The seventeenth-century minister Thomas Jacomb as soon as wrote of Romans 8, “From first to final, it’s excessive gospel.”[1] Starting with “no condemnation” and ending with the peace of mind that nothing can separate us from God’s love, it is without doubt one of the most magisterial and inspiring chapters in all of Scripture. In his message “No Condemnation in Christ,” Alistair Begg begins a brief tour via its profound depths, serving to us to understand the answer to the predicament of sin, the connection between freedom and the regulation, the decision to stroll in newness of life by God’s Spirit—and, on this excerpt, the importance of being “in Christ”:
You already know that Paul really doesn’t use “Christian” in any respect in his writings. He refers back to the believer as being “in Christ.” Classically, maybe, 2 Corinthians 5: “If anybody is in Christ, he’s a brand new creation; the outdated has gone, the brand new [have] come” (2 Cor. 5:17 NIV 1984).
So that is the true query, isn’t it? …
… When Paul writes to the Ephesians and he begins with that nice paean of reward of the wonderful electing grace of God, he’s approach up within the heights, and then you definately get to the thirteenth verse, and he says, “And also you additionally had been included in Christ if you heard the phrase of fact, the gospel of your salvation” (Eph. 1:13 NIV 1984). Are you in Christ? When had been you included in Christ? Effectively, one reply to that’s “earlier than the muse of the world” (Eph. 1:4). …
… Turning into a Christian is a bit like getting married, you already know.
… Think about that it’s Christ and also you standing on the entrance of the church, and God the Father is conducting the ceremony. And He says, “Son, do you’re taking this sinner?”
And He says, “I do. I died for her.”
“And sinner, do you’re taking this Savior?”
“I do.”
[1] Thomas Jacomb, Sermons on the Eighth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, (Verses 1–4) (Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1868), 12
