The Condemnation of Sin

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. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 ESV

I Am Uncondemned

The opening verses of Romans 8 are critical to us as Christians. Verse 1 tells us the life-altering, paradigm-shattering truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are not condemned when we sin because our righteousness is by faith in Christ alone. This is an important

truth because it allows us to believe, live, act and speak boldly as Christians in the face of our constant failure to keep the commandments of God. If as Christians we still lived under the condemnation of God, we could not be considered free people but those who are yet under the dominion of the written law and sin.

Because we often think of Christianity as something that cleans us up, that makes us good people, the idea that God has set us free from condemnation seems completely counter-intuitive.  If God will simply forgive us our sin for Christ’s sake, what possible motivation do we have for change? A God who would accept us without placing conditions on us and requiring us to toe the line simply has no teeth or weapon to force us to change our behavior. We can literally get away with murder and pay no penalty for our actions. 

That kind of thinking comes from this world’s system. We have been conditioned to think that every action deserves an equal reaction. That every transgression should be punished and every obedience rewarded. That is the scheme under the dominion of law that we were all born into and are very comfortable with. Yet, if that were the system that Christ died to perpetuate, he would never have needed to die at all. If we could embrace obedience and resist transgression by our own power then Christ died in vain, faith in Christ means nothing and we are all still condemned. That is life under the law.

My Sin Is Condemned

God is a step ahead of us. By His grace he has forgiven and will continue to forgive our transgressions because He knows that as sinful beings we will refuse relationship with Him if he does not forgive us our sin. We simply will not pursue the light knowing that our profound darkness is going to be exposed and we will be condemned by the light. God’s answer is to free us from condemnation for our darkness while condemning the darkness that resides in us.

This Paul tells us in verse 3: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh…” This is God ‘loving the sinner but hating the sin.’ He is well aware that sin dwells within us but He does not condemn us for that sin but rather condemns the sin itself.

Being released from condemnation for our sin through faith in Christ allows us to come into God’s light. The more time we spend in His light, the more our darkness is exposed and the sin within us is condemned and destroyed. This process can only take place because of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. Because of Calvary we are not condemned or destroyed ourselves in the presence of the Father.

This is how justification through Christ leads us to sanctification before God. Allowed into God’s holy presence through faith in Christ’s atonement, we are conformed to the image of the son that ‘the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.’ We fulfill that law not by struggle, but by boldly entering in the presence of God moment by moment and allowing our sin to be exposed and dealt with. 

I don’t know about you, but I want God to condemn the sin in my flesh. I know what it is like to loathe God and to avoid Him, shrink back from His holiness and seek to escape His presence. That is what I want the sin in my flesh to experience. I want to be exposed to the light so that the darkness within me flees in terror. That is the gospel truth.

God Bless