Series: Saints
Message: No Condemnation
Preacher: Kory P. Douglas
Reflection: Kory P. Douglas
Live Wonder: Zan Long
Live Adventure: Zan Long
Live Purpose: Vanessa Rivera
Editor: Becky De Oliveira

Refresh: Begin with prayer. Ask for the Holy Spirit to open your heart to new understanding and for God’s character to be revealed.

Read: Romans 8:1-11 in the English Standard Version (ESV). Note 1–3 insights or questions. 

Reflect: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4, NASB).

As Paul turns the corner into Verse 3 of Romans 8, we get a sense of excitement from the apostle who has been working tirelessly to explain to the church at Rome how salvation works and how it should affect their lives. Chapters 1-3 offer Paul’s explanation of why we need saving in the first place. The later half of Chapter 3 through to Chapter 4 explains the provisions that God has made for salvation. Chapters 5-7 touch on the results of our salvation having been secured by God, with Chapter 8 serving as a recap of sorts of those results.

The bottom line, as Paul sees it, is that there is now no condemnation. That is the big idea. And in case you missed it from Chapters 1-7, he tells you why. Why is there no condemnation? Because what the law could not do God has done. How has He done it? He sent His son in the likeness of human flesh as an offering for sin and, in so doing, was able to condemn sin in His son and fulfill the law.

Now, let’s talk about the fulfilling of the law. This has been a topic of much grief in the body of Christ as some believe that the law has been done away with.

Jesus said of Himself in Matthew 5: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Verses 17-19).

Jesus came and lived in sinful human flesh, but lived a life without sin. That is, He was susceptible to sin and temptation, like us, and was found without sin. As a result, He was made the perfect sacrifice for our sin. God was able then, as Paul says in Verse 3, to condemn sin in the flesh. That is, our sin in Jesus’ flesh. In this, He fulfilled the law for us. We are justified, declared just even though we are unjust. This we know from Paul’s vigorous theologizing from the previous chapters. But notice how Paul takes it a step further in Verse 4. We know that Christ fulfilled the law for us, but now Paul adds a new dimension. He says, “So that the righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us.”

How is the righteous requirement of the law fulfilled in us? Paul answers that question in the next statement. Originally found in Verse 1, it is more easily applicable in modern translations here in Verse 4. The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh. It is fulfilled in us as we walk in the Spirit and submit ourselves to the Spirit’s equipping and transformative power.

What is the righteous requirement of the law? Paul answers this in Chapter 13:

“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Recalibrate: Does Christ’s fulfilling the law of God relieve us of following or adhering to the law of God? How can we accomplish the law in our lives in the context of grace?

Respond: Spend some time reflecting on the law being fulfilled in you. Pray and ask God that this truth will be a reality lived out in your daily life.

Research: Galatians 5:16-25 and “The Test of Discipleship” (Chapter 7 in Steps to Christ).

Remember: “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2, ESV).

Kory P. Douglas is the youth director for the Central States Conference in Kansas City, Kansas. He is a native of Brooklyn, New York, where he previously served as a Bible teacher. Pastor Douglas has a beautiful family comprised of his wife Kimberly, daughter Carsyn Rei (2), and son Noah Kai (10 months). He loves God and young people, and wants to see everyone become the best version of themselves they can be.

Try a bubble bath with your little one. Pile the bubbles up on their head, blow the bubbles away from their face. Talk about how the bubbly water has made them clean. Imagine if that clean lasted forever. Jesus’ gift of grace is just like a never-ending bubble bath. If we have chosen to get in the tub, God always sees us as squeaky clean.

Try opening an umbrella in the shower. Does the umbrella stop you from getting wet? Can you feel the heat of the water through the umbrella? Know that Jesus’ love for us is the biggest umbrella ever! It is called Grace. All we must do is choose to stand under it.

You want to get to know someone? Ask them what they would  do if someone gave them a million dollars. People’s eyes usually get big with excitement and they excitedly share how they would fulfill their dreams. Eventually, the excitement wears off when they start to realize they’ve already spent their million. I believe part of the initial excitement is that there is this spirit of freedom. This much money makes you feel like you are limitless, and your imagination starts buying houses, cars, electronics, vacation packages—and then you are reminded that, eventually, you will run out of money.  Sometimes we can fall into this trap when it comes to God. God offers an ultimate freedom from sin but it doesn’t mean that once we fully repent we can’t fall back to our old ways. Just like how in moments we can repent and give our lives over to God, we can also choose to live in sin and distance ourselves from Him. We must choose Jesus daily.