Dr. Cecil A. Fayard - 2001 Sermons
Sunday, July 15, 2001   

Wonderful message we bring- we have passed from death to life. "... He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).

Wonderful message we bring- the believer is no longer under judgment for the scripture says: "He that believeth on him is not condemned."

Wonderful message we bring- we are "free from the law of sin and dead (verse 2).

Wonderful message we bring- what the law could not do; Christ did (verse 3).

Wonderful message of the Gospel: "How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures."

1. VERSE 1, NO CONDEMNATION
   1. No condemnation- how those words ring sweet to the believer's ears.
      
      1. "There is therefore now no condemnation..."
         
         1. This means that there was a time when the believer was condemned, headed to hell.
            
         2. There was a time when the believer was by nature a child of wrath (Ephesians 2:3).
            
         3. There was a time when the child of God was a child of the Devil (John 8:44).
            
         4. There was a time when the wrath of God did abide on us (John 3:36).
            
         5. There was a time when we by the fall were heirs of eternal judgment (II Thessalonians 2:12).
            
         6. There was a time when the verdict was death (Romans 6:23a), but now it is eternal life (Romans 6:23b).
            
      2. "No condemnation..."
         
         1. "No" is the Greek word "ouketi" meaning a complete cessation of condemnation.
            
         2. Jesus has completely paid my sin debt. Jesus has permanently paid my sin debt; thus, there is no condemnation.
            
         3. Sinner, if you will trust Christ, your sin debt will be erased; and you will not be condemned (John 3:18; 3:36).
            
            1. Christ is our altar; He is our sacrifice -for sin; He is our sin offering (Hebrews 13:10; 9:14, 25, 28).
               
            2. Since God does the justifying, declares us righteous, who can declare us guilty (Romans 8:31,33).
               
      3. No condemnation," yet there is discipline because of God's love for His people (Hebrews 12:6). Be assured, Friend, saved or not, you will reap what you sow (Galatians 6:7).

   2. "In Christ Jesus."
      
      1. To be "in Christ Jesus" is to be reborn spiritually; it is new life in Christ.
         
      2. Our redemption was accomplished in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24).
         
         1. To justify is to declare righteous. We are declared righteous because redemption is in Christ Jesus, and those who believe are in Christ Jesus.
            
         2. Only those who believe are "in Christ."
            
      3. Christ died that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 6:21).

   3. "Who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit."
      
      1. There was a time that we served the flesh, lived for the flesh with no influence by the Spirit within (Ephesians 2:3).
         
      2. . The believer has the Spirit within to help us walk for God.

2. VERSE 2, THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
   1. This verse is not dealing with the Mosaic law but with the principles of life through the Spirit.
      
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      1. The Holy Spirit imparts life (John 6:63).
         
      2. When we receive the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a new power: the power and rule of the Holy Spirit.
         
         1. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual life and controls our old evil nature.
            
         2. The presence of the Holy Spirit gives the believer deliverance from the law of sin and death. Sin is no longer the abiding principle in the life of the believer.

   2. "The presence of the spirit bring life and His power sustains it, and this gives the believer deliverance from the law of sin and death" (Thomas 203).
      
      1. The Spirit of Life refers to the resurrection power that raised Christ from the grave and the believer from spiritual death (Ephesians 1:18-20).
         
      2. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus overcomes the law of sin and death.
         
      3. "Sin and death" refer to our past condemnation; we have been delivered from both in Christ by the work of the Spirit.

3. VERSE 3, OUR SUBSTITUTE
   1. The law can not save.
      
      1. Note what the law cannot do:
         
         1. Make us righteous (10:3).
            
         2. Justify (3:20).
            
         3. Make us heirs (4:14).
            
         4. Reconcile us to God (5:10).
            
         5. Free us from death (5:12).
            
         6. Deliver our corruptible bodies (7:24).
            
         7. Make God our Father (8:15).

   2. The law cannot save because it is "weak through the flesh."
      
      1. No man can be saved by his good deeds for the flesh is weak.
         
      2. Good works will not save (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).

   3. What the law could not do Christ can:
      
      1. Make us righteous (II Corinthians 5:21).
         
      2. Justify (3:24,28).
         
      3. Make us heirs (8:16-17).
         
      4. Reconcile us to God (II Corinthians 5:18).
         
      5. Free us from death (John 5:24).
         
      6. Deliver our corruptible bodies (Philippians 3:20-21).
         
      7. Make God our Father (8:15).

   4. Christ condemns sin delivering the believer from the power and penalty of sin.

4. VERSE 4, OUR SANCTIFICATION
   1. The very things that we could not do, those things that were impossible for us as a matter of law become wonderfully possible by the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit.

   2. The fulfillment of the law becomes our definite practice for we are in Him (Acts 17:28, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being....")
      
      1. "Who walk"-- we live; we move; we act; we make progress in Christ expressing our new life.
         
      2. We are to exercise our Christian faith by walking in the Spirit.