Great Chapters Of The Bible: Romans 8

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
ROMANS 8:1 (NIV)

Join us in the first episode of "Great Chapters of the Bible" as we explore the incredible truths of Romans 8. This week we see the first truth that God wants us to know. There is NO condemnation!

Show Notes

Promo: Making Time

You have the same 24 hours in your day as the most accomplished people in the world. So why doesn't it feel that way? Follow along on this special 6 episode series as we take a look at how to make more time. By following biblical principles and taking a look at what you really want, Making Time shares the secret to having all the time you need... with a little help from some friends.

Learn more and download group guides at https://lumivoz.com/making-time/

For questions, comments, or sharing your tips on how to make more time, reach out to makingtime@lumivoz.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SERIES OVERVIEW 
Take a journey together with your small group to greater faith! If you’ve ever had feelings like, “I’m not good enough,” “I’m never going to change,” or “Life is too hard,” Romans eight is the chapter for you! Pastor Tom Holladay taught this  series beginning at the bottom and moving to the top of Saddleback Mountain through each of the four sessions to help us see clearly the journey from doubt to faith—from discouragement to hope—that God has for us. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 
  1. Are there any verses in Romans 8 that have been especially meaningful to you in your Christian walk? 
  2. Verse 1: Which of these promises for the believer hits you at the deepest level ? 
    • God is not angry 
    • God does not punish 
    • God does not reject 
    • God does not remove his blessings 
  3. Verse 1: Do you ever feel like God is angry with you or out to punish you? Is it difficult in any way to accept the truth that there is no condemnation for us as believers in Jesus? 
  4. Verse 1: What does it mean to you to be “in Christ?” 
  5. Verses 2–4: Do you ever find yourself trying to do through some “law” or “rule” what can only be done through Jesus? 
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE 
Who do you know that needs to be encouraged with the truth of “no condemnation” right now? It might be someone who has not yet trusted in Christ’s forgiveness who needs to know they can live a life of no condemnation, or it might be a believer who has gotten caught up in condemning themselves. Pray that God will give you an opportunity to share this message with someone this next week. This is good news worth passing on! 

PRAYER DIRECTION 
Ask for prayer requests from each person in the group that you can pray for during this study. As you pray, remember to thank God for the gift of “no condemnation” that he gives us through Christ. 

Creators and Guests

Host
Tom Holladay
Tom Holladay is a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Tom’s passion in ministry is to help people discover a love for the Bible and an understanding of God’s truth that changes the way they live. In addition to his pastoral leadership and weekend teaching ministries at Saddleback, he assists Rick Warren in teaching Purpose-Driven Church conferences to Christian leaders all over the world. Books he has written include The Relationship Principles of Jesus, Love Powered Parenting with his wife Chaundel and (with Kay Warren) Foundations: Core Truths to Build Your Life On. He and Chaundel have three children and five granddaughters.
Producer
Saddleback Church
💙 Find your purpose and place at #SaddlebackChurch! 🏠 One family, many locations.

What is Great Chapters Of The Bible: Romans 8?

Romans Chapter 8: Climbing to a Place of Confident Faith
Take a journey together with your small group to greater faith! If you’ve ever had feelings like, “I’m not good enough,” “I’m never going to change,” or “Life is too hard,” Romans eight is the chapter for you! Pastor Tom Holladay taught this video series beginning at the bottom and moving to the top of Saddleback Mountain through each of the four sessions to help us see clearly the journey from doubt to faith—from discouragement to hope—that God has for us.

Keywords: Saddleback Church, Rick Warren, Tom Holladay, Small Group Curriculum, Lifeway, Studygateway, Zondervan, Bible, bible studies, church bible study, lessons from the Bible, what is the best Bible study?, What is a great study on Romans 8?, What is a good group curriculum for romans?

I want to welcome you to this great chapters of the Bible study through Romans, chapter eight. Romans, one of the great books in all of the Bible, a book that has had strong historical impact in Christianity in the world. The Reformation was built around the truths of the Book of Romans. But Romans also has powerful personal impact. It tells us how to see ourselves like God sees. It tells us how to live the kind of life that God has given us to live. And Romans chapter eight, for many people, is the pinnacle of the Book of Romans such powerful truth. And we're going to walk through it together these next four weeks. Now, as we walk through it together, you'll see we're standing outside. And there's a reason for that. For years, as I've taught through Romans eight, I've taught it as if you're walking up a mountain, there's some foundational truths you need at the beginning of the chapter, like the foundation of a mountain, there's some things you run into as you're walking up the mountain. You see, as we walk through the book of Romans, we're going to see some things we run into in Romans chapter eight. And then at the top, at the end of Romans chapter eight, there are some clear perspectives that you get from God that you need for living the kind of life that God has made us to live. Now, this mountain we happen to be standing at the bottom of that we're going to climb up together these next four weeks happens to be Saddleback Mountain. Saddleback Mountain is the reason that, uh, Saddleback Church is named saddleback Church. We have the mountain, so we have Saddleback Valley, and so we're named Saddleback Church. I bet some of you even who go to Saddleback Church didn't know that. So we're going to enjoy climbing this mountain the next four weeks. It's not Mount Everest, I'll admit that, but I think it'll do to give us the illustrations that we need. And as we walk up, let me tell you where we're going with this, with Romans chapter eight. Really in this chapter, it deals with four things that we feel in our lives as Christians. There's the feeling sometimes that you have that you're not good enough as you face the Christian life. And Romans eight has an answer to that. God's answer to that is no condemnation in your life that he wants you to live a life of liberty. There's the feeling sometimes you have that I'm never going to change, I'm not growing fast enough. We're going to talk about that in week two. And God has an answer for that. No frustration that you can live a life of victory. God has some victory for you to live in your life. There's also in your life, you might notice there's some, by the way, bugs flying around. We're going to talk about that about week three when we get to talking about problems and how God deals with problems in our lives. There is also the feeling sometimes we have, like I said in week three, that everything is falling apart. And God says when that happens, there's no desperation. He wants to give us hope. He can give you a life of expectancy. And then there's the feeling that we have sometimes that no one cares about me. Does anybody really love me? And God says, in that case, there is no separation from my love that you can live a life of security. So this week we're going to talk about that feeling that we have when I'm no good. That feeling that we have when we feel like, does anybody really know who I really am and what I've really done? Does God even understand he wouldn't want me if he really understood me for who I really am? And God says, when you feel that way, I have a life of liberty for you. When you feel like you cannot make it because you look at yourself and you think, I know myself for who I really am, god says, I've got some liberty. When you feel like, if people knew the real truth about me, I don't even know if God knows the real truth about me, but if people knew the real truth about me, they would not accept me. What? God has a word for you in that case, god says you deal with I'm not good enough feeling. Not by hiding from it, not by wallowing in it, but by facing it, just facing up to the fact that you feel that way. And then looking at what God has to say to you. In the case of this truth, in the case of how you're feeling, there's two things you need to do when you feel like I'm not good enough. At the beginning of Romans, chapter eight, first thing that you have to do is you trust God's promise. Look at Romans eight one with me. Romans eight one says, therefore, there is now no condemnation. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When you hear a promise like this, it's a promise that God's saying, I want you to see me, and then I want you to see yourself, and then I want you to see yourself through my eyes. No condemnation. Now, no condemnation does not mean no mistakes or no failures or no sins. We know that after we become a believer, we make mistakes, we have failures, we commit sins. So what does it mean to have no condemnation? It means four specific things. First, it means no condemnation means God is not angry with you. God's not angry with you. Listen to what the scripture says in Psalm 100 and 313 and 14. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him, for he knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust. God understands that you struggle with sin and he's working to lead you out of that sin. Yet he also, as he's working to lead you out, understands your struggle with sin, and he is not angry with you. Listen, Jesus is the good shepherd, the good shepherd of sheep. If a sheep gets caught in a thicket, caught up in something, the shepherd's not going to walk by and look down and say, dumb sheep. It got caught in a thicket last week and kicked the sheep and walk off and leave it there. No, the good shepherd comes in and helps the sheep to get out of the thicket. The good shepherd cares for the sheep. Jesus is your good shepherd, he's my good shepherd. God says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So here's a radical thought. The next time you get caught up in a sin, instead of looking for the lightning bolts from heaven, look instead for God's tender love to lead you out of that sin. I know this is a scary thought for many people, because there's a lot of people who feel like, if I don't think God's going to send a lightning bolt when I sin, I'm going to start sinning more and more and more. They actually deal with their temptations by being afraid of God. The problem with that is, when you're afraid of God, you don't want to be close to God. You don't want to be close to what you're afraid of. So actually you get yourself further and further from the only One who can help you, who can strengthen you. God says no condemnation. He's not angry with you. No condemnation means a second thing. It also means God does not punish you. Psalm 100 and 310 to twelve says this he's not punished us as we deserve for our sins, for his mercy towards those who fear and honor Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. God doesn't punish believers for their sins now. He corrects us sometimes as a loving parent would correct their child, but he doesn't punish us. Any parent who simply punishes their child for something they did wrong is doing it for their own sake, just because they're angry. But when you correct it's for the child's sake, because you love them, God corrects us. God corrects us to help us, to do what is right. He doesn't punish us. I don't know if you've noticed many times when believers are feeling guilty about their sin, they tend to see everything in life as a punishment from God. You're feeling guilty about some sin in your life and someone cuts you off on the freeway or you have car trouble going somewhere and you think, oh, God is getting back at me for that sin. You're having a guilty conscience about something that you've done in your life, and all of, uh, a sudden you have some kind of an illness and you think, oh, God's getting back at me for my sin. Even little things. You go into Taco Bell and you order a taco and you get the taco and there's no meat in the taco, and you think, God's getting back at me for my sin. A vegetarian on the other side got meat in their taco when they're thinking god's getting back at me for my sins. The truth of the matter is, God's not punishing you because there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He corrects as a loving father, but he does not punish. God's not angry with you, he doesn't punish you. Number three, no condemnation means God does not reject you. Psalm 94, verse 14 says, for the Lord will not reject his people. God will never cut you off from his family. He will never treat you as anything less than his son, than his daughter, as his follower. But for some, the idea of condemning is a cold stare of rejection that you would get in your family. It's that silent treatment that you might get for days or weeks or months. God's never going to reject you. Listen, the one who shouldered your sins on the cross will never give you the cold shoulder. You might not listen to Him sometimes, you might want to keep Him at arms length sometimes, but he does not reject you. Number four, god does not remove his blessings from you. Now, it's clear that there are consequences for sin. There is loss when you sin. There's loss in your life, there's loss in your family. There could be even loss of life because of sin. But one of the consequences of sin is not that God removes his blessings from you. You might think of it this way. It's like you're sitting at the great banquet table of God and all his blessings are spread out before you. No condemnation in your life means that God will never remove you from that table. You might turn away from it yourself. You might not take those blessings in your life, but God always has a place for you at his table. No condemnation. Now again, who is this promise to no condemnation for those who are in Christ? This is a promise for those who are in Christ Jesus. Ephesians three says, in Christ, god has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. There is no condemnation in our lives because we are in Christ. The secret to no condemnation is not being in ministry, or in church, or in a Bible study or in a good mood. The secret is being in Christ, because when God sees you in Christ, he sees you as he sees Jesus, can't condemn Jesus, so he's not going to condemn you. No condemnation. That's the best news in the world. But let me ask you a question. If God says, I won't condemn you, who are you to condemn yourself? I know many people who think, well, God won't punish me, so maybe I'd better punish myself. Or they think, Maybe I'd better punish myself, so God won't punish me. Actually, that's blasphemy that's you trying to take the place of God, doing what only God can do. God has said, I will not condemn you, and you cannot, even in the smallest way, pay the price for your sins. So stop condemning yourself. If God doesn't condemn you, don't condemn yourself. Condemnation will never work to change you. You cannot change yourself by condemning yourself. That's why nagging never works. You can't change somebody by nagging. Now, I have to admit, one time I was saying this in a Bible study, and I asked the Bible study, does nagging ever change you? And one older guy in the back said, eventually. Uh, and everybody laughed because we all understand that. But the truth of the matter is, it only changes as long as the nagging is happening. No condemnation means permanent change in our lives. When you feel like you're not good enough, the first thing you do is you trust God's. Promise. No condemnation. Then there's a second thing you do. In the beginning verses of Romans eight, you trust God's process. And you remember three things as you trust God's process. You remember you can't. God can. And here's how. First, you can't. That is the beginning point of change. It's not all on your shoulders. God has powered you to change, and it's not in your energy, it's not in your nature. You can't. Now, the world, when it comes to change, they want to start with you can build yourself up. Think about how much, uh, you can do. Think good of yourself. And I think it's good to think good and positive thoughts about yourself, but not when it's a lie. There's a lot of things you can do positively in your life, but you can't change the eternal things about your life. You can't change the most important inner things in your life. Only God can do that. The world, when we come to change, wants to start with our own image, how you see yourself. But God says, when I want to change you, I want you to start with my image, who I am and what I want to do in your life. So you start by recognizing, in essence, your spiritual poverty what you can't do. This is actually the secret to celebrate recovery. Celebrate recovery starts by beginning this recovery process, by beginning to see what you can't do, admitting your own poverty, admitting your own need. You can't. And then God can. God can do things in your life that you could never do on your own. He can do things by his power that you could never do by your power. In fact, he made you to live connected to his power. The fact that you can't is not an embarrassment. It's how you're made. It would be like saying to a lamp, you should be embarrassed because you have to plug into the wall socket in order to work. You should be able to work on your own. God has made you to be plugged into his person, into his power. You and I are made to be plugged into God's power. You can't. God can. And then here's how. And that's why I want to dig into some verses from Romans, chapter eight. Here's how. What's God's process? How in the world can God change me? I'm a normal human being. What's he done in my life that allows this process of change to work, to be empowered? Well, let me read for you Romans eight, verses two to four. Because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do, and that it was weakened by the sinful nature, god did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin and sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who do not, uh, live according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit. Now, notice in these verses, god did this by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and so he condemned sin in the flesh. This is why Jesus is the only way to salvation, because only Jesus fulfilled the law. He's the only perfect person who ever walked this earth. And only Jesus willingly died to offer to you and I the fulfillment of what he did. And look what these verses have to say about the result of that. This is the process of how God works in our daily lives because of what Jesus did. These verses say that the law of the Spirit of life overcomes the law of sin and death. One law, these verses say, sets you free from another law when you understand that it can unlock some things in your thinking and your relationship with God. You see, just like the physical universe is governed by certain unbreakable laws, our spiritual nature is governed by certain unbreakable laws. For instance, the law of aerodynamics can overcome, in one sense, the law of gravity. Law of gravity is still working, but a plane can fly because there is the law of aerodynamics. Or let's say, for instance, that I take this rock. If I take this rock and I drop it, we all know what's going to happen if I drop this rock. It's going to fall to the earth. But what if when I drop this rock instead, I catch it and I lift it? All of a sudden, the law of my life has overcome the law of gravity and the scripture says the law of the life of the spirit, the law of God's life in you. It has the power to overcome the power of the law in your life. The power of the law is the power of rules. It's the power of you trying to make yourself good before God by your own strength, by your own energy, by your own power. You can't do it. But God has a greater power in your life. It's the power of his person. It's the power of his spirit. It's the power of his life. So when you begin to pick up on the law of the Spirit in your life, I'm going to talk about this much next week, you begin to pick up on how God's process works in your daily life, what he wants to do in your everyday life. And when I talk about Spirit, let me just be very clear. I'm talking about Spirit with a capital S. The law of the Spirit is the law of God's spirit, the person of God sent into your life through his spirit to empower you, to do what God's made you to do. When the Spirit enters your life, everything changes. You might do an interesting Bible study sometime, read through Romans, chapter eight, and circle the number of times that the word spirit appears. You're going to see that the Spirit that empowers this new life. As we come to the end of this first week, I want to ask you a couple of questions. Will you accept God's promise? No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, maybe for the first time or maybe in a fresh new way? Will you accept God's promise? And will you accept God's process? You can't. God can. Here's. How? Through his spirit. Let's take a few minutes to pray together, and I just invite you to pray with me. This simple prayer father, I accept what you've done for me. I will live out today the freedom of what you've done for me. Thank you. That because I'm in Christ. You're not angry with me. You're not out to punish me. You will not reject me. You will not keep your blessings from me. And forgive me for those times when I've condemned myself and stopped looking to you as the only one who can forgive me. I have the great freedom to say I'm not good enough. But Lord, you're more than good enough, and so I trust in you. Thank you, God, for your non condemning love for me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Well, I hope you enjoy talking about these truths in your group, and we'll see you next week a little bit further up the mountain.