Freedom from Condemnation
Friend, we need to always associate “no condemnation” with being set free. Jesus has delivered you from the “body of death”. He took all of your guilt and punishment on the cross, thereby setting you free from the penalty of sin; and now, the Spirit of God works to set you free from the power of sin. This is one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit; He applies the work of Christ on the cross to our hearts and “sets us free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:1 (“no condemnation”) is followed by Romans 8:2 (being “set free”), as these two always go together. In a court of law, if the judge does not condemn you, but instead declares you to be innocent of all charges, then you are free to go. If you are not condemned, you are set free.
There is an illustration of this very thing in John 8:1-11: the Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus and asked them what should be done to her. Under the Law of Moses, the woman was guilty of a sin deserving of death, but Jesus said these beautiful words to her, “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more” (John 8:11). See how “no condemnation” precedes being set free? Jesus did not say “go and sin no more, then I will not condemn you” but rather, “I do not condemn you. Go and live in this freedom that I give you and not in sin.”
The Spirit of God sets us free from the law of sin and death, and He does it by using the message of the gospel: that Jesus was condemned in our place and therefore there is no condemnation for us.
And this freedom from condemnation is for all who believe in Jesus no matter how we’ve lived up to this point, or what sins we’ve committed, or how long we’ve done them. The message for you right now, friend, is there is no condemnation for you if you are a believer in Jesus. God does not condemn two people for the same crime, and Jesus has already taken your place and your punishment; you are now set free. The Holy Spirit wants to take that message of freedom and apply it to your heart today. He wants you to believe it, receive it, thank God for it, and to leave your life of sin because of it.
Question 3. Would you like to thank God right now that there is no condemnation for you since you have put faith in Jesus Christ? Please write out your thoughts here.
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In my past, I used to immerse myself in drunkenness due to the guilt and shame I carried from previous involvement with other sins. I had a defeated way of thinking, and my emotions were out of control. I would sin, feel terrible about it and then the guilt just took me right back to alcohol again. Like the Israelites in Numbers 11, I was living in Kibroth Hattaavah, which means “Graves of Craving.” Can you relate?
But the Holy Spirit began turning the light on for me, showing me that I was not condemned for my sins because Jesus was condemned in my place, that my guilt was nailed to a cross, and my sins were buried in a tomb, that Jesus had made an end of my sin. He told me, “I do not condemn you, now go and leave your life of sin.” This encouraged me and began to lift me up out of the grave, and I felt as if I were finally free from all the guilt. No more defeatist thinking. No more believing the lies of the enemy. No more letting my emotions rule over me and drag me into sin.
Friend, I want you to hear the voice of freedom today. I want you to really hear this good word from Jesus Christ: “I do not condemn you!” Hear it with your heart, feed on it, savor it, relish it, rejoice in it. And then, let that message be used by God’s Spirit to set you free from the law of sin and death. “Go and sin no more.”
For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:3-4 NIV