No Condemnation

Literature is replete with famous quotes.

William Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet, “But soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”* Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities opens with the famous line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”† But the opening words of Romans chapter eight far exceed the power and beauty of anything found in secular literature.

In Romans chapter 7, Paul had discussed the condition of the person whose life is not surrendered to the indwelling Christ.

“For what I am doing,” Paul had written, “I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15).

Recognizing the futility of a life that is not yielded to Jesus, Paul asked the desperate question, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (verse 24). If the book of Romans had ended there, it would be one of the most discouraging books ever written. But Paul went on to present the solution to human selfishness. “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (verse 25).

Then follows the majestic statement that offers hope to the entire human family. “There is therefore now no condemnation.” For whom? “To those who are in Christ Jesus.” And who are they? Those “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). The surrendered life is lived “according to the Spirit,” and for that life, there is “no condemnation.” More profound words have scarcely been written. Better news has never been heard by a struggling child of God.

Those who make room for the Holy Spirit in their lives live a completely new life without condemnation. Sin cannot govern the life that has been yielded to Jesus. Jesus lives in the heart. The believer lives a life of hope and assurance.