Without hope under the law, condemned because of sin, and only being able to look forward to a future of unrelenting judgment, one’s future is miserably dismal. However, in Christ everything changes; in Christ there is hope for the believer; in Christ there is joy and peace for now and all eternity. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. Bu sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8.1-3). “No condemnation.” The believer has been set free from the horrible penalty of sin. We no longer have to anticipate the wrath of judgment because of sin; we are no longer bound eternally by sin’s curse; we are no longer condemned. We now have new life and can live in the joy and freedom of forgiveness.
There is nothing we can do to justify ourselves before the holy God; nothing we can accomplish to become righteous in ourselves; nothing we can do to be free from the bondage of sin and the hold of our enemy Satan. But, in Christ we have forgiveness and are justified. This is what God has accomplished for us; this is what Christ did on our behalf; this is the conclusion of Christ’s work of Calvary, His shed blood, His death, and the power of His resurrection. All our sin – past, present, and future – is gone. This is not a license to sin, but rather we should be motivated by love to not sin and shame the name of Christ. No longer condemned, there is no need for us to live in sin, to feel trapped by sin, to struggle under the torment of sin. No longer condemned, we are free to live in Christ, free to do His will, free to praise and glorify His Name. No longer condemned, we can live in hope, knowing our loving Savior has cleansed us, will enable and protect us, and will always keep us safe in His gracious care.
‘Tis finished! The Messiah dies!
Cut off for sin, but not his own;
Accomplished is the sacrifice;
The great redeeming work is done.
Finished our vile transgression is,
And purged the guilt of all our sin;
And everlasting righteousness
Is brought, for all his people, in.
‘Tis finished, all my guilt and pain.
I want no sacrifice beside.
For me, for me the Lamb was slain,
And I’m forever justified.
Sin, death, and hell are now subdued;
All grace is now to sinners given;
And low! I plead the atoning blood,
For pardon, holiness, and heaven.
Charles Wesley
No longer condemned – we have much to be thankful for –
Terry Burlingame
My Morning Desk 