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There are old ways of doing things.
And there are new ways.

Remember the old way of watching movies? VHS.
I asked my 8 year old son if he know what a VHS player was. He answered and said, “Is that a sport?”

How about the old way of taking pictures? Film.
It took a couple of hours to actually see the shots you took because it had to be ‘developed’. Now with digital cameras, you can see the pictures almost instantaneously.

When we gave our life to Christ, the Bible says that those who are in Christ are a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come.

There is now a new way to live. And we can live it… NOW!

Why?

1. NEW STANDING.

John 3:18 says that  “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

However, Romans 8:1 tells us that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

In Him, we have been justified. Some put it this way, “just as if you’ve never sinned.”

2. NEW POWER

We have been given new power to live the life God designed for us.

Romans 8:11 tells us that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that lives inside of us.  Because of that, we now have power to overcome sin and the devil.

It is never by our own power, might nor ability.  It is by the Holy Spirit of God that we are able to do what God calls us to do.

3. NEW RELATIONSHIP

Formerly, we were slaves of sin. Now we are children of the Most High.

Paul declares in Romans 8:15, ” For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 

In Christ, we are now sons and daughters. Because of what Jesus accomplished at the cross, we now have a new relationship.

Finally, because of this relationship, we are forever His. Not only that, there is nothing that can separate us from Him.

Romans 8:35, 37-39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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POSTSCRIPT:

This is an excerpt from the message last night at Victory Fort.

The full message on video can be found here.

As I was preparing for yesterday’s message on Romans 7, I was reminded of a quote Pastor Joey Bonifacio made in one of our conversations.

“Being married to a perfect spouse is not wrong. It’s just tiring.”

That is what life is when we’re married to the LAW. We need to keep measuring up and trying to keep up.

There are 613 laws in the Old Testament and trying to keep all of them is a worthy effort but it will only show us that we can’t. We can try but it will be tiring.

James tells us that breaking just one part of the law will make us guilty of breaking the whole law.

Romans 3:20 says, ” Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

The law makes us conscious of sin. In fact, it is like a school teacher (tutor) that points us to Jesus.

Therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

The law reveals sin but it is powerless to remove sin. It points to righteousness but it can never produce it.

What then is the way to righteousness?

Martin Luther said, ”

“Sin is not canceled by lawful living, for no person is able to live up to the Law. Nothing can take away sin except the grace of God.” 

It is only by the grace of God and through the imputed righteousness of Christ that we can be declared righteous. His death on the cross paid the penalty, justifies us from sin and declares us righteous before God’s eyes.

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Galatians 2:21)