Hebrews 12:1-2

Introduction:

A. As you may know, I love history and have visited several Civil War battlefields.  In the museums in these places there are often the instruments used to treat the casualties of the battles.  I look at those instruments and cannot imagine doctors using them.  Yet, while their efforts were crude by today’s standards, many of the things they did continued the growth and development in the field of medicine.  Yes, they did things that would seem barbaric and wrong to us today, but we still have learned a great deal from that and would not be where we are without that stage in the growth of medicine.  They are part of our history and we learned from them.

One of the things that impressed me in my reading this summer was the way we are connected to our past in the church.  Many today want nothing to do with the history of the church.  In some cases, some Christians believe that almost all of the past 2,000 years has been one mistake after another and they are starting over from scratch.  But the fact is that the believers who came before us are part of our heritage and we are where we are today because of the things they have done and learned.  We cannot simply cut that out, nor should we.

In fact, in the book of Hebrews, the author makes it very clear that we should be looking to those who have gone before us as examples and models for us to follow.  We don’t go blazing our trail by ourselves.  We follow first of all in the footsteps of our Lord but also all of the thousands who have followed him before we lived.  In Hebrews 12, the author urges his readers to run the race that is set before them.  The Christian life is like running a race but we do this in front of a “cloud of witnesses.”  Hebrews 12:1-2 teaches us what the race is and how we can more effectively run this race in this coming year.  Let’s read Hebrews 12:1-13.

I. What is the race?

II. Who are the witnesses?

III. Preparing for the race

IV. Running the race

I. The first question we need to ask is:  “What is the Race?”

It is important to understand some of the background to this passage.  First, these readers had recently faced some persecution.   This persecution had likely been somewhat serious but verse 4 says they had endured it without death or shedding their blood.  This persecution had caused them to shrink back in their faith.  As a result some were drifting back to their old Jewish beliefs because they felt more secure in those.  In other words, they were going back to legalism and a works based relationship with God in which  everything depended on what they did rather than what God had done and was doing.

The author wants his readers to see that the Christian life must be viewed as a race that must be run.  This is a picture which would be very familiar to the Hebrew readers.  In the ancient world, there were athletic competitions similar to our Olympic games of today.  The author is saying that the Christian life is like such a race like in foot races in those games.  However, let’s be very clear on what this race is and is not.

First of all the race is not working hard for our salvation.  Some think the Christian life is keeping all these rules and regulations like you are supposed to and then God will reward you by allowing you to go to heaven.  They say, “work hard, run as hard as you can and maybe you will make it.”  However, we cannot run hard so that we can run our way to heaven.

That is important for us to hear today for it is very easy to slip into legalism.  Ask a Christian to describe what it means to be a Christian and you may likely get a description of what he or she is doing.  Being a Christian means going to church, doing good things, reading the Bible and praying.  Those are all good things; please don’t misunderstand me.  However, doing these things doesn’t earn us a spot in heaven.  Doing those things will not make God love us more or not doing them make God love us any less.

Rather running the race is living a life of obedience to God in response to what Jesus has done for us.  The starting point is God’s grace shown to us in Jesus Christ.  Being a Christian means confessing that we are hopelessly lost in sin and need the saving work of Jesus in our lives.  Being a Christian means that we can have life in heaven because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Being a Christian means that when we mess up and sin — which we all do all the time –  God in His love is always there to love us and forgive us because of what Jesus has done for us.  I’m in the race in spite of the fact of the bad things I thought about someone this week.  The race is our whole life of gratitude to God for our salvation; it is not just following the rules.

In his book “Orbiting the Giant Hairball,” Gordon Mackenzie talks about how some corporations create almost zombie like workers by forcing them into certain patterns and behaviors.  He relates a time in 1904 when his father impressed a city boy by mesmerizing chickens.

His father drew a line on the porch with some chalk, got a chicken, straddled its legs over the line and pressed its beak to the chalk line.  He then slowly removed his hands and the chicken stayed there, mesmerized by the line.  He and his city friend got another chicken and another and soon had 70 or so chickens with their beaks pressed against the chalk line, not moving.

The church can do this to Christians as well.  This is how you must live; what you are say and do.  These are our politics and procedures.  And if we lose the realization that we are free in Christ, we push our Christian noses to the line and not even realize what we are doing.  Sadder still we are not doing what we are supposed to be doing: running the race!

However, we do not run the race to get into heaven, but rather we run the race to show our gratitude to God for what He has done for us in Jesus Christ.  And it is a race because we give it everything we have got to make a difference in this world.

II. Who are the Witnesses?

This phrase describes a beautiful picture, but it is also one that can be easily misunderstood.  The author is not describing our parents or grandparents who have died and are now looking down from heaven to cheer us on.

This great cloud of witnesses instead refers to those who have just been described in chapter 11.  These heroes mentioned in chapter 11 were so faithful to God that they gave up everything they had.  A “cloud” in the ancient world was a way of describing a whole host of people.  They are surrounding the readers, meaning they have left us great examples of what it means to live a faithful life of obedience to God.

Notice a few of the examples that are given.  Noah responded to God’s outrageous command and in spite of all the mockery of neighbors did as God commanded him to do.  Abraham gave up the security of his homeland and family to follow where God was leading him.  Moses responded to God’s offer of grace and led the people of Israel out of Egypt to Canaan.  And many others are mentioned as well who sacrificed themselves for God and for His Kingdom.

The author’s point is that these people are there as are our examples to follow.  God helped them to be faithful so that we can look at their lives and try to imitate what they did.  And what they did is to lay down their own desires, their very lives, in order to serve God.

Our purpose on this earth is not to take care of ourselves first.  Our purpose on earth is to bring glory and praise to God for we belong to Him completely.  Living in the kingdom means that we are living for God and living to serve in His kingdom.

This tells us that we are not on our own in this race, nor are we disconnected from those who have gone before us.  This verse reminds us that even as we serve God, we are not blazing a new trail of Christian life.  There is a growing movement among Christians, called the emergent church, in which they are cutting themselves off from any history or Christian heritage.

One author I read this summer maintained that the church was doing just fine until Roman Emperor Constantine in 325, but once he legalized Christianity, everything went wrong.   The church became simply an institution and no longer a real church.  This author said that even the Reformation in the 1500′s didn’t fix anything because  then the church simply focused on the Bible instead of Jesus and that isn’t good either.  This author maintained that the true church, the church today, needs to shed all of that history and tradition and simply follow Jesus and what He taught.

I read that book with dismay and a bit of anger at their arrogance.  There is such a self-inflated view of themselves.  The church has been derailed for 1700 years but now they are going to be the true church!?

Now I must admit that there are things, perhaps many things, in the history of the church that were wrong.  The crusades were wrongly motivated and misguided.  Certainly the emphasis on tradition over against the grace of God was very wrong.

There are plenty of errors and mistakes in the past 1700 years, but I have some bad news for those who seem to think that the new emergent church movement is now the only true church.  There is going to be sin today just like there was sin in Bible times and in church history and in the traditional church as well.  Until Jesus comes back again, every Christian and every church is going to be waging a battle against sin, and that includes those who claim that the emerging church is now the only true church.

There is so much to learn from those who have loved and served our Lord before us.  Read the early church fathers and many of the Christians during the past 1700 years and you will find a  love for God that puts ours to shame.  Read what Martin Luther and John Calvin have written and you will find a heart for God and an appreciation of God’s grace that goes beyond what we can fathom.  Look at the hymns and liturgies of the church and there is so much to learn.  I hope to incorporate more of those in the future.  We are not stuck in the past but we can learn from those witnesses who so faithfully lived their lives for our Lord.

One of the books I read this summer is “The Wednesday Wars” by English professor Gary Schmidt.   A 7^th grade boy has to spend every Wednesday afternoon with a teacher he is convinced hated him.  So she taught him Shakespeare and slowly grew to enjoy the one on one time they had.  At one point, she took him on a tour of the neighborhood where he lived and opened his eyes to where he had come from.  He had felt that his community was dull, lifeless and boring.

His teacher showed him that there were churches where people worshiped 300 years ago and a station from the Underground Railroad, the town’s first jail house, places where British solders were housed during the Revolutionary War, the first school where blacks were allowed to be educated.  The boy slowly realizes that there is much more to his life, his surroundings that what he had ever known before.  It was far more than the place where things were always the same.

We have a cloud of witnesses that include the biblical witnesses but also include those who have faithfully lived and served our God over the past 2,000 years!  And their lives and their examples can be a tremendous encouragement to us.

III. How are we to be Preparing for running this Race?

Verse 1 says that we must throw off everything that hinders us.  The things that hinder us are the things in life that are not sinful in themselves, but can cause problems.  If we become so absorbed in our work that it becomes our whole life, then our walk with God is going to be hindered.  Our families can get in the way of our spiritual growth if we are spending so much time and energy on them that we don’t have time for our own walk with God.  And in the church it is so easy for us to keep the machinery of the church going that we lose sight of the Kingdom of God.

Each one of us knows what things in our lives are slowing us down as we try to live our lives with God.  We must throw them off so we may be effective disciples of Christ.

Moreover, we must also throw off the sin that so easily entangles us.  These are the sinful actions that will inevitably trip us as we try to live a life with God.  Perhaps it is greed or stubbornness, impure thoughts or selfishness.  Perhaps the desire to have more and more material things.  If you have trouble thinking of what your entangling sins are, then more than likely you are dealing with the entangling sin of pride because sin is all around us and trips us all up all the time.

We must as much as possible throw off the things that we know are tripping us up.  You know the things that are tripping you up and I know my sins that trip me up like my own self-centeredness that I have to constantly fight against.  We must ask God to help us overcome these things that trip us up.  That is how we must be prepared, but there is one more thing:  we must run the race.

IV. But how are we to be Running the Race?

First of all, the author says with “perseverance.”  This means that we must not live our lives as though it were a lazy jog.  We don’t just call ourselves Christians; we are actually living the kind of life that Christ would really want us to live because of what Jesus did for us.  We must really go all out in our lives serving the Lord with everything that we have got.

What are some examples of how we can do this concretely?  Is what we say and do on Sunday consistent with what we say and do on Monday through Saturday?  Is our faith carried through in our work or family relationships?  Running with perseverance means that the kingdom of God saturates everything you are and everything that you do at home, work and church.

Finally, it is vital that we do this with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus.  For as verse 2 says, Jesus is the author or perhaps better “pioneer” of our faith; He gave us our freedom!  This means that Jesus made it possible for us to follow Him.  He came to earth, suffered, died and rose again so that those who follow Him may also have life in His name and make it possible for us to run the Christian race.

And verse 2 also calls Jesus the “perfecter” of our faith.  Jesus is the perfecter in that He alone enables us to complete the race of the Christian life.  Jesus is the supreme example of how to live a life which pleases God.  By imitating Jesus, we will be running the race set before us.

In fact, remember that the author says that we must fix our eyes firmly on Jesus.  If we look elsewhere, we will be in trouble.  If we focus on ourselves, we will become wrapped up in ourselves that we will trip and fall.  If we look to others, we may be going the wrong way.  If we focus on the cloud of witnesses, we may be lost in legalism.

It’s football season and so it’s time for a football illustration.  When a ball carrier breaks out into the open field, he has one thing on his mind: the goal line.  If he looks up at the jumbo-tron and looks at himself, he may not see the opposing player about to tackle him.  If he turns to see the crowd cheering for him, he may not see someone about to tackle him.  He must focus on the goal line only.

We must look only to Jesus, keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Him.  We must listen to what He says in the Bible.  We must follow His example of how He dealt with other people.  We follow the examples of others who have lived with Him in the past, but above all we focus our eyes on the one who loved us so much that He died for us to give us freedom.  If we do these things, then we will be able to run with perseverance the race that is set before us and do so with the joy and freedom we have from Christ!

Romans 8:1-2 “The Gift of Grace and Freedom”
Pastor Jerry Hoek

Introduction:
I experienced some amazing freedom this summer in two of the classes I took. Two of the classes were seminary courses where almost all others in the class were students who had to take the class for credit working toward their degree. They were asking questions like, “Will this be on the exam? When is the exam? Do we have to know this?” I, on the other hand, was there to audit the class. I could simply sit there, soak in the knowledge and the discussion, and not have to worry about if I would have to retell it again on a test. It was truly a liberating experience to be free from the requirements of the class. I could enjoy all the benefits, all the discussion and the class as a whole and not have to worry about if I would pass the exam at the end.
Many Christians today are sitting in the “classroom” of Christianity. They are glad they are saved, but they are living in constant fear of getting it right. They want to know if they will pass the test. Like I simply enjoyed soaking in the knowledge of the professor and having that freedom, Christians should be soaking in God’s Word, listening to the teachings of our Lord with joy, eager to learn and live for Him. And here is the good part. At the end of our lives, we don’t have to pass any test. We have already passed it because of what Christ has done for us. We are free from the legal requirements that God has given because Jesus has fulfilled them.
I can hear the protests already: “What about our duties? What about the need to live for Christ in obedience? We must not sin so that grace abounds.” All of that is true; however, so often we move so quickly to that part of the Christian life that we don’t realize and really live in the freedom that we have because of Christ. Paul talks about that freedom in Romans 8:1-2. We have the righteousness of Christ and that means that we are free, totally and completely free. And that is truly an amazing gift! Let’s read Romans 7:21-8:4.

I. Now No Condemnation
II. Being In Christ
III. The Two Laws

I. Paul’s words ring out with joy and confidence: “Therefore, there is Now No Condemnation!”
This means that we are justified and being justified means two things. First, we are declared “not guilty!” by God. We can stand before God as if we were completely innocent. God looks at us and says that there is no sin at all. Whatever sin we have done or will do is completely gone!
Secondly, “no condemnation” also means that the punishment that we had coming is also removed. Condemnation is the sentencing of people to eternal death. That sentence is now no longer in effect and we are free from it. There is no legal guilt nor the resulting punishment from God.
Moreover, we should not lose sight of the little word, “now.” Now, right now, Paul says, we are innocent! Not just when we go to heaven where we will be made perfect. This means right now while we are still on earth. This means that God views us right now as legally, officially “not guilty.” It means that we need not live under a cloud or burden of guilt throughout our lives.
So what is the problem? The problem is that we know better; we know ourselves all too well. We know that we sin in so many ways that it boggles our minds. We continually say and do things that we should not say and do. We have thoughts that if they were somehow known would be terribly embarrassing to us. We know that we are really rotten people.
A thief picked a man’s pocket on a crowded elevator. As the result of quick police action, he was arrested and brought before the local judge. “You are charged with stealing another person’s wallet,” said the judge. “How do you plead: guilty or not guilty?” The pickpocket answered, “How can I tell, your honor, until I have heard the evidence?” We don’t need to hear the evidence against us for we know we are sinners!
And we also know what we are supposed to be like. We know that God expects obedience because it says this clearly in God’s word. What we are supposed to be like and what we actually are and do are quite different. As a result of this, it is easy to feel guilty.
But this false guilt results from not taking God’s grace toward us seriously enough. God’s grace says, “I know you are rotten, but I have forgiven you.” You may feel guilty but you are not actually guilty. Why? Because God sees us as forgiven sinners and accepts us.

II. How can this be? We must be in Christ. Being In Christ
The New Testament talks about two distinct places people can be: a person can be in Adam or in Christ. Before Christ came to die and rise again, the Bible describes the human race as being in Adam. Being in Adam means you are dead in sin and are under the punishment of God because of sin. “In Adam” is where people are without Christ.
Or a person can be in Christ. Being in Christ means that by believing that Jesus’ death and resurrection are for you, you are saved; there is now no condemnation. We get the credit for all that Jesus did while on earth. This means that we need not fear condemnation when Jesus comes again. But being in Christ also means a great deal for us right now.
Being in Christ should also help us live in joy without the feelings of false guilt. Many Christians have false guilt when others try to force them into their mold of legalism. Steve Brown says that people rejoice when they realize the Jesus died for them… and then religion gets hold of them.
He writes: “Then the new Christians hear of whole morass of ‘stuff’ they need to learn. They must learn who is right and who is wrong – who the good guys and bad guys are – with the requirement that new Christians choose sides in the us-and-them battle. They must learn the ‘correct’ version of the Bible, the ‘correct’ behavior for a Christian, and the ‘correct’ political position they should take on a variety of issues. Then, as new Christians get discipled, they learn about ‘correct’ and Christian way to rear a family, conduct a business, and discipline one’s life so that the world will be drawn to Christ.”
Did you hear about the man who watched his wife being taken off in an ambulance to a psychiatric hospital? “I just don’t understand it,” he said. “All she did was stay in the kitchen and work with the children.”
Brown concludes, “We watch folks leaving the church and say something similar. ‘I just don’t understand it. They were working so hard and growing so much!’ I’ll tell you what happened: We have taken the joy and freedom of new Christian and put a saddle of legalism, laws and religion on them, and have ridden that horse until it almost dies.”
We say, “If you are a good Christian, then you will do this and that.” “You will go to Sunday School, sing in the choir, serve on a Ministry Team and so on.” “If you don’t do these things then you are not doing what you should be doing.” The result is guilt feelings that are usually inappropriate and often despairing.
Now there are responsibilities in the Christian life. We must serve the Lord and do what He commands. We should be eager to study God’s Word, be eager to share our faith with others and be ready to help one another. But if we do these things without the overriding thought of grace, we will be burdened down by feelings of guilt and that will drive us to despair. We then are living under the law of sin and death and that is not where the Christian should be.

III. In verse 2, Paul compares The Two Laws that people can live under.
The first is the law of sin and death. This is what characterizes the old age before Christ. This is the law and teaching that is found in the Old Testament.
This law was given by God and was good but sin had distorted the law. People began to see the law as a way that could bring them to God rather to live with God. In other words, people tried to earn God’s love by keeping the law. But it was impossible to please God perfectly by keeping the law. And the result was death, for those who cannot keep the law perfectly are condemned to death.
And I’m afraid that is how many Christians live today. Christianity for them is a set of things that a person must do and perform. If you do them, then you are a “good Christian” but if you fail, you are not a “good Christian.”
And this starts a whole cycle of guilt that drags many Christians down. If we fail in doing the Christian stuff, we feel guilty. If we feel guilty, we had better do more good things, more of the things that good Christians do. But we can never do enough because we are sinful human beings. We can read the Bible 24 hours a day, pray without stopping, witness to everyone we meet, do whatever we feel it takes to become a good Christian and it will never be enough. And so we feel even more guilty.
We become trapped in guilt, living under the law of sin and death. We believe the lies of others who tell us that being a Christian means that you must do certain things and not do other things. And the more this persists, the more trapped we are in our own sin and guilt.
Business professors Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad have written about an experiment that was conducted with a group of monkeys. Four monkeys were placed in a room that had a tall pole in the center. Suspended from the top of that pole was a bunch of bananas. One of the hungry monkeys started climbing the pole to get something to eat, but just as he reached out to grab a banana, he was doused with a torrent of cold water. Squealing, he scampered down the pole and abandoned his attempt to feed himself. Each monkey made a similar attempt, and each one was drenched with cold water. After making several attempts, they finally gave up.
Then researchers removed one of the monkeys from the room and replaced him with a new monkey. As the newcomer began to climb the pole, the other three grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. After trying to climb the pole several times and being dragged down by the others, he finally gave up and never attempted to climb the pole again.
The researchers replaced the original monkeys, one by one, and each time a new monkey was brought in, he would be dragged down by the others before he could reach the bananas. In time, the room was filled with monkeys who had never received a cold shower. None of them would climb the pole, but not one of them knew why. We have generations of Christians living lives of following rules and they don’t even know why.
However, if we are in Christ then we are living under the law of spirit and life. This characterizes the new age in which we now live while under no condemnation. This is the age of Christ and His resurrection power. And because we are in Christ, it is our resurrection power.
What makes this so different? Instead of the external law being placed in front of us as we strive to reach it, we have the Spirit moving within us to prompt us to do the things that God wants us to do. And the result is that we have life.
Now we still do struggle with sin; we can’t forget that. But we no longer live under that threat of condemnation. God has forgiven us through Jesus Christ and we are free.
That means that we can live in freedom and joy today instead of guilt. We are going to mess up and fail; it is certain. We are going to have lapses into sin of varying degrees. We are going to do and say things that are offensive to God and others. We are going to be selfish and callous. We are going to sin!
But if we are in Christ, then we are safe in God’s grace. That makes all the difference in the world. For if we are safe in God’s grace, then we are truly free to live and enjoy our lives with God.
But the problem is that we tend to want to go back to the life of legalism and rules because it is safe, or at least it appears safe from our perspective. Several years ago, New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof chose two Cambodian prostitutes and attempted to buy their freedom from their brothel owners.
He selected young women who were there against their will, willing to tell their story, and actually wanted to leave prostitution. The first woman, Srey Neth, was a simple transaction. For $150, Kristof left with the girl and a receipt. Srey Mom’s situation proved more difficult, since the brothel owner demanded more money. After some grumpy negotiation, the owner accepted $203 as the price for Srey Mom’s freedom.
But then Srey Mom told him that she had pawned her cell phone and needed $55 to get it back. “Forget about your cell phone,” Kristof said. “We’ve got to get out of here.” Srey Mom started crying. Kristof told her that she had to choose her cell phone or her freedom, and she ran back to her tiny room in the brothel and locked the door. With Srey Mom sobbing in her room and refusing to be freed without her cell phone, the other prostitutes – her closest friends _began pleading with her to be reasonable. Even the owner of the brothel begged her to “Grab this chance while you can,” but Srey Mom hysterically refused to leave. Srey Mom only stopped crying when the reporter agreed to buy back the cell phone too. Then she asked for her pawned jewelry to be part of the deal.
Kristof reflected upon the emotions making the decision to leave the brothel so difficult. He wrote, “I have purchased the freedom of two human beings so I can return them to their villages. But will emancipation help them? Will their families and villages accept them? Or will they, like some other girls rescued from sexual servitude, find freedom so unsettling that they slink back to slavery in the brothels? We’ll see.”
Sometimes we may resemble this woman. Though Christ sets us free from sin and death, we often choose to live in slavery to the law rather than in freedom. We are more comfortable in our prisons of sin and guilt. Or we want the stuff and security of this world rather than the complete freedom that comes from our Lord. Jesus died and rose again to give us complete freedom!
Being in Christ means that we are guilty but forgiven, no matter what we have done or what has happened to us in the past. Being in Christ means that we can freely admit our weaknesses and failures and know that Christ forgives us and that leads to freedom from guilt. God’s grace and our response to that grace should fill our lives. No matter what we may have done, or may yet do, if we confess our sins and ask God=s forgiveness; He will forgive and accept us.
And then we can live in joy-filled freedom! “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:1-2

Introduction:

I experienced some amazing freedom this summer in two of the classes I took. Two of the classes were seminary courses where almost all others in the class were students who had to take the class for credit working toward their degree.  They were asking questions like, “Will this be on the exam? When is the exam?  Do we have to know this?”  I, on the other hand, was there to audit the class.  I could simply sit there, soak in the knowledge and the discussion, and not have to worry about if I would have to retell it again on a test.  It was truly a liberating experience to be free from the requirements of the class.  I could enjoy all the benefits, all the discussion and the class as a whole and not have to worry about if I would pass the exam at the end.

Many Christians today are sitting in the “classroom” of Christianity.  They are glad they are saved, but they are living in constant fear of getting it right.  They want to know if they will pass the test.  Like I simply enjoyed soaking in the knowledge of the professor and having that freedom, Christians should be soaking in God’s Word, listening to the teachings of our Lord with joy, eager to learn and live for Him.  And here is the good part.  At the end of our lives, we don’t have to pass any test.  We have already passed it because of what Christ has done for us.  We are free from the legal requirements that God has given because Jesus has fulfilled them.

I can hear the protests already: “What about our duties?  What about the need to live for Christ in obedience?  We must not sin so that grace abounds.”  All of that is true; however, so often we move so quickly to that part of the Christian life that we don’t realize and really live in the freedom that we have because of Christ.  Paul talks about that freedom in Romans 8:1-2.  We have the righteousness of Christ and that means that we are free, totally and completely free.  And that is truly an amazing gift!   Let’s read Romans 7:21-8:4.

I. Now No Condemnation

II. Being In Christ

III. The Two Laws

I. Paul’s words ring out with joy and confidence: “Therefore, there is Now No Condemnation!”

This means that we are justified and being justified means two things.  First, we are declared “not guilty!” by God.  We can stand before God as if we were completely innocent.  God looks at us and says that there is no sin at all.  Whatever sin we have done or will do is completely gone!

Secondly, “no condemnation” also means that the punishment that we had coming is also removed.  Condemnation is the sentencing of people to eternal death.  That sentence is now no longer in effect and we are free from it.  There is no legal guilt nor the resulting punishment from God.

Moreover, we should not lose sight of the little word, “now.”  Now, right now, Paul says, we are innocent!  Not just when we go to heaven where we will be made perfect.  This means right now while we are still on earth.  This means that God views us right now as legally, officially “not guilty.”  It means that we need not live under a cloud or burden of guilt throughout our lives.

So what is the problem?  The problem is that we know better; we know ourselves all too well.  We know that we sin in so many ways that it boggles our minds.  We continually say and do things that we should not say and do.  We have thoughts that if they were somehow known would be terribly embarrassing to us.  We know that we are really rotten people.

A thief picked a man’s pocket on a crowded elevator.  As the result of quick police action, he was arrested and brought before the local judge.  “You are charged with stealing another person’s wallet,” said the judge.  “How do you plead: guilty or not guilty?”  The pickpocket answered, “How can I tell, your honor, until I have heard the evidence?”  We don’t need to hear the evidence against us for we know we are sinners!

And we also know what we are supposed to be like.  We know that God expects obedience because it says this clearly in God’s word.  What we are supposed to be like and what we actually are and do are quite different.  As a result of this, it is easy to feel guilty.

But this false guilt results from not taking God’s grace toward us seriously enough.  God’s grace says, “I know you are rotten, but I have forgiven you.”  You may feel guilty but you are not actually guilty.  Why?  Because God sees us as forgiven sinners and accepts us.

II. How can this be?  We must be in Christ.   Being In Christ

The New Testament talks about two distinct places people can be: a person can be in Adam or in Christ.  Before Christ came to die and rise again, the Bible describes the human race as being in Adam.  Being in Adam means you are dead in sin and are under the punishment of God because of sin.  “In Adam” is where people are without Christ.

Or a person can be in Christ.  Being in Christ means that by believing that Jesus’ death and resurrection are for you, you are saved; there is now no condemnation.  We get the credit for all that Jesus did while on earth.  This means that we need not fear condemnation when Jesus comes again.  But being in Christ also means a great deal for us right now.

Being in Christ should also help us live in joy without the feelings of false guilt.  Many Christians have false guilt when others try to force them into their mold of legalism.  Steve Brown says that people rejoice when they realize the Jesus died for them… and then religion gets hold of them.

He writes:  “Then the new Christians hear of whole morass of ‘stuff’ they need to learn.  They must learn who is right and who is wrong – who the good guys and bad guys are – with the requirement that new Christians choose sides in the us-and-them battle.  They must learn the ‘correct’ version of the Bible, the ‘correct’ behavior for a Christian, and the ‘correct’ political position they should take on a variety of issues.  Then, as new Christians get discipled, they learn about ‘correct’ and Christian way to rear a family, conduct a business, and discipline one’s life so that the world will be drawn to Christ.”

Did you hear about the man who watched his wife being taken off in an ambulance to a psychiatric hospital?  “I just don’t understand it,” he said.  “All she did was stay in the kitchen and work with the children.”

Brown concludes, “We watch folks leaving the church and say something similar.  ‘I just don’t understand it.  They were working so hard and growing so much!’  I’ll tell you what happened:  We have taken the joy and freedom of new Christian and put a saddle of legalism, laws and religion on them, and have ridden that horse until it almost dies.”

We say, “If you are a good Christian, then you will do this and that.”  “You will go to Sunday School, sing in the choir, serve on a Ministry Team and so on.”  “If you don’t do these things then you are not doing what you should be doing.”  The result is guilt feelings that are usually inappropriate and often despairing.

Now there are responsibilities in the Christian life.  We must serve the Lord and do what He commands.  We should be eager to study God’s Word, be eager to share our faith with others and be ready to help one another.  But if we do these things without the overriding thought of grace, we will be burdened down by feelings of guilt and that will drive us to despair.  We then are living under the law of sin and death and that is not where the Christian should be.

III. In verse 2, Paul compares The Two Laws that people can live under.

The first is the law of sin and death.  This is what characterizes the old age before Christ.  This is the law and teaching that is found in the Old Testament.

This law was given by God and was good but sin had distorted the law.  People began to see the law as a way that could bring them to God rather to live with God.  In other words, people tried to earn God’s love by keeping the law.  But it was impossible to please God perfectly by keeping the law.   And the result was death, for those who cannot keep the law perfectly are condemned to death.

And I’m afraid that is how many Christians live today.  Christianity for them is a set of things that a person must do and perform.  If you do them, then you are a “good Christian” but if you fail, you are not a “good Christian.”

And this starts a whole cycle of guilt that drags many Christians down.  If we fail in doing the Christian stuff, we feel guilty.  If we feel guilty, we had better do more good things, more of the things that good Christians do.  But we can never do enough because we are sinful human beings.  We can read the Bible 24 hours a day, pray without stopping, witness to everyone we meet, do whatever we feel it takes to become a good Christian and it will never be enough.  And so we feel even more guilty.

We become trapped in guilt, living under the law of sin and death.  We believe the lies of others who tell us that being a Christian means that you must do certain things and not do other things.  And the more this persists, the more trapped we are in our own sin and guilt.

Business professors Gary Hamel and C. K. Prahalad have written about an experiment that was conducted with a group of monkeys.   Four monkeys were placed in a room that had a tall pole in the center. Suspended from the top of that pole was a bunch of bananas. One of the hungry monkeys started climbing the pole to get something to eat, but just as he reached out to grab a banana, he was doused with a torrent of cold water. Squealing, he scampered down the pole and abandoned his attempt to feed himself. Each monkey made a similar attempt, and each one was drenched with cold water. After making several attempts, they finally gave up.

Then researchers removed one of the monkeys from the room and replaced him with a new monkey. As the newcomer began to climb the pole, the other three grabbed him and pulled him to the ground. After trying to climb the pole several times and being dragged down by the others, he finally gave up and never attempted to climb the pole again.

The researchers replaced the original monkeys, one by one, and each time a new monkey was brought in, he would be dragged down by the others before he could reach the bananas. In time, the room was filled with monkeys who had never received a cold shower. None of them would climb the pole, but not one of them knew why.  We have generations of Christians living lives of following rules and they don’t even know why.

However, if we are in Christ then we are living under the law of spirit and life.  This characterizes the new age in which we now live while under no condemnation.  This is the age of Christ and His resurrection power.  And because we are in Christ, it is our resurrection power.

What makes this so different?  Instead of the external law being placed in front of us as we strive to reach it, we have the Spirit moving within us to prompt us to do the things that God wants us to do.  And the result is that we have life.

Now we still do struggle with sin; we can’t forget that.  But we no longer live under that threat of condemnation.  God has forgiven us through Jesus Christ and we are free.

That means that we can live in freedom and joy today instead of guilt.  We are going to mess up and fail; it is certain.  We are going to have lapses into sin of varying degrees.  We are going to do and say things that are offensive to God and others.  We are going to be selfish and callous.  We are going to sin!

But if we are in Christ, then we are safe in God’s grace.  That makes all the difference in the world.  For if we are safe in God’s grace, then we are truly free to live and enjoy our lives with God.

But the problem is that we tend to want to go back to the life of legalism and rules because it is safe, or at least it appears safe from our perspective.  Several years ago, New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof chose two Cambodian prostitutes and attempted to buy their freedom from their brothel owners.

He selected young women who were there against their will, willing to tell their story, and actually wanted to leave prostitution. The first woman, Srey Neth, was a simple transaction. For $150, Kristof left with the girl and a receipt.  Srey Mom’s situation proved more difficult, since the brothel owner demanded more money.  After some grumpy negotiation, the owner accepted $203 as the price for Srey Mom’s freedom.

But then Srey Mom told him that she had pawned her cell phone and needed $55 to get it back. “Forget about your cell phone,” Kristof said. “We’ve got to get out of here.” Srey Mom started crying. Kristof told her that she had to choose her cell phone or her freedom, and she ran back to her tiny room in the brothel and locked the door. With Srey Mom sobbing in her room and refusing to be freed without her cell phone, the other prostitutes – her closest friends _began pleading with her to be reasonable. Even the owner of the brothel begged her to “Grab this chance while you can,” but Srey Mom hysterically refused to leave.   Srey Mom only stopped crying when the reporter agreed to buy back the cell phone too. Then she asked for her pawned jewelry to be part of the deal.

Kristof reflected upon the emotions making the decision to leave the brothel so difficult.  He wrote, “I have purchased the freedom of two human beings so I can return them to their villages. But will emancipation help them? Will their families and villages accept them? Or will they, like some other girls rescued from sexual servitude, find freedom so unsettling that they slink back to slavery in the brothels? We’ll see.”

Sometimes we may resemble this woman.  Though Christ sets us free from sin and death, we often choose to live in slavery to the law rather than in freedom.  We are more comfortable in our prisons of sin and guilt.  Or we want the stuff and security of this world rather than the complete freedom that comes from our Lord.  Jesus died and rose again to give us complete freedom!

Being in Christ means that we are guilty but forgiven, no matter what we have done or what has happened to us in the past.  Being in Christ means that we can freely admit our weaknesses and failures and know that Christ forgives us and that leads to freedom from guilt.  God’s grace and our response to that grace should fill our lives.  No matter what we may have done, or may yet do, if we confess our sins and ask God=s forgiveness; He will forgive and accept us.

And then we can live in joy-filled freedom!  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”