No condemnation

When I was a child and someone gave me some paper money, I often put it inside a book. Because I read and reread favorites, I knew I would find it again.

This habit illustrates what it means to be “in Christ.” Like that one or five dollar bill was hidden in the book, I am hidden in Jesus Christ. Where He goes, I go and where I go, He is there. We are united. The big difference is that when I found my money, I usually took it out and spent it. But no one can remove me from my secure place in Jesus. As He once said, “No one can pluck them from my Father’s hand.”

After years of studying the Bible and knowing this assurance, it still blesses my heart to hear it again. This morning I read Romans 8:1-2.

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.

Condemnation is a judicial term and the opposite of justification. It is about a verdict of guilty and the penalty that such a verdict demands. In the court of Almighty God, the law says that the soul that sins shall die.

However, no sin I can commit, either past, present or future, can be held against me. The penalty was paid by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and His righteousness was imputed to me. Nothing I can do will ever reverse this divine legal decision. Jesus died for me and because of that and because I am in Him, I am set free from that spiritual law of “you sin, you die.”

When I was a child, I often forgot that I hid my money. Later, finding it again was a delightful surprise. Today, even though I never forget that I am secure in Christ, being reminded again fills me with a much greater sense of delight and joy than finding money. God says “no condemnation” and this is a grand and glorious reality for those who know and believe in Him!