City Life Church San Diego
Welcome to the City Life Church Podcast, where faith meets action in the heart of Mt. Hope. We are a diverse family of God, united by Jesus, led by Scripture, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we are committed to caring for both the spiritual and tangible needs of the lost and hurting. Through inspiring messages and practical lessons, we seek to equip and encourage you to live out God’s calling in everyday life. Join us as we grow in faith, serve our community, and share the hope of the Gospel with the world.
City Life Church San Diego
Romans 8:1-11 Those Who Belong to Christ...
Romans 8 offers believers the ultimate promise: "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This transformative chapter reveals how God's Spirit sets us free from the law of sin and death, bringing new life to those who belong to Christ.
• No condemnation exists for those in Christ Jesus
• The law was weakened by our flesh, but God sent Jesus as the solution
• Our mindset determines our spiritual condition: flesh leads to death, Spirit to life
• Those who belong to Jesus gradually shift their focus from worldly things to godly things
• Modern distractions create "spiritual ADHD" that diverts us from God's priorities
• The struggle with sin is evidence of God's transformative work, not failure
• God changes our desires naturally, like developing a taste for something new
• Justification means Jesus took our punishment, allowing us to stand forgiven
• The law is no longer our master but our guide in relationship with God
• The same Spirit who raised Jesus will give life to our mortal bodies
If you're struggling with sin or feeling condemned, remember that God sees you through the righteousness of Christ. You are fully accepted and loved by the Father, not because of your performance, but because of Jesus' finished work.
faith. Amen. For those of you who are new here, we send our kids that want to go to zero to six over there, and every other week we have seven to 12 that go outside. So if you ever wonder why all that stuff is going on, also, it's kind of cool Like the room got like half empty. That means that there's a lot of kids in our church and people who are caring for them. That's exciting. That means something good is happening. So I'm glad to be here with you Today. We're going to be in Romans 8.
Speaker 1:My favorite text in the entire Bible is in Romans 8, and it's today. So I'm really excited. I don't think I've ever got to preach this before, but I'm fired up to preach on it. If you don't have a Bible, we have study Bibles on the walls. We have them in English, we have them in Spanish, we have bilingual Bibles, we have them in Haitian Creole and we have them in Tagalog. Tenemos estudios bilingües disponibles a costar de Salón. Buen día, bienvenido. Luce bien creole hacienda. So we're in Romans 8. Yes, finally, you know, we went through a lot of those ones where I was like Lord, I don't have to tell these people this. And now we're in Romans 8, where I'm like Lord, I get to tell people this I'm so excited. So who's with me in Romans 8? I'm so excited. So who's with me in Romans 8?
Speaker 1:By the way, we have so many people going through it in this church right now, and I hope that you are praying for other people in this community. We have people who are afraid right now. We have people who are sick. We have poor Danielle and Ruben, if you know them. Danielle got terrible food poisoning last night and she was in the ER, and so that's why Miss Ashley, my wife, stepped up and helped me worship this morning. But we just have a lot of people going through it at the moment and, at the same time, god is doing some things. So, you know, be praying for your people, check in on them, find out what's going on in their lives.
Speaker 1:So, are we in Romans 8? Anyone got one of these? Let me see. If you've got it, hold it up. Let me see. Oh, that's beautiful. I see all these bookmarks falling out. My bad.
Speaker 1:So, romans 8, 1. Let's go Therefore. Oh, we got a. Therefore, if you see, therefore, in the Bible, we have to always look and see what it's there for. That's right. So, if you remember, it's been a while since we've been in Romans. I'm going to remind you.
Speaker 1:Paul told the people no matter how hard I try, I keep sinning. What can be done with this wretched man that I am? I do what I hate. I hate what I do. Sin seeks to control me, and trying to follow the law of God, trying to follow the law God gave to Moses, seems hopeless. I just can't do it alone and I need God for my strength. Therefore, because we are hopeless without God and because we are hopeful with God.
Speaker 1:Therefore, now I will read to you the text there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, since it was weakened by the flesh, god did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, as a sin offering In order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. Now, the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it is unable to. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Speaker 1:You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through the spirit who lives in you. This is God's word. Would you pray with me? Amen, father, we thank you for the chance. The spirit who lives in you, this is God's word. Would you pray with me, father? We thank you for the chance to be here together, the chance to worship you together in spirit and in truth.
Speaker 1:God, it's a wonderful gift we do not take for granted To be gathered here with your family, redeemed by your sacrifice. It brings us hope and yet we also recognize that things are not perfect this side of heaven. We know there are many in our community that are afraid, those who fear immigration, many who know little other than this country, lord, Many who don't even speak the language of their country of origin. Lord, we ask that you help our friends and family today. We ask that you would bring them safety, that you would deliver them from fear and that you would help our leaders to be just. We also ask that you protect our church from that you would deliver them from fear and that you would help our leaders to be just. We also ask that you protect our church from the attacks of the devil. We recognize all the good that is happening in our community and our church. Lord, we ask that you would comfort our friends who are sick or depressed or anxious. Today. Would you wrap your arms around those who grieve. God, we pray your blessing on the families who lost friends and family in the plane crash from Wichita to Washington DC this week. But, lord, we also celebrate. We celebrate with those who celebrate. This morning we thank you for baby Landon Luzard, who arrived this week. It is with bittersweet emotions that we can come before you this morning and recognize you are good when things are hard, you are loving when things seem dark and you care for us like no one else could. Please teach us this morning from your word. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of our hearts be pleasing to you. We pray this all in Jesus' name, and all God's people said Amen.
Speaker 1:Well, guys, I've never preached on Romans 8, but I'm excited. A lot of people will describe Romans 8. They'll describe Romans as like a mountain range and they'll call Romans 8 the peak. And I just love Romans 8. Like it was one of the first texts I ever memorized Not the entire thing, I'm not that cool but the first section and I taught it to my family and I feel like we still know it, even though I memorized it probably a decade ago. Love Romans 8.
Speaker 1:And today I'm going to give you three points on those who belong to Jesus from Romans 8. And let's just get to it. The first point is this those who belong to Jesus focus on the things of God. Those who belong to Jesus, focus on the things of God. Verse 5 is what we're going to pick up, for those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. The mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. So those who focus on their own desires will sow death and destruction, but those who focus on the things of God will inherit peace and life.
Speaker 1:Now, many times in life, we think that self-preservation is the way to self-preservation. We think that if we take care of ourselves, then we'll be okay and then we can take care of other people. We tend to always use this term like put on your oxygen mask first before you can put on someone else's, and I would actually say that's usually true, but it's not always true. Sometimes I think what we do is we say put on your oxygen mask and your makeup and your hair and do all your outfit before you put on someone else's oxygen mask. I think we've got it a little too wrong sometimes. Sometimes we have to think about others. We have to think about God, and thinking only about ourselves is not the way to life. Jesus says it best when he says in Matthew 16,. He says those who want to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life because of me will find it. See, it's the upside down kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:It's hard to understand, it should not always be easy, but I think most of us are not trying to over focus on me. I don't know about you, but I don't think all of us are just trying to be selfish. I don't think that's the way it is. I think we're just distracted easily. Is anybody else distracted easily besides me? Thank you. A couple of you, okay, a lot of you. Thank you. Some of you are like what, what did he say? But I think that's the way it is. Like we have spiritual ADHD. Some of us just have straight up ADHD, right? Anybody else? Okay, thank you. I have a couple hands up, but they're like, and they're checking their phone at the same time.
Speaker 1:We just find often that we follow the crowd without asking God what he wants for us, and so we end up walking away from God very slowly without even realizing that we're walking away from God. Dr Tony Evans. He says if we have a problem with our walk, that would be like our relationship with God. If we have a problem with our walk, the problem is not our feet, it's our minds. It's our minds. See, when you belong to Jesus, you focus on the things of God. Friends, how do we spend our time, is the question Jesus said. Tell me where a man spends his money and I will tell you where his heart is. But I tell you today, guys, can we not say the same thing about our time these days? Like I might not go so far to say that time has become the biggest currency in our world, but we try to pack more and more and more and more things into the same amount of time than ever before. Would anyone agree with that? Can I get an amen? So it used to be.
Speaker 1:The sun went down and everything slowed down or stopped right Like you might read a book, buy a candlelight if you had the money for the candle, or you just go to bed because you're doing more manual labor in the morning. You certainly weren't going to travel 30 miles and you didn't binge watch three plays at night, did you Like? That's impossible. Right, you could go to three plays. I'm going to go to that play. I'm going to go to that play tonight. I'm going to go to that play, then I'm going to go to sleep. Nobody did that. So you sat, you listened to a friend or a family member. Many of you read the Bible back then. Some sang music or you played an instrument. Some people conceived children because they got bored, which is why you had so many children back then. Others played, but it was so much easier to focus on what mattered when you didn't have so many things competing for your attention or at least so we've been told.
Speaker 1:But today, in the 21st century, it's not the same, is it? You're going to drive home from work and you will be assaulted by endless billboards the whole way home, while you're in traffic, and I'm guessing most of you won't just sit silent in your car, will you? You'll probably listen to something. So, all of a sudden, you've been bombarded with so many thoughts, images, ideas just on your way home from work. You finally get home and for some of you, you have 12 more things you've got to do before you fall asleep. But rather than do them, what do you do? You pull out your phone, right, if you're like most people and you might even go to the bathroom and you watch six TikToks while you're in the bathroom and you wash your hands, and then you watch some more videos, but you know you didn't wash your phone, by the way, just want to point that out. And then you watch some more videos, but you know you didn't watch your phone by the way, just want to point that out. Then you get to work on your homework, or you get to work on your housework, or you work on the stuff that your boss wanted you to finish for the rest of the day, right? Finally, after that, you have a moment to yourself, after all you had to do. And then you doom scroll on social media while listening to say something like Kendrick Lamar.
Speaker 1:Scroll on social media while listening to say something like Kendrick Lamar. You read the headlines of several articles that tell you how awful things, tell you just all kinds of awful things about Republicans or Democrats or whichever one you dislike more, because we know that the algorithm is going to give you whichever one you dislike more. You read that the world is going to end about 17 different ways. You also laugh and you share some memes about your favorite sports teams, maybe. At the same time, music is still playing in the back talking to you. You don't even hear it Like music that says like Wolf in the back, doggy style, track number nine Lifestyles of a little nappy head guns in the closet bills in the bed watching Jay-Z on BET counting bread. You hear that in the background. I'm not trying to rap anything for you today, don't worry.
Speaker 1:Next you might watch a video. You don't turn on the audio because you still want to listen to your music, right? So you got the little subtitles. It's a lady in her car. I don't know why. She's in her car talking to you about how the world is ending due to insert bird flu, or it's ending because of Democrats or Republicans, or Israel or Palestine, or global warming. Also, why is she eating a sandwich while she's filming this video? I cannot stand it. It's so weird, but she's probably eating a sandwich while she's telling you this. To look more like chill, I guess. The same time, kendrick is in the back still talking.
Speaker 1:Confrontation ain't nothing new to me. You can bring a bullet, bring a sword, bring a morgue, but you can't bring the truth to me F you and all your expectations. I don't even want your congratulations. I recognize your false confidence and calculated promises all in your conversation. I hate people that feel entitled. Look at me crazy, because I ain't invite you. You're still hearing that behind you. That's in the back of your head at that moment, right, you're still hearing things talking to you.
Speaker 1:Then you switch to Instagram again and it's a clip from a show on HBO or something. I don't know. It's maybe about some kind of royal wedding. After the bride and groom leave the reception in the wedding, they close and lock the doors to the reception. Everyone in the wedding band turns out to be like assassins. A woman notices chain mail under one of the people at the reception. The music stops and then they go stab a pregnant woman in her belly and you're like no, no, no, no, I'm out, I'm not doing this.
Speaker 1:You swipe, right, you swipe. Then, after you swipe, you see a beautiful person wearing almost no clothing and you can basically see their private parts. You didn't even mean to. Oh, I can't do this, just shut it down. Then you notice Spotify has switched your music. I don't know why Spotify is doing that these days, but Spotify has now switched your music. It's like Taylor Swift or something, and you didn't even choose that. You forgot that you have to put Kendrick on repeat if you want to hear that. And it's like Lady Gaga or something, and she's saying, oh, lost, lost in the worlds that we scream. I don't want to do this anymore, because you already know what you mean to me, and your love is the only war worth fighting for. You're hearing all this stuff that's a little weird, by the way and you just tell your speaker to stop. But you've heard so many messages since you left work In the last hour that you could have been sleeping in the last hour where you could have been in the word of God. You have heard a lot of people telling you what you need to hear. You've heard a lot of people telling you bad things. You've heard a lot of people tell you how the world is ending. You've seen people murdered. You've seen people's privates who are not your spouse. This is what this is happening. This is happening Now.
Speaker 1:I'm glad I got to see some of you have your Bible today, the sword of the spirit. That is the secret to life, this, this. This is the secret to life. This is the secret to understanding marriage and understanding your singleness. This is the secret to life. This is the secret to understanding marriage and understanding your singleness. This is the secret for overcoming 95% of the depression and anxiety in your life, although you know, sometimes pills and sometimes doctors are good, but this book is the secret elixir to eternal life and we should want to drink from it daily. The Bible should not have to be a chore. It is a gift from God. It is wisdom in paper form.
Speaker 1:Between these pages, I've learned how to be a better dad. I've learned how to better manage my finances. I've learned how to be a more generous person. I've learned how to love my enemy and I've learned that when I'm the enemy of God, he still loves me. But instead of drinking deeply from the true Holy Grail, we're on our phones.
Speaker 1:We've been warned and freaked out about atrocities happening all over the world. We've seen a show with blood flowing like a waterfall. We've heard very angry people sing, rap and scream about their problems. You've accidentally seen the private parts of someone you didn't want to see, someone who is not your spouse, and you've listened to someone's about greed and murder. And it's not even bedtime yet and tomorrow someone at work, after you have been assaulted by all that stuff, is going to have the nerve to ask you how's it going? How in the world can you speak to them about hope If all you have consumed was social media, angry music and political news? You feel hopeless. And let me just say I'm not one of those pastors. That's like you're not allowed to dance, you're not allowed to ever be in anything. That's not me. I'm just saying what are we consuming? You answer busy or tired, something, something sports, something, something weather. Okay, see you at lunch.
Speaker 1:Friends, it's so easy to set our minds on the things of the flesh because we are surrounded by it. That stuff chases you down. Why are we so stressed? I don't know what do we consume, but the things of God are usually quieter. God often whispers when the world shouts. He's more patient. Sometimes the things of God seem more difficult.
Speaker 1:You will have to leave comfort to attend a church. You'll have to find parking and walk into someone's house for your city group and my city group's on trash day, so park is worse. You may have to help people sometimes that you don't want to help. God might tell you to pray for somebody. You know somebody in our church just this week sent us a message saying how she felt like she was supposed to pray for somebody, and then she was blessed by praying for this lady she didn't know. So why not just stay home with Game of Thrones and Kendrick Tick tock? Because these things are killing us. That's why and I'm not just picking on poor Kendrick, it's almost everything out there now but when you belong to Jesus, you get to focus on the things that are of God. It's a gift, it's joy, it is a cure for your anxiety.
Speaker 1:Friends, now I have a friend and I want to put up this first slide, if you can, for me. Okay, this is my friend, jay Ham. I don't know if you know this, but we switched hats. This is my buddy, jay Ham. He's from Arkansas. He's a godly dude. I love him and he has hosted me at his house in Arkansas before. I once visited Jay Ham in 2017, maybe and he put me on a horse Can we get the next one. There it is. He put me on a horse. That was terrifying guys. Those are powerful animals and you know.
Speaker 1:I'll just tell you a little bit about Jay Ham. Jay Ham's a farmer, like a straight up farmer and a pastor, and he's a pastor just because he loves people. He farms for his money. And I got to meet his pig, named Chris Chris P Bacon is the name of his pig. Also, like, six months later, he sent me the best sausage I've ever tasted and like, uh like, overnight mail with like dry ice and everything he's like. This is the pig you met. That tastes so good, though.
Speaker 1:But Jay put me on a horse, and you, you know what the name of this horse is. Um, let me see, it's called mother's trouble horse. And you know what the name of this horse is? It's called Mother's Trouble. That's the name of this horse. And Jay taught me how to use my heels or whatever, how to use the reins to control Mother's Trouble. And I was trying to control Mother's Trouble. I figured out how to get her to go right. I figured out how to get her to go to the left. I figured out how to get her to go a little faster, which terrified me, by the way. But here's the thing. One of the things he said to me is it doesn't matter where you steer. It doesn't matter where you steer, it matters where you look. So what happened was is that that door is like having trouble opening. Can you open that for me? Okay, there we go.
Speaker 1:So what happened was is that I was trying to steer her using all the ways that Jay taught me to steer Mother's Trouble the horse. Here's the problem. I was still looking in the other direction. So I'm like, trying to steer to the right, she keeps taking me straight. Trying to steer to the left, she keeps taking me straight. She takes me right under a tree like a pine tree, and right into a branch. And I just hit the branch. I had to do this Totally hit me in the face. I had this huge gash on my hand. It was full of splinters and you know Jay Ham, jay Ham.
Speaker 1:I got another couple pictures of me and the horse, or me and Jay Ham. That's so funny. Do the next one there. There he is, but with. So funny. Do the next one there. Yeah, jay, there he is. But if you with Jay Hamm, you know what he did. He actually took out his knife and he took a lighter, lit the knife, get it all hot and then he dug out the splinter from my hand.
Speaker 1:That's Jay Hamm, and I was like Jay, I steered the right way. Why did she take me to a tree. He's like where are we looking? Where are we looking? And, guys, it really matters where we set our eyes. What are we looking at? Why are you so stressed? Where are your eyes? Friends, you're like I'm doing all the right things. Where are your? Where are your eyes focused? Where's your mind focused? What are the things you're allowing to control your mind, guys? Where are your eyes focused? Those things are killing us colossians.
Speaker 1:3, 1 through 3 says if you have been raised with christ, seek the things above, where christ is seated at the right hand of god. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things, for you die and your life is hidden with christ in god. So you guys, I haven't figured this out fully. Like I just read three books in the Crazy Rich Asians series and there was a couple of times I was like, oh, what am I reading? What am I doing? What am I doing here?
Speaker 1:But I bet you know, if you follow God, what tends to happen is more and more you find yourself changing. Okay, we can take the picture of me away, that's good, I'm good. But you find yourself like feeling different, even when you're consuming things that you don't like you're starting to notice it, like God is at work in you and he's changing you. Guys, I used to love scary movies. Now I cannot watch them. Now I still. I'm going to be honest with you. I still love music that has a lot of cursing in it, like old music. But what's changed in me is any new music with lots of cursing in it I can't handle it. So you know, for some reason, like the old me seems to be okay with some cursing from Rage Against the Machine and some other things, but the new me, anything new, I can't handle it anymore.
Speaker 1:It's because God is working in me. God is changing me. God is telling me to set my mind on things above and he's making me desire different, new things. Why do we set our mind on the things of God? It's because we belong to him and he loves us. If you belong to God, the Bible says you have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of the devil, to the kingdom of God. And this is where we get our second point. Those who belong to Jesus are justified in the eyes of God. Those who belong to Jesus are justified in the eyes of God.
Speaker 1:Verse 1,. Therefore, there was now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, since it was weakened by the flesh, god did, guys, what did the law try to do? It tried to make us perfect. Actually, it tried to teach us how to be perfect. Just follow these 1,000 simple rules and you can be perfect like God. How's that working out for us? You can be in perfect relationship with God. God help us.
Speaker 1:Many of us have tried to be perfect and we've learned, uh-uh-uh, you can't do it. You can't do it. It's like I get on this perfect white suit. I am given a perfect white suit. I kind of like to imagine I'm like one of those suits from Dumb and Dumber but white. Okay, I get a perfect white suit and God says just keep it clean. Man, I'm giving you a white suit, you're good, and all I have to do is make it through my entire lifetime without staining it. And then, all of a sudden, I hear something down the road Tamales esquites, tocilotes hasta la puerta de su casa, right. Some of you who live in the neighborhood have heard that right, that white suit won't even make it five minutes. You think I will probably trip running out the door or fall into mud. So the law could not save us.
Speaker 1:But God did something. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, as a sin offering Verse 4, in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. See, god condemned sin in the flesh, but not us. Condemned Condemnation. What does that word mean? It's come up a couple times now. See, when you see an old building that is condemned, what does that mean? What does it mean? When you see an old building that is condemned, shout it out. What does that mean? Uninhabitable. What else? Say it again Can't go in. Can't go in. Yes, due for destruction. Due for destruction. There it is, it's uninhabitable, so it's going to be destroyed.
Speaker 1:Now, condemned can mean punishment, disapproval or, even worse, we use the term damnatory sentence A death sentence, an eternal death sentence, condemned. So yes, I continually fail, but I belong to Jesus. Therefore I do not receive my death sentence I deserve, but instead Jesus paid the price. He got my death sentence, and he set me free from the law's grip on me. He became like my sin for me and was punished. So the law has no stay on what happens to me anymore.
Speaker 1:The devil can accuse you guys. I know a lot of people in the room. The devil still accuses you. He tells you things and maybe it's more you, maybe it's more you tell yourself things that are bad. The devil can accuse you, though, and he can say look at all the ways you set your mind on the things below, look at the ways you fail. You are a terrible person, and you can respond to the devil, though. You can say yes, I am awful, I'm worse than you think. I made mistakes, but I don't belong to you anymore. My sin has been paid for by Jesus, and so I have been given his Holy Spirit as a promise of his forgiveness. There is no condemnation for me anymore. So get out of here, beat it, leave Friends. Have you given your life to God yet? Maybe today is the day that you can now stand with confidence before anyone who would accuse you and say, yes, I was guilty. Yes, I did belong to the kingdom of darkness. It doesn't matter anymore, because I belong of darkness. It doesn't matter anymore because I belong to Jesus. It doesn't matter anymore.
Speaker 1:Nepalese pastor, dr Ramesh Kautri. He says how is a victorious Christian life possible? Only through total reliance on what Jesus has accomplished. Did you notice that I didn't say you? So, yes, we have this admonition, this push, dude, think about the good stuff, stay away from the bad stuff. But what we don't hear is you're condemned because you've thought about the wrong things. What we don't have is you're condemned because you've not focused on the good things. We have, dude, you need this. He doesn't say dude very often, but I do Remember what we've been saying over the past year, though.
Speaker 1:If you've been baptized into new life with Jesus, it means the old you died, you did. That means your old debts to God are dead. The devil might try to convince you that you still belong to him. The devil might try to say that you owe him, but that lady died, that dude died, he's gone. If you are dead, nobody shows up at your grave and like shakes their fist at your grave, like give me my money or I'm killing you in smoky right. Nobody says that because you're already gone.
Speaker 1:If you belong to Jesus, you have died to sin, and even though your flesh still might like twitch and move around and do some of the wrong things that somebody does after they've passed, it, no longer has the same control over you. It's like you've ever seen those frog legs and they pour the salt on it. They're not alive, but they twitch anyway. They still do some things Like they think they're alive. They're not. No longer has control over you. That was gross. Not on my notes.
Speaker 1:Now, why is this? Why is this? So we can have this confidence in God? It's the gospel, friends, the gospel of Jesus. The gospel is this you were dead, you were stuck, you had no way out, no way to find a relationship with God. That would be anything normal, anything advantageous to you, because God could not be in concert with sin. So God made a way for you. He sent his son, jesus, who is God, to this earth to live a perfect life as a substitute for you. He wore the white suit, never got it dirty for you. Why? Because he loved you. And then he sacrificed himself on the cross for you as that final act showing that he loved you that much. And then he rose again, defeating sin and death. And when he rose again, he was once again dressed in white. And guess where that suit goes To you, to me, we get to put on that sinless coat that says I have no sin in the eyes of God. That's the joy of the gospel.
Speaker 1:Now, congolese pastor David Casale. He says neither Satan nor anyone can use your past sins and present failures to question our standing in Christ. Our new position in Christ does not depend on our performance, but on what Christ has accomplished on the cross for us and our faith in Christ. See, god condemns sin in his own flesh, so that we can be free from condemnation, destruction, free from destruction, free from destruction, free from spiritual death. You have been justified. What does that mean? It means you go to the courthouse, you go before the judge and say I'm guilty, and Jesus says I'm guilty, I take on their sin. What's their punishment? It's mine now. Let him go free. But we don't even get to go free. We get to go free and have peace and have joy. This is justification through the gospel.
Speaker 1:See, in the oldest book of the Bible, though, there was a man named Job, and he would ask the question, looking forward to Jesus. One day he said how can a man be justified before God. How can one born of a woman be pure? And we know the answer he cannot except for Jesus. You cannot be justified before God on your own. I've seen the soup. It's nasty, it smells too. You need God to do the justification, you need Jesus. So cling to Jesus, take his free gift while today is still called. Today, jesus tells us that neither Satan nor anyone can snatch you from his hand. So you can trust him, you can be safe in Jesus. And when you are justified by God, something new happens.
Speaker 1:And this is where we get our third point. Friends, those who belong to Jesus experience new life in the spirit. Those who belong to Jesus experience new life in the spirit. Verse eight said those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. Indeed, the spirit of God lives in you. If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his spirit that lives in you. So are you free from the law, like now that you have the spirit of God in you? Are you free? Well, sort of Let me put it to you a different way I would say now you have a healthier relationship with God's law, mark Lloyd-Jones he says it this way.
Speaker 1:He says the difference between an unbeliever sinning and a Christian sinning is the difference between a man transgressing the laws of the state and a husband who has done something he should not do. In his relationship with his wife, it is no longer a legal matter but a matter of relationship and love. See, god, the Father, fully accepts you, not as you are, because you're a mess I'm a mess but he accepts you because he looks at you and he sees his son Jesus, and that's all it takes. But then something awesome happens. He starts to make you more and he sees his son Jesus, and that's all it takes. But then something awesome happens. He starts to make you more and more like his son. And when I say make you, I don't mean it in like the force. You punch you until you get it way more in the kind, loving, compassionate, patient way. You not only set your mind on God's stuff, you start to not want to consume as much as that bad stuff anymore. Something amazing happens. You start to crave the things of God, what that's God in you. He's called the great counselor, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. Your tastes start to change.
Speaker 1:I grew up in Los Angeles and then San Diego and I always thought that I hated guacamole and I thought that I hated, you know, anything that had to do with avocados. I know it's sin. I just remember one day after surfing in La Jolla I know I got Mexican food in La Jolla, like back off, but I went to a place called Los Dos Pedros and it was just as close as I could get to some Mexican food. And I don't know if you guys know this, but it's been scientifically proven that if you go surfing, mexican food tastes better. It just does, it just does. And so I remember I went and I ordered like five roll tacos, maybe eight Chill out. It was cheaper back then too, roll tacos it got real expensive, like they were the cheapest thing on the menu when I was a kid. Now they're like okay. Remember when I said I had ADD.
Speaker 1:So I went to Los Dos Petros and I remember ordering and I remember, you know, I might have been a little scared of the lady I ordered from and I said, no guacamole on the roll tacos. And then she gave them to me and then there was guacamole on them and I was like, okay, well, you know, I'm just going to scrape this off because she scares me. So I scrape it off and then I eat it. But I didn't scrape it off for a while. I was just too hungry and I was like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is the most amazing thing I've ever tasted in my life. And you know, then I put it all back on and my taste changed. You know, like, suddenly, like I love something good, I was blind, but now I see, praise the Lord, right. So suddenly I'm craving guacamole, right, like I'm like, hey, can I get an extra side of guacamole please? You know like. And since then, you know like, I just had guacamole all the time, right? And the thing is is my taste got better. And it wasn't that I had to like, I didn't wake up in the morning and be like I have to force myself to like guacamole. No, no, I just did.
Speaker 1:It's the same thing. You're going to start craving things that God is about. That you didn't think that you would ever crave. You start to crave that, like. I've been dieting for almost a year now and I no longer crave soda that has sugar in it anymore. I remember one time I tried Stevia soda, like a couple years ago. I was like this is the grossest junk I've ever tasted. And now I'm like, oh, this is good, I like it. What is wrong with me? I'm not even trying to drink that stevia soda out of, like man, I'll just force it down. No, I've changed. My taste has changed. That's the same thing. When you belong to God, you find your taste start to change.
Speaker 1:If you have the spirit, you may start to desire the things of God, believe it or not, that's not you, that's him, which is great because it means we can't boast about it either. We can't boast about it either. We can't be like, oh, I helped somebody. No, you didn't. It's still God in you. But when his children focus on the things of God, we experience a miraculous new life in the spirit. The spirit of God lives in anyone who belongs to Jesus. God is making you holy and your tastes are changing.
Speaker 1:Some of you in the room used to routinely consume things that hurt your soul. You went to see strippers with your buddies with no second thought. You used to daily consume pornography. You used to gamble like crazy. You used to be angry. You used to tag every day. You used to gangbang.
Speaker 1:The things that used to be fun with your set starts to feel childish now, though. You used to hunger for things that hurt you. Some of you are going to give your life to Jesus and suddenly you won't want Sherm anymore. Suddenly, you're not going to want lovely fentanyl heroin. It's not going to tempt you in the same way. Some of you will always be tempted, but God is still changing you.
Speaker 1:You no longer feel the same after you use. You no longer feel the same after you sleep with somebody outside Christian marriage. You no longer feel good about screaming at your children or screaming at others who bother you. It doesn't feel the same way, does it? Because God is at work in you. You feel repentance instead. Now some of you will sin, and you'll just feel different afterwards. You'll feel terrible afterwards and you'll think man, am I even saved? You'll think. You'll think does God even love me? You think, do I even love God? Let me just tell you this you feel that way because you love God. You feel that way because you have God in you, because you have Jesus, you have His Spirit in you. That's because God is making you holy. God is making you more like His Son Jesus. You are slowly becoming righteous. Set apart, like grandma's dishware, you start to see how that trash you used to care about it doesn't matter anymore. And it's like comparing guacamole with the white people cheese that they call Mexican cheese or cotija. Really you can't compare those things.
Speaker 1:19th century English pastor, charles Spurgeon. He once said men may wash this old nature, they may clothe it, they may decorate it, they may educate it, but there is no evolution that can produce grace out of nature. The child of nature may be finely dressed, but it is a dead child, However godly it is a tire. There's a vital, eternal difference between the old nature and the new, and I see many of you struggling and I'm like the struggle is a sign that God is working in you. You don't got to dress it up and pretend you figured it out. You can show up here and say man, I've gotten it wrong nine out of 10 times and we're like one out of ten ain't bad, it's a start.
Speaker 1:You belong to Jesus and if you belong to Jesus, you are a child of God. You can stand before God, redeemed and not condemned. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life has set you free, in Christ Jesus, from the law of sin and death. He sets you free from the law of sin and death. He sets you free from the law of sin and death and that is why we come here today with hope. Those of you who have screwed up you should hope. Those of you who have screwed up every day this week, but today, those of you who screwed up on the way here, those of you who are high now, guess what? God has offered a better way for you and he can give you hope. Now, for those of you who don't belong to Jesus, I tell you. I tell you to listen to him and see how much he loves you, look to him and see how much he cares for you, look to the fact that he died for you.
Speaker 1:City Life Church and guests. I'll close with this. God radically forgives those who belong to Jesus Radically and when his forgiven children focus on the things of God, we experience a miraculous new life in the spirit. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for loving us. We thank you for loving us. We thank you for forgiving us.
Speaker 1:But there's a lot of us that have come here and like, if we're honest, like our dresses and our tuxedos that were white man. They're not even like Mother of Pearl anymore. They're not beige anymore, just messed up. We've tried to follow your rules and we've failed, and we're so grateful that it doesn't matter if we're seeking after you that you can forgive us. God, thank you for forgiving us, thank you for loving us, thank you that, even though we are messed up people, you are good, and it's in that vein that, in this moment of silence, we silently confess to you in our hearts the places where we have failed you, where we have sinned, where we have done the wrong thing or where we have not done the right thing.
Speaker 1:Father, father, we thank you that you don't just condemn us. Not only do you not condemn us, but you look upon us not as neutral. You see us as holy, that you see your perfect son when you see us, that you forgive us, that, as far as the east is from the west. So our sin is from your side. We don't deserve it. And yet, and yet, you love us that much, so we just come before you with gratefulness. Thank you for loving us.
Speaker 1:Thieves, murderers, addicts. Thank you for loving us and thank you for clothing us in white once more. God, help us to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. God, we know that we died, and we died to our debts, that we were enemies and now you make us family. That is some serious hope that you have offered us. We receive it, god. I pray that you would bless all here who don't know you, and I ask that you would give them the courage to tell somebody that they want to follow you, so we can pray with them. Receive them into your kingdom.