Sunday, August 1, 2010

Romans 8:1

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

As with the start of any chapter in the Bible, we need to read back a few verses to gain the context. We need to know what the ‘therefore’ is there for. In chapter 7, Paul described his battle with sin and how God has rescued him from ‘this body of death’ (Rom. 7:24). Because Paul has died to sin through faith in Jesus Christ, he can confidently say ‘there is now no condemnation’. If we also are in Christ, we can claim this too.
Condemnation is the result of someone being found guilty. A condemned person is awaiting punishment. We are all guilty of sin (Rom. 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). But because Jesus took the punishment we deserve, by dying on the cross, God’s justice has been satisfied. We stand before Him, guiltless, and without condemnation.
Satan may also try to condemn us, reminding us of our past failures and our present ones. But if we are in Christ, we can know that all of these are forgiven.

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