You are invited to stop identifying with the sin that is dead and start embracing the life of the Spirit within you. Instead of hiding your shame, bring it into the light where God's conviction leads to celebration rather than punishment. Walk boldly in the freedom Christ purchased for you today.
Hello, Real Church. My name is Mariah Mullins. I'm bringing the word today. We are on part 3 called All Things New. I hope you are blessed by this message and that by the end you are walking in the spirit.
Thanks, Jerry. Good morning, you guys. It's good to see you all. It's a beautiful day in the "house of the Lord". It's a beautiful day to welcome him.
Oh, praise the Lord. I love worship. That's that was awesome. So, pastor David is speaking at Mission City Church today and I will be preaching. My name is Mariah Mullins.
I'm I feel very blessed that, we have a pastor that connects with other pastors in the surrounding area. I think that that's a really powerful thing in the spirit. Pastor David is speaking at Mission City Church, and Mission City Church is partnering with what Real Church has been doing in Pakistan. And, Pastor David will be talking about what what all we're doing in Pakistan next week, so I'm not gonna take all that thunder. But it's amazing.
And it's amazing that we're surrounded by churches that are not this isn't the mission of real church. Right? This is the mission of God's church, of the church, of the body of Christ. So, I'm excited that I get to take the place for today, and I'm excited that he's doing connection and ministry there as well. So, my name is Mariah Mullins, like I said.
I love this church. I've been coming to real church for over a year now, not quite a year and a half, but I love this church body, and I love Jesus. So, that's that's why I'm speaking today. It's it's because I love Jesus. Alright?
That's why that's my qualifications for you. I love the Lord. We're in part 3 of all things new today, and we're in a new covenant. That's the all things new. We're in a new covenant under Jesus Christ our Savior.
And, because of this, we are made new. That's good Good amens, you guys. Getting me pumped. Alright. Romans-8 verse 1, let's open up and take a look at this.
*Romans-8* verse 1, it says, there we go, there is, There is therefore now **no condemnation** to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. We're going to dive deep into this verse. First, let's start off with what is condemnation? What's the definition of condemnation? Condemnation is the action of condemning someone to a punishment or sentencing.
So, it is the action of punishment after a crime has already been committed. It is the penalty that you pay for sin. And, there is now no *condemnation*. *Romans-8* verse 1 just said, there is no condemnation. That is good news.
There is therefore now no *condemnation*. You know, it says it again, there's no condemnation, John-3:17, For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He really means it. We are no longer condemned. Let's look back at Romans-8 verse 1 and unpack this next section because it says, Who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
So, that's important. We're supposed to be walking according to the Spirit. There's no condemnation not to walk in the flesh, but to walk according to the Spirit. What does that look like? To walk according to the Spirit?
I think the Spirit is kind of flowy. I think the Spirit might dance a little bit as it walks if we're walking according to the Spirit. Maybe it's kind of like posh or righteously, right? You know, I'm going to walk according to the Spirit.
Loretta feels the stronger stance,
not the dancing. Alright, well, that's okay. We're gonna we're gonna look into what what is it like to walk in the spirit. Let's open up to *John-16* verses 7 through 11. *John-16* verses 7 through 11.
Let's read this out. Now, this is Jesus speaking and in this scene, Jesus has already lived his life, he's died on the cross, he's rose again and now he's speaking to his followers. And Jesus says, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the "helper will not come" to you. The helper is the Holy Spirit.
Okay? That's who the helper is. The helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you, and when he has come, he will convict the world of 3 things. Everybody say, sin, *righteousness*, and judgment.
Very nice. 3 things. Let's try to keep those tucked away. Of sin, righteousness and judgment. Of sin because they do not believe in me.
Of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no more. Of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. Okay. So, we've just learned that there is now no condemnation. However, there is conviction.
The Holy Spirit convicts us. Now, in this moment, it's really important to realize that conviction and condemnation are very different things, and even that they have opposing functions. So, let's look at those 2 definitions, both condemnation, which we've already looked at, and conviction. Condemnation is the action of punishment, it's the action of condemning someone to a punishment or a sentencing. Conviction.
*Conviction*. What's the definition of conviction? Conviction is a declaration that someone is guilty. Okay, so they both share the fact that we're guilty, but only *condemnation* gives a punishment. That's important as well.
So, the Holy Spirit is convicting, he's not condemning. He's convicting us that we are guilty of something. I think conviction has a really negative connotation to it. And, I want to give you freedom there. I want to give you freedom understand what the Holy Spirit is convicting you of.
So, I'm going to try a couple different words. The Holy Spirit is reminding us that we are guilty. He's declaring that we are guilty of something. He's reminding us. He's convicting us.
So, what is the Holy Spirit convicting us of? What are we really being convicted of? We're gonna dive back into *John-16* and we're gonna start at verse 8 this time because we gotta look at this really clearly. *John-16* verse 8. Guys, this is good.
And when he has come, when the Holy Spirit has come, he will convict the world of sin, *righteousness*, and judgment. Of sin because they do not believe in me. Now, I believe in Jesus. Do you believe in Jesus? Yeah.
But this is for they that do not believe in me. So, those being convicted of sin are for those who do not believe in Jesus. So, we believers are not being convicted of sin.
Of
*righteousness* because I go to my *father* and you see me no more. See, now he's talking to his followers, the you are the we. You, the you, are the you, are the me. We are being convicted of righteousness. We're being convicted of right living.
We're being reminded that we're guilty of right living, of *judgment* because the ruler of this world is judged. Are you the ruler of this world? I'm not either. *John-12*, Jesus tells us that Satan is the ruler of this world. So, Satan is being judged.
The Holy Spirit is not convicting us of judgment. He's not judging us. He's not convicting us of sin. We, when I say we, I mean we as believers. See, we cast all our sins on Jesus at the cross and we've been "washed clean" with his blood so we can no longer be convicted of sin.
We can no longer be convicted of judgment. Praise the Lord. We are guilty of, we are convicted of righteousness, of right living. *Condemnation*. It's really important to see these differently because they'll come up in your head and you need to recognize who is speaking to you.
If conviction is speaking to me, I know it's the Holy Spirit and I'm going to follow that. If condemnation is speaking to me, know it's the devil, I'm going to stomp on that. Condemnation says, Look at your sin. You deserve your downfall when you look at your sin. That's what condemnation points to, looking at your sin.
*Conviction* says, Hey, Jesus paid for that. Let's go. Jesus paid, Hey, I'm reminding you that you're guilty of righteousness. Let's keep going. I'm going to prove it that we're not being condemned.
*Romans-8:34*. Who then will condemn us? No 1. For Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand pleading for us. This is really interesting.
This verse I just read, Romans-8:34, is Paul speaking. And Paul says that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father. And before the verse we just read in John-16, Jesus says, I'm sitting at the right hand of the Father.
So,
we're convicted of *righteousness* because Jesus is at the right hand of the Father pleading for us. What is he pleading for us? That we would know our righteousness. Because he already paid the price, he's pleading for us. See, condemnation says to run away from God.
Just like Adam and Eve, they hid their shame. Conviction says, run to the altar. Condemnation says that your identity is in your sin. Conviction says your identity is in his blood. You've been washed clean.
*Condemnation* says that you're dirty. *Conviction* says that you are beautiful, he made you beautiful, so let's be beautiful. The "accuser of the brethren", that's what Satan is. He's the accuser of the brethren. Romans-12:10 talks about how he's the accuser of the brethren and he stands before God accusing us day and night.
But, that's alright. He's trying to accuse us of our sin while Jesus is also there at the right hand of the Father pleading for us, for our righteousness. Not just so that we could carry our sin throughout our time on the earth, squeeze into heaven, and then leave our sin at the earth. No. He's pleading for us now.
It's not because I made it into heaven, it's because Jesus is already there at the right hand of the Father that I get to live in righteousness. *Romans-8:2*, For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. Not just of death, which is great news, but of sin also. We get to live in righteousness. Let's jump to Romans eight:four.
The thing about Romans-8 is it feels like popcorn. You know, you just keep eating it. You just keep going. The movie hasn't started yet. You got to the bottom.
You're like, I'm going to pop some more. So, *Romans-8* verse 4, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. See, we got back to it. We're walking according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on things of the flesh.
But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. So, when you find yourself feeling stuck I want to give a real example because I feel like this all makes sense until you're in it in your day to day life and you're like, What does this look like? So, when you find yourself feeling stuck, maybe in your sin or in your anxiety, in your fear, you feel stuck in your addiction. You will hear *condemnation* and conviction in your head, and you have to differentiate where you're stomping and where you're running. See, Satan the accuser will tell you these things.
He will say, You just have an addictive personality. It's just, you know, something that you are. And it'll start to tell you things that make you feel worthless, pointing at your sin, looking at your sin, pointing to your sin again, that you're always looking at those things of the flesh, saying, Look at you there. And it'll start to try to change your identity. But, we don't walk in the flesh.
We "walk in the spirit". That's my identity. My identity is that I'm washed clean by the blood. My identity is freedom. *Romans-10:22* says, Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts, fully trusting him for our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Oh, we get to go right into the presence of God. Run to the altar, says conviction. The Lord told me to tell this story that I have. And, if you've heard myself or my husband speak before, you've probably heard a version of this story, and he wanted me to share this perspective. So, I used to struggle with passing out if I encountered a needle.
So, if I had to get a shot, if I had to get my blood drawn, I would pass out. And, there's a lot of fear in that place. And I'm going to tell a different perspective of this story. So, I was on the phone with my sister, my sister Abby, and we got on the topic we were just chatting we got on the topic of surgery and needles and we just started talking about it. And, I felt the need to convince her and explain to her what I was going through, this fear that I had.
Now, is it sinful to be attacked? Is it sinful when fear tries to attack you? No, it's not. But, in this situation, I was starting to feel offended, which should have been my first clue that I was wrong. And, I felt like I needed to explain to her, like, 'Abby, you just don't understand.' And, in my heart, this offense was growing and I'm saying, you know, she can't really serve me because she doesn't know.
She doesn't know what what I have, what what my fear is about, what my you know And I had these realistic reasons. I had, you know, childhood trauma that I wanted to point at and be like, you just don't understand why I have this fear and I have no control over it. And, I get to a point where I'm like, She just doesn't understand me. She doesn't know me, and then I feel sad because my sister doesn't know me. And, I hang up the phone pretty quick, I try to end the conversation, I'm like, Okay, I'm done.
And, I feel this aftermath of the conversation. And, I go to the Lord and I said, Lord, I have no idea what I did wrong, I don't know what I should say, but you have to change my heart. I don't know. I don't have a clue where I went wrong, but you have to change my heart. And I gave my heart to him, and I was shocked by his answer.
He said, You need to call your sister back and apologize. I'm like, Apologize for what? She doesn't get it. What do you mean? I don't know.
And he says, You've been fighting for your identity with this fear way more than you fight for your identity as being a daughter of the king. It's not sinful to be attacked, but boy, did I have that wrong. I was fighting for my identity and my sickness and my struggle saying, you don't understand or you can't serve me. You know who can serve me? Jesus.
And, if they're ministering Jesus, then they can serve me. Right? And, I found freedom in that place because I gave my heart to him. And, a year later, Gabe and I were going to Africa, we got to get shots, and I feel fear start. And, I say, Hey, that's not mine.
That's not my identity. And, rather than nurturing it and saying, Oh, I gotta be sensitive and I'm gonna try not to look or talk about it, or I'm just gonna avoid it at all costs, instead, I "stomped on it". That was the first time I got to practice those legs. I was like, Oh, I'm going to see needles today. And, I know where I'm at now.
I have an 8 and a half month old boy. Guys, there's a lot of needles at the hospital when you give birth. I don't know if you know this. There was a lot. And I had 1 of those unique, delivery, labor and delivery experiences.
This is crazy. I had an IV, 3 epidurals that failed, a spinal, I had a couple of shots while I was there, and it ended in a c section. Right? So, I think I think most people would look at that and think, Oh, you poor soul, like, if only the Lord had showed up for you. Guys, the presence of God was in that room the whole time.
I didn't pass out, I didn't feel fear, I was overjoyed. Is that ridiculous? I was overjoyed with that experience. Like, the Lord came through for me, and I felt his presence that whole time. Do you think it's interesting that I was required to apologize to my sister?
Yeah. When conviction calls you to the altar, what does it look like? When conviction calls you to the altar, it's a joyful repentance. Let's let's look at the story of the prodigal son. It's in Luke-15.
Now, in the story of the prodigal son, there's a father that has 2 sons, and 1 son says, I'm going to take my inheritance and I'm going to go and spend it wildly. And, he spends it all, He lives a sad lifestyle. He spends it all, and he finds himself starving. He says, I have to go back to my father. Let's pick up in verse 20.
So, he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. But, his father said to the servants, quick, bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him.
Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. Kill the calf we've been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was "dead and has now returned to life". He was lost, but now he is found. So, the party began.
Guys, that's scripture. So, the party began. That's what repentance looks like. That's what conviction looks like. To run to the altar and he's filled with joy and love and compassion and he says, Let's have a party.
You made it. You've been given a ring and a robe. You've been convicted of righteousness, of right living. What a joy it is to find repentance. What a joy it is to be forgiven.
What a joy it is to dance in his presence. I'm free. That's conviction that we are free. We've been made free, we've been made clean, we are free from the stronghold of both sin and of death. *Romans-8:10* says, And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the **spirit is life** because of righteousness.
I have this conversation with a girlfriend if we step into a place where we talk about our sin as if it belongs to us. I welcome you to use it, adopt it. Where, if I'll say, You know what? My fear just You're what? You're who?
I don't know that person. Who are you talking about? Are you talking about a dead person? That's kind of weird. You don't have to talk about a dead person.
This isn't a long lost loved 1. No, we're talking about the devil that we stomped on. The sin that was attached to our flesh, that's dead. I don't know that person. But the spirit in you is alive.
You know, when I finally became free from this fear, I asked God, I said, What took you so long to take that from me? Like, what took you so long to convict me of that? I had been struck passing out, being so embarrassed for years thinking, You just now told me? He said, You'd never given me your heart before. I'm going to ask the band to come up.
You'd never given me your heart before in that area. I was nurturing it rather than stomping on it. I wasn't saying, I'm a daughter of the king in this area. I was saying, I'm a daughter of the king in every area but that 1. That 1 is just embarrassing.
That 1 is just rough. That 1, I'm just going to hide my shame like Adam and Eve. I'm just gonna tuck it away. But, that's not what he had for me. That wasn't his plan for me.
His mercies, they're new every day. So, as a church, we're going to to search our hearts, and we're going to give our hearts to God so that we can walk in the spirit. The band, they're going to play a song, and we're going to take this time before the Lord to offer our hearts up to him. And maybe you've been convicted of righteousness in a certain area of your life. Maybe it's like, you know what?
I know exactly what's in me that needs to be righteous. I know exactly. And you're going give your heart to God because it's not by your own strength. No, it's because Jesus stands at the altar with God pleading for us. Not by our righteousness, not by our strength, not by our motives.
So, we're going to hold our hands. So, everyone, stand with me. We're going to hold our hands. This is a comfortable level, feel like. I feel like most people, whether you're used to raising your hands or not, I'm gonna challenge you, just write both hands at this level.
This is this is an easy 1. Maybe you have conviction, maybe you don't. Maybe you're like, you know what, I can't really pinpoint anything. I want you to hold your heart out and say, God, just search my heart. I just wanna be honest with you.
I just wanna be real with you. I wanna give you all that I am. Walk in the spirit. I wanna walk as a son and a daughter of the king. *Father*, thank you that you love us.
Thank you that you sent your son to die, that we could be free, that we could feel your love, that we could know your righteousness, that we could walk boldly into your throne room. We give you our hearts, father, search us. Convict us of righteousness that we would be made guilty of righteousness. Thank you that you don't convict us of sin or of judgment. Father, you are so good.
Your plans are better than my plans, your ways are better than my ways. My ways say, yes, sin and punishment. Your ways say, I'm gonna pay for that. I'm gonna cover you with blood. I'm gonna wash you clean with my son.
Thank you, Father. You are so good.
Thank you for tuning in today to the Real Church podcast. I pray that you walk away from today encouraged with a deeper understanding of how much God loves you. If you'd like to connect with us, we can't wait to reach out to you and pray for you. You can go to www.realchurch.us/connect. And then also, if you would like to give to what God is doing in and through our ministry, you can do so at www.realchurch.us/giving, or you can text any amount to 84321.
And then just search in the link that comes up. Search for Real Church Lord. God bless you, and the best is yet to come.