Weekly Devotional 10-17-20 No Condemnation

Weekly Devotional 8-17-20 No Condemnation
“1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in
Christ Jesus.2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has
made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of
sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who
live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the
Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed
can be. 8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please
God.9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the
Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead
because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells
in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in
you.12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to
live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh
you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:1-14).
2
Our English word “condemnation” according to Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance is translated from the Greek word
Katakrima (pronounced “kat-ak’-ree-mah” 2631) with a meaning
of “an adverse sentence” and from Katakrino (pronounced “katak-ree’-no” 2632) with a meaning of “to judge against.” As we
consider these translations, we need to keep in mind that it is God
that condemns, judges against sin and the sinner in an adverse
way. But, according to Paul’s testimony above there is no adverse
judgment toward those who are in Christ Jesus. How is that
possible? Sin is still sin and God is still holy. There is no
compatibility between the two. It is possible because God
condemned sin in the flesh of His only begotten Son and nailed
Him to a tree as propitiation for those who seek God’s forgiveness
through Him.
As we think on these things, we must consider the seriousness of
sin and that the message of the Bible is that there are not different
ways of not being condemned but only through the sacrifice of
His Son Jesus. No amount of good works, in whatever form, will
satisfy God’s adverse judgment against sin. Jesus said, “14 As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved. 18He who believes in Him is
not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that the
light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than
light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing
3
evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds
should be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light,
that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in
God.” (John 3:14-21).
Paul began this part of his letter (chapter eight) with the word
“therefore” as he looks back upon what he wrote previously in the
first seven chapters. Namely, that justification is by faith alone
because of God’s overwhelming grace. He assured his readers,
those who have come to faith in Jesus, including you and I, that
no sin, past, present, or future can or will be held against them
(us). Those sins have all been placed on Jesus. Paul wanted this
to be the confidence of his readers. Their assurance, he writes,
was (and is) to be found in their conduct of life. If they were
walking in the Holy Spirit and not living in the flesh (in the
carnality of an unregenerate mind) they assuredly belonged to
Christ.
Steve


stevelampman.com
Transforming Power; The Work of God on Behalf of Man
Ascribed to by:
Oscar Leske
WWW.UnderstandingtheSignsofOurTimes
And
Lian Muan Kim
Koinonia Baptist Seminary- Yangon, Myanmar

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