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Monday, April 26, 2010"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
For those of you who don't know, this blog was inspired by these words (notice the URL). Actually, I would have to say that this is probably one my favorite 10 verses in the entire Bible. It's one of those verses that you've really got to meditate on in order to fully appreciate it, but I'll do my best to put into words what it means to me.
If we want to understand what it means to be without condemnation, we must first understand what it means to be under condemnation. As sinners, we were all under the wrath of God; so much so that the apostle Paul referred to us as having been "the children of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3) That's pretty blunt, but it's absolutely true. All have sinned (Romans 3:23), and have thus placed themselves under the wrath of God, for "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men..." (Romans 1:18) We were like Damocles (430-367 B.C.) at Dionysius' banquet, where a sharpened sword was hung over his head by a single horse hair. We were in a dangerous place, and judgment was fast approaching.
That's what it means to be under the wrath of God. Now lets look at what it means to be under the grace of God...
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."-John 3:16-18
The state of being without condemnation can be summed up in one word: justified. The Lord looks on me Just-As-If-I'd (read that again) never sinned. He takes our righteousness, which is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), and instead clothes us in robes of white. When He sees us, He doesn't see our sin; He sees the blood. He has removed the "...handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross" (Colossians 2:14), and they are as far from us "...as the east is from the west." (Psalm 103:12). No longer must we carry around the weight of our sins, for the Lord Jesus Christ has borne that weight for us (Isaiah 53:4). Now, instead of being His enemies, we are His children (Romans 8:15), and He loves us as such. When the devil, the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), brings up our past sins to the Lord, I can imagine our heavenly Father answering and saying, "Sin? I see no sin when I look on my child. He is without condemnation." Truly, there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Praise God!
4 comments:
Thanks for that awesome explanation of your URL! =)
Wow. My life has purpose on this world, not because I realize there's a God who is waiting to unleash His wrath on me, but because I realize there's a God who released His wrath on His own son so that I could be saved!
What if the creator of the universe had been a cruel jokester, delighting in making us objects of pain and suffering on the world? But no, the creator of the universe is the loving Father, delighting in making us objects of grace and mercy.
Praise the Lord!
Camden
Psalm 16:9-11
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Wonderful, wonderful post! Thanks for the encouragement... we could all use a reminder of that.
Thanks for following my prayer blog! I hope you enjoy it...
Soli Deo Gloria!
Chare
Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Micah 7:7-9
Oh, P.S. I just noticed that the code for your blog button is way under the poll that you have... ;-)
Also, I love your random thought... "The danger zone is our comfort zone." Wow!
Soli Deo Gloria!
Chare
bit.ly/prov31
This was an awesome post! You have wisdom and insight beyond your years and you are anointed of God.
I love the analogy of Damocles and the sword to describe our position before Christ. I now understand your choice of a URL.
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