This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to our daily drive-time devotions through the book of
Romans, Romans chapter 8. We're on our second day of our look at this great
chapter, Romans 8 verses 2 and 3. We talked yesterday about no condemnation and
in order to experience this life of no condemnation, we have to hear God's
promise.

There is therefore now no condemnation, but if you want to experience this life,
this life of freedom that God gives us in Christ, there's another thing that you
and I must do. We also have to see God's process. See that God has done
something by which there is no condemnation.

Let me read for you Romans chapter 8 verses 2 to 3 and then the beginning of
verse 4. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus, the first verse says, because in verse 2, "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, in 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 in sinful man. In order that the righteous requirements
of the law might be fully met in us. " That's God's process.

We're going to take a look at it together in these next few minutes. This
process is the same process we've been seeing again and again and again in
Romans chapter 6 through chapter 8. God just keeps repeating this same
three-part process.

It's this, you can't, God can, here's how. You can't, that's the beginning of
change. It's not all on my shoulders, it's not all on my energy, it's not all on
my nature.

I can't. Now the world wants to start with, "You can. If I really want to
change, I've got to start with, 'I can' and I've got to have all this
self-image.

" But God says, "No, I want you to start with my image and recognize that you
can't because I've made you to live in my image. I made you to live like me. "
So you start by recognizing your spiritual poverty, your spiritual hunger.

You can't, but God can. God can do things in me that I could never do on my own
by his power. In fact, he made me to live connected to his power.

The fact that I can't is not an embarrassment. It's a part of the nature that
I've been made to live in. God has made me to live connected to him.

It's like saying to a lamp, "It's embarrassing that you can't shine light unless
you're plugged into the wall socket. " It's made to be plugged into the wall
socket. That's its nature.

And you and I are made to be plugged into God's power. You can't, God can, and
then he says, "Here's how. Here's the process.

" And the process here in Romans 8, 2 to verse 4, the beginning of verse 4, is
this. One law set me free from another law. The fact that there's no
condemnation for those who are in Christ is not just a mindset.

It's a spiritual reality because one law set me free from another law. Paul
talks about no condemnation in verse 1, and then he talks about certain
liberation in verse 2. In fact, our liberation is the basis for our no
condemnation, and he says here that the law of the Spirit of life overcomes or
sets us free from the law of sin and death.

Now, just like in the physical universe, we are governed by certain unbreakable
laws, our spiritual nature is also governed by certain unbreakable laws. For
instance, in the physical universe, you've got the law of gravity. It's an
unbreakable law.

If I drop something, it's going to drop. That's just what's going to happen. But
there are laws that can, in one sense, overcome that law.

The law of aerodynamics overcomes the law of gravity. That's why a plane is able
to fly and not drop to the ground, because there is a more powerful law or a
different law that overcomes that law. If I drop a stone or a coin, the law of
gravity takes over.

But if I catch it with my hand, then the law of life takes it over. The law of
the Spirit overcomes the law of sin and death. This is a lot more powerful than
even gravity and aerodynamics, because in that case, one law still exists and
the other one just sort of supersedes it.

The law of the Spirit of life totally overcomes the law of sin and death. What
the Bible is teaching us here is that when the Spirit enters the room,
everything changes. As you read these verses, you think, "Why is that important?

" Because God needs us to know that our spiritual reality has changed because of
what Jesus Christ has done for us. Remember that Romans chapter 7 was filled
with the word "I. " Romans chapter 8 is filled with the word "Spirit.

" The word "Spirit" is used 19 times in this one chapter. When the Holy Spirit
enters the room, everything changes. And everything changes because God acted to
change everything.

The law of the Spirit of life overcomes the law of sin and death because of what
Jesus Christ did, because of what God did. This is not just some accident. This
is not just some way of spiritual thinking.

This is actuality. This is history. This is what God did.

How did God act to change everything? How did he act to give us freedom? Well,
in verse 3, he says, "For what the law was powerless to do and that it was
weakened by the sinful nature, God did by," and then he starts the list.

First thing in the list, there's five things, is he sent his son. He acted to
change everything by sending his son. Number two, he sent his son in the
likeness of sinful men.

Jesus was born into a human body. He came into this earth as a baby. He grew up.

He faced all the same temptations that we face. He never said yes to any of
these temptations. That shows that he's God, but he faced the same temptations
that we face.

He was born in the likeness of sinful men. Why? Well, that's the third thing
that God did, to be a sin offering.

Corinthians 5-21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God. " Jesus Christ came and he offered
himself to pay the penalty for our sins. We're going to talk about that more as
we walk through Romans chapter 8 together.

But then the Bible tells us that the way that God changed the laws is he
therefore condemned sin in sinful men. There is no condemnation for us because
our sin is condemned by what Jesus Christ did. It's not us who are condemned.

It's not you who's condemned. It is your sin that's condemned by what Jesus did
on the cross. And then the fifth thing that God did through those first four
things is he fulfilled the righteous law in us.

Through what Jesus did, the righteous law, the law of perfection, the law of
God's standard was fulfilled. Why is Jesus the only way to salvation? Some
people question that.

They wonder about that. Jesus is the only way to salvation because only Jesus
fulfilled the law. He is the only perfect person who ever walked this earth.

I've never found anyone who would argue with that statement. Jesus Christ is the
only perfect person who ever walked this earth. And only Jesus willingly died to
offer the fulfillment of what he did for you.

We break the law. But in the end, we don't break the law, it breaks us. You
don't break the law, it breaks you.

Jesus fulfilled the law so that it can be fulfilled in you. And what the Bible
is teaching us here is that if you and I try to live out the law in ourselves,
the end is condemnation. But if we accept the gift of what Jesus Christ has done
for us, the end is liberation.

The law of sin and death has been overcome. It's been superseded by the law of
life, by the spirit of life, what Jesus has done for us. So we pray today, let's
take some time to accept, maybe for the first time, or to refresh your
acceptance of what Jesus Christ did for you.

Say to Jesus Christ, "Jesus, I accept what you have done for me. You died on the
cross to pay the penalty for my sins, and I thank you. " This may be the first
time I'm thanking you.

I may be thanking you for the thousandth time. I thank you for what you did for
me on the cross. I accept your forgiveness.

Instead of trying to live out a life of no condemnation on my own, I accept the
fact that Jesus Christ, you were born into this world. You became a human being
like every one of us. You did that so that you could live a perfect life.

In order to be an offering for my sins. In order to condemn my sins on that
cross. So that the righteous law could be fulfilled in me.

So Jesus Christ, I thank you for what you did for me. I accept what you did for
me. And I pray that today, today I would live out the freedom of what you have
done for me.

In your name I pray. Amen. Tomorrow we'll be looking together at Romans chapter
8 verses 4 to 7.