8:2 Lesson 28b

We are in lesson 28. Mike started it last week and I think we went through questions 1 and 2. So I think we are beginning in question 3. As I always like to do, again, this is lesson 28. We're going over the passages in Romans 7, 24 through 8, 2. So not a lot of verses here, but incredibly important ones. So I'm going to read it again. I always like to do it just to set the context for the lesson.

So Romans 7, beginning in 24, going through 8, 2. Wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, on the one hand, I myself, with my mind, am serving the law of God, but on the other hand, with my flesh, the law of sin. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

So, beginning with question three. I find a lot of these questions are probably going to be kind of hard to answer. They're kind of generic or kind of very broad. I hope we get some discussion, but I know it may be kind of tough to answer some of these directly. So, how is Paul summing up the question, is the law sin, in verse 25? So, verse 25, thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then on the one hand, I myself, with my mind, am serving the law of God. But on the other, with my flesh, the law of sin. So, how is he summing up the question, is the law sin? I guess you'd say, he said many times, may it never be, because he didn't know the law, he wouldn't know what covenant was, and somewhere in there it says that Jesus basically puts the law away and we're under grace now. So, I guess the question is, he's saying is the law sin? No. The Bible reads differently. It says, um, let's see. You didn't get a better Bible. It kind of changes the whole meaning of that question even.

It says, in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. It doesn't say it's the law of sin. If I may, that sounds like the principle of sin. Say it again. I'll read the whole, well, thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. To the law of sin?

Yeah. Yeah. Let me look at it and pull this up here. Oops, too far here. Yeah, I don't, it is not like the law, so it's the principle of sin. Right. Yeah. I mean, it makes that question not a real question. I mean, it's not... Is he saying, I guess, it is... the flesh, let me find it here, with my flesh the law of sin. So what, I guess, what's he saying in that? How's he summing up his law of sin? That's not what the Bible says, that's not the real question. Well, is he trying to equate sin with the law in any of that? The law of God, you know, I guess it's kind of... Not the law. Right, the law. It's not the law. No. Right, it's not the law.

So, it is the law principle. So, is he equating sin to the law principle? What do you define the law principle as? in this one in the flesh. So, basically, I think he's getting to the end. Remember what I'll remember in chapter 6 and 7. started in chapter 6 but then in chapter 7 he goes into a lot of explanation about the law and the law principle and all that and we tried to equate last time that was Paul trying to shirk his responsibility that it wasn't me doing all this stuff and who was it and this law of sin or what's in the flesh he wasn't trying to equate that back to the law at all And he said, it's in my flesh. So what was in his flesh? The sin nature. What principle does that operate by? The law of sin and death. The law of sin and death.

So I guess the question is that, it's more broad, it's not specifically this, it was more about, is he equating anything to the law and that that is sin? The answer is no. as she says, it's not the law that's being brought out here, it's not the law, so it's not trying to equate that. But he's trying, I think, to say after the summation of all this, that it's not the law, the law that is creating this, it's the law of sin, the principle of sin. So I said the Apostles, and this is actually from Alfred in Newell's book, the Apostles prove that it is not, or is the law sin? The Apostles prove that it is not, but the law is holy from the information in chapter 6 and 7. He has shown the relationship it holds to sin, namely that of giving life to it by means of man's natural aversion to the commandments. So again, he's just kind of summarizing that it wasn't the law that does it, it's the law of sin, sin and death.

So the question was meant to just elicit that he wasn't trying to say that it was THE LAW, it's the sinful nature, the principle of sin within you. So, if you look back at Romans 7, 7-9, I would not have come to know sin except through THE LAW, now going back to THE LAW, that's what I'm trying to say, he's trying to differentiate between THE LAW and the principle of law of sin and death. For I would not have known about coveting if the law had said, You shall not covet.

But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the law. But when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died again." So that's comparing the law to the sin nature. The law creates sin. It makes it alive. But it is not the law that is sin. It was out of Newell's book basically.

So he has further shown that in himself, even as delivered by Christ Jesus, a conflict between the law and sin is ever going on, the misery of which would be death itself were it not a glorious deliverance effected. He now sums up his vindication of the law as holy and at the same time sums up the other side of the evidence added in the passage from which it appears that the flesh is still, even in the spiritual man, subject, essentially not practically or energetically, to the law of sin. So the flesh is still subject to the law of sin. So that's what I'm trying to get at. It's the law of sin nature. The law of sin and death is in your flesh. The law itself is not bad. It's holy and just.

Again, kind of a backwards way of getting at it a little bit. I think there are several other things that Paul sums up in chapter 8. Again, you've got to take everything. We get things in very small chunks and we take a little bit and we look at it under the microscope. When you step back and look at everything between chapters 6, 7, and 8, what is expressed there?

All the things, the identification truths that are in chapter 6 and how, we'll get into this a little bit later, how we're placed into Christ and what that means and how we're separated from the law. And then we get into chapter 7, where Paul, even though he knows all this, struggles with it. He tries to do it in and of himself, which we come to the verses we're going at today, which is, who will deliver me? It's a who will deliver me? Christ, or God, will deliver me. So, again, when we look at these things, there are several things that are summarized here, and I think from Newell, he did a good job here.

The sinner is not forgiven by what Christ now does, but by faith in what he did do at the cross. For the word of the cross is the power of God. Just so the believer is not delivered by what Christ does for him now, but in the revelation to his soul of identification with Christ's death at the cross. It will be by the Holy Spirit that this deliverance is wrought in us.

And I think that's key. It's not for what Christ does for us now. It's what he did on the cross. That's the key. That's the separation. That's where we get our separation from the old man, positionally. And so, it's not as important of what Christ is doing now, but what he did at the cross.

That is the foundation of everything in our spiritual growth. So again, if you don't understand that, you're not going to understand all the growth that you have through being separated from the old man. But that establishes our growth in the future. Our faith in the future. I want to go back.

The most important thing is what he did on the cross for us. That starts everything off, because that's our co-crucifixion. That's what's in Romans 6. That's everything. And that's where I think a lot of believers now struggle and don't grow. It's because it's in the old man improvement society. All the programs that you do, all the things to improve you. What was the best thing that God did?

It was to crucify our old man on the cross. And raise the new man to life. And a new man. Reckon yourself dead, alive in the God. But if you don't understand that, about what the cross... You know, it's... That's what he has on his chest. Raise your... Day lady. What is the... Take up your cross, you know, daily. My son has it tattooed on his chest. Not this one? Not this one. The other one. The other one has it tattooed on his chest. Very large. TMI, I know that's TMI.

But again, it's the daily recognition that we are co-crucified, we are separated. It's the daily reckoning yourself dead and alive unto God. So again, it's going back to the important part. It's not, you know, the whole foundation is what Christ did on the cross.

Then Paul explains, because of that, and we'll get into it towards question eight, I think, is about what for. It's now what, because of that, what is true about you? What happens now? And then I think the now would be the walk in the Spirit? Yes, all that. And it's more about, Realizing who you are in Christ, that's the important part. Yeah, you've got to get there first. You've got to be in Christ first. That's what it is.

It's always coming back to this foundational truth. that we were co-crucified with Christ, Romans 6, and that we are now alive in Christ because of what that transfer happened, our death to the old man, separation, death means separation, so we're separated, but now we have a new life in us, two natures, which we find very evident in Romans 7. Don't do that again. We're not doing that again. We're not doing that. Position and condition are two different things. Alright, so I like that though, that it's not what Christ does now, but faith in what he did at the cross.

That's the important thing that gets us to the point where the Holy Spirit is the one who convicts and does the work. When we get into it, we'll see, I think it's in Galatians 5, it's the spirit versus the flesh and flesh versus the spirit. That's the one The battle is between those two. The important part is how we got into the new man, the new life in Christ, and that's what was explained in Romans 6.

Also from Neal, to sum up Paul's great discoveries and the struggles of chapter 7, he says, that sin dwelt in him, though he delighted in God's law. That his will was powerless against it. That his sinful self was not his real self, or his new man in Christ. That there was deliverance through our Lord Jesus Christ, the who, and who will deliver me. So those are the important parts that you see when he comes through chapter 7. Again, I think the key ones are that his will was powerless against the sin nature.

And is that, I mean, is that a lesson for all of us? You know, and again, when we go back to, I think it's Galatians 5, the flesh versus the spirit, the spirit versus the flesh, again, that's the battle. And I always get pissed at you, and I always say, we're supposed to fight the good fight? Nobody finishes that.

What is the next part of that verse? Faith. Of faith. My son is laughing at me. I always say this. You know, and my emphasis of faith. It's the fight of faith. So what does that mean? Are we supposed to take up and really go after everything, do everything? What does faith mean? Believe. Believe in all the things that are true. That's our fight, is believe in who you are in Christ.

It's not to go out and slay dragons. It's to believe who you are in Christ and all the truths that we have in the Word that tells us who we are in Christ and what that means. So, again, I think the key was in chapter 7 for me was that you can't do it. You can't beat the sin nature in you, yourself. And it was never meant to be. It's the Holy Spirit. What we'll see in verse 2 of chapter 8, it's the Spirit. And then we'll see later, as Paul reveals in Galatians 5 and others, where it's the Spirit's job to do this, to fight, not us. So, question four.

Paul's intelligence and reason told him what about the law? These are these kind of broad questions, kind of hard to focus in. So, Paul's intelligence and reason told him what about the law? That is unclear. What law? I think what Mike's intent was of the law.

So Paul says, therefore, so far as concerns his moral intelligerea, he approves and pays reverence to God's law. Again, it's reading a Bible. Again, I think what it should be is capped on this one, the law. It's again proving out that Paul is not saying that the law is bad, that there's nothing wrong with God's law. Does it apply to him anymore? No. But he's not saying that the law is the one who's doing this.

It's his sinful flesh that's doing it. So Paul confesses, I myself with the mind indeed, this is a real renewed self with which the apostle has over and over again said that sin dwelleth in him, was not. So he's saying sin dwelleth in not me, that's not who the new man is in me. He says with the mind, all the spiritual faculties including indeed the soul, faculties of reason, imagination, sensibility, which even now are being renewed by the Holy Spirit day by day. He's confessing that the law is good and holy, and with his mind now, he's being convicted by the Holy Spirit or led by the Holy Spirit to address this sinful flesh. In the end, he finally realizes, I can't do it. Who's going to do it? We'll see it in, again, verse 2. In verse 1 we get, therefore there is no condemnation, but in the second one it's the law of the Spirit of Christ, of Jesus Christ.

So, again, he's kind of, he told them that the law is good, but that's not, the law isn't going to save him, isn't going to change him, isn't going to do anything. In fact, the law will only excite sin. That's all it's meant to do, is to excite sin. So, he's realizing that it's holy, but the law is not going to help him, not going to get him out of this. It's the who in verse 25. So, in question 5, what is the other? See, this is very targeted by Mike on these questions. What are the other things Paul's reason and intelligence told him about sin?

Being in bondage to sin, made of flesh, sold under sin, the flesh carries him its own way and commands his allegiance to the market of sin. He saw it at last and bowed to it, that all he was by the flesh, by nature, was irrevocably committed to sin. So he gave up. to see himself holy in Christ, who now lived in him, and to walk, not by the law, even as opposed to the powers of the quickened life, but by the Spirit only, in whose power alone in the Christian life is to be lived." So again, what he finds is that he cannot do it himself, and he has sinful flesh. Even though he has a renewed spirit, again, there's two now in him, the old man in the flesh and the new man in the spirit. And he's realizing the battle there and that he can't do it himself. He realizes that he needs somebody, the who, and it's Christ. And we're going to see that it's the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that will set him free from this battle.

So, any other thoughts? I guess the question I have is, do you see your life in the same manner? Do you see a struggle? You're all perfect. I like this. I want to be hanging around with you guys. I don't feel like it's a struggle so much as repeated remorse or something. Repeated remorse. Feeling bad about what you did? Yeah, or thought or whatever, you know, because it was not helpful. I think the thing is, which Mike said, and we've talked about it several times, you know, which is the sin that you didn't want to do?

Any of them. You wanted to do them all because you did them. You wanted to do it. And that's the hard part is, you know, and that's the flesh. The flesh is screaming. And I like that quote that, well, I think I have. Did I read that one? No, maybe not. It's coming up about faith and what it means to the old man. You know, I think the biggest thing is, and Carol, I think the one that, when you talk about remorse, and I think of, and it's been a lot with, when believers sin, and they're just beaten down by that sin, is that what they should be done? How they should react to it? They're not focused in the wrong place. Though I think we need to admit that that happened.

First John 1.9. And that's the confession. You're agreeing with God. What you did is not how you should be living as a new believer, a new person in Christ. That's the confession.

First John 1.9. But I think a lot of believers beat themselves up for good periods of time for whatever sin they did. And they get beaten down by it. Was that sin not covered by what Christ did on the cross? It was. Everything was covered. Every sin that you're going to do from today on, today past, was covered. So, when you do that sin, and did God allow you to do that? Yes, he did. And so, when you do that, you confess it.

It's not who I am in Christ. I'm not acting as who I am in Christ. And you're done with it. You're done. Many believers I've seen just torn down by, you know, maybe they, I don't know, I just met, you know, got drunk, and oh my, and made a fool of themselves. And they're dragged down for weeks, months, years because of that. Did God pay for that sin? He did. Is that, if you confess that, it's not who, and you don't, it's just agreeing with God. That's not how I'm at. Is God done with it? Was he done with it on the cross? Why aren't you done with it? And that's why I think a lot of believers get dragged down. I keep telling them, God paid for that.

He knew about it. He knew about it before He even did it. You are acting in not who you are in Christ. Admit it. Confess it. And move on. He allowed you for the reason to draw you closer for His purposes. And don't be beaten down by it. Don't be dragged down. Because that's the flesh. The flesh wants you to be dragged down. Get away from that fellowship with the Lord. That's His purpose. And so don't be dragged down by that.

Years ago when I was at a Bible study, there was a really sweet gal there who had some major mental problems and was on all kinds of meds. But when she was on her meds she was fine and just the sweetest Christian you ever saw. And she asked me one time if I could lead worship at a mental hospital. Because I used to lead worship years ago.

But anyway, so this young girl, she was just devastated. And I was trying to figure out what it is. It was just so tormenting. And she said, I read in the Bible that I'm supposed to be perfect, like my Heavenly Father is perfect. destroying her because she didn't understand what we're talking about.

You know, and I think a lot of people, and that's why I think it's so critical to see, and I think this is why it's in scripture, is Paul's struggle. Yeah. And I keep going back to that. Paul spent three years with the Lord in the desert, in Arabia, learning all these things. Personal time. And yet, here he is struggling. What about us? I mean, he had the indwelling, we have the indwelling, the Holy Spirit, but he struggled with it.

I think the whole purpose of that is to show us we're not going to be perfect. You're not perfect. While you have this, the new man is perfect, but the other one that's living is, you know, two natures here, the flesh. And what we see in this one is, in my flesh dwells nothing that is good.

And you can't just shake it off. Until we get rid of this shell, we're going to struggle with it. Until we step into eternity, we still have that sin nature associated with our flesh. And that's what Paul's saying here. And there is no perfect believer if they have a flesh. Because there's nothing good that's in the flesh. I think the foundational thing is to make sure that people understand that everything was paid for. Paul implores us to walk according to the Spirit, not according to the flesh.

There are times when we walk according to the flesh. And what does that get us? Everything that Paul is doing here in chapter 7 and our sins, whatever, leads us into that. And then the flesh tries to get us out. The sinful flesh can get us out of this. We'll work this thing out. I've got a program for you. I've got things we can do. Paul, who spent three years with the Lord, could not do it. How are we going to do it? I think that's the whole purpose of this, is that we can't. Paul couldn't. We can't.

So, did you have something? I thought you could raise your hand. What blew my mind was when you read chapter 5 of Romans and 6 of Romans, here's exactly how you do it. You've got this nail in chapter 7. Paul who wrote 5 and 6 is struggling. And realize the time frame when he did this. This is way after he saw the glorified Lord, spent the time with him. This isn't like before he did this. It's after. So, and he has this struggle.

So again, I think the whole purpose... Why do you think Peter, you know, look at the apostles, look at a lot of it, you know, look at Abraham. If you look at Hebrews 11, he's a hallmark of faith and what his faith got him and all that. Did you look at his life? The guy was kind of not the greatest guy.

This is my sister. He did a lot of shady things, but in the end his faith was kind of his righteousness. I'm not going to deny you. What do you mean I'm not going to deny you? The Bible is rife with examples of people who are not perfect. And that gives us, I think, the knowledge that we won't be perfect until we shirk this shell. And I think that's the key from all of Romans 7, to where you get to the point where a wretched man, I mean, there's nothing good in me.

Who will deliver me? Who? Again, Mike hit it last week. It's a person. It's not a program. It's a person. And again, from Romans 6, it's the person of Christ. And we'll see again in verse 2 of 8 that it's the law of the Spirit of Christ Jesus in us. Does verse 25, question 6, does verse 25 describe Paul? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ the Lord. So then on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other hand with my flesh the law of sin.

So, does that describe him? That he is a sinner, fallen, No help, no way out. Well, it's not that he didn't have help. I'm not sure help is the right word. But it's there no matter what you do or think. You're not going to totally ignore it the whole rest of your life.

So you think this is how Paul lived the rest of his life? Struggling with sin? Probably. I think he had, let's put it this way, do you think struggling with sin was the key characteristic of his life? No, it was his focus on the Lord. You have to direct your focus.

But I think as you've seen all the rest of the epistles, And here he's coming to understand that. Somewhere in his life's experience, he came to this point where he said, look, I can't do it. And then as you see the rest of the epistles, see all the truths that he brings out about what it means to be in Christ. And I think as he goes on, he realizes his struggle and realizes his struggle. What about the thorn in his side? You know, I implored the Lord three times. before he said, in weakness there will be strength. Through what? Through Christ. So I think he struggled with some of those things. Hey, whatever it is, remove this.

And God didn't. So I think it was not sin at that point, but should he be the champion runner? Was he a great eloquent speaker? And he wasn't. Yeah, he wasn't. So again, he used the guy who has a thorn in his side, Lippiton or whatever he's got. He struggled with sin. I promise he didn't. There were a lot of different things.

But I think as Paul goes on in his life, he realizes more and more of these truths. And I think that's why he leaves it for us in the scripture. ultimately is to say, yeah, I went through that and I'm going to go through that. But I don't think it characterizes life as the key. I don't think this is what his struggle was day in and day out. I think he realized this.

And I'm sure like with most believers, you don't feel like you're sinning every minute of your life or that's your whole character of your life. But when you do sin, you can't do it yourself. You can't fix it yourself. I think it would be true to say that because Paul definitely had a sin nature just like us, it was battling against him until his last breath.

Oh yeah. But see, I think in the spiritual growth you realize more and more what is of the flesh and what is of the spirit. I think that's where the maturity and the growth comes, is you begin to realize what is of the flesh and what is of the spirit. And I think that's where Paul goes through his life. He's living it. He's experiencing it. This was a time when he's expressing what he goes through.

And I think as he goes through his life, as with us, if we grow in the knowledge of Christ, 2 Peter 3.18, grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, we understand those things that are of the flesh. When it's works, when it's something we have to do, when it's that, is that from the spirit or from the flesh? Flesh. When it's us, when it's our battle, when we get involved in the battle, it's of the flesh.

And that's I think the whole key of all of this is what he's expressing. So how do we avoid or find relief from this struggle, the same struggle? Walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit. How do we avoid it? I mean, yes, we're walking, but that involves something. How do we avoid it?

Read your Bible more. Pray more. Go to Bible studies. Go to Sunday school. All of them. What is it that gets us through this struggle? Holy Spirit. It's the one who does it. Christ. For us. What is it? Trust in the Lord. Bingo. Faith. Trust in the Lord. Faith. Believe what is true about you.

Paul goes into all these epistles and explains who you are in Christ. Do we believe it? Do you have a new spirit in Christ? Do you believe that you've been co-crucified? That you have a new man in you? Do you believe all the truths that Paul lays out?

That's where the victory comes, is in believing all the things that are true about you. And all the things that, you know, I put together a whole bunch of things that are, in the scripture, tells that are true about us, or principles about life in Christ, If we believe that, that's where the growth comes from, that's where the victory comes from, and that conviction, that convincing is through the Holy Spirit, but it's us taking the facts that are explained in the scripture, the Holy Spirit convincing us, but we have to believe it.

And that's where we avoid this struggle, is believing it. If you don't, you're sunk. And that's the only thing He requires of us. Because, I know, she hates this word, unmeritorious. There's no merit, there's no value, no quid pro quo, there's no if you do this, if you get this, there's no value to it other than what Christ, just believing. It's unmeritorious. So there's nothing we can do other than believe. That's all he calls us to do. And so again, that's the way we avoid this is by faith.

And I basically said, by faith believe in the truth of the gospel as detailed in Romans 6, 1-11, that we died with Christ and are now alive unto God in Christ risen, that the indwelling Holy Spirit has taken over the conflict with the flesh and is the whole for a triumphant walk. There is no condemnation to those who have been placed into Christ and that there is now no separation from God's love. Can you get by? The struggles with that? That's just the beginning. And this is the one I like to quote, and this is about the faith. And this is from Newell. I like this.

The path of faith is the most hateful path possible for the flesh. Faith gives the flesh no place, leaves no part for man's will and energy. The flesh will go to any degree of religious self-denial or self-inflicted suffering, anything but death. And what is the one thing in Romans 6? Death, separation from it. He wants to be alive, wants to scream, wants you to do everything possible, but believe what's true about you. in Christ. So I like that.

The path of faith is the most hateful path possible for the flesh. If you believe in what is true about you in Christ, will the flesh have victory? No. We have to believe. That's the only thing you're called to do, is believe. The same faith that saved you is the same faith you need to believe in all the truths that Paul lays out about you in Christ. That's how you avoid the struggle. So, question 7.

Where is the only place that there is no condemnation for the believer? Those who are placed and sealed in Christ. And we get that from verses 1 and 2 of chapter 8. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." So, in Christ. Where else is there no condemnation? Nowhere else. Nowhere else. So, again, the placement.

And where do you get the Where does it say we're placed into Christ? We say that, but where do you see that in the scripture? Ephesians 1, 12 and 13. Go ahead and read it. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed, you were The view of the redemption of God's own possession for the praise of His glory. Placed and sealed. Placed and sealed. Okay. Any others? Romans 6, 3 and 4.

Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. And continuing on with verse 5.

If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. So again, what does baptism mean? Placed into you. So we've been baptized into Christ. placed into Christ. So again, and we've been baptized into his death, our co-crucifixion, we've been placed into death through his co-crucifixion. But in verse 5, what are we also?

Raised into life. In his resurrection. We've been placed into his resurrection. We have new life through him. So again, from Newell, The words in Christ Jesus express that glorious place God has given the believer. The question is not at all now one of justification, but one of position in Christ risen, where condemnation is not and cannot be. There cannot be degrees here. Men are either in Christ or not in Him. Again, there is no middle lane in this thing. You're either in Christ or not. And if you're in Christ, there's no condemnation. If you're not in Christ, is there condemnation?

Absolutely. Absolutely. And the thing I was thinking about when I was putting this together too, do you realize that Christ paid for every sin ever that was committed or will be committed, for every human being on the planet? Yes. It wasn't just for us. It was every human being. So, that paid for everything. So what is the... So is everybody in Christ? You have to believe. What's it come back to? Believe. Believe in... What is it in Ephesians?

You're saved by grace So, it was a gracious act through faith. Gracious. So, the dying on the cross and paying for all the sin, was that enough? It is unacceptable. Why do you accept it? If you don't accept it, it's a gracious offer. He paid for all of it. Now, God said through their covenant that he would pay for all sins. Now he's offering salvation through Christ. to anybody, saved by grace through faith.

You have to believe it. Otherwise, the gift is not there. Life, your position in Christ, your place where there's no condemnation, is all based on you believing that Christ died on the cross, was very resurrected, and you were co-crucified on the cross. with him. Believe that and you have eternal life and no condemnation.

Not a bad deal. Not a bad deal. And you know, it's pretty high price that we have to pay for this, right? A lot of work, a lot of effort, by faith. Alright, let's close. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. We thank you again just for your plan of salvation as we realize that it is a free gift, a gracious act by you, Father, offering us salvation through the finished work of your Son on the cross. We just thank you that it's not a program, it's not effort, it's not anything.

It's by simple faith, believing in what Christ did and what he paid for on the cross, all of our sins. We were sinners. and again that you paid for all the sins of every human being and that you offered salvation to everyone. through simple faith in your son. And we just thank you for the life we have in Christ, that you have placed us in Christ. And now we have the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

We just thank you for that position we have. May I just pray for JD as he gives us the message in the next meeting. Pray you'll just direct him and prepare our hearts to receive it. And we thank you again for this time we've had to study your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.