First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Tune in each week as Pastor Taylor Geurin leads us into a study of God's Word.
First Baptist Church of El Dorado - Sermons
Climbing Everest: You Are Hidden with Christ Both Now and For Eternity | Romans 8:1-17
Romans 8 stands as the Mount Everest of Scripture, offering powerful assurance of salvation through direct evidence that cannot be explained away by the accuser.
• Christ's salvation declares "no condemnation" for those in Christ
• God didn't lower His standards but sent His Son to fulfill them perfectly
• Justification is a completed past event, not something we're gradually earning
• Christ's Spirit dwelling in believers is evident through fruit, conviction of sin, and love for Christ
• We have received the Spirit of adoption, making us children and heirs of God
• Our inheritance includes both future glory and present relationship with God
• Following Christ means following His path through suffering to glory
• For every look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ
1st Baptist, baptist El Dorado. Will you join me now in listening to our sermon from this week?
Speaker 2:You will open your Bibles to Romans, chapter 8. Romans, chapter 8. We've been in the book of Jonah and we've completed the book of Jonah, so we took a small break from our Roman series as we're walking through Romans throughout the year and today we return as we begin Romans, chapter 8. I want to read verse 1, then I want to pray for us. Verse 1 says this of Romans 8,. I want to pray for us. Verse 1 says this of Romans 8, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Let me pray, lord Jesus. We thank you for that truth. We could, we could, honestly, we could shut the service down with that. I mean, that's all we need. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So, lord, teach us more and more what that means this morning and how that can encourage our hearts. Lord, speak through me by your spirit. We trust you in these moments to speak to our hearts in Christ's name, amen.
Speaker 2:I feel a little awkward talking about this, because there are judges in this room, there are lawyers in this room, and the reality is this I'm just someone that's watched enough Law Order or listened to enough podcasts to be extremely dangerous. But as I listen to podcasts or watch documentary TV shows, there's just a phrase that always comes up and I get nervous every time it comes up and the phrase is simply this circumstantial evidence. You heard this one Circumstantial evidence. Now, when I'm listening to a podcast or a show and I hear the phrase circumstantial evidence, my first thought is this this guy's going to get away with it. Evidence. My first thought is this this guy's going to get away with it. Circumstantial evidence. Now, judges, lawyers forgive me, this is my own terminology here, my own definition. Circumstantial evidence is basically this a piece of evidence that a reasonable mind would say you put two and two together. Or you see my evidence, you see my suspect. You put those things together with reasonable doubt we got them. But the reality is this there are other ways you could explain that piece of evidence. So if this morning you accuse me of having a library book that's six months past due and I tell you not possible, couldn't be me During the sermon, you run to my office and you see the exact title you were looking for.
Speaker 2:You look inside. There's a stamp that says Union County Library. In your mind you say there's my smoking gun. We've got them. Now, in my defense lawyer's mind, we got good news, because the reality is this Did you know that there are 100,000 copies of that book in circulation? Did you know that? I looked this up. There are 17 Union counties in the United States and my defense lawyer would say if my client likes to do his library business in Union County, south Dakota, he can do it. He doesn't have any books that are due here. It couldn't be Circumstantial evidence.
Speaker 2:You put two and two together. But the reality is there are ways you could explain it away. But then on the other side of this I love hearing this term in these documentaries and podcasts direct evidence. That means this We've got them. That means we got them. That means I say that book is not mine. You pull up a video of me walking into the Eldorado library. I've got that book in my hand, I'm checking out. And as I'm checking out, I look up at the security camera and say my name's Taylor Guerin, I'm checking out this book and I will never bring it back. You've got me. There's no doubt. Smoking gun Case closed. My defense lawyer just quit.
Speaker 2:Direct evidence. Let me tell you why. Romans chapter 8 exists. Romans chapter 8 exists, because every one of us needs to hear the evidence of the assurance of our salvation. Every one of us needs to know that. We know that. We know that our life is hidden with Christ, both now and for eternity. And if anything is less than direct, if anything could be circumstantial, the evil one's going to come and tell us and try to explain it away. Taylor, surely not you, surely this couldn't apply to you. We need the direct evidence where Christ Jesus looks to us and says you are mine. That's what Romans 8 is, and throughout the chapter, paul, time and times again, wants to lay this direct evidence on the table, so that we have a mountain of this evidence and we know clearly that we are children of God. Now the title of this series, as we walk through Romans 8, is Climbing Everest. Why? Because many people do call Romans 8 the Mount Everest of Scripture.
Speaker 2:Not that we're in the business of ranking Scripture. Of course we know Genesis to Revelation is the God-breathed, god-inspired Word of God. That's a fact. But there are those passages, those chapters that just stand out, that just offer us a certain level of encouragement, and Romans 8 seems to be at the top of the list. I've said it before. If you cast me off to an island and offered me one chapter of Scripture to take with me, it'd be Romans 8. And if you offered me a second, it'd be a second copy of Romans 8, in case I lost the first. There's just something about it.
Speaker 2:And so this morning, paul's going to give us the direct evidence of the assurance of our salvation, and verse 1 says this there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation If you are in Christ Jesus. And what does it mean to be in Christ Jesus? That's really what Paul has been setting up through a lot of Romans, as we saw in chapter five, as we saw in chapter six. You used to live in the old country, you used to be the old person, but you have been crucified to the old self, and now you are in Christ, clothed in his righteousness. You now have no condemnation because you are one of those in Christ. And so if you know that you have proclaimed Christ as your Savior and you know, like Riker showed us this morning, that he has forgiven your sins and given you new life, then that is your story. You are in Christ and therefore you new life. Then that is your story. You are in Christ and therefore you have no condemnation.
Speaker 2:Now I hope the weight of that phrase just hits you hard this morning. Because no condemnation? The reality is that this is a wild phrase. If we don't understand just how wild this phrase is, maybe we don't understand the condemnation that you and I deserve. The fact that and I hate to say it this morning, I'm not picking on you that you and I are sinners. We talk sinned against God, we have disobeyed his word, we have done things we should not have done, we have left undone things that should have been done. We are sinners and outside of Christ. You and I deserve that condemnation. And here's what makes that so much worse. There's nothing you and I can do about it, I mean in and of ourselves. So not only are we condemned, but in and of ourselves we are hopeless in our condemnation. I can't pull my way out of this sin. I can't do some good things to offset the bad. There's nothing I can do here. And yet, for those in Christ Jesus, not counting on their own righteousness, but on the righteousness of Christ, there is therefore now no condemnation. And that leads us to direct evidence. Number one. It's this. Here's a piece of evidence. You have Christ's salvation.
Speaker 2:Look with me, starting in verse two, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free, in Christ Jesus, from the law of sin and death. In this verse, don't think about the law necessarily as the Old Testament law, though we'll see that in a minute. Think of more. The principle of the spirit of life set you free from the principle of the old life of sin and death. So the new life in the spirit, the Holy Spirit, has made you that new person and set you free from where you used to live. You used to live in the rebellious country, the far country, and you had no way out. You were a slave of sin, and the Holy Spirit set you free from that. How did that happen?
Speaker 2:Verse three, for God has done what. The law weakened by the flesh. We can think of that Old Testament law, the word of God, which shows us how to live, weakened by the flesh. Nothing wrong with the law itself. The problem is me, the problem is you. The law shows me the standard and yet I figure out time and time again how poor of a job I do at keeping that standard. The law weakened by the flesh. It could not do. Look at this by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh. Now I want us to see something At the beginning of verse 3, that phrase this is what God has done.
Speaker 2:Do you see the past tense nature of that, what God has done? Now, I know throughout the years we've walked through Romans, you're tired of the chart, but I'm going to put the chart up again, the Christian life chart. We've seen it a few times, but you'll notice again that that justification there it is a point in time. It is a in the Christian's life. It is a past event. It is Christ Jesus on the cross, dying for sins, rising from the grave. Now you are justified. You're justified in Christ's work in 33 AD. That came into your life when you came to know Christ as your Savior. But that is a past event. That is what God has done. Christ Jesus is not in the process of justifying you. That's not a future event.
Speaker 2:Taylor, if you do enough, I will justify you. No, no, that's what God has done. That singular event in Christ Jesus, sanctification is coming throughout the life, your life. On the other side of glory. There'll be glorification, but justification has been completed, and if you are in Christ Jesus, though you don't deserve it, though you couldn't earn it, you are justified before the father Verse four 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. Flesh but according to the spirit. Notice in verse four.
Speaker 2:It's interesting that for God to save us, it is not as if he lowered the standard of righteousness. It's not as if he looked upon you and I and said they're for sure not going to make it. And he's not wrong in thinking that on our own we can't. So how about I just lower the standard a little bit to let a few make it? No, he didn't lower any standard. He just sent his own son to perfectly fulfill the standard, and his perfect righteousness now covers you. And so here is your standing We'll talk more about that word in a minute Standing before God, covered in the righteousness of Christ. That's how he sees you, and I hope that encourages you today. And so the first piece of evidence is just this Look at your salvation. And so the first piece of evidence is just this Look at your salvation. If you want to know that there is no condemnation for you, you have to know that there is no condemnation for you, and verse 1 of chapter 8 talks about no condemnation. The very last verse of Romans, chapter 8, talks about no separation. If you want to know those things are true in your life, look to Christ Jesus, look to your salvation.
Speaker 2:Robert Murray McShane was a preacher and pastor in the mid-1800s and he had an unbelievable, influential ministry in Scotland. In fact, maybe you've heard of the McShane reading plan. Many people walk through the McShane Bible reading plan that he composed 200 years ago and many follow today. But an unbelievable impact, in fact. It was said that 7,000 people attended his funeral when he died at 29 years old. Let me say that again 7,000 people attended his funeral when he died at 29 years old. At 29, I was still trying to figure a lot of things out At 35, I still am, and Robert Murray McShane already had this legacy of ministry. Three years before his death he was laying on another sickbed, not his final sickbed, but he was writing a letter to someone else and he wrote these words.
Speaker 2:Wrote these words Learn much of the Lord Jesus For every look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. He is altogether lovely, such infinite majesty and yet such meekness and grace, and all for sinners, even the chief, the chief of sinners. Let me read again that second sentence For every look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. If you want to know where your assurance is found, I just beg of you, don't look down, don't look in the mirror and say have I done enough, have I been enough, have I earned enough? Look at Christ Jesus. For every look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. And when the evil one, the accuser, comes and says surely not you, surely not your sin could be forgiven, take 10 looks at Christ and take his word for it, take his cross for it and his resurrection. So, piece of evidence one you have Christ's salvation. Number two is this you have Christ's spirit.
Speaker 2:Continue with me in verse five. 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. Those in Christ Jesus have new life in the spirit, no longer living according to the flesh. Verse six. For to set the mind on the flesh is death. We know that well, we've lived that life. But to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace.
Speaker 2:Verse 7, for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's laws, indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Y'all outside of Christ Jesus in the flesh, we're rebels, we're sinners, we are enemies of God, and we've done it ourselves. We've chosen this rebellion, and yet now we see the Spirit. Verse 9, you, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. This is the new life.
Speaker 2:If, in fact, the Spirit of are not in the flesh but in the spirit, this is the new life. 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 verse 10, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. And 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 the. That was a long passage that just says this you now have the Spirit of God. If you are in Christ Jesus, god's spirit dwells within you and you have once again as we've talked about throughout Romans you've died to the old self and now you live in the spirit. You're not the man or the woman or the child that you used to be. You have new life.
Speaker 2:This morning, we saw a young man get baptized. We saw Riker in the water and what a beautiful representation baptism always is, because you saw him go under and you saw him come back up. What does that represent? It represents Christ going in the grave and coming back out. It represents you and I, at our salvation, going into the tomb of our own sinfulness and shame and the old self and stepping out into new life. That is the Christian life, and now you live by the Spirit. If you want evidence that your assurance is strong and firm and you are in Christ, look no further than the Spirit who dwells in you. And so now you may ask this question well, how do I know that the Spirit dwells in me? How do I know that? I think a few ways. Number one you see it as we talk about throughout Scripture certainly in passages like Galatians 5, that you are bearing fruit, that you are bearing fruit. The Holy Spirit will bear fruit in your life Sanctification. You will start to look more and more like Jesus and you say, uh-oh, I got a ways to go. I'm not there yet. You're not there yet, I'm not there yet. But I wasn't saying do you look perfect? I was saying are you being formed more into the image of Jesus? That's what the Spirit does.
Speaker 2:Do you have a conviction over sin? But when you sin, do you know you've sinned? Do you lament the fact that there is sin in your life? Do you have that conviction? I'll tell you people outside of Christ, they may be upset when they sin in the sense of goodness. I sure might get caught for this or you know, this might hurt me in this way or that way. Do you have a conviction deeper than that, that I've sinned against my Lord? That comes from the Spirit. Do you have comfort in Christ? I don't mean do you 100% of the time feel the warm fuzzies? I pray, you do feel them and you have the feeling. But I'm not saying 100% of the time, but pray, you do feel them and you have the feeling. But I'm not saying a hundred percent of the time. But do you love Christ? Do you celebrate Christ? That's the Holy Spirit's work in you, causing you, leading you to love Christ more and more so. Not only do you have Christ's salvation, and more so, not only do you have Christ's salvation, you have Christ's spirit. But I want to see this, and this will just get you as excited as anything can. Number three you have Christ's standing. You have Christ's standing.
Speaker 2:Verse 12, so then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body look at this you will live. 14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba, father. The Spirit Himself bears witness, with our spirit, that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Back to verse 14, for if we are led by the spirit, we are sons of God, if you are in Christ and you have the spirit of God dwelling in you which, if you are in Christ, you do, then you are sons of God.
Speaker 2:And now you ask me, taylor, why do you keep using the term sons? Is that exclusively to the sons of God in the room? To the men in the room? Absolutely not. Throughout Scripture, we do see oftentimes that there'll be a phrase, brothers, which Adelphoi, which can be really translated as a general statement, where Paul might be talking to a full room of people, and so we can easily translate that brothers and sisters. We see that all over the place. It is interesting, though, in verse 14, we need to keep the idea, certainly with this adoption language, that we are sons of God.
Speaker 2:Don't be offended because I'm going to back it up, because in this timetable the language Paul is using is just a language of inheritance, and I'm not saying right or wrong, but what I am saying is, at the time, the firstborn son in the family received a very large share of the inheritance. The firstborn son had the full rights and the full privilege as being that firstborn son. And to the ladies in the room, again, I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying at this time, and so when Paul in this moment says you are sons of God. This is for men, this is for women, this is for boys, this is for girls that in Christ Jesus you have the full rights, you have the full inheritance. All is yours and this is your inheritance in Christ Jesus. Why? Because you are a child of God. You are an heir of God.
Speaker 2:It says, co-heirs with Christ Jesus. This is your standing, and it almost seems too much to bear that someone like me, someone like you, can be adopted into the family of God, that we can look up at the God of the universe and call him our father and that our father in heaven would look upon us and call us sons and daughters, his children. And yet that is our standing in Christ Jesus. And I love how he talks about the language of heirs, the language of inheritance. I think there's much joy to find in that language the fact that if you are in Christ Jesus, you have a future inheritance waiting on you, that all the gifts of God in Christ Jesus are yours Eternal life, eternal hope, all the things that God delights to give to you for all eternity and glorification. They are yours, and that is a promise in Christ Jesus. But it's also interesting that it says not only that, excuse me that, not only that that we are heirs of God, that our inheritance is not just the gifts of God we're going to receive. The inheritance is ultimately the giver that we get to dwell eternally with God, the ultimate gift that we have.
Speaker 2:But it's interesting with this idea of an inheritance and an heir that speaks to the future. Praise God it does. But does it not also speak to the present? If we were to take my children, james and Olivia, and we could call them my quote-unquote heirs, that one day, lord willing, if I work hard throughout my life and seek to give them some type of inheritance that my heirs will receive, hopefully some kind of monetary inheritance, but certainly inheritance of other kinds Obviously I won't be here to see it. But the look on their face when they inherit the library of 200-year-old dead preachers and they wouldn't bring me back if they wanted to Now that they've got the Puritans, they'll be thrilled. But they're going to receive an inheritance from me, from Katie. We look forward to passing that down to them.
Speaker 2:But imagine if my whole fatherhood were just based around the future. That'd be a little silly, wouldn't it? The future is a massive part of it. My goodness, I want to work to give them an inheritance, but guess what? The fact that they are heirs has everything also to do with the present that I get to be their father now, that I get to enjoy that relational community with my children Now, that we go to the play scape, Now, that we go to the creamery Now, whatever it is. We get to have these moments in the here and now, and this is our relationship today, because they are my heirs.
Speaker 2:That doesn't only speak to the future, that speaks to the present. And if you are in Christ Jesus, your future is unbelievably bright. In fact, there's not a day on this earth that you will live, and I'm talking think up the best day you could live, the best day possible, and I pray you have many of them. But even on that best day, your song can still be. The best is yet to come, because there are far greater things ahead than even the things we leave behind. The best is yet to come. There is an inheritance for those in Christ Jesus, but there's also the fact that we are heirs in the here and now. Look at the language of verse 16. It bears with our spirit that we are children of God now, not in the future. Now we are heirs, heirs of God, we are fellow heirs with Christ. It speaks to the future. But church family it speaks to your family or your life in the family of God now. And you are this heir.
Speaker 2:Paul does end with a statement that is interesting Fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. There is the reality that to walk with Christ, to be in Christ, means that we will live life the way Christ has called us to live. And if we want to be transformed in the image of Christ, that means living how Christ lived. And how did Christ live? As the suffering servant, the humble servant. So don't let this scare you as if it's some conditional statement where you say have I suffered enough to be part of the family of God? That's not what he means. Some conditional. You better reach this level, type suffering. What this means is, in the Christian life, you will suffer. You will suffer for the faith to some level or another, because you're on the road that Jesus walked. You're following your Savior on the road that he walked, and if you follow Him on the road, even to the places of suffering. You will follow Him on the road to glory. This is the assurance that we have. You have Christ's salvation, you have His Spirit, you have His standing.
Speaker 2:I'm tempted to ask any judge in the room if Paul has made his case this morning, but I think the evidence is pretty good and I think the accuser, the evil one, satan himself, is out back looking for a plea deal, out back looking for a plea deal, and he's not getting it. Because the evidence says that if you are in Christ Jesus, there is therefore now no condemnation. And guess what? We're only about a third of the way in to Romans, chapter 8. There's more to come. He's going to make the case even more firm to the very end of chapter 8, when he's going to let us know that there is nothing life, death, nothing above, nothing below that could separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. I hope you're encouraged this morning because if you are in Christ, this is your assurance and this is your story.
Speaker 2:I'm going to pray for us in just a moment and, however you might need to respond this morning, I pray that you would. I'll be down front. I can answer any questions I'd love to talk to you about joining our church, about meeting Jesus, about baptism. Any way I can serve you, I want to do that. The about meeting Jesus, about baptism. Any way I can serve you, I want to do that. The altar is always as open if you just need a place to pray, if you need to come have me pray for you and with you, I'd love to do that. Let me pray for us and we'll continue in worship.
Speaker 2:Lord Jesus, thank you for the evidence that says that, because we are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. We are a people that we readily admit that we deserve condemnation. We've sinned, we've fallen short of the glory of God, and yet Christ Jesus has done what we could not do and, lord, that was the only way we could have been saved, and that's exactly what you did. And so, lord, I give you praise.
Speaker 2:I pray that there's anyone in this room now that has not tasted that salvation, that needs to leave this room today knowing that there's no condemnation in their life. I pray that they would not hesitate another second, but come down front and talk to me now. Maybe find me after service, maybe find another pastor, maybe just look to the person sitting next to him and just say who is this Jesus? Tell me about him. If there's someone that needs just a dose of the Lord's encouragement, maybe they just need prayer. Whatever they need God, maybe right there in the quiet moments of their own pew, maybe coming down front and letting me pray with them, maybe just coming to the altar and just praying. However, you need to move. However, our people need to respond. Will we do that now? We ask this in Christ's name, amen.