As Christians, sometimes our daily battle against sin feels crushing. At times we become defeated, even doubting the legitimacy of our salvation in Christ.
Well, Romans chapter 8 in the Bible holds a liberating truth. And today, on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindahl unpacks Paul's magnificent declaration that there is no condemnation for those in Christ. words that bring profound relief to every believer battling against their flesh. Paul masterfully lays the theological foundation of our salvation. And it's nothing but good news.
You're eternally secure, internally free, and positionally righteous. For a change this morning, I'd like you to leave your Bible in your seat. and simply stand. Out of respect for the Word of God and the God of the Word. Hear the truth of Scripture.
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 of death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did.
Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. As an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For the mind set on the flesh is death. But the mind set on the spirit is life. and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. For it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.
And those who are in the flesh. cannot please God.
However, you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, He does not belong to him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin. Yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.
through His Spirit who dwells in you.
So then, Brethren, We are under obligation not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die. But If by the Spirit you are putting to death, The deeds of the body. You will live. You're listening to Insight for Living.
To dig deeper into the Book of Romans on your own, be sure to purchase our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook. by going to insight.org slash offer. Chuck called today's message, Let's Talk About Our Walk. It's easy to think that some people have a corner on spirituality. If you're around them enough, you become impressed with their consistency.
They don't fly off the handle. They don't seem to get under the stress of the pressure. of their situation. They seem to pray Sincerely and deeply and often They don't seem to worry as much as you and I do, and when you're around them, there is that.
Well, I hate to use the word, but there's almost like an aura. of genuine maturity about them. When I study, for example, the lives of the Old Testament prophets, I come to that conclusion: they must have been men like that. who lived their lives under the sword. Most of them died young as martyrs.
turned on by their own people. misunderstood, misrepresented. By those who were themselves misguided. and misdirected.
Some of the great preachers of the past were like this.
Some of those who worked in education and missionary enterprise. They seem to stand taller than the crowd. When God led me to begin my studies for ministry at Dallas Theological Seminary, I sat in a chapel named after the man who had founded the school. Unfortunately, he had died seven years before I arrived as a student. Which means that most, if not all, of my professors had not only known him, but been mentored by him.
I said in Schaefer Chapel. Named after Lewis Sperry Chaffer. A true theological giant. A man whose name appears, I just checked yesterday, in my encyclopedia of Who's Who in the Theological World, especially among evangelicals. There he is.
By name. I remember as I sat there in the chapel my first year. I tried to imagine what it would have been like. to have known him. I've seen him.
This man who now towers in my mind above most of those I've ever known. I pictured him as a man who stood maybe six feet four. Six five. Chisel features. A commanding presence, a strong voice.
Competent expositor, one who rarely knew weakness. Just sort of stood like a steer in a blizzard. against the times in which he lived. And then I saw a picture of him. Then I began to hear the stories of those from my professors.
adon him and Some of them even lived with him. Who had walked those hallways? in his shadow. and had been taught by him. He wasn't impressive at all physically.
As a matter of fact, his last days He was bound to a wheelchair from which he taught. His hands shook with age. Here he was in his eighties, still holding forth, but in weakness. His face wasn't a chiseled face. He didn't stand all that tall.
And he was a bit stooped. Seem to give the appearance of Not being the statesman, I Thought he was. Yeah. The other day, Dr. Mark Young sent me an email.
He said, I'm. I just came across a letter from Dr. Chaffer. Would you like a copy? I go.
Yes, I would like very much to see it. It's dated February 27, 1897. It's written on Chaffer's 26th birthday. to his mother. whom he affectionately calls Mama.
I like that. Here is this theologian. before he has become such. Before his name has become a household word, especially in the southwest. Before he has ever even thought of founding a seminary, before he has ever written the first book.
Hear the words of a simple man. I am four years younger than Christ. When he began his life's work, and it may be four full years before I began mine. My poor life has not been Very much unusual. He refers to sorrows and trials.
He even admits to a conflict that's been going on in his own life. and then briefly describes it to his mama. He reflects on the fact that his father died when he was 11. I've often wondered, as you have, why dear papa should need to go on. Before even before we could realize very much about it.
Or by our realization, be very much comfort to you in all the burden and sorrow. There were those long days and Enduring difficult times at New Lynn and Oberlin, he went to Oberlin College and was a music major. Known first as a musician before he was known as a theologian, then. He even says at the end. There's nothing short of a definite and constant Christian work that will fill my longings.
And this may be small and by the world's standard very little. Very little. Before he has died, he has left for us in his legacy an eight-volume set on theology. The monumental work on He That Is Spiritual. Grace.
Satan And, who knows, a dozen or so more books, most of which are in my library. worn by age and use. But he's just an ordinary guy. who calls his mother mama. Ah, but there's another side.
When you read deeper into the letter, you find that He adds, Every day is full of rich and deep fullness. Life is not a sorrow to me. I can live a fearless Christian life, and I can bring joy to my Lord and to others. The Father is giving me blessed insight into His Word. I know that by the Spirit's power, I can do anything.
If I trust in my poor self or think much of that, there will be no fruit. I wish more young men could know the joy of getting beyond the fear or even the care of this world and love the souls of men and women and be willing to be nothing or everything in God's hands. How could there be such a dichotomy? This week almost important looking man. And yet at the other side The strength.
This determination Little did he know then that 27 years later he would found a school in the midst of. A liberal world that was going south. Where the great theological seminaries were adrift. Moving further and further away from the watershed issues. The inerrancy of the scriptures, the inspiration of the word of God, the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The certainty of his soon return and on and on the doctrines go. Little did he know he would be one of those quoted by Those he would leave. as his students. Really for decades to come. The difference.
Get this. was the Holy Spirit. It was the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. That won his heart and turned him. From one you would see is just another ordinary man.
To an individual who had vision and dreams and determination and faith. that puts him among those we would most admire. And I thought In reading the letter, I've just read Romans 7. And Romans 8. At the end of Romans 7, Paul writes, in all honesty, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this death-like body?
And before the ink is dry on the parchment, he adds, Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. On the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the law of God. On the other hand, with my flesh, the law of sin. There is this.
battle this conflict, this struggle within me. One path would lead me into the flesh. and one path would lead me into the work of the Spirit. Because within me Implies the Apostle Paul, there is both an old nature and a new nature, and the same is true for us, as the same was true for Chaefer. Within every one of us, there are these conflicting.
constantly conflicting forces. One driving us down, the other one driving us up and onward. One pulling at our glands to convince us that yielding to temptation is the only way to go. If it feels good, do it. On the other hand, there is the Spirit of God saying no, no, no.
Walk with me. Trust in me. I will take you from this normal carnal lifestyle into a. a realm that would cause others to be amazed. at your life.
Even those in your family. Even those who know you and love you the best.
So when we come to Romans 8, we come to this marvelous pivot point where the Spirit of God is introduced to the letter. And for the reader, we come to realize that this is for our benefit.
Now, I'm going to say something here I rarely say. I'd like you to take that outline that I've given you, and I'd like you to get a pen or a pencil, and I'd like you to have both handy. I want you to write some things down. I've learned over the years that thoughts disentangle themselves over the lips and through the fingertips. And so your thoughts will become untangled as you write them down.
Just a few words here and there, because you will need this this week. It won't be 20 years from now, you'll need this probably before sunset. Because the enemy of your soul is hearing everything that you're hearing, and he's already plotting your spiritual drop. Your demise. He's going to bring something that will irritate you.
He's going to bring something that will cause you to grit your teeth and say, I am not going to do that. And he knows he's got you.
So you need to write some things down. All right. First of all, Notice in verse 1: there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. Write this down. We are eternally secure in Christ.
You will never be insecure in Christ. We are eternally secure. in Christ. Let the words no condemnation. get riveted into your brain.
Whether things are going well or poorly, whether it's daylight or dark, whether you are in a crowd or all alone, whether it's early in the week or late, whether you are enjoying the prosperity of God's economy in your life, or you are at wit's end economically, there will be no condemnation to those in Christ. You are eternally secure. When you come to Christ by faith, God never says, get out of my family, get out of my life. We'll get into this further on, but put this down. You are eternally secure.
Second. Notice in verse 2: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. We are internally free. You are eternally secure. We are internally.
Free. And this becomes very important when the battle rages. when the old nature says, I want my way. You have a new nature that says you're not going to get your way.
Now, before Christ, you had no new nature. Before you came to the Lord Jesus by faith and because of his grace. There was no way you could win that battle. Temptation occurred, temptation was yielded to. The flesh says, do this.
The flesh acted and did it.
Something selfish could happen, something selfish occurred. You had no way of fighting it. But now you do. Because you have internally been emancipated. Sin no longer has dominance over you.
Oh, it's there. But it's not in charge. You determine who's in charge. You can say to the Spirit of God, take over, speak through me, use me, give me strength, keep me from saying yes. Hold me back from that temptation, and the Spirit of God comes to your rescue, and you're freed from the dominance of the old nature.
As one man put it, we've got two dogs living inside us.
Someone asks, well, which one obeys?
Well, whichever one you say sickum to. will obey. Your old nature, if you let it go, you will act like you've never come to Christ. You will live a life that looks like you're not even born again. That explains why some Christians.
Um Good morning. are not known in their work world or in their neighborhood as Christians. They're not living like Christians. They're saying yes to the old nature. And the Spirit of God is grieved, the Spirit of God is quenched.
You can live like that if you choose, or you could take the path of the Spirit of God. You are internally freed, whereas before Christ there was no freedom. You were caught up in the clutches of your old nature. Number three. Verses 3 and 4.
What the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did. What is it that the law tried to do?
Well, it tried to make us holy. The law announced, Do this, don't do that. If you do this, you are holy. If you don't do that, you are righteous. Do that, don't do this.
And it gave no power to pull it off, but God did. When he sent Christ in the likeness of sinful flesh as an offering for sin, condemning the control of sin in the flesh, verse 4, so that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled by us? No, it doesn't say that. The requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. As the Spirit of God takes charge inside us, a righteousness.
Occurs. It's a marvelous experience. of walking in a level you never dreamed possible for yourself.
So the third I want you to write, we are positionally righteous. Verses three and four. We are positionally righteous, eternally secure. internally freed positionally righteous.
Now that's just to start. That just gets us going. When times are hard, when nights are lonely, when things are turning, when you seem like you're all alone, go back to these three great truths: I am secure in Christ. I am freed from the things that once dominated me, and thank the Lord before God. I am righteous in his eyes.
As the poet put it, nearer, still nearer, nearer I cannot be, for in the person of his son, I am as near as he. Use the word righteous. Righteous, still righteous. Righteous, I cannot be, but in the person of his Son, I am as righteous as he. You are in God's eyes righteous.
So, you don't have to work and labor and strive and pray and plead to somehow get God to listen. Does he listen to his son? Then he listens to you. Because you were in Christ, the same righteousness that applies to his Son applies to you in God's eyes. It's called grace.
Now then. You say, man, I'm home free, not really. Remember, they got the old nature, and you got the new nature, and they are fighting with each other. And the old nature never will get better. The old nature never says, okay.
You win. The Spirit of God went, nope, the old nature says, just wait till the next time. Just wait till tomorrow. Just wait until the next temptation. The old nature is creative.
The old nature has got a long time in grade. We used to say in the military, long time has been doing this. He's been controlling you so much of your life. Then you came to Christ. He still wants to control you, but he doesn't have the dominance.
Remember the message on emancipation out of Romans 6? You've been emancipated.
Okay, what we've got now is the two natures working against one another. Let's track the old nature, okay? It's called here in your outline the flesh. And by flesh, we're referring to the fallen. Egocentric human nature.
The Adamic part of us, when Adam fell, we fell. The sinfulness of the human life, that's the old nature. The spiritual life, or the spirit, is literally the third member of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit. You have living within you the person of the Holy Spirit.
Is that great or what? He has your address. He lives inside your system. He's ready to take control of your mind. He's ready to clean up your thoughts.
Duh. He's there. He's anxious to say to you: trust me, and I'll clean up your language, I'll clean up your mind. I'll redirect your eyes. I'll take control of your will.
But the old nature Well, that's another subject. Let's track these two. They're like a piece of fabric, and we're going to pull the threads out as we work our way through verses 5 through 11, okay? First of all, let's look at the old nature, the flesh. What happens when I walk according to the flesh?
Verse five. Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. First thing to write down. a fleshly mindset. Verse 5.
There is a mental orientation towards sin. My impulses begin to control me and begin to dominate me, and the self-serving desires kick into action. The Spirit of God is grieved, doesn't want that. But I've made that choice. If the old nature kicks in, there is a fleshly mindset.
Look at verse 6. Here's the second one. For the mind set on the flesh is death. Don't go any further. I want that to hit you with full force.
A death-like existence kicks in. Write that down. A death-like existence, verse 7. There is within you and me an emptiness, a futility. A frustration.
We're plagued then by shame and guilt. because the old nature took control. Paul's letter to the Romans is filled with theological insights. Like this one. Shame and guilt are rooted in our sin nature.
And when we allow a sinful mindset to fester, the outcome is emptiness and frustration. Chuck Swindahl is teaching from Romans chapter 8. He titled today's message, Let's Talk About Our Walk. If you're ready to learn more, Insight for Living has a collection of helpful study tools for this teaching series on Romans. First, we'd like to send you the Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbook for Romans.
This spiral bound resource comes in two volumes and Volume 1 is available now.
Next, the bundle includes Chuck's commentary on Romans from the Living Insights Commentary Collection. and third, it includes audio messages for Volume one of this teaching series. You can check out this special bundle of resources by going to insight.org/slash offer. or call us at eight hundred seven seven two eighty eight eighty eight. Insight for Living is made possible on your station and all the other ways you can hear Chuck's teaching because of grateful listeners who give voluntary donations.
And today, our team would like to express our profound thanks to our monthly companions. That's our family of loyal monthly supporters. Monthly Companions provide strength and stability to Insight for Living Ministries. and you can become a part of this family of friends right now by going online and following the simple instructions. By doing so, you'll ensure that Chuck's teaching continues on your station.
But here's the best part. you'll play a significant role in extending God's love to those who've never experienced His grace before. Plus, when you become a monthly companion right now, we'd be pleased to provide you with a special gift offer. It's a free downloadable PDF of Chuck's study from Romans chapter 5. It's all about Abraham's friendship with God.
And in that message, Chuck describes five benefits that God grants to his friends. You'll find it online at insight.org slash monthly companion. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us again when Chuck Swindahl continues to celebrate the good news in Romans chapter 8. Tuesday on Insight for Living.
The preceding message, Let's Talk About Our Walk, was copyrighted in 2007, 2010, and 2025, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2025 by Charles R. Swindahl, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
