Everything Paul has written to the Roman Christians up to this point emphasizes this truth: There is therefore now no condemnation. No guilty verdict. No punishment. Judgment for our sins, past and present, is forever gone in Christ. Apart from Christ, we were helpless and hopeless. In Christ, we are powerful and free. This truth should impact how we live our lives.
Each of us has a “before” story. The story of who we were before Christ. I know I do! I was a hot mess, with a sinful nature, in rebellion with God with no desire to serve Him or be holy. But then, Jesus! He set me free from condemnation because He took it for me. When Christ was condemned on the cross, it was not for His sin (He had none), but for mine and for yours.
No condemnation! No guilty verdict! No punishment. None. Never.
The power of the life-giving Spirit of God has set us free from the heavy weight of condemnation. This is a truth the enemy desperately wants us to miss. He wants to distract us from the abundant life Jesus offers and instead keep us focused on our strongholds to paralyze and immobilize us. The devil wants us to believe we are stuck and powerless to change.
But when God looks at us, He does not see our sins, He sees His Son. He sees the righteousness credited to us by Christ. When God looks at us, He says, “What sin?” Why do we call our past sins to mind if God no longer does? Why do we let the enemy taunt and torment us with memories of our past that take our eyes off the promise of our present and the hope of our future?
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. – Micah 7:18-19
If God has thrown your sins into the depths of the sea, why do you keep jumping in and dredging them up again?
Stop living as though you are stuck!
What urges, impulses, and temptations do you struggle with? Is it alcohol or drugs? Is it sexual sin? Maybe it’s laziness or distraction. Or grumbling and gossiping. Because you live in a human body and a fallen world, you will face traps that threaten to derail you. But you have no obligation to concede defeat. You have the power of the Holy Spirit in you. You have the power to think differently and choose differently. Do not consult or even consider the desires of the flesh. You owe nothing to them! You do not have to sin!
The incredible truth is this: The Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you! When you surrendered to Jesus, sin lost its power over you. The Holy Spirit moved in and gave you victory over temptation. You have the power to make a different choice.
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. – Romans 8:15-16
You are a child of God. You are powerful and you are free! Live like it!
