Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

This is the last installment in our series called What’s God Really Like? This has been a monster series that has lasted through the entire summer. For the last eight weeks, we’ve been chasing after the answer to one question: just what is God really like? That question has driven us to the Bible, searching out the truth that God has revealed about himself. And today, we’re wrapping up with one last truth about God. What’s God really like?

God is forgiving.

In this series, we’ve talked about some different characteristics of God that may have surprised you. You may not have really thought about God’s jealousy before. Maybe you never really considered God’s wrath. Maybe you never truly grasped the reality of God’s presence, or the size of God’s power like Brian talked about last week. Some of the stuff we’ve worked through in this series may have been new to you…but for a lot of you, today’s topic isn’t news to you. It’s not a shocker to hear that forgiveness is part of God’s nature. A lot of people who have never darkened a church door in their lives know this truth. Many of you have been taught this principle since you were born.

But is this truth a reality in your life? Does it impact your life? Does it blow your mind? If not, then I want to suggest that you really don’t understand this truth at all. Maybe you’ve allowed God’s forgiveness to become an old hat. Maybe you’ve known about it for so long that it’s just not that big a deal anymore. It doesn’t play with the clarity of a MP3 in your life anymore. It’s more like a scratchy old 33 that has more than a few skips in it.

Today as we wrap up this series, can I ask you to do something for me? Forget everything you think you know about God’s forgiveness. Explore this truth for the first time. See if you don’t hear a fresh truth from God’s Word today. Allow yourself to go a little deeper in your encounter with God. A lot of us who think we know about God’s forgiveness really have a shallow understanding of it. It’s like saying that you understand swimming, but never, ever leaving the kiddie pool. Today we’re diving in the deep end, so come and take a swim with me.

This great truth about God is expressed so simply in Daniel 9. “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him.” (Daniel 9:9, NIV)

Isn’t that a great truth? Forgiveness is another characteristic that is central to who God is. You can’t answer the question, “What’s God really like?” without forgiveness. Just like God is compassionate, just like God is wrathful, so God is forgiving. It’s who he is.

In every message in this series, we’ve spent time learning a particular truth about God. And then we wrapped up with impact points, places where the truth that we learned impacts our lives. Today is a little different. The whole message is nothing but impact points. The truth of God’s forgiveness may not be new, but the impact it has on our lives is fresh everyday. And so we’re going to explore how a forgiving God really does have an intense impact on us.

We’re going to explore a chapter in the New Testament in the Bible that really gives us some great insight into what happens when God’s forgiveness enters the equation of our lives. God’s forgiving nature is a change agent in our lives, and today we’re going to look some of the changes that a forgiving God brings to reality in our lives.

We’re going to spend our time in Romans 8. Romans is one of the books written by the Apostle Paul, and in chapter 8 he gives us the chance to really go deeper in experiencing the changes that God’s forgiveness brings to our lives.

Paul starts off the chapter by writing, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1, NIV)

The word that is translated “condemnation” is a legal word. It’s a judicial term. It refers to a judge passing sentence on a guilty person and then the punishment that follows.

But this verse tells us that God’s forgiveness changes the verdict on my life.

If you watch daytime TV, you know that these judge shows are wildly popular. You’ve got Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown, all the pseudo-courtroom shows. I’m not exactly sure what the appeal of these shows is, but I think it has something to do with the pleasure we receive of watching a guilty person get what’s coming to them. There’s something about seeing a guy who is obviously guilty really just get his. Yeah, punish him! Slap a big, fat fine on him! Lock him up! It’s fun to see the guilty get punished…until the guilty person is you. Then it’s a different story. And here’s the deal…everyone in this room looked at a guilty person in the mirror this morning.

In another verse from Romans, Paul reminds us that “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23, NLT)

Turn and look at the person on your left. You know what you’re looking at? A sinner. Now look at the person on your right. They’re a dirty, rotten sinner, too. Now look up here on stage. The guy who’s talking to you right now…probably the biggest sinner in the bunch.

There is this universal guilt that hangs over our heads. And that’s why this first verse in Romans 8 blows my mind. We are unquestionably guilty, and yet God says, “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1, NIV)

This promise is for anyone who is “in Christ Jesus.” In other words, if you have submitted your life to Christ, if you believe that he died to pay the price for your sin, if you have been baptized into Him which the Bible says washes your sins away, if that’s you, then this promise is yours to claim.

There is NO condemnation in your life. There is no sentence of guilt. The verdict on your life has been changed.

The word that is translated “no” is an emphatic Greek word that means “not a single one.” If you are in Christ, then God’s forgiveness for you is complete. There is not a single, solitary mark on your record. It is clean.

Some of you walk around everyday, dragging around the guilt of your past. That word you spoke in anger. That time where you let pride get the best of you. That choice that damaged your witness for Christ. Someone in this room has not been able to move past the guilt of their abortion. Or the guilt brought on by lust. Or the guilt caused by greedy decisions. Or the guilt of a broken relationship.

Let the Word of God speak into your life this morning. You need to get this truth.

Jesus did not die so you could wallow in guilt for the rest of your life! Did you hear that? Jesus did not die so you could live your life in a prison of guilt. If you are in Christ, then you have been released from guilt by God, and it’s high time that you release yourself!

Let’s expand to see a little bit more of what Paul tells us in Romans 8. “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, NIV)

Paul continues using his legal language here when he talks about these two different laws that can govern our lives. We can have the law of life or the law of death. The law of God’s Spirit or the law of sin.

Paul tells us his choice. He said that, because of Jesus, he has been set free from the law of sin and death. He has been forgiven of his sin and freed from his prison of guilt.

Sometimes we think it is more spiritual if we remain miserable. If you never release yourself from the guilt of past mistakes, if the ghosts of your sin always haunt your life, then somehow you are more of a spiritual person. The more of a guilt-ridden, miserable curmudgeon that you become, the more spiritual you are.

But the exact polar opposite is true. I’m not saying that we never feel sorrow for our sin. If we were never convicted of our sin, we’d never come to Jesus. But if you continually hold yourself hostage by the guilt of your past, then you are essentially saying that the cross isn’t good enough. If we wallow around in guilt our whole lives, then we’re saying that the cross of Jesus is meaningless. It’s powerless. It’s worthless. Do you believe that? Of course you don’t! So stop living like you do! If you are in Christ, the verdict on your life has been changed. There is not a single verdict of guilt in your life because of the forgiving power of God. Stop living in this self-imposed, self-inflicted, self-sustained prison of guilt. God’s forgiveness has changed the verdict on your life.

But then Paul takes it even further in Romans 8. God’s forgiveness changes more than the verdict on my life.

God’s forgiveness changes the identity of my life.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that over 9 million Americans have their identities stolen every year. It is now regarded as the fastest growing crime in America. All a thief has to do is get your credit card number, your social security number, or some other part of your personal information, and they become you. They make purchases, withdraw money, take vacations all on your dime.

But we have a forgiving God that offers us a new identity that no one can take from us. Beginning in Romans 8:15, Paul writes, “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.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” (Romans 8:15-16, NIV)

First of all, our forgiving God changes the verdict on our lives. We are guilty, but he declares that we are innocent anyway. But then he steps up the intensity of forgiveness and he changes our identity. He declares us not guilty…and then he adopts us as his children.

Look again at the first part of these verses. “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.” (Romans 8:15a, NIV)

One more time we see the legal language. We’re not slave to fear, or to sin or to guilt. God’s Spirit isn’t a spirit of slavery. God’s Spirit is a Spirit of sonship. Literally, Paul says that God’s Spirit is a Spirit of adoption. If you have yielded your life to Jesus, then God’s Spirit is in you. A Spirit of sonship and daughtership. A Spirit of adoption. In other words, you are a child of God.

Look at this incredible language that Paul uses. “And by him [meaning by God’s Spirit of adoption] we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” (Romans 8:15b-16, NIV)

“Abba” was an Aramaic word. Aramaic was a language somewhat like Hebrew that was spoken by the Jews in New Testament times. The word “Abba” was Aramaic for Father, but it had a more intimate connotation than that. The Aramaic word “Abba” is equivalent to our English word “Daddy.”

It’s interesting because the Jewish people in this time period probably would have never used this word to describe God. It was too close, too personal, too intimate. It wouldn’t have been reverent enough for them to use the word “Abba” to describe God.

But Jesus did. In Mark 14, when Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane right before he was arrested, he prayed, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36, NIV)

Jesus had an Abba, Daddy relationship with God. And because of what happened after he prayed this prayer in the Garden, because of his death on a cross, we have been adopted into that same family. God’s forgiveness has forever changed our identity.

How would your life look different if you really believed you were a son of God? What would your life become if you honestly lived like you were a daughter of God? What if you found your identity not in your job, not in your level of education, not in your earthly family, not in your talents or your abilities, but in God? What would your life look like if, above and beyond anything else, you found your identity in your Abba, your Daddy-God?

God’s forgiveness changes the verdict on my life. God has declared me not guilty. Innocent of all charges.

His forgiveness then changes the identity of my life. I’m not just some pardoned criminal. I’m a son of God. I can have an Abba relationship with God. And because this is true, we get to the next change that God’s forgiveness brings to us.

God’s forgiveness changes the purpose of my life.

When I was a youth minister, I had a student named Jeff who went with our group to a Christ In Youth conference. I was so excited because Jeff wasn’t a Christian. He had basically no church background at all. And now we had a whole week to expose him to the good news of Jesus.

The last night of the conference, we were in our group time and I had asked each student to share what they had learned this week. Jeff’s turn to speak came, and I was anxious to hear what he had to say. I was hoping he would say something like, “Man, I never knew about Jesus. I can’t believe he died for my sins. I want to accept him as my Savior and my Lord.” That’s what I was hoping for.

Jeff thought for a minute about the week and then he said, “You know, I just want to try to smile and be nice to other people. That’s what it’s all about.”

My heart sank. That’s what it’s all about? Being a nice guy? Don’t get me wrong. I’m not anti-nice, but I was so sad that Jeff had missed the point of the gospel.

The point of the gospel is that God’s forgiveness has changed the verdict on our lives, it has changed the identity of our lives, and it changes the purpose of our lives.

In Romans 8:5, God says, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (NIV)

We used to live for our benefit. Our purpose was to please us. But now something has changed. What has changed is that we’ve met a forgiving God.

Did you ever have somebody in your life that was just so good to you that there’s nothing you wouldn’t do for them? This person could call you up and say, “Hey, my roof needs re-shingled. Could you come do that for me?” And you say, “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

We all have those people who have done so much for us that we can never repay them. We would do anything for them. Anything to please them.

That’s Paul’s idea here in Romans 8. He’s spent all this time laying out the length and depth of God’s forgiveness for us. And then he shifts and says, “Now, because God has been so good to you, because he has forgiven you so freely and so completely, is there anything you wouldn’t do for him?”

Look at this verse again. “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit [that’s the adoptive Spirit that brought us into God’s family] have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (Romans 8:5, NIV)

Here’s the big idea of this verse: Because of God’s forgiveness, I am not the ultimate goal of my life. The purpose of my life has changed. My happiness is subservient to God’s happiness. My pleasure takes a back seat to God’s pleasure. That’s a little countercultural, isn’t it? But when you begin to realize the magnitude of God’s forgiveness, this becomes the driving purpose of your life.

The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes says it this way. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, NIV)

The whole duty of your life is to bring honor to God. It’s our response to a God who has shown us so much grace, who has lavished his forgiveness on us.

Let’s go back to Romans 8:5. “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (NIV)

Did you catch the key to both sides of the argument? The key is our mind. It’s a matter of setting our mind to please ourselves or setting our mind to please God. It’s a conscious decision of the will. It’s not an emotion or a feeling. It’s a decision.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the emotional side of our faith that we allow it to trump the cognitive side of our faith. We base our faith completely on how we feel at the time. We feel good, our faith is good. We feel bad, our faith lags. We feel like serving God, we serve. We don’t feel like serving, we do our own thing. It’s convenient for us to obey God in a certain situation, we obey. But when it’s easier to go our own way, we do that too.

Steven Furtick compares it to the stuff we eat. He said we’ve got to “stop spitting out everything that doesn’t give us a spiritual sugar high. Eat some vegetables. Serve. Pray. Practically apply the Bible to your life.”

In other words, don’t just follow what always feels good. Can you worship even when you don’t dig the music? Do you read your Bible when you’d rather do something else? Is the quality of a sermon based on the emotions it stirred in you or the truth it spoke to you? Is your serving completely based on what you get out of it or what you can do for God?

Honoring God is the duty of our lives. It is our mission, on the good and the bad days. When we feel like it and when we don’t. That’s because it’s not just based on an emotion or a feeling. It’s a decision of the will. But God deserves nothing less because of what he’s given to us: total, complete forgiveness.

God’s forgiveness brings change into our lives. It changes the verdict on our lives. The identity of our lives. And the purpose of our lives. But there is one more change to come.

God’s forgiveness changes the end of my life. The last chapter of God’s story of forgiveness hasn’t been written yet. Good news…it will!

Paul wrote in Romans 8, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:16-17, NIV)

We’ve already learned that God’s forgiveness changes our identity. We are adopted as sons and daughters into God’s family. In the Greek and Roman cultures of Paul’s day, when a child was adopted into a family, that child gained every right and privilege that a natural born child would have…especially when it came to the inheritance. The adopted child had an equal share of the inheritance along with any of the other children.

We have been adopted into God’s family because Jesus, God’s only Son, died for our sins. Because of that, we are sons and daughters of God. We are heirs of the great inheritance of God, the promise of eternal life in his presence.

The road may be rough getting there. Notice in this verse that Paul says that we will share in Jesus’ glory (meaning heaven), but that there will be suffering on the way.

Having a forgiven life does not mean having a perfect life. A life free from hurt and pain. Sometimes when we’re in the throes of intense suffering, it can be easy to dismiss the love, grace, and forgiveness of God. If God is really loving and good, why is this happening to me? Ever asked that question before? I have.

But remember that, no matter what our current situation, no matter what pain and hurt we have in our lives, it doesn’t change the fact that, if we are in Christ, our eternal inheritance is set. We are in God’s family and the pain of this life is a temporary layover.

Norm attended a brand new church in his town, Charlotte, North Carolina. After about a month, he was baptized into Christ. Norm was absolutely growing like a weed spiritually.

But then one day Norm went to his pastor’s office with a question. He asked his pastor, “Are you going to kick me out of the church?”

You see, before Norm had surrendered his life to Jesus, he had committed a serious crime and was now facing a trial with a possible multi-year prison sentence.

Thankfully, his pastor and his church family didn’t kick him out. Instead, they embraced him and supported him as he went through his trial. The trial ended and Norm was sentenced to five years, which he began serving recently.

His pastor said that, before the trial began, he asked Norm what he wanted people to be praying for. Norm did not say that he wanted people to pray for him to avoid jail. He simply wanted people to pray that God would put him in the place where he could have the biggest impact for Christ. If that was prison, so be it.

Norm’s purpose has been changed, and he knows that the pain of his current situation is temporary because he has been adopted as God’s son, and as a son of God, he has an eternal inheritance that nobody can take away from him.

That’s why Paul ended our chapter in Romans by writing these incredible words. “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.” (Romans 8:38-39, NIV)

You want to know how big God’s forgiveness is? There’s nothing in your past, nothing in your present, and nothing in your future that can take it away from you. If you are in Christ, it is yours forever.

But maybe you haven’t yet accepted the grace gift of Jesus. Some of you have been coming here to Amelia for a while but you haven’t moved on a faith decision. Maybe it’s time for you to take that first step. Maybe you just need to talk some stuff out. We’d love to talk with you, pray with you, whatever we can do. God’s forgiveness can change your life and your eternity. He’d love to adopt you into his family. He wants to give you an identity, a purpose, and an eternity that nobody can ever take away from you.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: forgiveness, Romans 8, God's nature, God's forgiveness, What's God Really Like