The heart of the letter to the Romans is found in how the sinner and ungodly may be made righteous and just by a holy God. This is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God has provided salvation and everything that is involved in that by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:21-29 NKJV But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,
From where does righteousness come?
According to this word, it does not come from our works. The Holy Spirit is demonstrating that we are not made right or just before God by nationality, obedience to the law, or works.
The blood of Christ is the atonement and covering for our sins.
We must have the blood of Christ for forgiveness. His blood gives us a righteous standing before God. Righteous judgment comes from God omniscient who sees and knows everything that we have done. Our faith in the blood of Christ can cover the charges that are made against us. The blood of Christ sets us free from the condemnation and bondage of the sins we have done.
Then, the cross of Christ deals with what we are.
Romans 4:25 NCV Jesus was given to die for our sins, and He was raised from the dead to make us right with God.
Our standing before God has been changed. This impacts several areas of our live and walk. When we are made just and right before God, we have confidence when we approach the throne. That grace and mercy that provided our Redeemer has made us able to come before God and boldly make our petitions know.
Romans 6:4 NKJV Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
What Christ has done in us affects our life and behavior.
We now “walk in newness of life.” Our “walk” is how we live in this world. Our “walk” is our customary or normal manner of behavior. There has been a dramatic change made because of this “newness of life.” The old is gone and behold all things have been made new.
Once we have been reconciled to God, we have peace with God.
Romans 5:1 NLT Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Reconciliation is being justified or made right in the sight of God.
Reconciliation is the action of God through Christ to bring believers into right relations with God. When we are reconciled with God, relations and fellowship is restored. In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul describes the struggle we all have. He tells us the Law is holy, but the flesh is weak. The Law shows us what is right and good. The weakness of our flesh leads us into sin and death.
Romans 7:14-23 NIV84 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
Everyone has faced this inner conflict.
Although Christ has covered and cleansed us from sin, our inward inclination is toward sin. Something within our carnal mind and inner being draws us to sin. We all have had this struggle. You may have peace with God, but you did not have peace within. God has provided a method for believers to walk and live with inner peace.
When we walk in the Spirit, we will have inward peace.
The struggle arises when our lives are governed by the flesh or the carnal mind. The mind of the flesh (the carnal mind) is in conflict with the mind of the Spirit. To live in righteousness and peace before the world, we must have victory in the battle of our mind. The mind of the Spirit BRINGS life and peace. The mind of the flesh is death.
Romans 8:6-7 NLT If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.
How can our mind be controlled by the Holy Spirit?
We cannot have a Holy Spirit controlled mind if we are following the leading of the sinful nature. We will never have inner peace until our life is controlled by the Holy Spirit. When our mind is controlled by the Holy Spirit, our walk will be changed. Until our mind is controlled by the Holy Spirit, we will have inner turmoil and unrest. Obedience to the law and ordinances cannot bring about this peace. The Law of God is perfect and will always reveal where we fall short of God’s glory and expectations. Through Christ, God has made it possible for us to live a life where our inner man comes into peace with God. You can have victory and inner peace with God.
Romans 8:1 NKJVThere is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
How do we enter into this life or lifestyle of peace?
If the blood of Jesus Christ deals with our sins and we still have a battle inside, something else must happen.
Do you believe the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son cleanses you from all sin?
The blood deals with all of our sins. The blood can wash away all sins, but it cannot wash away my “old man.” Something else must happen that deals with our old man.
The cross of Christ must deal with the sinner.
Galatians 2:20 NIV84 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
This is the greatest mystery in the Bible.
We were born with the nature, character, and attributes of Adam’s race. Through Adam’s disobedience, we were made sinners. Adam sinned.
Through Christ we are made free from sin and death.
It is birth that counts. As a human being, we were born into sin. In Christ, we are reborn into righteousness. The blood procures our pardon from what we have done. The cross provides deliverance from what we are. We are made new.
The life that we now live in this body is in Christ’s victory.
Romans 5:6 NKJV For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5:8-11 NKJV But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
This addresses our greatest struggle of life. What we do on the outside is dominated by what happens on the inside. The blood, death, and resurrection life of Christ changes everything in us.
Romans 8:11 NKJV But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
The impact of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you makes a huge difference in the peace that we now have.
Luke 6:45 NKJV A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
Our life, actions and walk are a response to what is occurring on the inside.
Here the mystery is unveiled and revealed.
In Adam, we die. In Christ, we have life. The life we have in Christ is a life in the Spirit. In Christ is victory through the abiding power and presence of the Holy Spirit.
We have been included in Christ.
We have been included in His death. He bore our sin, shame and humiliation in His body on the cross. He took us on and our sickness and diseases was laid upon Him.
God has demonstrated His love toward us in the cross of Christ.
Now we can identify with that. He included me and now I can identify with Him.
We have receive this new life by His victory.
Romans 6:5-11 NKJV For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here are four steps to living without condemnation.
- First, we must know.
- Second, we must reckon.
- Third, we must present ourselves to God.
- Fourth, we must walk in the Spirit
What Christ achieved on the cross contains the power of God to translate us from the kingdom of Adam to Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
