Not Guilty, But Am I Innocent?

Transcribed by Beluga AI.

Well, let me read one of my key verses and then we’ll pray and then share.

Romans 6:23.

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, ESV)

Okay, let’s pray.

Father, we ask that you help us to understand Romans 5 and 6. They are very critical in our Christian journey. We need to understand what you’re saying here. So, we pray that you send the Holy Spirit, provide revelation, and wisdom and understanding so that we can learn how we should live out our Christian faith.

Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.

Okay, well, does anybody have a key verse or title for these two chapters? I know I didn’t give you much time. I’m counting on Tim because he gave some good revelation last week about Jewish and the Gentile mindset. Yes, Tim?

That’s Great. That’s Romans 5:20 all the way to Romans 6:2. Do you have a title for these verses?

Yes, yes, perfect. Perfect. We are recipients of grace. And when the law was there, grace abounded all the more. But it is not a license to sin more and take advantage and abuse the grace of God. That’s a very important point.

Anybody else? Romans is difficult. Yes. Ron.

Amen. Yeah. Romans 5:8. It is also one of my key verses. God proves his love for us by sending his Son to die on a cross. And we, in a sense, I guess I could paraphrase, we also have to prove through fruit, through service, through a life that is surrendered to the Lord and a transformation, that we also have Christ in us. That’s great. Anybody else?

Amen. Amen. Romans 6:4. That does sum it up. Okay, well, for the last week or so, I’ve been in a jury room, a courtroom, not because I committed a crime, but because I was summoned to jury duty. And I was sure I was going to get dismissed because I figured the prosecution at least would not want a pastor. So I thought, okay, I’m going to get dismissed as soon as I tell them I’m a pastor. But that didn’t work. People gave all kinds of reasons why they should be dismissed: financial hardship, which I couldn’t say; prejudice against law enforcement. I couldn’t say that. It’s a criminal case. It’s going to go quite long.

And there were 53 of us down to 10. And I’m one of the 10. So I think I’m going to get selected. They had to get another group of 50 to get two more, plus two alternates. Likely the trial will begin Monday or Tuesday. And I’m asking the Lord, why, why am I? Why am I there? I’m clearly there to pray for the man who committed the crime or possibly committed the crime.

My last card that I was going to play was, the defense attorney said, is it a problem if the defendant doesn’t take the stand? And in my mind I want him to take the stand. Like, if you are innocent, then go up there, speak, prove your innocence. And I said, I would have a hard time if he chose, he exercised his right and chose not to take the stand. But the attorney pressed me a little bit more. He said, but would you be fair? And I can’t lie. I live before God.

And I said, okay, even if I don’t like the fact that he doesn’t take the stand in the end, based on the evidence, I could be fair. And then they pass me by, and then it looks like I’m going to be selected.

It’s a strange feeling as I’m reading Romans and sitting in that courtroom. Like, I know I’m innocent. I don’t know if the defendant is innocent, but we presume innocence. It’s the prosecution’s job to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt. But I know I’m innocent.

But it almost felt like during the jury selection, I’m on trial, and they are trying to see, am I a good candidate? Can I be fair? Am I biased? But it just felt like all of our jury members, we are under oath. We cannot lie. We are. We are being scrutinized. And it’s this feeling of, I’m innocent, but why do I feel this discomfort?

God gave me a picture of what it’s going to be like on Judgment Day. Will I feel confident that I am innocent? Will I feel a little bit fearful that the judge will rule not in my favor, that I’m actually guilty?

I think the key to winning a case is your attorney. If both defendant, defense, and prosecution had good attorneys, I really don’t know how this is going to go.

I already have my leaning, obviously, especially if he doesn’t take the standard. But both attorneys were very good.

And Jesus is our defense attorney. We really have to get to know him well in this life so that when it’s our day in judgment, Jesus will say, no, he’s innocent. I know him. And he will fight and plead for us before the Father.

And if we know Jesus well, we put our faith in him. I’m sure the verdict will be not guilty. And in the courtroom, it is presumed innocent until proven guilty. And then 12 jurors have to hash it out. In this one, the judge said, likely it’s going to go. It should be done by August 1st.

I kept telling her two times that I have a mission trip. I’m not going to be here August 3rd. So if it goes the following week, she kept saying, no, it’s going to be done by August 1st. But I might be in a courtroom all the way until the last moment.

But it’s presumed innocent until proven guilty. The Christian life is reversed. Did you know that we are not guilty?

That is the beginning of our Christian journey. Once we put our faith in Christ, the verdict is given. This is what justification is. That’s in Romans 5:8-9. It says,

⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8-10, ESV)

And so this word justification is, once you place your faith in Christ, even though we’re sinners, the verdict comes down from the courts of heaven. Not guilty. And so it’s not just presumed innocence, it’s not guilty.

But for the rest of our Christian journey, we have to prove our innocence. Even though God says you’re not guilty, does that mean we’re innocent while we’re still sinners, while we still have addictions, while we still have strongholds, while we still have all kinds of sins? Are we innocent?

It’s like the same that I know I’m innocent in this jury selection process in the courtroom, but part of me thinks like I’m on trial, like I feel guilty even though I know I’m innocent. And the defendant, he’s got to just wait for the trial, for the other side to prove guilt.

No, in the Christian life, not guilty is the verdict already given to us. But now for the rest of our journey, we have to prove our innocence. So we are reconciled by the death of His Son. Much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?

¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10, ESV)

People just think that I am justified. I’m saved because I look back on Jesus who died for me. If that’s the case, why does it say in Romans 5:10 that we are saved? Not by his death, we’re justified by his death and his blood that is shed. But we are saved by his life. Jesus is alive. He resurrected from the grave. And by getting to know your defense attorney, you’re saved by his life. And at the end of your life, he will vouch for you and say, Ray, he is innocent.

Romans 6:1-4.

¹ What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:1-4, ESV)

And so, if you recall your baptism, it’s very important, in my opinion, that all people should be baptized by immersion. Because that is such a good representation of the Christian life. Your old self goes under the water; you died with Christ. Christ went down into the grave, into the belly of this earth. He rose again three days later. We come out of the water dripping wet. It is a new beginning. And now we have to walk it out in the newness of life.

And then it says in Romans 6:11,

¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11, ESV)

This word for consider is also mentioned in Romans 4:3. Abraham believed, and it was considered, it was counted to him as righteousness.

So the moment that Abraham believed, when there was a Christophany, the pre-incarnate Christ came and visited with Abram. Was he righteous? Yes and no. He was righteous because he believed, and God counted it to him, considered him righteous. But it’s almost like a fiction in some sense. It’s just a declaration that you’re righteous.

But if Abraham just sat there and didn’t lift a finger, didn’t do a thing, just stayed in his hometown, would he be righteous? Or the fact that he stepped out in faith, the fact that he went on a journey, the fact that he trusted over 24 years, and then God came to him again, said a year from now you will have a son.

And for that 25-year span, even though his body and his wife’s body were as good as dead, for those 25 years of testing, he believed. And then later on, maybe decades later, maybe when Isaac is in his early 30s, that Abraham had a knife in his hand. He was ready to plunge it into the heart of his son because he believed that God would raise Abraham from the dead.

This is a righteousness that is lived out. It’s a declaration. In the beginning, God sees you as righteous, but it’s a fiction in some sense until it gets lived out and you got to walk it out. And it was considered, he was credited to him as righteous.

³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3, ESV)

The same word, Romans 6:11. So you must consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11, ESV)

Many Christians do not consider themselves dead to sin. And for the rest of their Christian journey, guess what? They’re enslaved to sin. Because in their mind, nothing has changed. They got a little sprinkling. Nothing has changed. There was an expectation of new life, but nothing has changed because their mindset has not changed.

And when you go to them at the end of their lives, their theology is, we all sin. Don’t worry, we all sin. It’s true. But is that a license to sin? Are you saying that you’re still a slave of sin? Are you saying that the Spirit of God is not in you? That Christ is not in you, that you’ve not overcome sin and you’re giving yourself a pass because everybody in this world sins? Is it because they haven’t considered themselves dead to sin? From the point. From the point of their baptism going forward? That was my old life. I’m dead to the sins I used to commit. Now I walk in the newness of life.

⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4, ESV)

Imagine Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery, and then a week later, she’s shacking up again with another guy. Would we say that she met Jesus in a meaningful way if she continued in her pattern of sin, this adulterous woman? Or did Jesus make it clear to her, from this day forward, sin no more?

Meaning this. Maybe not all of this adulterous woman’s sins were broken in that moment, but certainly the most primary sin of sexual immorality that led to adultery, this sin, I bet, never, ever happened again.

So it starts with our mindset. These besetting sins, these character flaws, these personality disorders. Do we just give ourselves a pass? Because in our mind we think, I’m just born this way. I’m just traumatized from my past. My parents raised me poorly, and that’s why I’m stuck, that’s why I’m depressed. That’s why I am addicted to alcohol. That’s why I’m a drug user, because of all the things.

And for the Christian, was there this moment in time when Jesus came to us and we got set free? And from that point forward, we considered ourselves dead to sin and alive to God.

It starts with our mind. That’s why repentance is a change of mindset. And then we prove it through the fruit of repentance, which is a changed life.

Romans 6:16-18.

¹⁶ Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? ¹⁷ But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, ¹⁸ and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. (Romans 6:16-18, ESV)

So as we present ourselves to God in Christ and as we bring our sins to the Lord Jesus Christ, he will. He will, he will help us to break these patterns of sin and these strongholds. And then we become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching.

And then now we’re no longer slaves of sin, but now we’re a slave to righteousness, and it is a matter of obedience. And this tells me now, as a new believer, we have a choice. Don’t believe the lie of Satan, that you are the way that you are and you are enslaved to the things that you’ve done for the last few decades, and this is your destiny. If that is true, then perhaps you’re still a slave of sin. And if you are a slave of sin, what is the fruit it leads to? Death.

You might say, well, but Pastor, I thought if I believe, I’m saved. But if you look more carefully, if you are a slave to sin, and you’re choosing to remain enslaved to sin, you play that out over a lifetime and you keep giving yourself a pass, don’t worry, I’m forgiven, while you still blatantly sin.

The end goal, the destination of that, is death, for the wages of sin is death. So even if you call yourself a Christian, if you keep on sinning, the wages of sin is death. If you are a slave to sin, it will lead to death. But we’re not a slave to sin any longer. We have a new master. His name is Jesus. And we present ourselves to God and in Christ Jesus, fully expecting that I am free. Now, it’s our choice.

So when I talk to a believer and they’re struggling, I encourage them. Today is a new day. You have a choice. Today, maybe tomorrow. Yesterday you failed. Maybe for the last decade you failed. But today is a new day. Choose life. Run to Jesus. Present yourselves to God.

You’re not a slave. Slave mentality starts in your mind. If you think you’re a slave to the alcohol, then you’re an alcoholic. And if you die in that sin, is there any assurance when you’re in Judgment Day that Jesus is going to vouch for you?

If the adulterous woman in John 8 continued to commit adultery, and then she shows up in Judgment Day, will she have any assurance that Jesus will say, no? I know this woman. She’s innocent. When her whole life she proved that she’s still guilty by committing adultery again and again.

Romans 6:20-23.

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:20-23, ESV)

We love quoting Romans 6:23, especially the second half. The free gift of life, eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We say Amen to that and we understand, okay, the wages of sin is death. But don’t worry, I believe in Jesus. I got baptized. I confess before an audience at a church. I am good.

But the context of Romans 6:23, you have to read Romans 6:20-22. It all depends on what have you proven over the course of your life. What is the fruit? Are you guilty or are you innocent for the end of somebody who is enslaved to various sins? What is the end? The end is death. So don’t be deceived by preachers out there who tell you, don’t worry, it doesn’t matter how you live, it matters what you believe. You believe in Jesus, don’t worry, I guarantee you’ll be in heaven.

There are many people who’ve been led straight to hell through that teaching. You have to see the end of a life of sinning. Blatant sinning. We’re not talking about perfection. We’re talking about blatantly sinning, abusing God’s grace, taking advantage of his compassionate, long-suffering love for us while still being enslaved. If that is your life, the end of that life is death.

But as we present our lives to God in Christ Jesus, Jesus takes our sins. And when we ask him for help, not only does he take our sins, he helps us as we do life together to overcome sin. So that on judgment day he can vouch for you and say, Ray overcame this sin. On this day, it’s covered. It’s covered. He’s cleansed. He’s innocent in this sin. One by one, he will go down the line and say, okay, he repented on this day, he got set free. I helped him. I know him, Father. He’s innocent.

So verse 22 mentions sanctification and eternal life. So there’s justification. That is the beginning of our Christian journey. Not guilty. That is great news for sinners. But over the course of our Christian journey is life of sanctification, which is to be made holy, which is to be made righteous, is to become more and more like Jesus.

And you can only become more and more like Jesus if you fellowship with Jesus. Going to church won’t make you more and more like Jesus. Hearing about Jesus won’t make you more and more like Jesus. You have to present yourself to God and run to Jesus with all of your sins. And sanctification is us proving our innocence over time. It doesn’t happen overnight, it happens gradually, as long as we have breath. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day I can surrender my life and present myself to God.

Today is the day I can receive forgiveness for my sin. Today is the day I choose obedience to God and the standard of teaching and live out and walk it out.

This new life that I’ve been given since my baptism, when I came out of this water, now I’m walking it out. I’m proving my innocence. If there’s no sanctification and you’re the same 50 years later and then you arrive on Judgment Day, you’re going to feel like I did on this jury selection, like, am I on trial?

I think I’m innocent, but why do I feel guilty? you’re going to feel the same thing if you’re not sanctified, if you didn’t walk it out, if you didn’t prove your innocence, even though the beginning, yes, you’re justified. It’s credit to you as righteousness.

But sanctification is now. We become holy as God is holy. We can’t fellowship with a holy God unless we become holy. And this is the duration of our Christian journey, when we prove our innocence. And then on Judgment Day, our defense attorney, Jesus Christ, is by our side, and we’ve been walking with him this whole way. And then he says, Ray is innocent. And then I enter into glorification, justification at conversion. It’s true. Great news. Sinners can be declared not guilty.

Sanctification. Now we prove our innocence. And by proving your innocence, you are gaining in confidence for the Day of Judgment, that Jesus, our defense attorney, will say, Ray and all of us are innocent.

Okay, let’s pray.

Father, we thank you that the moment that we believed in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, that he had died for a sinner like me. And we received this free gift in that moment, we were justified and declared not guilty. But that doesn’t mean we’re innocent.

For the rest of our days, we are proving our innocence by choosing to be a slave to righteousness. By presenting ourselves to God, we have a choice every single day. Will we choose our flesh, slavery to sin?

Or will we choose slavery to God and become a true Christian disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?

We pray that we can prove our innocence over the course of our Christian journey until we meet you on Judgment Day. And Lord Jesus, you are defense attorney and you will declare to us if we’ve been walking with you, if we’ve been saved by your life. We’ll be declared innocent fully on that day and then we’ll move into glory. Lord, may that be every single person in this place who’s listening online.

We pray every single one of us extended family members, not one will be lost to hell. But all of us would reach glory by being justified, by being sanctified, eventually by declaring on Judgment Day by Jesus and by our God, our judge. There were innocent. Welcome into glory. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for Your Body that was broken for us and Your Blood shed. Please meet us as we close out this service. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.