No Condemnation for Those in Christ Jesus

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray worked through Romans 8:1-11, a passage he called so important that he considered handing out the whole chapter and having the congregation memorize it together. He used the idea of union with Christ as the thread running through everything, returning to it repeatedly as the reason any of this is possible. The opening verse of Romans 8 declares there is now no condemnation for those who...

Read together

1. Romans 8:1 no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
2. Romans 8:2 the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death
3. Romans 8:3 God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh
4. Romans 8:4 so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk according to the spirit
5. Romans 8:5-6 those according to the flesh set their minds on the flesh; mindset on the flesh is death, on the spirit is life and peace
6. Romans 8:7-8 the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God and cannot please God
7. Romans 8:9-11 if the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he will give life to your mortal bodies
8. Matthew 16 Peter's confession of Christ and Jesus rebuking Peter for setting his mind on man's interest not God's
9. Colossians 3:1-3 imperative to set your mind on things above, not on things of earth
10. Romans 13 love your neighbor as fulfillment of the law, previewed as fast-forward reference
11. Hebrews 13 benediction: may the God of peace who raised Jesus equip you with everything good to do his will

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray used the illustration of the law of gravity and the law of flight to explain how the Holy Spirit sets believers free from the law of sin and death. What does that picture stir up for you personally, and where in your own life have you seen one law overcome another?
2. Pastor Ray pointed out that Romans 8:4 uses the word 'might,' meaning the fulfillment of the law's righteous requirement depends on our choosing to walk according to the Spirit. What does it mean to you that loving God and loving people is genuinely possible, even if not always done perfectly?
3. The sermon described Peter confessing Jesus as the Christ and then, within ten verses, being told 'Get behind me, Satan,' because he was setting his mind on man's interests rather than God's. Can you think of a time when you were genuinely following Jesus but still had your mind set on the wrong thing? What happened?
4. Pastor Ray said there are no varsity and junior varsity Christians, that every believer already has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. How does that change the way you think about times when you feel spiritually weak or stuck at the end of Romans 7 rather than Romans 8?
5. The closing point was that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in every believer. Someone had texted Pastor Ray saying they were struggling with exactly that gap between what they wanted to do and what they were doing. How does the reality of the resurrection power dwelling in you practically affect how you face a specific temptation or difficulty right now?