No Condemnation!
“Therefore there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”
(Romans 8:1).
Justification is the opposite
of condemnation.
God declares the believing
sinner to have a right relationship with Him, but
that does not make him righteous. A sinner does not
have any righteousness of his own, and therefore
cannot be innocent. However, God declares believers
in Christ righteous on the grounds of Christ’s
atonement.
The believing sinner is
declared by God to be just by grace through faith in
Jesus Christ.
Grace of God is the cause of
our justification.
Romans 3:24 reads, “being
justified as a gift by His grace through the
redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
No individual can make himself
right with God no matter how hard he tries because
he is a sinner. The Bible declares, “There is no one
righteous, not even one” (3:10). The reason is
because “all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God” (v. 23).
Since we are condemned sinners
worthy of death as a punishment for our sins,
someone else must do the work of righteousness for
us (6:23). We do not deserve or merit God’s love.
The source of our right relationship with God is His
own free grace.
The foundation of our
justification is the finished work of Jesus Christ
on the cross.
It was Christ “whom God
displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood
through faith. This was to demonstrate His
righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He
passed over the sins previously committed” (3:25).
God can now freely justify us
because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Christ
paid our sin debt in full when He died for us (5:6,
8). We are “justified by His blood.”
Justification is an act of
justice because when God justifies sinners, He is
not declaring bad people to be good, or saying that
they are not sinners. He is agreeing with the fact
that all human beings are sinners. In justification
He is pronouncing them legally righteous, free from
any liability to the law they have broken.
The ground for our
justification is the death of Christ.
The means of our justification
is faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus “whom God displayed
publicly as a propitiation in His blood through
faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness,
because in the forbearance of God He passed over the
sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I
say, of His righteousness at the present time, so
that He would be just and the justifier of the one
who has faith in Jesus” (3:25-26).
Faith is the channel by which
justification becomes ours personally. Our faith in
Christ is not the ground of justification, but the
means by which God’s justification operates (5:1;
Gal. 2:16).
Faith is essential for our
justification, and it is God’s gift to us (Eph.
2:8-10). It is not works so no one but God can get
the credit for our salvation. God does it, and we
receive it freely by faith alone.
Even after a lifetime of
Christian living and sacrificial service, the
believer has no works on which to rely. He has no
merits before a holy God. Justification is always by
grace through faith, now, and in heaven before God’s
judgment throne (Rom. 3:30; 5:1).
Justification of the sinner
takes place objectively in Christ, and is
appropriated subjectively as sinners place their
faith in Him.
The apostle Paul never speaks
of justification apart from faith.
The result of our justification
is a vital union with Christ.
The ground of all that God does
for and in us is this vital union with Christ (Rom.
5:1-11). We are now “in Christ Jesus.”
Our victory in the Christian
life is accomplished in our daily life by being “in
Christ.” We enjoy a personal, vital, living
relationship with Christ.
“There is now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ.” God freely and fully
declares us just. This “faith-righteousness” is the
end of “law-righteousness” which was never a “real
righteousness” that satisfies God’s “perfect
righteousness.”
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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Unless otherwise noted "Scripture quotations taken from the NASB."
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE" © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://www.bible.org/. All rights reserved.
Wil is a graduate of William Carey University, B. A.; New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Th. M.; and Azusa Pacific University, M. A. He has pastored in Panama, Ecuador and the U. S, and served for over 20 years as missionary in Ecuador and Honduras. He had a daily expository Bible teaching ministry head in over 100 countries from 1972-2005. He continues to seek opportunities to be personally involved in world missions. Wil and his wife Ann have three grown daughters. He currently serves as a Baptist pastor and teaches seminary extension courses in Ecuador.
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