NO CONDEMNATION
Romans 8: Tremendous news for all believers: yes the title tells it all, there is no condemnation for anyone who has accepted God’s free gift of salvation. We all know the most quoted verse in all of scripture telling us that God loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son for us on the cross; John 3:16. Hallelujah! Paul tells us that the spirit of the Lord set us apart and free from the law. Therefore we are to live according to the Spirit, not according to the law. Verses 1-2: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
The mind of the sinful man is death while the mind of the righteous man is life in Him. The sinful mind is hostile to God and cannot please Him. Therefore we have an obligation to live a righteous life and rid ourselves of living according to the natural man’s sinful nature. People who choose to live by the sinful nature are living in death (spiritual separation from God); a sad state, particularly at the end. Believers, on the other hand, are heirs of His glory and as such live in the glory of God. It is the believer’s right to claim. Verse 3: For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man.”
We should not compare our present sufferings with the glory that will be revealed to us at the appointed time. Even creation waits for that glorious day when it, too, will be changed to the glory of God, no longer to be a victim of its decay brought about by sin. Paul explains how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer and takes our utterances and moaning to the Lord who fully understands the mind of the Spirit. Verse 26: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that we cannot express.”
God is omniscient, and as such knows all from the beginning of the beginning and He knew who His family would ultimately be. Therefore, as Paul states, we are predestined to become children of God. Verse 29: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Do not, I repeat DO NOT take this as meaning that not everyone has a chance to be a child of God. ANYONE who chooses to be a child of God can be. His personal invitation is open to all; it is your choice. To make my point I will say that God does not try to influence anyone. He made the offer and it’s up to each person to accept or reject it.
I will conclude this letter with Paul’s final and most encouraging words in verses 38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
My friends, I extend God’s invitation to you; ‘come and behold His glory’ He loves you.
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