“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
The Lord had me really wrestling with this truth over last week. As I was typing out my sermon (I process my thoughts as I write / type what I will say), I somehow deleted everything that I had typed out up to that point. Did I say I was typing on Saturday when this happened, which means Sunday was the next day?! In an instant, it was permanently gone.
When things don’t go to plan for me, my sin default is to trust in myself to get it done, to pick myself up by my figurate boot straps and get it done. I start relying on myself to do it. However with that sin tendency, to rely on myself to get the job done, comes a flood of fear – “What if what I get done is not good enough? What if I fail? And what if people notice that I’ve failed?”
Saturday was not a good day for me. I dwelt far too much on if I would be able to get it all done, and then if it would be good enough.
The good news that God has reminded me with, and this is what I share today, is that since I am in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation towards me for if/when I fail. The reality is, I can’t get it done, and whatever I do get done won’t be enough. But Christ did get it done, and what Christ did was enough. And so since my faith is in Him, He gives me what He has accomplished and completely removes any condemnation that was directed towards my failure.
What great news today. There is now no condemnation for me, and for you, if we are in Christ Jesus.
