“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”(Rom.8:1).
Condemnation is often the work of the enemy – Satan and his cohorts. He likes to condemn the people of God in his attempts to make them feel that God is against them thereby limiting their effectiveness in service to God. But the above passage, as well as those forthcoming, reveals that to the disciple of Jesus, there is NO condemnation. Why? Because Jesus already took it on the Cross (Col.2:11-15)! The sin, failures, and every wrong thing that we were guilty of has been forgiven! He has no more memory of it!
YOU ARE ALREADY CONDEMNED
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-17). Every person who has not believed in Jesus has a sentence of condemnation (statement of impending doom) on his life. That sentence will be removed when he turns to Jesus Christ as His Savior.
YOU ARE FREE
But to those who have made Jesus their Lord, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Rom.8:2, Col.1:13). We are just as free from the law (the overcoming power of sin and death) as we will ever be, regardless of the way we may feel! “…But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit (Rom.8:5b). “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom.8:8-9). This last sentence speaks not only of the third person of the Trinity but the very character and nature of Jesus Christ. (2 Pet.1:4) This freedom from condemnation or wrath is also true during the end times. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess.5:9, Rom.5:9, John 3:36, 1 Thess.1:10) but it is not limited to just the end times but for all our life.
When our sins are forgiven, God never reminds us of them nor holds us accountable for them ever again. Too often, we are more sin-conscious than we should be (Heb.10:1-4). We act as if God is mad at us and releasing His anger at us. NO, Jesus took all that on the Cross!
Rejoice today, for all your sin is gone; you have been justified and declared righteous, and His Spirit lives in you. You are more than an overcomer (Rom. 8:37-39)!