No Condemnation in Christ - Romans 8:1

No Condemnation in Christ

In Romans 8:1-2, the apostle Paul offers one of the greatest divine and biblical assurances.  “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.”  Most assuredly, the memories of our past sins cannot keep us captive.  We have been set free in Christ!  God’s forgiveness, following our genuine confession and repentance, is sufficient to cancel past errors.  We should not define ourselves by the past nor should we permit others to do so.  Moreover, we cannot allow the past to periodically blindside us.  We fall for the temptation of thinking that we have not been forgiven and thus are phonies.  Like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s protagonist, Heather Primstone, in The Scarlett Letter, we walk around with our past sins plastered upon our foreheads.  Instead, we rely upon the grand promise of the preceding verses.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the past flares us in our consciousness.  Easily, we fall prey to thinking that we are still that “old” person.  We suspect that we are still prone to those shortcomings.  We erroneously believe that nothing in our characters actually changes.  Unfortunately, we might digress to the “old” way of living.  In so doing, we continue to condemn ourselves.  Thereby, we nullify the atoning work of Christ and undermine the finality and radicalism of God’s forgiveness.

However, we should not bury the past in mental and emotional graveyards.  Our pasts can be the foundation of ministry.  Our past mistakes empower us in empathizing for others who make similar blunders.  Thus, we extend to others the mercy that we have received from Almighty God.  Moreover, our past “failures” encourage us to help others on the road of recovery and salvation.  Consideration and love are necessary in order to genuinely help our neighbors.  Recitation of moral rules and judgmentalism do not help.  Instead, when we allow our past to humble us rather than condemn us, we have the tenderhearted compassion to minister to others.

Do we truly believe that God freely and completely gives?  If we do, then we cannot permit the past to perpetually condemn us.  When the past lingers on the forefront of our memories, that indicates that we have not fully accepted God forgiveness.  Ironically, we mistakenly believe that our past sins are too great to be forgiven.  We pridefully think that our sins were particularly unique and extraordinarily extensive that God’s grace and mercy are powerless to resolve them.   

Paul assures us that we have been forgiven unconditionally and irreversibly. No one in our past can condemn anyone who is a genuine disciple of Christ Jesus.  It does not matter how long our “rap sheet” may be.  Additionally, it does not matter who remembers what you did and the specificity with which you did it.  It also does not matter whom they may tell and for what purposes.  Their potential extortion or blackmail does not erase God’s forgiveness.  No one can bring a justifiable charge against God’s elect.

Possibly, we fear of exposure as a fraud.  If we accept God’s forgiveness through living a transformed life, then we continue as persons integrity.  We humbly admit we made mistakes.  We said and did things that had we known better we would not have done.  In fact, youth, immaturity and ignorance largely contributed to our past sins. Had we had a greater sense of self-acceptance, we would have made better choices.  Nevertheless, if anyone reveals any past deeds, we honestly acknowledge it; state what we learned and recognize how we changed.  Thereby, we demonstrate the power of God’s forgiveness.  As a consequence, we are not hypocrites.  No one can utilize our past to manipulate us. 

When we dwell on the past, we leave ourselves open to guilt.  People close may attempt to dominate us.  In fact, for their own purposes they will succumb to emotional extortion.  When their self-centered fear leads them to conclude that we have something that they desperately want or that we can prevent the loss of something that they treasure, they will utilize our past sins to control us. 

The goods news is that we are new creatures in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17).  “The old has gone!  Behold, all things have become new.”  Paul envisions a holistic creation of an order that resembles Genesis 1 and 2.  In Christ, we are free to begin a new life.  Whereas we do not discard the past, we learn from it as we access the gold that lies within our characters.  More significantly, we begin to live the unique life that our Creator means for us to have.

The Lord promises in Isaiah 43:18-19 to make all things new.  He encourages us “to forget the former things.”  In addition, he says, “ do not dwell on the past.”  As we do so, new things spring forth in our lives.  An oasis will appear in the desert and refreshing streams will emerge in the wasteland.  Yet, if we insist upon perpetuating the past through memory and lifestyle, we will never experience the new life that awaits us.