UnchainedSample

No Condemnation

For so many of us, taking this step is difficult, if not altogether elusive. How do we finally get to a place where our experience catches up to our reality? How do we live in the freedom we already have?

We need to begin by viewing our guilt the same way God does. Remember: because of Jesus, you have been set free from the law, religion, and sin! Satan can’t throw that in your face anymore. As Elyse Fitzpatrick said at a conference I attended once, “Since there is no longer a law to disobey, Satan can no longer accuse you of breaking it!”

So how does God view your guilt? It’s all over the Bible, practically cover to cover. I’m going to list a bunch of verses for you to read. Take your time and slowly read each one. I mean it. Don’t skip this. It’s the Word of God. It’s God telling you what He thinks of your sin. You may even want to print out these verses and stick them all over the place so you can remind yourself.

I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer. 31:34)

He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (Mic. 7:19)

I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isa. 43:25)

The reason for the disconnect between what these verses say and what we feel is that while we are now positionally seated with Christ in the heavenly places, conditionally we are still here on earth where our sinful flesh continues to do battle with our new nature. That’s why we feel guilty even though we aren’t guilty.

The key to dealing with feelings of condemnation is to remember your position with Jesus in the heavenly places. When you are feeling condemned, it just shows that every fiber of your being is longing for the day when your sinful carcass will finally be swallowed up in your positional righteousness. But that day is in the future: it’s far away, and all of us are stuck in the here and now. So when Paul writes in Romans 8:1 that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” we give a conflicted nod. Sure, God the Father no longer condemns us in an eternal sense because of the person and work of Jesus, but He certainly must condemn us now (or at least frown every time He thinks about us), right?

Wrong.

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