The Book of Romans was not the first letter written by the Apostle Paul although the Holy Spirit placed it immediately after the Book called Acts of The Apostles. However it is written to build up the faith of the young church at that time and hence is full of teachings. In Romans 7 Paul wrote about his struggle with the Law and how he could never measure up to the demands expected from it and he ended the chapter with the cry, (Romans 7:24-25)
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
And then, with a triumphant cry of joy, he declared (Romans 8:1)
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,* who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Indeed, now that Christ Jesus our Lord had paid the full price for sin (with His very Life), there is definitely no more condemnation. God is a just and righteous God and He WILL NOT and CANNOT judge the same sins that had been fully paid at the Cross on each one of us. To do so would mean a double jeopardy and you and I know that would be a miscarriage of the Law.
Now would you not be excited knowing that for the Believer, there is definitely no more condemnation for sins because of the Person of Christ and that is a blessing indeed!
It is nice for you to feel no condemnation because of what Christ did for you.
ReplyDeleteBut the reality is, you will continue to 'sin' because of your humanity isn't it?
So you can psyche yourself into feeling good about yourself( that's the basis of the grace teaching if there is any substance at all), but others will not be that kind when you fail to live up to your high calling and may condemn you.
Question is, how do you reconcile the condemnation in your life by others and the non condemnation you were taught?