. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He looked exactly the same as we do. He was born of a woman. But He was not under the power of human flesh. He was not under the weakness of sin. He was the new Adam. He was the new man. He was truly man and truly God. And so now, the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled and was fulfilled. This was the only way. It is the language of a courtroom, which It was maybe not the first way that we tend to speak. Maybe even if we're playing one game or another. I don't know, maybe some children, this is one of the first games they go to. They put on an old-fashioned judge's hat and have a toy gavel or whatever, but usually when children are playing, they seem to be playing different kinds of games. They seem to more often be in school rooms or sports fields or something else like that. This isn't language that we usually use. This isn't the kind of setting that a child usually sets up for their play. But brothers and sisters, it's the final word. It's word that takes us to a surety. When we come into the courtroom, that's it. It's done. You can't undo it. Or, in terms of being declared righteous, who can do it? The Apostle Paul takes us into the courtroom of heaven and shows us We can't practice it. We can't do it. But the requirement is fulfilled by Jesus Christ. It's the gospel in courtroom language. The gospel that we need every day. The gospel now plainly and assuredly laid before us in this way. Christ fulfilled the requirement. This is why he was sent. This is what he could indeed do. And so, we go back to the language of the confession in Article 8. Well, what if it depended upon man? I'm picking up there a few words into the third line. Well, with respect to themselves, sinful man, falling out of the preservation of grace not only easily could happen, but undoubtedly would happen. If you're standing in the courtroom and it depends upon you for being preserved in grace, it not only could happen that you would fall out of grace, it not only could happen, it would happen. You would hear the words, not guilty. That's true for each and every one of us. But with respect to God, it cannot possibly happen. Because in the courtroom of heaven, the words, not guilty, are not spoken with reference to us. They're spoken with reference to the One who fulfilled the requirement. His name is Jesus Christ. Your salvation and your preservation in salvation, neither one in any way depends upon yourself. are kept by the one who fulfilled the requirement. And when the declaration not guilty is made, there is no way it can be revoked. There is no way it can be reversed or changed. So you talk about the finality of a courtroom. Well, OK, on an earthly courtroom, well, maybe there's this appeal, or that appeal, or parole, or whatever. In the courtroom of heaven, there's no outs. There's either guilty or eternally not guilty. No condemnation. Because Christ is the one who fulfilled the requirement. With respect to God, it cannot possibly happen His plan cannot be changed. He's not a judge who would ever change his mind. His promise cannot fail, and the calling according to His purpose cannot be revoked. There is no appeal or anything else. The merit of Christ, as well as His interceding and preserving, cannot be nullified. There's no way that anyone could for the case to be reopened because of more evidence. Oh, I found somewhere that Christ was not innocent. It's not possible. It's not possible. He fulfilled the requirement. That's where the declaration, not guilty, no condemnation, is based on. And it cannot change. Peace. the peace of hearing, not guilty, is assured for all who have faith in Jesus Christ. Because He is the One who did it and fulfilled the requirement. And then, brothers and sisters, as the Apostle is moving through these new topics, it is It is again abundantly clear that we need this. And he does this now by speaking of the language of the contrast, this is our third point, the need for peace. The contrast between those who are in Christ, those who are not in Christ, those who are, if you're in Christ, you're in the Spirit, those who are in the Spirit, and those who are still in the flesh, still in their own human strength, Verses 5 and 6 show the contrast, and then verses 7 and 8, they just describe what is the mind of man apart from the work of God. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. If someone is struggling with assurance or wondering if they are not a believer at all. These are some of the questions that a person could ask himself or herself. Are you hostile to God? Do you have any desire to please God? Well, the one The one who is in the flesh is hostile to God and must humbly confess that hostility. But if you are not hostile to God, if you have a desire to please God, then that is one who is renewed by the Spirit. Comes back to that word of pastoral care where usually if someone, not every single situation is the same, but often if someone says, well, I'm struggling to know if I'm saved. One of the questions that can be asked is, well, do you want to be saved? Do you want to be right with God? And the answer is, well, yes, I want to be right with God. I love God, I just don't know for sure if I'm safe. Well, if you want to be right with God, and if you love God, these are reasons to say, this is the Spirit's influence upon my life. For the mind of the flesh is against God and cannot please God. So, brothers and sisters, in contrast to that, we go back to verses 5 and 6. We have what's called the things of the Spirit. At the end of verse 5, what are those things of the Spirit? We often speak of those things of the Spirit by another name. We call them the fruits of the Spirit, as the Apostle Paul calls them in another text. Brothers and sisters, it is coming to Romans 8, which gives us assurance, brings us into the heavenly courtroom, and so it speaks to us in that more final way. And it is another way to hear the gospel, which we must hear again and again. Because here is this contrast. In the Spirit, you'll please God. You'll do the things of the Spirit. You'll have your mind set on Him. Apart from God, you'll be hostile to God. You cannot please God. The scripture speaks to us of the right way of thinking. And we need to hear of the right way of thinking again and again because the false ways of thinking in all their different forms, they come on us over and over and over again from one week to another. One commentator put it well, brothers and sisters. He said, pop religion tells us we can do something for God. Sociology tells us that we can do something for others. Psychology tells us that we can do something for ourselves. There's a lot of psychology in the world today. There's a lot of, look at what you can do for yourself. But the gospel tells us that God has done something for us. The gospel tells us that God has done something for us. So praise the Lord. for the powerful and comforting truths of Romans 8. You've perhaps heard me say before, because I love this quote, the Puritan who called Romans chapter 8 the gunpowder store of Christian comfort. There are some verses that I can read that may Indeed, I hope are immediately familiar to you. Verse 17, Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Verse 28, We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Verses 38 and 39, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Brothers and sisters, these are part of the powerful gunpowder store of Christian comfort in Romans chapter 8. But don't jump over the first verse. Even if you never Never pretended that you were a judge in a courtroom as you played as a child. Even if a courtroom is not the first place that you think of going now, hear the powerful words of comfort in the declaration that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, we give thanks for the Gospel so plainly and in so many ways declared to us. Mayo.