Someone committed a crime. They’ve been caught, and are now standing before the judge. The judge proclaims that the criminal is condemned, and is given a sentence. Depending upon the crime there could be a very strong penalty. However, what if there is someone to take that penalty for them? If the judge allows that, then that other person takes the penalty, the criminal’s record is wiped clean, and they are free to go. There is no condemnation. Such things are not likely to happen. Perhaps if the penalty was just a minor fine, a relative or friend might help pay it. However, not if it is a serious penalty, like years in prison and in a harsh prison, at that. In our Scripture for today we read of just such a thing happening.
Throughout the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul has been instructing believers how mankind has stood condemned before God for their sins, and that the penalty for sin is death and eternal separation from God. That was bad news. All of humanity is on death row for repeatedly breaking God’s law. Without Jesus, we would have no hope at all. But thank God, when we accept Jesus as Savior, He declares us not guilty, and He has offered us freedom from sin and the power to do His will. The Apostle told of the Good News, how God sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to take our penalty. All who believe in Him, accepting Him as Savior, are no longer under condemnation, and will spend eternity in heaven.
If the scenario in my opening was true, and someone took the penalty for a criminal, the judge letting them go free, there may be some people that still felt the person was guilty. They may call them guilty, call them a criminal. However, regardless of what people called them, the judge proclaimed them no longer guilty. Their record was expunged, and the penalty paid. Satan wants to do this same treatment to believers. He brings up our past sins, sins that the Lord Jesus has forgiven us of when we accepted Him as Savior, sins that He paid for on the cross. He whispers in our minds that we are guilty. People also often bring up our past sins and mistakes, throwing them in our face, and if we’re not well grounded in Scripture, we may plunge into feelings of guilt for past sins. God’s Word tells us that for those who are in Christ Jesus, those who are saved, there is no condemnation (vs. 1).
Feelings of condemnation do not belong to us. They are from Satan. Satan wants us to feel guilty, and he lies to us, saying that God still condemns us. Condemnation, though, is reserved for the unsaved, not for believers (John 3:36). Satan tries to plague us into still feeling guilty over sins that God has already forgiven us of. When we come to Jesus for salvation, and accept Him as Savior, our sins are forgiven (Psalm 103:12). He will not condemn us when we believe (John 3:16-18). God’s love and forgiveness are greater than any sin. He has promised that there is now no condemnation for His followers. All blame has been removed from us.
Believers have been set free from the bondage of sin. However, many choose to remain imprisoned, living still controlled by the sin nature, or that they must keep a set of religious laws in order to be righteous. The Old Testament Law cannot deliver sinners from the penalty of sin, nor make them righteous. We are no longer under the law of sin and death, but now under the law of the Spirit. We are free from sin’s condemnation to death. If we live our lives focused on our flesh nature and things of this world, we will live by our fallen, corrupt nature (vs. 5). Instead, focus on things of the Spirit, as God’s Spirit is dwelling within us. Where our mind is set will determine where our actions go.
For those who continue to feel the weight of guilt on their shoulders, even after accepting Jesus as Savior, we have God’s promise right here in Scripture that we no longer have the sentence of condemnation upon us. The penalty was paid! We are no longer under the penalty of the Old Testament Law and of death. Let us rejoice in that, and focus our minds on the things of the Spirit, allowing Him to live the life of Christ through us.
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