Introduction

Because of the reality of the struggle and tension in the believer, Paul draws our attention to the theme of Christian freedom in Romans 8:1-4. Furthermore, because of the place of the law in that tension, when Paul directs us to our freedom, he stresses the fact that it is freedom in the law: that is what we have as the people of God. Just as it is in society so it is in the Christian life. Freedom as a citizen has a law structure. It is not unstructured. It cannot be unstructured. If our freedoms in our country were absolute, then we would be free to murder and be murdered. What freedom would that be? Freedoms that are not limited are lost.

The ultimate structure of freedom for us as created beings is found in the law structures of the Creator. Here is real freedom, freedom in God's law, freedom to be His image and likeness as we live in His creation. In the order that God has established, we have our freedom to be, freedom to be truly human, freedom to be a true man representing God on this earth, and freedom to be a true woman imaging God in His world. Therefore, this morning we shall consider the theme of freedom in the law. And we shall view it as a possession that belongs to you if you trust in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. To those of you who have entrusted yourselves to the Lord Jesus, I want you to learn two basic things from this text in Romans 8:1-4: 1) you are free from the law of sin, and 2) you are free for the law of God. If you feel like an outsider to these things, then listen carefully so you may discover the way of life that is found in Jesus Christ, the risen Savior.

1A. First, the believer in Christ is free from the law of sin (vs. 1-2)

These verses answer three fundamental questions.

1) Looking back in the context, what is a basic truth we should learn from Romans 7 with its pull and tug? To understand the question, by pull and tug,  I mean the continual back and forth movement from one hand to the other" as have in 7:25b: "I ….am a slave to God's law…..[I am] a slave to the law of sin." This language is all through the chapter (it is not I that sins but actually it is I that sins, it is not me, but yes it is me). There is a deep tension in the heart of the believer between delighting in the law of God and breaking that law, between loving the Savior and dishonoring Him in our actions.

So what basic truth do we learn from Romans 7? What conclusion does Paul draw from the fact of this struggle and tension? Remarkably, he draws the conclusion that you are free! Mark it down, no matter how intense the struggle with sin, which is perpetually, powerfully, and painfully present, the fact is that this tension, with regard to holy things, shows that you are a Christian. The non-believer does not have the kind of tension described in Romans 7.

Paul's conclusion is indicated by the "therefore" (8:1). His conclusion is that there is no condemnation. There is no condemning sentence or courtroom proclamation that confines and consigns you to your fallen passions and lusts. However, that is exactly what the law did. It condemned, and thus, in our daily living, it consigned and confined us in our rebellion with all our stubborn willfulness. We must remember that one of the functions of the law was to cause sin to increase (Rom. 5:20; 7:8). That is what it means to be "under the law" (6:14; 3:1). To be under the law means to be able only to sin, to be unable to do good (cf. Gen. 6:5; 8:21). But look back at the warfare. Paul says, look back at the battlefield, the conflict and tension within. Even those who are (sometimes) frustrated delight in holy things and know this: there is no condemnation. There is no solidifying of the wicked heart in its sinful ways. No, you are free. There is no condemnation!

2) To whom is this freedom granted? It is granted to those who are in Christ Jesus (8:1), to those who are in union with Him, to those bonded to Him in His life and death, and to whom the work of Christ has been applied by the Holy Spirit (8:2, through Christ….the Spirit set me free from the law of sin and death).

3) What kind of freedom is this? Or, what is the flavor of this freedom? The flavor comes from what we have been freed from, according to Rom. 8:2. Consider this illustration. Take a T-bone steak from the fire, and every bite has a reminder in it of the charcoal flames. That is what makes it taste so good. Similarly, every bite of Christian freedom carries with it the reminders of our bondage in sin and of the fiery death that was justifiably ahead of us. And this flavor is what makes freedom taste so good. It is a delicious feast, seasoned with joy, rejoicing, and gratitude to God. Thankfulness and praise to God are stirred up in us to the degree of our awareness of the horrible state from which we have been set. We were captivated and condemned by the law of sin and death. Now through Christ, and by the law of the Spirit of life, we have been set free from the law of sin and death.

Just think of what former principle was at work in us, working death and eternal judgment (Rom. 2:5). We lived in darkness, preferring the darkness to the light. We hated the light and would not come to the light because it exposed our sinfulness (Jn. 3:19-20). But He came to us in our darkness, and though we covered our eyes and stopped our ears, the Holy Spirit did for us what we could not do for ourselves: He set us free. Therefore, we rejoice to say and sing these words:

"Long my imprisoned spirit lay; fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray; I woke, the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth, and followed thee."

Recall how Paul speaks, in Romans 6:20-23, of your former life and the change that occurred (from 8:2 we know this occurred by the powerful grace of the Spirit). What a wonder, you who believe in the risen Lord Jesus are free from the law of sin and death! You have been set free! Now we must note that being set free from something also involves being set free for something else.

2A. You also have freedom for the law of God (8:3-4)

Romans 8:3-4 us the source and purpose of the freedom we have by the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

1) The Source of this Freedom. Right away it is made clear that the source is not the law (3a). The law is weak. That is, it has no redeeming quality. It does not save. It enslaves, intensifies our sin, and makes us conscious of our sin, and in that way it points us to the One who saves. But because of our nature as sinners, because of the corruption within us in the fall, the law is weak. Therefore, it can only condemn us. It can only confine us in sin, consign us to bondage, intensify our sinning, and accentuate the rebellion within us. Therefore, unmistakably, the source of our freedom is God in Christ (v. 3). Here in Romans 8:3-4, Paul unpacks a tidy survey of the doctrine of Christ, giving us at least the following four things.

a) He is a unique person. I pick this up from the fact that He was "sent" (3b). We are born into the world, but we are not sent. Jesus lived before He was born. He came down from heaven to do the will of the Father who sent Him. He is the only son of God, the only begotten of the Father (Jn. 1:18; 3:16). This means He is the pre-eminent Son of God, God the Son, God's own Son in a profoundly unique sense.

b) He is a true but sinless human being (3c). He came in the likeness of sinful man. He is like us in that He is truly and fully human. But He is unlike us in that He is not sinful. We have to say of Him, as summarized in the Shorter Catechism (Q 21-22): "Who is the Redeemer of God's elect? The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy [Spirit], in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin."

c) He is the sin offering par excellence (3d). He took flesh and blood to obey the Father, to learn obedience through suffering, and in this way, to become our great high priest. Recall that the high priest was the only one who could enter once a year into the most holy place and make offering for sin. But that was a shadow of the true heavenly tabernacle. Jesus, as our high priest, was able to present the offering in the real most holy place. And remarkably, He is not only the offerer, but He is Himself the offering for sin.

d) His accomplishment (3e). He condemned sin in the flesh. Instead of leaving us to the condemnation of the law against us, Jesus condemned sin, made it forfeit its dominion (H. Meyer). What the law could not do, being powerless to save us and only aggravating our rebellion, God did in Jesus Christ the Lord from heaven. Sin was condemned instead of you and I being condemned. Sin was sentenced and executed. What can this mean but that the punishment due to us was endured by the Son of God in the likeness of sinful man? Again we are reminded that we died with Him back there when He died. The old self was crucified with him to free us from the condemnation, death, and enslavement of sin (Rom. 6:6-7). Marvelous thought: He took our place of execution!

2) Now Consider the Purpose of this Freedom. (8:4) Purpose is indicated by the words, "in order that." The purpose of this freedom is the purpose of the coming of Christ. Why the sending, the birth, the practical submission, the seemingly mundane humdrum of life for 30 years, the donkey of humiliation entering Jerusalem, the upper room, Gathsemene, the cross, the resurrection and the ascension? All of these events took place in order to condemn sin in the flesh by striving against sin unto blood, in order to work a change in your life, to bring to pass in your life a fulfillment of the law in all its perfection, stage by stage, until you reach heaven's glory! You have been set free from the law of God with its intensification of sin and death. But this freedom from the law is for the law. You are now set free for righteousness that is defined by God's law marvelously summarized in the Ten Commandments.

Concluding Applications

1) Freedom must have structure. Unstructured freedom is a misnomer, a void, a contradiction, a destructive and chaotic force. In our country, we have the blessing of being a society governed by law. We need the law to restrain us and guide us as citizens of the state. Likewise, we need the law of God to restrain us and guide us as citizens of the heavenly kingdom of God. We need this as Christians. There is such a thing as true freedom. There is ultimate freedom. It is found in God's law, not without it. This is the most liberating freedom. In this freedom in the law, we have the "blessed's" of the Sermon on the Mount (where Jesus explained the law in its true spirit and intent). True happiness and fulfillment are found here living under the authority of Jesus Christ as your gentle prophet, priest, and king. He rules by His law, and there we find life, and find it more abundantly. In the way of faith in Jesus and obedience to the law of God as His slaves, we reap holiness, and the result is eternal life (Rom. 6:22).

2) So the law, though weak because of our sinful flesh, does have a proper function in the life of the saint. The mark of our struggle is a delight in the law (Rom. 7:22). To be sure, the smell of the flames, from which we have been delivered, lingers on our clothes. But these reminders cause us to put on the garments of righteousness with thankfulness and devotion to our Savior. Thus, we clothe ourselves with the Ten Commandments, in their true spirit and intent, as taught to us by the Lord Jesus (Matt. 6-7). We take His yoke upon us to learn of Him, in order to live for Him, in accord with His precepts and commandments (Matt. 11:28-30).

3) Thus, this passage reeks with the promises of the gospel, and thus, with hope. Facing the demand of love, of God's holy, spiritual, and good law, you need not be cast down with the many weights of responsibility. You live under a gentle king. He has given you this possession, this inheritance. You can do it. You can make headway in the particulars of your life and struggle with indwelling sin. You can make significant progress in love for God and your neighbor. You cannot say "can't." You cannot come to the edge of yourself and say, It's all over. I quit because I can't do it." Away with such thinking! You can move onward, forward, and upward by the promise and enabling of your God and Savior, Jesus Christ, the risen Lord of glory.

So "arise ye Christian soldiers," with His banner of love and His sword of the Word of God. "Tread the road the saint above, with shouts of triumph trod. By faith they, like a whilwind's breath, swept on o'er every field; the faith by which they conquered death is still our shining shield." Amen.