Jesus said, “I have come to do
your will, O God” (Hebrews 10:7).
John Brown observed,
“Holiness…consists in thinking as God thinks and
willing as God wills.” The true
child of God knows the daily struggle against inward
sin if he knows himself.
One seasoned pastor stressed,
“The man who never strives against sin which dwells
in him, who indeed is not conscious of any sin to
strive against that is the man who may begin to
question whether he knows anything at all about the
spiritual life. He who has no
inward pain may well suspect that he is abiding in
death, abiding therefore under constant
condemnation; but that man who feels a daily
striving after deliverance from evil, who is
panting, and pining, and longing, and agonizing to
become holy seen as God is holy, He is the justified
man. The man to whom every sin is
a misery, to whomever the thought of iniquity is
intolerable, he is the man who may with confidence
declare, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus.’
Souls that sigh for holiness are not condemned to
eternal death, for their sighing proves that they
are in Christ Jesus” (C. H. Spurgeon).
The person who believes in the
Lord Jesus Christ is “in Christ.”
You can realize your position
as being in Christ by a simple act of dependence
upon Him.
Those who are not “in Christ”
are already under condemnation now.
Jesus said, "He who believes in Him is not
judged; he who does not believe has been judged
already, because he has not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). Later in
summary He said, “He who believes in the Son has
eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abides in him”
(v.36).
The contrast is clearly stated
by the apostle Paul in Romans 8:1.
"Therefore there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
There is no middle ground. You
are “in Christ,” or you are not.
You are either a saved sinner or a lost sinner. You
are either condemned or declared justified.
If you are “in Christ Jesus
there is now no condemnation.” In
life, in death, in time, in eternity, “There is now
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Do you know that joy and divine
assurance?
The devil says that there is
condemnation; Jesus says, “No condemnation.”
The legalist says you are condemned; God
continues to say, “No condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus.”
You are “in Christ” by faith.
You abide in Him by faith!
God has done everything
possible for us to live a holy life.
Are you walking in the flesh?
Or, are you living by the power and presence
of the Holy Spirit? Do you do
whatever you please excusing or denying your
behavior? Are you doing the will
of God and obeying His written Word in the Bible?
Are you your own guide, your own wisdom, your
own standard of righteousness?
The old pastor was right when
he confessed, “I have struggled against inward sin,
and rejoiced in complete justification at the same
time” (Spurgeon). “That is a
cop-out,” the legalist says. No!
It is an honest confession.
He is not deceiving himself or playing the
hypocrite with others. “Believers
are in a state of conflict, but not in a state of
condemnation; and that is at the very time when the
conflict is hottest – the believer is still
justified.”
Justification is declared for
everyone who has put their faith in Christ’s perfect
life and substitutionary death for our sins.
All true believers are united in Christ by a
living and vital union. We are
one with Christ by a living experience with Him.
“Our union is inseparable, and therefore our
condemnation is impossible. Jesus
Christ is our representative if we have believed in
His dying in our place on the cross.
We are one with Him, and He one with us,
therefore what He is we are. But
please remember, it is true only of those who are
“in Christ.”
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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