Steadfast, Immovable, Abounding

Fourth installment of the Romans Road series

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:1

During my journey as a Christian, I have read Romans 8 countless times, many of those times being in the last several months. It is always a chapter that leaves me strengthened by God’s infinite grace and thankful to Him for His mercy on me. Every verse seems to contain a gold nugget of truth and doctrine, yet it is this first one which always takes my breath away. Paul spends much of his epistle establishing our guilt and unworthiness before a holy, righteous, God—but this chapter and verse proclaim, “You are clean. It is paid. Death has lost its power.”

Sometimes it can be easy to mistake the grip of paralyzing shame for the prodding of proper remorse. Sin should make us sick. It should cause us to cry out, as Paul did, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). But there’s a difference between grieving because we have grieved the Holy Spirit and needlessly dwelling on the sins which are behind us. Christ came to take away all condemnation—not because sin no longer exists, but because He took our punishment on Himself. I absolutely love 1 John 3:19-20, which says, “We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” Our hearts cannot accurately excuse or condemn us. We must look up to the Definer of truth to give us our identity, for He sees every sin more clearly than we do.

But what exactly is the difference between the conviction of God and the accusations of Satan? This is something I’ve thought about a lot over the past few years. Over time, God has shown me that His conviction always points towards Christ and works to make me like Him. The guilt created by the devil, the world, and my own sinful heart only drags me down and ultimately brings more attention to myself. The prick of the Holy Spirit always brings hope: “It’s not too late. Through Jesus, this can still be made right.” But the voice of Satan always brings hopelessness, doubt, selfishness, and attacks on God’s word.

When Christ removes all condemnation, He is not undoing God’s definitions of sin and righteousness. The life that Jesus brings is freedom from sin, not freedom to sin. As He says in John 8:35-36, “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” We often think of freedom as an escape from all confines and restrictions. Yet Jesus describes it as quite the opposite; freedom gives the right and privilege to enjoy the life God has placed us in, along with the laws He uses to protect us. To borrow Christ’s analogy of slavery versus sonship, freedom doesn’t mean leaving the Master’s house—it means the Master’s house is your home.

Isaiah 43:1 says, “But now, thus says the Lord your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!” In this context, the Lord is speaking specifically to His chosen people, Israel…but I believe His words apply to us as well. Our Redeemer has made us His own, adopted us as His children, cancelled the debt we owed, filled us with His Spirit, and sent us on a mission to build His kingdom. The enemy no longer has any right to accuse or condemn us, and his lies should carry no weight in our minds.

In Galatians 5:1, Paul writes, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” We are free—why do we act as if we are not? Why do we stubbornly fight to compensate for the sin which Christ has already covered? Although we cannot earn favor with God, freedom never gives us an excuse for disobedience. Paul continues later in verse 13, “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. Sometimes we manipulate Christ’s forgiveness to justify our rebellion against God’s law. But as I heard a pastor say once, “We aren’t called to pursue forgiveness; we’re called to pursue holiness.” We who are no longer condemned should act as children of God should—the curse which Adam and Eve brought on mankind in the garden was broken at the cross. Finally, Paul says our freedom should cause us to serve one another. Once again, this goes against what society tells us about freedom. But if we are truly striving to be like Jesus, our focus will be drawn further and further from ourselves and closer and closer to the Lord and the people around us.

Your freedom is a precious and priceless thing. It was not bought cheaply…so what will you do with it? Will you fight to tear down the good limits that God has established to protect you? Or will you make your home with Him, secure in the identity He has given you, and dedicated to seeing more of Him each and every day?