Romans 8 “My Only Comfort” August 12, 2007
Heidelberg 1
We are launching a series on the basics of the Christian faith,
following the order of the Heidelberg Catechism.
Several years ago I preached a catechetical series following the order of the Shorter Catechism.
I would like to repeat now what I said then:
Why am we doing this?
Some people might think, “the last thing we need is a series on doctrine!”
The Princeton theologian B. B. Warfield once told the story of an old man
who was visiting a rough and tumble town on the western frontier.
He saw a young man walking down Main Street who had a confident demeanor.
The brawls in the street didn’t seem to trouble him–
and he carried himself with a simple grace that belied his youthful appearance.
Intrigued, the older man stopped him,
and without introduction, asked, “what is the chief end of man?”
Without batting an eyelash, the younger man replied,
“man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
The old man said, “Ah, I thought as much.
You can always recognize a Shorter Catechism man!”
This series is not about the here and now.
This series is about our children.
The concept of “elder training” is a relatively new one.
After all, if you were reared in the Presbyterian church,
you probably knew the Shorter Catechism by heart
by the time you were eight years old.
After spending thirty to forty years sitting under the preaching of the Word,
being catechized, and catechizing your own children,
you knew the doctrines of the church inside and out.
And since you had regularly had elders visiting your home,
(and since the doings of presbytery, synod and general assembly
were all published in the weekly newspaper)
you had every opportunity of knowing what elders did
before you became one yourself.
In such a context, a series on the Shorter Catechism would have been unnecessary.
But all that has changed.
Probably not more than four or five of you learned the Shorter Catechism as a child.
Most of you–like me–have come from other backgrounds,
and have grown to appreciate the Reformed faith.
But we tend to think in terms of our own immediate situation.
We forget that, by the grace of God,
Michiana Covenant Church will be here fifty years from now.
And in the providence of God,
He has placed us here to lay the foundations for our children,
and for our children’s children.
Remember that your children are the future of the church.
Prepare your sons for the eldership.
Train your daughters to be the wise women of Titus 2.
And live before them as a model of what the church should be.
Whatever you want them to do someday–do it yourself!
But why use the Heidelberg Catechism?
The Heidelberg Catechism is not an official standard of the PCA.
The doctrinal standards of the PCA are the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.
But in recent years I have taught several classes on the Westminster Standards,
so for the sake of those who have already been through those classes,
it seemed to the elders that the Heidelberg Catechism would accomplish the goal
of providing an introduction to the basics of the Christian faith,
but covered in a slightly different format than the Shorter Catechism.
The Heidelberg Catechism was written around the year 1560
by a man named Zacharias Ursinus in the city of Heidelberg in Germany.
It has become one of the most well-beloved catechisms in the world.
It is the official catechism of all the Dutch and German reformed churches,
and in translation is used in numerous churches around the world.
The Church of Scotland approved of it in the 16th century,
and before the appearance of the Westminster Shorter Catechism in 1647
it was one of the most commonly used catechisms in Scotland.
The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks,
What is the chief end of man?
Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
Westminster starts from the question of the goal or purpose of the Christian life.
It starts at the end,
but with profound implications for the present.
The Heidelberg Catechism starts in the middle.
Starting now – what is your only comfort in life and in death?
but with profound implications for the future!
And the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism
is a summary of the entire Christian life.
In this answer you see the doctrine of the Trinity:
you see the work of the Son, the Father, and the Spirit laid out in the three subsections
that explain the basic answer “that I belong to Jesus.”
In this answer you see the gospel: he has paid for my sins.
In this answer you see the providence of God, as he cares for me in every situation of life.
And in this answer you see the doctrines of assurance and perseverance.
That is why we read from Romans 8;
because Romans 8 lays out the same themes.
As I’ve laid it out in how I’ve formatted the answer in your bulletin,
there is the basic point, and then there are three subpoints which flesh out the basic point.
Basic Point: My only comfort is that I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
That is simply another way of saying,
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:1)
Paul says that those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer under condemnation.
At the end of chapter 7 Paul explained the wretched situation that he faced:
“I myself serve the law of God with my mind,
but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
Paul distinguishes between his “mind” and his “flesh.”
“Flesh” does not mean “body.”
Paul is not saying that the body serves the law of sin.
Look at verses 5-6
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.
To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
“Flesh” here means the world as it is apart from the Spirit of God.
It means human existence apart from Christ.
Or to put it another way, our old Adamic existence --
who we are in Adam.
But the Spirit is the Holy Spirit,
and refers to who we are in Christ.
And that is why my only comfort is that I belong to Jesus.
There is no comfort in the flesh.
There is only death.
But while the basic sentence is that “I belong to Jesus”
the qualifying clauses are also important.
I am not my own
If I were my own, I would be in the flesh.
And as Paul says in verse 8, Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Humanity, ever since Adam, cannot please God apart from Jesus.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.
I am not my own.
Thanks be to God!
If I were my own, then I would be living according to the flesh.
But I belong to Jesus, and so I am not my own.
With body and soul
We sometimes forget this part.
There’s that old children’s song, “Thank you Lord, for saving my soul…”
We forget that God is also at work in saving our bodies!
Paul says in verses 10-11,
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.
I belong to Jesus with body and soul.
That is why Paul said in 6:12, Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies.
You belong to Jesus with body and soul.
This is a great comfort because it means that you – as a whole person –
are being saved.
It is not just that God saves your soul and leaves your body to rot.
Rather, God will bring you through death into life – just as he raised Jesus from the dead.
Which is why it is so comforting to know that I belong to Jesus,
Both in life and in death
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As Paul concludes chapter 8,
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor rulers
nor things present nor
things to come, nor powers,
nor height nor depth,
nor anything else in all of creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I belong to my faithful Savior in life,
I belong to my faithful Savior in death.
Nothing can separate me from him –
because I am not my own.
And why am I not my own?
Because,
I was under the power of the devil.
After all, ever since the days of Adam, the realm of the flesh was under the power of the devil.
I was in bondage to sin, death, and the devil, but Jesus has set me free.
As Paul says Romans 8:2,
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 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.
Jesus came in the flesh – in the likeness of sinful flesh – in order to pay for my sins.
The law was good and holy and right.
But the law was weakened by the flesh.
The flesh was incapable of fulfilling God’s righteous law—
for two reasons:
1) we were incapable of yielding perfect obedience
2) and we were incapable of offering an atoning sacrifice
Sometimes we forget that when Paul is talking about the law,
he is not just talking about God’s moral commands,
he is talking about the whole Law of Moses,
which also includes God’s provision for how to be right with him.
God’s law included the law of the altar – the sacrifices which were to deal with sin.
But the law was weakened by the flesh.
Not only were we incapable of perfect obedience,
we were also incapable of atoning for sin.
But God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.
And what is this thing that God has done?
He sent the perfect sacrifice.
He condemned sin in the flesh.
Right now the church is having all sorts of debates
about the active and passive obedience of Christ.
The active obedience of Christ is how he fulfilled the law perfectly in his life.
The passive obedience of Christ is how he suffered for our sins.
Romans 8:3 points out that if you try to divide these two parts of Christ’s obedience,
you end up with nonsense.
How can you have a perfect sacrifice, if Jesus wasn’t perfect?
And what is the point of his obedience, if he never died?
Jesus has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood.
He took the condemnation that I deserved.
God condemned sin in the flesh when he forsook Jesus on the cross.
But he triumphed over sin, death, and the devil, when he raised up Jesus from the dead.
And therefore, because Jesus has taken the condemnation that I deserved,
there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
This first point focuses on the work of Christ in salvation.
In the second point, the “he” is still Jesus, but now we see how the work of Jesus
is related to my heavenly Father’s tender care.
Jesus preserves me according to the will of my heavenly Father.
Romans 8:28 states this most clearly:
And we know that for those who love God
all things
work together for good,
for those who are called according to his purpose.
This is what gives us confidence in the midst of trial and tribulation.
No matter what happens,
you know that God is using that for your good.
As Paul goes on to say in verses 29-30,
For those whom he foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
in order that he might
be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those whom he predestined he
also called,
and those whom he called
he also justified,
and those whom he justified he also glorified.
God’s purpose is to bring you through suffering to glory.
The road may be rough and bumpy sometimes!
But for those who are called according to his purpose,
all this will work out for your salvation.
Having seen the work of the Son and the Father,
we should not be surprised to see the Holy Spirit take center stage in part three.
The first answer of the Heidelberg Catechism is both Trinitarian and Christ-centered!
This is the central thrust of Romans 8:11-17.
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.
The Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead,
and now that same Spirit dwells in all those who trust in Jesus.
Because God has raised Jesus by the Spirit,
therefore he will raise from the dead all those who share in Jesus’ Spirit.
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.
Notice again the contrast between Spirit and flesh.
If the Spirit of Christ dwells in you,
then how can you live the way you used to?
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.
How do you know that you belong to Christ?
How do you have assurance of eternal life?
Because the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
And because by the same Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the body.
That last phrase in the catechism:
and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him.
We have used this phrase with our children from the time they knew how to speak.
The earliest prayer we taught them said,
“and give me a heart that is willing and ready from now on to live for you.”
So tell, me, church of Jesus Christ,
What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own, but belong with body and
soul, both in life and in death,
to
my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He
has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and
has set me free from all the power of the devil.
He
also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father
not
a hair can fall from my head;
indeed,
all things must work together for my salvation.
Therefore
by his Holy Spirit he also assures me of eternal life
and
makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for him.
Please, O God, by your Holy Spirit,
make us heartily willing and ready from now on to live for you!
We know that we are weak and frail.
We know how easily we turn aside from your paths.
And so we ask that you would have mercy upon us and by your Holy Spirit
change our hearts and make us new….