Unfolded: The Story Of GodSample

“THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION - ROMANS 8:1-4”

Romans 8 is filled with great news about what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. Read Romans 8:1-4.

Condemnation is a legal term that speaks to both the declaration of guilt and the punishment associated with that guilt. While we deserve condemnation from God because we are sinners, there now exists no condemnation. All of God’s wrath and condemnation has been replaced with His love and mercy toward you. And it is not as if His wrath is on you when you have a bad day or struggle with sin. His wrath, His condemnation, is no more. It has been replaced with His righteousness.

The opposite legal term of condemnation is justification. A judge either declares a person to be condemned or declares a person to be justified. There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ because Christ justified us. So why is there no condemnation? Because the Holy Spirit grabbed our hearts and changed us, setting us free from “the law of sin and death” (v. 2). This phrase refers to the general principle that sin has corrupted all of us and that our sin leads to death. We were imprisoned by sin and death. But the Holy Spirit changed us.

The law God gave His people in the Old Testament was not bad, it was just powerless to change anyone. It can’t save us from our sins; it can only point to our need for a Savior. That’s why God sent His own Son in the flesh to be a sin offering. Just as sacrifices in the Old Testament were offered to God so He would be merciful to the people, Christ is our sin offering. Instead of condemning you, God condemned sin in the flesh of Jesus. Your sin was removed from you and placed on Jesus who took your condemned sin.

And there is more. Because Jesus perfectly obeyed the law, His obedience is given to you in place of your sin. You have fulfilled the law’s requirements because Christ’s obedience is now yours.

How do we know if we are His? As verse 4 says, those who are His are those who walk with Him, who become more like Him, who walk with the Spirit and don’t spend their lives living in the flesh for the things of this world. For men like that, there is absolutely no condemnation!