A Word in Season: No condemnation (Romans 8:1)

There are a number of proper ways to talk about sin scripturally. It's not wrong to sing with the hymn writer how sad our state by nature is, our sin how deep it stains, and Satan binds our captive minds fast in his slavish chains.

There's imagery of filthiness and of sickness and of captivity bound up in our

Bibles and the way that they talk about sin. In order to get a complete picture of sin, however, we need to make sure that we say everything that the

Scriptures say. And one thing that is often left out, one thing that stops us just presenting ourselves as the helpless victims of sin, is the fact that at its root, sin is lawlessness.

That's according to the Apostle John. It's transgression of the holy law of a holy

God. It's the breaking of his rule. It's a rebellion against his divine majesty, a shaking of our human fist in the face of God himself.

It's that antagonism and that enmity against God. And it is perhaps one of the elements of our sinfulness that we don't like to acknowledge.

But if we see injustice in an earthly court, we're offended. When we see somebody who seems to be getting away with something, we say that's not right.

That crime deserves a certain punishment. How can they get away with it? But with ourselves, we tend to excuse ourselves.

We redefine sin and show that ultimately what we're trying to do is to redefine

God himself. Sin is against God. And sin deserves an appropriate punishment, being against God.

And we are sinning sinners. And all our sins deserve the anger and the judgment of a righteous and holy

God. We are then, because of our sin, under condemnation. And yes, we need the power of sin over us broken.

Yes, we need the pollution of sin washed away. But we also need the punishment that our sins deserve removed.

Where then shall we find this? We are by nature condemned. But, says the

Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, there is now no condemnation.

Now how can that be? How can a sinner like you or me go from a state of being under the wrath and judgment of a holy

God to being in a state of no condemnation? Well, Paul obviously doesn't finish the sentence there.

He says there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, to those who have trusted in him as the saviour of sinners, to those who have come to him conscious of their guilt and their shame, who feel their rebellion and its wickedness against God, and have come to Jesus Christ the righteous one in order to have all their sins removed and to have his righteousness bestowed.

And when we have come to Jesus Christ, we have in us this new life.

So the Apostle Paul goes on to say that there's a mark, there's an indication that we have no condemnation because we're in Christ Jesus.

We no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The Spirit has renewed us.

The Spirit has regenerated us. He has brought us to Christ Jesus, working repentance and faith in us.

United to Christ, we are no longer condemned. God has justified us.

He has declared us to be righteous in his sight. And out of that new nature and that new relationship with the

Holy Spirit at work in us, we no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the

Spirit. Now, everyone who is listening to this is either under condemnation or knows no condemnation.

And the only difference is Jesus Christ. It is his cleansing blood and his perfect righteousness that makes the difference between the righteous judgments of God against us or God righteously declaring us to be righteous in his sight.

If you are now under condemnation because of your sin, you need to come to Jesus Christ in order to be made clean and to be made right with God, to trust into him, to cast yourself and all your sinfulness upon him.

And if you have done that by God's grace, then there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the