Adopted Not Condemned: Romans 8:1-17 (Sermon)
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WELCOME
Good morning! We are in for a treat in the next few weeks. We will be unpacking one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Romans 8. I am not alone. Here is a breakdown of some of the best preachers and the time they spent on Romans.
We are going to preach forty-four messages on Romans, with three on Romans eight. Some ways we can fertilize the goodness of Scriptural truth are to read it during the week, memorize it, pray it, and sing it. Julia Hayward, who is leading worship, will share a song she wrote to the words of Romans 8 after the message. Before we enjoy her artistic expression, let’s dive in to see why people love these verses so much.
TEXT
I am going to have D.H. read for us. Would you please stand with me, in honor of God’s Word, if you are able?
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 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, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:1–17, ESV)
PRAYER
Thank you. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we need you and thank you. What a glorious passage. It points out what you have done through your Son Jesus Christ by your Holy Spirit. The result is that we are now adopted by faith into your family. The rewards of such grace are immeasurable. One word that comes to my mind is “incredible.” But as soon as I think of that, thousands of words flock to me like “astounding,” “jaw-dropping,” “tear-jerking,” “heart-stopping,” and “mind-bending.” Be with us now, Abba, Father. Infuse my words and our hearts by your Spirit, in Jesus’s name we pray, amen. You may be seated.
CONTEXT
Paul has been explaining the good news about Jesus Christ to the church in Rome. Jesus came to save us from the anger of God that we deserve. He is rightly upset because people do what he forbids and do not do what he commands. From the womb, we have been sentenced to die, physically and spiritually, because of our ancestors’ sin, Adam. But God appointed his one and only Son, Jesus, the Messiah, to be born, to live a perfect life, to die a sinner’s death, and to rise victoriously from the grave. His death took our punishment as a gift through our trust in him. Jesus substituted himself on the cross for our sins. Paul shared these facts with the local church in Rome to strengthen them and encourage them. He answered their questions and taught them the necessary truths for their faith. For example, he brought up Abraham, saved by faith, not obedience. And he wrote about how the Mosaic Law pointed people to their desperate need for God’s favor and forgiveness. In Chapter 8, God’s kindness is on display.
STRUCTURE & MAIN IDEA
The passage has four parts.
8:1–4 A Life in Christ
8:5–8 A Life in the Flesh
8:9–11 A Life in the Spirit
8:12–17 A Life Adopted by the Father
The point Paul was making was that the church is not condemned but adopted by the Father through the work of the Spirit of Jesus. That is a mouthful. We can sum it up: We are not condemned but adopted.
NO CONDEMNATION
Verse 1 starts,
“There is therefore now no condemnation” (Romans 8:1, ESV).
We deserve condemnation, friends. Condemnation is the eternal decree of guilt by God. God is just, right, and good to sentence rebels to Hell. And it would not be just, right, and good for him to look the other way at unrighteousness.
JUSTICE
Think of something in the news that seems to be totally unfair and makes your blood boil. Can you picture it? I can. Does it make you frustrated? God tells us in his Word that one day there will be justice for the innocent. Those who commit evil will be held accountable. We can breathe a sigh of relief. But there is another edge to that judgment that is not as easy to stare straight at. Unless we have this gift of God’s mercy, we are in for a guilty verdict ourselves.
CONDEMNATION
God sees all the wrong we have done. He knows our thoughts. He knows our regrets. He has heard every word. He has measured us up not with the neighbor next door or the guy behind bars, but against perfection. Jesus said, “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Feel the heaviness of that command. Think of all your resolutions broken. Paul came to the end of Chapter 7 with the question, “Who will deliver me?” But there is hope for us who look at the scales of justice and fear the gavel and the voice detailing our punishment. Instead of a disembodied voice proclaiming we belong to death row, we hear something extraordinary.
IN CHRIST JESUS
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1, ESV).
What? Why? The reason why there is no condemnation is because of being “in Christ Jesus.” Paul explained that being “in Christ Jesus” means one is set free from sin and death. We are no longer slaves to sin. A new rule works for us and our hope. What is that? Look at verse 2.
“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2, ESV).
How did God do this? Go to verse 3:
“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3, ESV).
God sent Jesus. God was able to free us from sin because he can. He came in the form of the sinner, without sin, to die for sin. He bore the fruit of sin, death, not deserving an ounce of it. In dying, he destroyed the consequence of sin for himself and us who believe. Why? Paul answered:
“In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4, ESV).
The righteous died for the unrighteous. Let me repeat. The righteous died for the unrighteous. Note that he did this while condemning sin for one group of people. The verse tells us who. Who did Jesus condemn sin for? Those who walk according to the Spirit. What does that look like?
ASSESSMENT: SPRAIN
Two weeks ago, I sprained my ankle, tying my ice skate. I am not joking. I am walking with a slight limp nowadays. Paul here was talking about a different gait, a spiritual kind of step.
GALATIANS
What does it look like to walk according to the Spirit? The letter to the church in Galatians in our Bibles speaks of this. Let’s read this in unison to help it percolate into our hearts.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16–25, ESV)
I love that. Sometimes I think walking in the Spirit involves incredible miracles, but here it includes being kind. It includes not being jealous when it seems normal. What that means is that we go with the flow of the Spirit, opposed to the flesh. What that means is we are not alone; God is with us. This is more about trajectory than perfection.
M/J/R
If you were here last week, we had a couple of missionaries share about being open to God’s leading. They had “margin” in their life to pivot when God asked them to. They read and meditated on the Bible, seeking guidance in their lives. They consulted one another to seek wisdom. They were walking in the Spirit, not the flesh, and God led them. They are walking with him.
APPLICATION
How are you walking these days? Let’s use the Bible to test ourselves. Please project Galatians 5. What desires have you been satisfying? What has been leading you? What kind of fruit is in your life?
What would those closest to you say?
What was the biggest barrier to walking according to the Spirit in 2025?
What is one step you can take this year to walk according to the Spirit? [20 seconds].
Let’s demonstrate for ourselves in 2026 that the Spirit is at work in us by a movement toward the Spirit.
PART 2: LIFE IN THE FLESH
In the next couple of sections, Paul painted a further picture of life in the flesh and life in the Spirit. Look at verse 5:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:5–6, ESV)
Not only does God care about our actions, but he also cares about our thoughts. Life in the flesh is consumed with self, not God or others. Do you find your mind is set on the things of God or your fleeting appetites? Are you going through the motions of life, letting the cultural currents, marketers, and peer pressure sweep you off your feet? Or, are you seeking God and his kingdom? Paul wrote to the Colossian church,
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:2–4, ESV).
DANGER
What is the danger of ignoring what God is saying? Look at verses 7 and 8:
“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7–8, ESV).
If you aren’t intentional about your spiritual life and seek him, this text says you are basically hostile to him and unwilling to follow him. Maybe you don’t feel that way, but that is how God takes it. He is calling you to look to him, will you? Or, will you not? How insulting if the King of the universe says, “Could you please give me your attention?” yet you ignore him. Not only does this verse illustrate hostility toward God, but it also shows insubordination. Such a person that doesn’t give God what he wants proves he or she is unable to follow or please him. We don’t want that, do we?
PART 3: LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
Verse 9 begins,
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9, ESV).
God’s people have the Spirit. We can belong to God. Not everyone belongs to him. Not everyone has the Spirit in them. Not everyone is in Christ. Some are in the flesh. As Paul discusses life in the Spirit in verses 9-11, we find more good news.
VERSE 10
Verses 10 and 11 shift from a distinction between the body and the spirit, between death and life, to fix our gaze on the future hope, where life in the Spirit matters more than just this life, but the one to come.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 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. (Romans 8:10–11, ESV)
What is he getting at? One commentary explains to the followers of Jesus,
Christ’s Spirit lives within our human spirits, but our fleshly bodies are still infected by sin and are dead—that is, they are mortal. Sin has been defeated by Christ, but sin and death still claim their hold on our mortal bodies. Yet in these bodies we are alive spiritually and can live by the Spirit’s guidance. (Bruce B. Barton, David Veerman, and Neil S. Wilson, Romans, Life Application Bible Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992), 154.)
We, believers, have an already-but-not-yet reality before us. God issued a curse in the Garden of Eden that disobedience results in a death sentence, and it did. Adam and Eve disobeyed. Death entered the world. However, Christ’s death and resurrection offer us a reversal, the resurrection.
PAUL CONTINUED
If God has done all this good on our behalf, how then should we live? Paul answered:
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12, ESV).
He acknowledged that we have debt, but it is not to our sinful nature. Many of us have a mortgage; we have credit card bills; some have student loans and car loans. What debt was Paul talking about and to whom? Paul didn’t say. Paul points to the blessings awaiting those who walk according to the Spirit.
YOU OWE ME
Paul could have said, “You owe God.” Yet, rather than a guilt trip to promote renewed efforts and holiness, Paul adjusted their gaze back to the value proposition before them.
“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13, ESV).
If we live according to the flesh or walk according to the flesh, we will die, physically and spiritually. But if by the Spirit we put to death the sin we face each day, we will live. I brought this up last week. A life in the Spirit involves actively confronting the remaining sin within each of us. This is a work that we can help each other with, but only we know our thoughts. We have to take personal responsibility for our sins. And by the Holy Spirit, we need to seek to change.
COLOSSIANS PARALLEL
Colossians 3 parallels nicely with this. Paul wrote,
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:5–10, ESV)
Leave that slide up there. Church, are you putting to death the deeds of the body or are you living according to the flesh? Seriously. Quiz time. Use Colossians 3 to do a practical diagnostic. Make your choice today. Whom will you serve? Life is at stake.
ADOPTION
But more is at stake than that. We aren’t just talking about heavenly geography but a relation to deity. Jump to verse 14:
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14, ESV).
If the Spirit of Jesus leads you, you are a son or daughter of God. You are part of his family.
DEFINING THE RELATIONSHIP
Paul went on:
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15, ESV).
We don’t have to stumble into the fear of being caught with our hand in the proverbial “cookie jar.”
We don’t have to be worried that Jesus will come back and send us to Hell because we haven’t gotten clean yet.
We don’t have to be jarred by the fact that God knows our past.
We don’t need to be afraid of his condemnation.
Why? Because God gives us a Spirit, his Spirit to cry out to God as our adoptive Father. (For those unfamiliar with the term Abba, it is the Aramaic word for daddy.) Instead of condemnation we have adoption. We don’t just have clemency from God but intimacy with God. J.I. Packer wrote, “Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even that justification…. To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.” Packer was spot on. God won’t back out of his promise. Why? He loves you who believe.
GALATIANS
Paul’s letter to the Galatian church again repeats his message here.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:4–7, ESV)
VALIDATION
Do you want proof? Verse 16,
“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16, ESV).
The Holy Spirit validates what is happening in our hearts. Do you have an inner witness that you are a child of God? You can. How? Look at yourself honestly right now.
Do you believe Jesus is your Lord and Savior? Faith comes from God.
How is your spiritual walk?
What are you setting your mind on?
When you haven’t been walking right or thinking rightly, are you making efforts to kill your flesh?
Be honest. [20 Seconds]. If you fail, the teacher, the Holy Spirit, is giving you a chance to retake the test right now. Turn from your flesh and turn to the Spirit today in your heart. It is that simple. Don’t hesitate or wait. Act now before it is too late. There is so much at stake.
HEIRS AND REWARDS
If you do, there is one more thing to enjoy about being part of God’s family. Look at verse 17:
“And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:17, ESV).
If you are a child of God, there is an inheritance that comes with being part of the family.
IMAGINE
Imagine you are back in the courtroom. Instead of being declared guilty as charged, you hear your guilt is gone. There is no condemnation! Why? Someone took it at significant personal cost. But that was not the biggest shocker. The trial room transformed into an adoption proceeding. You have a new parent, a perfect heavenly Father. The judge declares you to be a son and a daughter. All the angels in heaven rejoice. But not only that. He is a king. That means you become royalty with all the rights and responsibilities. Not only that. He is wealthy beyond imagination. There is in your name a divine trust. You might think that the sports teams with their massive payrolls or the Powerball winners’ luck. You have way more than they do in spades. But don’t miss this: your inheritance is not simply precious silver, gold, mansions, or glory; it is that, but it is God himself. Never forget, the giver is greater than the gifts, the creator is greater than the creation, the Father is yours, and you are his.
APPLICATION
Let’s circle back to do some reflection. Think through the last year, month, week, and weekend. No matter what 2025 was like, trust in Christ today. He will deliver you from the body of death by the power of the Spirit. He is our hope. Rely on him. Bank on him. And if you do, the Spirit is at work and will finish what he started. He is the guarantee of it.
BLESSING
May all of you experience the relief of a pronouncement of condemnation turned to adoption.
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