Good news is something that we have all clung to over the past year. As we faced the Coronavirus pandemic, many of us looked high and low for good news. We wanted to hope that there were still good things happening. We held tightly to every piece of good news that we found. We shared that news with everyone around us. As a church, we began focusing on good news every Friday during the first few months of stay at home orders, where we shared what God was doing in and through our church during this time. Each piece of good news sparked hope! Of all the good news that we could hear, the best news for us today is that there is no condemnation when we place our faith in Christ. He does not hold our sin and all of the wrong things we have done against us.
The apostle Paul shares the good news that followers of Christ do not have to fear condemnation if they have placed their faith in Him. “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus,” he writes in Romans 8 (verse 1). Paul teaches that those who place their faith in Christ belong to Him. This means that we are forgiven for our sins. God does not hold them against us! This is the best news we will ever hear. You and I were literally lost and condemned for our sin until God made plans to send Jesus. Jesus died on the cross and paid the price for our sin so that there would be no condemnation in Him. This news is almost hard for us to comprehend. As human beings, it is tough to imagine that all of our sins and the things we have done against God have been forgotten and will not be held against us. As unbelievable as this news is, it is true! There is no condemnation in Christ.
Perhaps we have heard this good news that so many times that it loses its magnitude. Take a moment to think of the significance of this good news. Consider the weight of the news that, because of Jesus, you have life with God forever, and your sins are forgiven. God has truly been so good to us, and we must not take His gift for granted. Praise God for the gift of Christ Jesus and salvation through Him!
On a notecard, write the words “no condemnation” on one side. On the other side of the notecard, write down what it means to you that you have no condemnation in Christ. It may be helpful to look up the definition of condemnation in a dictionary and similar words to condemnation in a thesaurus. After writing, say a prayer, thanking God that in Christ there is no condemnation.
Life in the Spirit
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life[d] because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
