Free From Condemnation
A few years ago, I went on a short-term mission trip to Romania with a team from my church. On the last day, we did some sightseeing and souvenir shopping. This provided a great opportunity for my daughter, Ella, and I to purchase some gifts for her younger brothers. We walked through an open-air market trying to decide what to bring home to them. Finally, we purchased them identical souvenir sling shots. I was happy about our purchase because most of the other options appeared to be junk.
I forgot about the slingshots almost as soon as we purchased them. We made it all the way to Frankfort, Germany before I was reminded about them again. That’s because the German Federal Aviation Office pulled us aside and began to interrogate us about the slingshots discovered in Ella’s backpack. We explained why we bought them, but by this time, we had already missed our flight home. I was issued a formal weapons charge in Germany. Thankfully, they let us board a plane to return home the following day – without our slingshots of course.
It took a couple of months and close to a thousand dollars to have the formal weapons charge defended by a German lawyer while I awaited news back in the states. Just two weeks before I was scheduled to travel through the Frankfort airport again, I learned that the charge was dropped. I was declared innocent and assured that I was free to travel back through that airport without any legal concerns hanging over me.
To be honest, I wasn’t convinced. As I traveled back through the airport, I pictured a big red flag popping up on the computer screen next to my passport picture. I envisioned being taken aside and hassled all over again. Despite not experiencing a single hang-up, I was stressed almost the whole time I traveled.
I wonder how many of us are living with similar concerns even though we are taught that in Christ we are forgiven of our sins and free forever from condemnation.
Systematic theologian Wayne Grudem defines the doctrine of justification as “an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight” (Systematic Theology, p. 723). Some have described justification in this way: just-as-if-I’ve-never-sinned.
Yet, I believe many of us remain concerned – even anxious – that the promise of being justified and declared righteous is too good to be true. As a result, we allow feelings of shame, fear, and condemnation to continually hold us back or keep us stuck.
In Romans 8:1-4 we read, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The “therefore” at the start of this passage is pointing back to the verses that preceded it. In Romans 1-8, we read that we are counted as righteous (Rom 4:24-25), we have peace with God (Romans 5:1), and we are no longer captive to the law (Romans 7:6). Perhaps you can accept these truths at face value about your past sins but struggle to believe it for your present sins. You continue to struggle with feelings of shame, fear, and condemnation anytime you sin.
If you feel like I’m reading your mail right now, then I would encourage you to walk through an exercise that Dr. Neil T. Anderson has referenced before. Ask yourself,
How many of your sins did God know about before you were born?
How many of your sins did Jesus pay for on the cross?
How many of them were future when He died?
How many sins was He referring to when He said “It is finished”?
At the time you were saved, how many of your sins did God forgive?
Of course, the answers to all five of these questions is the same. All of them! As a result of Jesus’ finished work, you are free forever from condemnation. You can still sin, and you often do sin, but you don’t have to sin because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
When you do, know that you have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ the righteous one (1 John 2:1). Through faith, His righteousness is now your righteousness. Therefore, there is nothing to fear or be concerned about. Just agree with God about your sin, renounce it, receive His grace and forgiveness afresh, and choose once again to walk according to the Spirit.
You are free!