No Condemnation in Christ

 

 

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

—Romans 8:1

 

 

 

When we have given our hearts to Jesus but believe we have "unfinished" forgiveness, condemnation robs us of the peace that comes from receiving the truth of God’s love. If we believe that Jesus’ work of forgiveness is not finished, we will believe we still owe God and that the grace of Jesus has not qualified us—that His grace has not justified us enough to receive God’s acceptance and love until we somehow pay Him.

 

When some Christians experience hardship, they believe God is upset and withholds His forgiveness. Hardship is not punishment. It is what happens in life because we live in a fallen world. God does not condemn us and withhold His forgiveness by punishing us. Jesus took the punishment for all our sins. Even though the blood of Jesus has set us free from the debt for all of our sins, some Christians believe God is waiting to condemn and punish them instead of loving and forgiving them.

 

God wants to give us a revelation of His love for us. Through the precious blood of Jesus, we are forgiven of all our sins. When God sees us—His children saved by His grace—He sees the precious blood of His Son. He sees Jesus and not our humanness, our failures, and our sins. They are gone—as far as the East is from the West.

 

If there is anything God wants to accomplish in your life that requires you to be qualified, Jesus has qualified you. 

 

“…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14).

 

 Your Father in heaven has made you qualified to be partakers in His inheritance. Jesus has justified you to Him. You have been delivered from the power of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son. And through His blood, you are forgiven. 

 

In Colossians 1:12-14, these truths are in the past tense meaning that they have already been accomplished. Our flesh may draw us toward the power of darkness and sin, but if we are forgiven and qualified and justified in Jesus, that is who we are in our born-again spirits. We are new creations in His finished work of forgiveness on the cross for all our sins. 

 

When we have been qualified by Jesus, our Father has rendered us fit through His blood. When you have been completely forgiven a debt, it means that the debt has been paid in full. Your debt is canceled. It no longer exists. The blood of Jesus was the complete and finished ransom payment for your freedom from the debt for your sins. His grace is greater than all of your sins. You have nothing standing between you and God. Because we have been fully forgiven by Jesus for all of our sins, we have the freedom to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

 

Knowing we are forgiven is crucial to walking in freedom from our flesh every day. When we don’t believe Jesus has qualified and justified and presented us without blemish to the Father, one of two things will probably happen. We will continue to try to pay a debt that Jesus has already paid, or, when we finally realize that our debt is impossible to pay, condemnation will overwhelm us, and we will give up in shame 

 

Neither one of these is living a life of freedom from sin. Each one is obsessed with sin—the very thing from which Jesus died to save us. 

 

Jesus did not come into this world to condemn it. He came so that the world through Him might be saved and receive His finished work of forgiveness. The Holy Spirit convicts us with the righteousness Jesus has paid the price for us to receive. The enemy condemns us with shame. Stop rehearsing your failures and sins. Believe Jesus has forgiven you, repent, and start going over in your heart the truths of the new life that is yours in Christ. 

 

Your forgiveness is the finished work of Jesus. He completed God’s forgiveness—His love—His finished work of grace in you. God no longer imputes sin to you. He has given you the power to walk in His Spirit and not complete the lust of your flesh. 

 

Walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh. You are debt-free to walk in the redeeming love of Jesus. 

 

(Romans 4:8, 5:9,13, 8:1, 8:30, 10:11; Ephesians 1:4-7; Psalm 103:12, 1 John 4:17; Galatians 3:13, 5:1; Colossians 1:12-14; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 5:21; Romans 10:11; John 3:16-17; 16:8; 19:28-30)

 

 

© 2023 Lynn Lacher

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