Romans 8:1-10 Lent 4
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
March 30, 2024
WE GET GRACE INSTEAD OF CONDEMNATION Karma is an ancient belief that’s prominent in Hinduism. The belief is that your intentions and actions influence your future and your reincarnation, your situation in your next life. So, you think and do good things, then good things will happen to you and, in addition, your next life will be a favorable upgrade. Bad motivations and behavior result in bad things happening to you and then a downgrade for your next life. I don’t have to say any more to convince you that Christians have no business even using the word karma, do I? It’s from another religion, your position after death is dependent on your works, and heaven isn’t a thing, you’re simply born into the world again as another creature or a human in better or worse circumstances. So, if that’s a word you have used—even casually—or a philosophy you have believed in…trash that. Today is the last day for that. As a Christian, you wouldn’t want people to think that you believe that or that it is even a real thing! The reality is that with God, things are entirely different! God does not operate on a merit-based system. He operates from a heart of grace. That’s what we’re thinking about in worship today and what we find in what Paul wrote to Christians living in Rome. His words are for us too because we have the same natural spiritual condition they did, and God’s approach toward sinful people hasn’t changed in the least since then. If you want to simply summarize these truths: we’re a mess, and God’s love is amazing. 1. We Deserve Condemnation (v. 5-8) The Apostle Paul was a brilliant man—gifted and called by God and author of 13 books of the Bible. If you’ve looked for a favorite Bible passage to call your own, you might very well have chosen something the Holy Spirit had him write. I know that some of you find your favorite verse in chapter 8 of Romans—and Romans 8 is even the favorite chapter of the Bible for some people. You can tell by the way Paul wrote that he “got it”—he understood the love of God, the grace of God, the gift of Christ, the treasure of the Spirit. But Paul also understood well the struggle he had with his sinful nature. Maybe you remember him saying this, which comes right before our reading. He said, For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not keep doing what I want. Instead, I do what I hate (7:15). I fail to do the good I want to do. Instead, the evil I do not want to do, that is what I keep doing (7:19) What a miserable wretch I am (7:24)! We can relate, right?