The Grace Revolution: How Romans 8 Ignites a Spiritual Uprising Against Fear and Sin

0:00:01 - Speaker 1 Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYCcom. That's CityLightNYCcom. Pastor Bojan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that He has a real hope and a future for you. 0:00:40 - Speaker 2 Well, are you ready for the Word of God? this morning We are on a journey of grace. Here We're in Romans, chapter 8. And I really sense from the Lord, once we completed Ephesians, to take the whole church on a multi-month journey of grace. Why is understanding grace so important? Because grace is the system under which we now operate. Grace is the covenant, the system under which God operates. So we really should be good at understanding it, shouldn't we? If this is a system under which God operates, under the system that we're saved under, we should be thoroughly and intimately acquainted with the ins and outs of this system. Unfortunately, way too many Christians are not, because we still prize the Old Covenant as God's Word and it is Every single jot and tittle is the Word of God. We often confuse the two systems and mix them together and intertwine them, when really we're intended to read the Old Testament and prize it as the Word of God, but we're to see it through the lens of now living under a new covenant, what the Bible calls a superior, a better covenant. And so mixture is not allowed. And after this we're going to get into Galatians, where you see what was happening in the Galatian church was they were mixing the two covenants together. And you really have to laugh when you get a revelation of Galatians and you see what's really happening there. It's not something that only happened 2,000 years ago, it's something that is always all the time happening in the churches worldwide today, that people take a little bit of the Old Covenant, a little bit of the new, mix it together and really come up with a third covenant. That's always changing And that's a recipe for frustration, it's a recipe for disaster. The only time you see the Apostle Paul really kind of get animated and lose it. It doesn't lose it like in our carnal stuff, but you just see him like whoa Paul. You're getting excited. There Was when he's rebuking the Galatians for mixing the two covenants. The Corinthians that was a really carnal urban church really needed a head renewing, had lots of problems. You see him still very fatherly and Mr Rodgersie very paternal. Yeah, he executes some harsh decisions there but he's so sweet. But in Galatians he's like whoa, who has bewitched you, who has hypnotized you, has memorized, mesmerized you, and he has a really special one liner for the Judaizers that we're encouraging him to mix the two covenants. I won't get into that right now. I'm going to leave that as a cliffhanger, but you got to come in for our Galatian series. And why would Paul behave? Why? Because he understood that if you mix the two covenants you really get the benefit of neither. You can't mix them and you can't have 90% of one, 10% of the other. You have to really be 100% under the current covenant, the new covenant that was bought and purchased and then ratified with the very precious blood of Jesus Christ, and the benefits of the new covenants are superior to those of the old. And so we're studying grace now because it is the new covenant of his grace And the apostle Paul is the one who received revelation of that new covenant. He's known as the apostle of grace And he says when he received this revelation, it was so mind blowing And so unlike anything the world had ever seen. He immediately went back up to Jerusalem and consulted with all the other apostles to make sure that he was seeing and hearing correctly, because grace doesn't make any sense to the natural mind. It really is mystical, bizarre, otherworldly. And no other philosophy or faith or global religion, however small or however large, touches on grace. Every other philosophy, every other religion is based on some type of system of the law. If you do something, then God will respond with something. You do, then he does, and you have to try and be disciplined and work really hard, ie be religious, and then God will reward you. That makes sense to us as humans, but it's not the new covenant way. Amen, and it is. It is unique, strange, mind blowing and overwhelming. And so a common thing when people first begin to hear that we're under a covenant of grace, a common thought is are you telling me that I can just sin as much as I want and it doesn't make a difference to God? That is a common knee-jerk reaction. You don't just hear that today. Paul himself heard it And that's why he began Romans chapter six by addressing that right off the bat. We're going to do a quick recap of Romans six and seven and then get into a little bit of eight, but I just find this recap it's so important. So let's just look at Romans six, verses one and verses two. He says what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Should we just continue living according to our own lives and maybe sin even more? Because in the previous chapter he said we're sin abounds, grace does much more abound, grace super abounds. So somebody with an under renewed mind can think, yeah, i want more grace. So if I sin more, will more grace come? The truth is, yes, but that's not how you're supposed to live In our hearts. If we're Christians, we all don't want sin in our lives. Why? Because we're hoity-toity. No, because we understand that sin brings death And we understand that even the Bible says sin may be pleasurable for a season, but then the consequences come, and they always come. They come with interest. So I want to be free from sin, but I can't do it in and of myself, and you're not supposed to either. You're not supposed to be free from sin by trying really hard, looking to yourself or being really disciplined and having lots of willpower. That is religion, and that is the same as every other religion and faith tradition out there. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? He says, god forbid, certainly not. How shall we who die to sin live any longer in it? And this is where, for the first time, he introduces this concept, this truth that we died our sin nature, that part of us that we inherited from Adam and Eve, that part of us that is in rebellion against God, that it was actually crucified with Jesus, when 2,000 years ago, before we were even ever born in the mind of God, our sin nature was nailed to the cross there with him, and the power of sin was broken as a result. Amen. So how do you receive freedom from sin? We already know we're forgiven from sin, but I'm talking about how do we end that vicious sin. Oh, i'm so sorry, lord, cycle That constant. It's by believing this and having faith in this. I know it sounds so Right. I felt it. You're like huh, i just believe that, yeah, you were justified by faith and you'll be sanctified or made holy by faith. What if you say, what if I'm? You don't know what I'm really. If you knew what I was really struggling with. The prescription is still the same. I can't tell you more. The prescription is still the same. It always goes back to the cross and you believing, believing stubbornly and clinging to the truth violently, no matter what your head is wanting to do, your unregenerate mind that hasn't been renewed with the word of God, no matter what you find your body wanting to do, you're still saying out loud Lord, i'm struggling now, but this is what I believe, because it's your truth. My sin nature was killed. I died in that way, and dead people don't sin, and if you're really serious about being set free, you'll say it and you'll keep saying it. But there is this element that some Christians just really need to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. So in the beginning you're maybe not saying it because you're thinking maybe I'll get away with this for a while. You won't Take it from me, you won't. It won't be God punishing you, no, no, no. He loves you, god disciplines us very lovingly and gently, but it won't be him. So, well then, what am I? what? what are the consequences? the sin is the consequence, the result of the sin. Hey man. Let's go to that next verse in Roman 6, and that's verse 6. Knowing this, that our old man, that's our sin nature, that part of us in rebellion against God, it was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. And we talked several weeks ago how you will be a slave. You will either be a slave to God That's a really good slave Or you'll be a slave of sin and of the devil. So choose which direction you want to go in, and choose wisely. But the Bible says that sin has been dealt with already 2,000 years ago. And this just when our minds are renewed with this, then we know how to position and posture ourselves in prayer. You're not somebody who's a failure and a sinner and is gross and disgusting and you're crawling back to God. Oh, forgive me one more time, i keep failing you. Oh, your posture is I'm a work in progress, yes, but I believe that my sin nature Was nailed there with Jesus. I believe that that part of me that's in rebellion to you, that wants to sin, has been killed and I believe, by the power of your Holy Spirit, you're working it out in me. There is an outworking of your grace, and I'm changing What's the name of the game here. Anyway, it's to know Jesus and be conformed into his image, aka holiness. But that's not gonna come. Once again, through us trying really hard And that's why most people don't want to come into church or be Christians. Because it's thing. I mean they think it's a group of us getting together and trying really hard to better ourselves. Seriously, i wouldn't join a group like that. That sounds. Let's get together and discuss morality and then really, really try to get better. That's like some twisted and perverted self-help group coming together and then just crying that we just can't do it. You, some of you are looking and you're like you just described the church I grew up in. I know That's why you left that place, went through a period of backsliding for 10, 15 years until the Lord brought you here. Now be set free, christian, and come out of living under the law to living under grace, amen. And let me just to be clear, because we have new people and people forget so easily what it means to not live under the law. Because we're not living under the law, you can tell yourself all you want that we're still under the law. I'll show you 20 verses that explain you're dead to the law, you're not to live under that old system. The problem is is when I or the scriptures say you're dead to the law, some people have a knee-jerk reaction and what they hear is I'm dead to any kind of rules, i'm dead to any kind of regulations, i'm dead to I could. Just it's anarchy and That's not what the scripture saying. The scripture saying you're dead to the system of the old covenant law. What was that system like? It was a system that told you to do good and do right, but never filled you with the power from within to fulfill the righteous Requirement of that system of law. So you keep falling flat on your face and you keep working and sweating and trying Hard to be approved unto God based on your own behavior, and you keep falling and failing. That's not a good system, you say. Why did we even have that system? Well, a couple of reasons. One, actually if you look at what was happening on Mount Sinai when the Ten Commandments were given, it would appear that God gave them a choice Do you want to have grace or do you want to have the law? and you know what they did all the Hebrews together in one voice. They said give us the law. We're well able to keep every commandment You've given us. We can do. It Didn't work out so well, did it? Another reason is, then God gave the law because it's like an MRI or an x-ray machine. It'll show you up, it'll detect where the sin is and it'll cause you to realize you're not all that and that you need a savior. This is the offense of the gospel. Over and over again We hear the offense of the cross, the offense of the gospel, and people will say well, it's Jesus. Look, he's all bleeding and we can't look. It's so offensive. No, that's not the offense of the gospel. The offense of the gospel is that it's a giant message that says hey, hot stuff, you're not all that. You're not all that. You're guilty of sin and you're powerless to do anything about it. You're powerless to be forgiven and you're powerless to change. So you need a Savior. And that is offensive to people. That is a stumbling block. It is offense that they trip over Because in secretly, we all want to be our own God. We all want to do it ourselves and then we all want to take the credit for it. Defense of the gospel is you. You don't get any credit. That's why we sing hallelujah. We don't get to pat ourselves on the back. He did it all Well, i got saved. I'm the one who accepted what he did. No, if He didn't, if he didn't get through your thick head And, by the way, when I talk a little roughly like that, i'm actually talking to myself. I'm not pointing my finger at you. I can just easily replace it with if you didn't get through my thick head and Soften my rock hard heart, i never would have believed. I can't even take credit for receiving him as my Lord and Savior. He touched my heart to believe. He opened my eyes that I should see. He's the one who leaves. I didn't walk out of darkness looking for God. He plucked me out, amen. He delivered me. Verse 11 of Roman 6 Yeah, taking even more time than the first service. This is a recap. Likewise, you also once again anyone who's a Christian. Inwardly and this is what the Apostle Paul said you delight after the law, god's standard of righteousness According to the inner man. In your spirit you want holiness and in your spirit you hate sin. But then Paul says if you don't understand grace, if you're still trying to do it under the system of the law. You'll want to do what's right, but you'll fail every time. So what's the solution? once again, could it really be this simple? This is why I believe the apostle Paul said don't be removed from this simplicity that is in Christ. And then those authors that are selling books like hotcakes 50 ways to eliminate sin in your life then they won't be able to sell those books. Because the answer is you also reckon yourselves. That's an accounting term. That means put it down that it's so. So you put it down that it's so. You settle once and for all in your heart. You reckon yourself dead, indeed, to sin, but alive to God and Christ Jesus, our Lord. So, as the Lord is working out his will and his ways, remember in Galatians excuse me, it may not be Galatians, but it says that he makes us or causes us to will and do after his own good pleasure. It's from the inside out, but that begins when you put it down that it's so that your old nature, your sin nature, has been crucified with him. You were crucified together with him, co-crucified, co-buried and co-resurrected. Amen. Verse 14,. Whoever was just randomly clapping in the back, that was a good time to clap Verse 14,. You gotta appreciate that. One person was like I don't care what anybody else is doing, this is clap worthy Verse 14, for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. There was something twisted and ugly happening And it's always been the plan of the devil. He's been doing this for 2000 years that when you talk about grace, people who are committed to the Lord, who don't understand grace which is a lot of people they're committed, they're Christian, they're born again, but they don't really understand grace. So they think when you are a quote unquote grace preacher, secretly what you're really communicating is lukewarmness and compromise. Really, i'm a grace which I don't even like that term grace preacher. What does that mean? I'm not a grace preacher, i'm a proclamer of the gospel. The gospel is grace, amen. That's why the Bible says that the gospel is the power of God, hallelujah. And this is not a grace message. This is the gospel And you cannot separate grace from gospel. But because there are preachers who twist grace and misuse it, there are, and they're, lukewarm churches and compromised churches and they're flirting with the world. Some aren't flirting, some are outright. Just on their 10th date with the world and ready to propose, and they'll kind of, for all of their compromise and all of their lukewarmness, they slap the sticker of grace on it to give grace a bad name. But if you look at that verse, paul said you're free from sin because you're not under the old covenant system of law. You're not under a system where the pressure is on you That'll make you sin more. You're not under a system where you feel you have to score points with the big guy, because that system will actually bring more sin out of you Somebody. All of a sudden, your whole church life is starting to make sense. You're no longer under a system where you yourself are trying to win God's approval and acceptance based on your behavior. All that's gonna do is cause you to finally fall down and say I give up. Woo, go crazy in the world, and I've seen it happen all the time. That's what being under the system of law produces. But sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. So being under grace means that you're set free from the power of sin. You can also say it this way grace is an empowerment against sin, and we also misuse the word grace often when we really should be using the word mercy. Like, let's say, we have a meeting and you come 10 minutes late and I go, i don't worry about it, i had grace for you. I really had mercy, but I didn't have grace. If I had grace for you, i would have sent you an Uber code and got your Uber to the meeting. I would have given you an empowerment. Is this making sense to anyone? That's another story over there, but I'm just explaining that we are a church of the gospel. We are a new covenant church. You aren't, but put whatever label on it, if you know Jesus, you are a people of grace, and so we have to become good at understanding what is this covenant that we're supposed to function under? And the more you get it, the more you get it. All of a sudden, it'll be like chains snapping off of you and your prayers will be answered. So what weren't they answered before? Because the Bible says faith works by love, and if you don't get God's love via grace, your faith won't work. You'll have all these questionings about your worth, about your identity, about your position before God, and you'll have all these questions about the character and nature of God. One moment you'll be saying hallelujah. The next moment you'll be going to sleep thinking I think I hate God and I think he hates me. There's people who live this way. There is a better way. Amen. He didn't save you that you should be tortured on this side of heaven. He saved you that you would experience all of heaven that you can, according to your faith. Be it unto you, really, enoch. He experienced so much heaven on this side of heaven that he didn't even die. He just walked with God and God is like look, you're spending so much time with me more than you are down there, you're with me. You might as well just come right on up. And the Bible says he never died. He was just the first one to be raptured Hallelujah. That's a good goal. Hashtag life goals. I wanna walk with God so tightly that when I get to heaven, i'm not surprised Some people will get to heaven and have a nervous breakdown. Ah, it's so happy and joyful and the prosperity and the peace, ah. And look at God. All I see is love. I'm melting from love. He's like I'm gonna. Ah, he's so loving. I didn't know He was like this. You should have done known. If you spent more time with him and got ahold of grace, you would have known. You wouldn't be shocked when you show up Hallelujah. Let's recap Roman seven now Oh God is good Hallelujah. This is why, by the way, jesus said, he said John the Baptist, of all the old covenant, of the law prophets, john the Baptist is greatest Because he's the one who heralded the way and prepared the way for the Messiah. And by then he said the least in the kingdom of heaven, those that are under the new covenant of grace, the least under grace is greater than the greatest under law. This is why, so every day, just thank God, you were born, ad. You have more of the Holy Spirit than David ever had. They didn't have the Holy Spirit 24, seven living inside of them. They had temporary empowerment, coverings of the Holy Spirit to do a certain assignment, and then he'd be messing up and crying oh God, don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Don't you pray that prayer ever under the new covenant There's a lot of stuff that we say as though that reveals that we have mixture in our heart. Did you notice, those of you who've been coming to church for 20 years, have you noticed that you can never, ever refer to this place as the house of God. You say, oh, that's because we only rent, right, if you own your own building, then it would be. No, this is not the house of God. Under the old covenant it was a physical building. But you see New Testament churches all the time. Don't disrespect God's house. Under the new covenant, you are the house of God. You're the temple of God. You're a mobile glory temple. Hallelujah, all right. Romans 7 and verse 4. Recapping Roman 7, take go through five verses from Roman 7. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law. Oh What? Roman 6, he establishes our sin. Nature was killed. So, just so you know, when you looking at that man in the mirror promising that you're going to make a change, he, he, and you look at that man in the mirror and you feel disgusted and you know how you failed and how you fall and you remember that that part of you was killed off 2,000 years ago. You remember that Some of you, you got a zombie version of you that you yourself have raised up, and that's your identity. You need to see yourself as the resurrected Christ, because that's where you are right now. But now he establishes not only are you dead to sin, you're also dead to the law. Let's make peace with it. Shall we have a moment of silence together For our dearly departed system that we're no longer under. You're no longer under the old covenant of law. What does that mean? practically, you're no longer under a system where you are trying to win God's acceptance and approval and be justified and be forgiven of your sins based on your behavior. He has done it all. So Paul establishes you've become dead to the law through the body of Christ. That you may be married, that you may be united, that you may be joined to another, to Jesus, to him who was raised from the dead. That we should bear fruit to God Verse five for when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members. To bear fruit to death Verse 15,. Now Paul begins to describe what it's like to be a Christian and try to serve God under the law, under the old system, and not under grace. And it sounds like zero fun at all. And it's just that. It sounds like my Christianity the first couple of years until I got ahold of grace, and it sounds like a lot of people who go to church. This is what 50 years, 60 years of their life has been like. Many leave. They can't handle it. The only reason those stay is they love the Lord they really do, and they fear hell too much, and some of them are just glutton for punishment. So they're just like whipping themselves and feeling like, oh yo yo, this is what church is like, i guess, until we get to the sweet by and by. Doesn't this sound like torture? Look for what I'm doing. I don't understand. He's like I'm a walking contradiction, a total civil war. I have no peace. I'm a spiritual schizo. For what I want to do, that I end up not doing, that I do not, that I don't practice, and what I hate, that's what I do. That is not the abundant life in Christ. That is not what Christianity is. This is what religious torture is. Again, what is this? It is a saved person. How do we know he's a saved person? Because he says what I hate, i do. An unsaved person doesn't hate sin. They hate the effects and the ramifications and the consequences of sin, but they don't hate sin. Only a born-again believer hates sin. But he's saying the thing that I hate, i still end up doing it. Why? Because you're trying to serve God in your own strength, aka living under the law. Thank you for coming to therapy hour with Pastor Boyan Jansik. It's been my absolute pleasure to explain the last 10 to 20 years of your life to you. You keep falling and you keep failing because you, you, you, you keep trying to do it. So what do we got to get good at? We got to get good at reckoning ourselves dead and yielding and surrendering to him, bending the knee and accepting his Lordship in every area of our life. And he will cause us to will and to do after his good pleasure. Again, not from the outside in, but from the inside out. Religion, all it's concerned is the cosmetics, the outside, but he's from the inside out. Hallelujah, romans 24 through 25,. After having used the word I 40 times and that's how you know you're living under the law or trying to do it in your own strength you become a spiritual narcissist. You're always looking inwardly and it's all about you. And Paul, here, 40 times, in describing this person, kept saying he's describing himself and he's saying I, i, i, i And finally he's like I keep failing, i keep falling. O wretched man that I am who will deliver me from this messed up version of Christianity that God never intended? And he gives the answer. I thank God Finally looking up and out, not examining himself, but looking at the answer, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. He's the answer And what he did at his death, burial and resurrection, that's the source of the power, hallelujah. So what's happening here this morning and the journey that we're going on Because, look, you've been programmed one way your whole entire life. One sermon on this is not going to deprogramming you. Excuse me, deprogram you. I got to go to the plunking. That's underwater cave diving, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub. I got to go in there with a pickaxe and a shovel some dynamite, get into all the nooks and crannies of your law-based system of believing and thinking, set up the TNT charges, blow it as smithereens, and that takes some time. 0:34:26 - Speaker 1 Hallelujah. 0:34:34 - Speaker 2 So that then, with the mind, i myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. And now, after a good what? 30-minute recap, let's begin Romans chapter eight. If you've just arrived late, you come right on time. We're doing Romans eight. Let's begin at verse one. I feel like I just lost some people, people that were here the first service of having fun. There's some people right there like faster. I got an appointment at 2 pm and you're now beginning Romans eight. I didn't get past Romans eight, verse one, in the last service. So just Whenever you see a therefore in the Bible, what question should you ask? Say it loud. What is it there for? So he's saying, therefore, because of Pastor Boyan's recap of Romans six and seven. He's saying because of what I wrote to you about you, your sin nature being crucified with Jesus, you not being under the law anymore, you're dead to the law. Because of what I wrote to you about this new covenant system of his grace. There is therefore now zero, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Here's the sad reality. So many Christians read that, as there is therefore now less condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, it's not all taken out of the way. That wouldn't be right. I don't deserve that, because I just feel some Christians, i just feel he's looking at me funny. I just feel you're a slave to your feelings. You don't want to know how I felt when I woke up this morning. I woke up in a room that looks like one of those when you watch old World War two footage and the Berlin bombing, and it's just. I shouldn't look at rocks and gravel that is out. No, i don't thank you. Oh, this is like. Oh. No, i'm not saying this for sympathy, i'm just saying I'm explaining to you. I woke up and my little girl is sick And so my wife couldn't be there. I got very few hours and I woke up. Honestly, i woke up and I was like I mean, that was how I felt. I felt awful, zero energy in my body, and that was the wave that greeted me on a Sunday morning. I'm not saying it for sympathy, though, just so you understand. I'm trying to relate to you because I know you don't feel like you're on your A game all the time. That's how I felt. So what did I do about the problem? My first thought was wow, and I'm preaching on not relying on yourself and the power of the Holy Spirit and walking according to the Spirit. This is a good time to actually practice what I preach. Amen. So, feeling like junk, i began to say the truth, knowing that my feelings will soon become subject to the truth. Amen. So to those of you who don't feel like God loves you and you don't feel His grace. And you know you speak the truth anyhow. Why? Because your feelings are lying to you. They're lying, they're not accurate. Your feelings are coming from an unrenewed mind and past experiences that God had nothing to do with. You. Trip and fall all by yourself. And Satan says God And you're like God did that? No, you tripped and fell And, for whatever reason, you associated that with God. He was just in heaven, going. I'm here when you need me. Just look upon me, call on me. I even have angels that will bear you up in their hands. Let's you dash your foot against the stone. Just please look at me once in a while and set your mind on me to activate them, amen. So there is therefore now no condemnation. Why is there no condemnation? Because your sin, all of your sin, all of my sin, was already past, tense, condemned. It was condemned in the body of Jesus, and once that sin was already condemned and judged, there is no more condemnation left for you. Hallelujah, do we got that gimbal? Do you have it? Just come up real close with the gimbal, is that it? Is it active, just for the sake of the folks at home? Really So like if I do this they get a close up of that. Is it on? Talk to me All right, see this tattoo. I was in a restaurant yesterday and the bartender. I'm waiting there and he goes. He's looking at me. He goes. Is that a martini glass? You see, everybody looks at thank you. Everybody looks at it's because it's upside down chalice. Everybody looks at life through their own lens, don't they? He's a bartender. Is that a martini glass? First time I ever heard that. What I often hear is that a communion cup. That's good. I just wanted them to see what I permanently put on my body, forever and ever. It's an upside down chalice. We're talking about no condemnation. It's an upside down chalice Cups. Chalices throughout the Bible represent God's wrath. A full cup wine dregs being poured out. That's the wrath of God. Joseph, the most Christ-like figure in the Old Testament, the one who pointed the most towards Jesus. When his brothers who had betrayed him, starting to sound familiar, come to him, he puts an upside down chalice Silver, by the way, silver is the medal of redemption in Benjamin's book bag knapsack. It says What is that being? It's saying I'm not angry with you. It's not full of it. It's, prophetically speaking, of what Jesus did. The cup of God's wrath was thoroughly and completely poured out and it's empty. There is none left for you anymore. That's why I put that on my arm Amen. All of the condemnation has been poured out on Jesus, so zero is left for you. That's something to celebrate. And when you get that in your spirit, you're going to fall in love with him. You're going to receive from him. Your prayers will come alive, your faith will soar, you will begin to live in the land of abundance. You can't until you get this, because faith the Bible says in Galatians, faith works by love. People always think oh, that means I need to be nicer to people in order for my faith. No, that's part of it. That's again. Everyone looks at the fruit but leaves the root untouched. It's not about being nice to people. Loving to people. It's about receiving God's love for yourself. Then you'll be loving to people by default, and then your faith will come alive. Faith works by love. Why am I laboring in the spirit to intertwine this message of grace and the very fidea and a fibers of our church? Because when you get it, you're going to get God's love. When you get God's love, your faith will soar and you'll be getting answers to prayers, and victory won't be something that's always in the distance. You'll realize you have it now, hallelujah. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. So you're in Him, aren't you? Is Jesus condemned? No, he was on the cross, but then He was resurrected And He's sitting in glory, resting from the labor of the cross. And you're in Him. Who do not walk according to the flesh? Now, this is where people who just don't get grace because people will fight you, they'll fight you for it, and it's really funny how that works. Again, usually it's because of pride. People that have been wrong about something for years can't bring it to themselves to realize oh wow, i really was deceived and I was wrong for years about this. Praise God, we had a real life experiment with that, with COVID, didn't we, didn't we? Amen. People walking around triple masking with gloves up to their elbows. Do you remember how, in the first few, people were hugging each other through nylon And then never. Then afterwards, you know what This is all. After three years of that, at least you should be going. You know, i'm a little suspicious of that whole thing, that's it. I'm a little bit suspicious about how that data was presented and what they made me go through. That's fair. Can you turn my mic volume up please? They'll do all these mental gymnastics just so they don't have to go. I was wrong, i wasn't. Hey, i didn't get. There were other ministers close to me that saw right through it from the beginning, but it took me several months. Why? Because I'm slow, or no? because actually we only need to hear a lie repeated six or seven times before we believe it. And I was there right along with you watching the news and the death countometer going, and you have every voice telling you and if you're new or whatever and you say is this guy a COVID denier? No, i'm just a denier that it was a pandemic, because a pandemic is deaths of like 30% of a population. The bubonic plague, that's a pandemic. 30% of the population wiped out, covid. Those are rookie numbers 1%, less than 1%. Why are you so quiet? Are you afraid that they're listening? Some of you are like I'll say amen when I shut my phone off and I turn Alexa off at home. Listen, some of you, you're not gonna make it when round two comes around. If this is your attitude, i'm telling you What this exposed. I'm getting off this and no, no, i'm getting off grace just because I'm seeing. when round two comes along, you're still gonna be afraid of what will my neighbors think? what will other people at work think? what will my boss think? Who cares? I saw good-hearted Christian people miss their lives. They're still messed up psychologically because they were so concerned about what will people think? They just have to call me a grandma killer twice and I was gonna show everybody I was doing my part and trusting the science team. I'm a responsible citizen. I'm gonna love my neighbor and get quintuple-vaxxed and boosted to show my love for my neighbor. Now I feel that, coming up here I am. But he said why are you feeling? why? because I don't wanna see you go down like a lemming when round two will come in one form or another. Are you gonna go down that cliff like a lemming And just being a slave to whatever they pipe in, not just through the television, but through that telephone that knows you better than you know you. Those algorithms have been studying you. They know what your shoe size is, they know what you like, what you don't like, where you live, what time you get up. Do you know that one of the ways they're wanting to measure credit worthiness listen to this is by whether you charge because they have access to this data whether you charge your phone at night. If you charge your phone all through the night, you're perceived to be a more responsible individual and your credit worthiness goes up. And if you just go to sleep, phone fell on your head because you were scrolling at 2 am and you woke up and you're charging it all throughout the day, then you're in your spine. It knows you Tell the social media people to put that clip on Instagram. They haven't put any of the controversial stuff. Put that on so they know what we're about. We're about loving the truth and hating the lie. Amen. Bible says in Proverbs buy the truth and sell it, not Be a lover of truth And please don't take. I understand whenever there is truth, people will take it to an extreme and that'll be mixed with lies, and so you don't know what the truth or what the lie. All I'm saying is can you be a little more discerning and a little more suspicious in a good way And can you please just put to death the fear of man. Refuse now ever to do anything, ever again, because everybody else is doing it. I saw a picture of a bunch of Nazis, thousands of them, each one doing the sig hail, and there was one guy like this, like not believing enough. That's the guy I want to be. Be that guy. Be that guy saying what the heck is going on. No, i'm not partaking of the lunacy. Amen. Romans 8-1. Romans 8-1. Who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. So, once again, this is how I went on this deluxe rabbit trail, because people who love their legalism and they want to trust in themselves, because they can't just come to the terms that maybe they've been wrong for years about how Christianity is to be done, they'll say see what the Bible means there's no condemnation for those who aren't sinning. They're not walking according to the flesh, right, if you're not sinning, you don't need a message of no condemnation. That's like duh. So you're telling me, if I'm forever skinny, i won't get fat. Wow, mind blowing. Wow, if I don't sin, then there's no condemnation. No, to walk according to the flesh doesn't mean you're not sinning. To walk according to the flesh doesn't mean you're sinning. To walk according to the flesh means you're living under the law, you're trying to serve God in your strength and then consequently, yes, you will be sinning because you're trying to do it in your own strength. That's what walking in the flesh means. Then what does walking in the spirit mean? Walking in the spirit means you're walking under grace. Walking in the spirit means you're walking under the new covenant, and new covenant and new creation realities are alive in you. I don't know about you, but I was told walking in the spirit means praying every day, reading the Word every day, witnessing every day. Those are all wonderful fruit, but that's not walking in the spirit. That's a fruit and a result of walking in the spirit. Can I show this to you Just real quick? in Galatians, galatians, chapter five, verse 16, says I say then walk in the spirit. This is after a five chapter battle Paul is saying this A five chapter battle of trying to get these Galatians to wake up and stop mixing the two covenants together. And he says walk in the spirit, and then you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Walking in the spirit doesn't mean don't sin, because then that verse wouldn't make sense. Don't sin, then you won't be sinning. Are you all seeing this? Am I explaining this, all right? All right, walking in the spirit. I'll give you an example of walking in the spirit. It's you waking up and going whoo another day, lord, hallelujah. Thank you, lord Jesus. Thank you that my sin nature Has been killed off and it's dead and crucified. Thank you, lord, that I'm dead to that old system of the law. Meanwhile, there's all this crowd going on in your life, right, but you still. You say that, lord. Thank you that I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. You fill me with your life. Thank you, lord, you've gone ahead before me. Lord, you're connecting the dots, your opening doors. I'm gonna be at the right place at the right time. And, lord, i have these other issues in my life, but I thank you that I cannot, i just admit right away I cannot overcome these things on my own, but you can, lord, and you're inside of me. And on top of that, lord, i have been made righteous. I have right standing, lord. We're best friends. Thank you for that, lord. Thank you, we have this relationship, thank you. You're my father and I'm your child and I'm highly favored and I'm blessed and I'm anointed. And, lord, good things, they're beating down my door. They come from all over the place. Lord, now you're walking in the Spirit. Guess what happened? your eyes are not on you, they're on him. Hallelujah. All right, i'll close with this worship team coming up, ushers and usherets get the communion elements ready. This is, i believe, one of the grip, my opinion, one of the greatest Old Testament passages Ever. Why is it so great? because it points to the new. It's an Ezekiel 36 and verse 26. This is what walking in the Spirit is. It's a prophecy about the new covenant. It's a prophecy about you and The system that you're gonna serve God under. I will give you a new heart and Put a new spirit within you. They didn't have that back then, but you do. I Will take out the heart of stone. I Will take the heart of stone, excuse me out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I Will put my spirit within you and Cause you. Do you see that I will cause you. I Will cause you To walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. Please leave that verse up there. This is what walking in the Spirit is. This is new covenant Christianity yielding to the greater one that's in you as you're receiving your communion elements. just Listen to this story. It's an example I have of this Walking in the Spirit and how the new covenant life is to be lived. First-year Bible school I had this Wonky red Sanford and son pickup truck And the tailgate was open because it was full. Everybody over 40 joined me in singing and the other the kids are like Huh, you too bit At a tailgate. I was backing up But it was a tight squeeze in between two cars and had a friend from Bible school. He was in his early 20s, like me, he had glasses. They were like half an inch thick And you couldn't tell whether his eyes were on the inside or the outside. One of those kind of you could never tell which way He was looking at you. I'm just saying that because That's not the guy that you want, signaling you and how you're gonna back up. But that was my guy And so I'm backing up and I'm gonna do. I have said he's gone. You know, like you got, like I got yard and I'm like I don't have as much room as he's gesticulating that I have. And all of a sudden you know you can't sneak up with the to do to do. You got a slowly and then start, but he just he went from come on to no and I hit the brake and I realized I hit the car And I'm thinking Get out of my car. And I see a miracle, i didn't wreck the back end of the car. So bizarre. My tailgate that was open hit the tail light, didn't even smash or break the tail light, but left like a pea-sized hole in the tail light. My first thought was who just leave? I don't want to. I don't want to get stuck with a bill for 150 bucks. I hadn't gotten a revelation of sewing and reaping and seat time and harvest and God's prosperity at 150 bucks on top of my budget. 23 year old Bible school student, that would erect me for a month. So I'm like just this is perfect. What's the harm? But as I just even thought that, i just felt that's not the right thing to do. So what I did was I got out a note and I wrote my name, what had happened, my contact information, my phone number, and left it on the windshield. I Want you to note They never called, by the way, those God's goodness. But I want you to know. When you look at the Old Testament, you go through all the different laws, and Leviticus There is not one that says when thou art backing up thine truck and Thou smashes into thy neighbor's tail light, make it thou sure that I leave a note with thine contact information. It's not there. What was I doing? It's what you've done too. You were living out of your new created, born-again spirit, the new heart that he has given you, and he was causing you To walk in his statutes. To anyone who would say the grace message is an assault on holiness, they don't know what they're talking about. The exact opposite is true, because it actually causes you to come up to an even greater way of whole. There's strict law here. Instead, i'll say, hey, look, pornography is okay, but as long as I don't cheat on my wife. There are people who look to the law and see, because the law never says anything about that. And God said hey, jesus, through Jesus, there's even a higher standard. You don't have to have that stuff in your head, you don't have to put it before your eyes and you can be set free from that. So, grace and, by the way, the only I feel like I've just said dropping that bomb People just need to hear you are loved And Grace is an empowered. This grace is an empowerment against sin and he's not put off by you while he's working it out in you. Can you get that? He's not disgusted with you and like kind of like he's helping out, but man, he can't even stand the side of you. He's there, loving you and you're like don't look at me, i'm so ugly. No, he's there and he's fixing and you just keep looking at him and he loves you more than you love you. Is that possible? Yes, hallelujah. Well, i think we should definitely drink and eat to that. Amen. I Want you to examine your life. Where are you lacking? Where are you deficient? What are you missing? This is the solution. It's Jesus, and when we partake of communion according to the word of God, we are partaking of him. This morning I woke up with some deficiencies. I looked around at my bedroom basement That's normally so beautiful and put together. It's messed up. I'm trusting. And the key, the problem is they can't solve it. They keep sending different people over. Each one has a different theory. Meanwhile, i still have the fountain coming up. I trust that when I partake, i Appropriate the promises of God by faith. He's got a solution, he's gonna work it out. What are you lacking? in your finances, in your mind, socially, in your career and your business? are you missing anything? You know what? who? the answer is Jesus, and You're not eating a wafer and drinking some grape juice. You are partaking of the risen Lord And believe that his power comes upon you when you do. Can you do that by faith, lord? we trust you that you are working on our behalf and we invite your power. Lord, we don't receive communion in an unworthy manner. An unworthy manner would be if we just ate and drank and didn't think anything was gonna happen, but we believe that your power is released In Jesus name. So partake, eat of his body and drink of his blood. 1:01:26 - Speaker 1 This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Bojan Jancic and CitLight Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to CityLight Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.