Sermon Outline 3.23.25

Title: No Condemnation. No Chains. No Confusion.

Text: Romans 8:1-11

Theme: In Christ, the believer is free from condemnation, from slavery to sin, and empowered by the Spirit to live in righteousness. There is no halfway ground, no confusion, and no excuse.
Introduction

I. The Pronouncement of Pardon (v. 1) – Justification by Faith

• This is one of the greatest verses in all of Scripture. The ‘therefore’ ties us back to Romans 7: Paul has just described the struggle of sin in the believer’s life.
• Justification: This means that God has legally declared the believer righteous
  • Not based on works but on Christ’s atoning sacrifice (Romans 3:23-24).
  • God’s final legal declaration over His people: acquitted, justified, and accepted

? John 5:24 – Whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

• Are you walking in the assurance of your justification, or are you still trying to prove yourself before God? In Christ, condemnation is off the table!

II. The Power of the Spirit (v. 2) – The Power of the Gospel

• Two laws at work: sin and death & law of the Spirit of life
• The Law could not free us—only the Spirit, applying Christ’s work, sets us free.

? 2 Corinthians 3:17 – Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

• If Christ has set you free, are you walking in that freedom or are you still enslaved to the things of the flesh?

III. The Provision of the Cross (vv. 3-4) – Christ’s Perfect Sacrifice

• The Law is holy, righteous, & good (Rom 7:12), but it can’t save us.
• God condemned sin in Christ so that the righteous requirement of the Law would be fulfilled in us.
  • Substitutionary Atonement: Christ bore our sin so we could bear His righteousness.
  • Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice fully satisfied the demands of the law.

? 2 Cor 5:21 – For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

IV. The Path of the Mind (vv. 5-8) – Two Ways to Live

• Your mindset determines your master — flesh leads to death, the Spirit leads to life.
• The contrast here is absolute—you're in the flesh (an unbeliever) or the Spirit (believer).
  • The flesh—naturally hostile to God (v. 7)—can’t submit to Him. 
  • Salvation is the work of God, not man.

? Gal 5:17 – the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh.

V. The Promise of the Resurrection (vv. 9-11)

• The Spirit guarantees not only present sanctification but future glorification.
• The same Spirit who raised Christ will raise us.

? 1 Cor 15:52-53 the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

• If the Spirit raised Jesus, He will raise you too!
• Are you living for eternity, or are you still living for the flesh?

VI. Conclusion: No Condemnation, No Chains, No Confusion!