Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore now NO condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”. That means there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus….period!!!!
Yes but you are a stickler for interpreting scripture in it’s context and my bible says there is a condition for having no condemnation. The verse says we need to walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. So that would indicate there will be no condemnation only if we do not sin.
I am so glad when this is brought up. That is certainly what the King James Version and New King James Version says, but that last part “who do not walk after the flesh, but after the spirit” was added by the bible translators. It does not appear in the original Greek manuscripts. This is exactly why it is important to study, not just read and move on.
Now I don’t deny that it is a wonderful thing to walk after the Spirit and not the flesh, but don’t get under condemnation if you should make a mistake and falter in your walk.
When the translators got to this truth, it’s like they could not believe that the declaration of no condemnation comes without any conditions. So what they did was add that in.
Look at this verse in the New American Standard version or the New International Version. They actually have the right translation. The NAS says “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. That is all it takes. Just Jesus. No exceptions, no additions, no deletions, just Jesus and Him crucified. Believe that and receive that and the enemy and his helpers will have nothing to throw at you.
We have hit this thing of righteousness real hard over and over. In previous teachings we have provided numerous scriptural truths that we are righteous and not sinners. That the Holy Spirit did not come to point out your faults, but to convict you of your righteousness. Even after all the truth of scripture, the question still comes up. If we know we’re righteous, no matter what, won’t we just go out and sin. Won’t believers think they can go do that?
I love that question because it proves I am teaching the message of grace the right way. I am teaching it the way Paul taught it. Radical grace. The “almost too good to be true” grace of God.
If you have been gifted and called by God to preach and teach the ridiculous, radical, inexhaustible grace of God and don’t get that question, or someone doesn’t understand it completely, then you’re not preaching or teaching it right.
Ministering the message of God’s great love and grace will by necessity bring with it challenges. We are such a religious people that have within us the need to fix, perform, or follow rules and standards that it is difficult for us to simply rest and receive all that Jesus has done. If we don’t have some way to measure our abilities, then how can we know how good we are? See the problem?
So what about that question? Won’t we feel free to go out and sin? No, quite the opposite. The power to overcome sin is knowing that you’re righteous. You see, the ridiculous, radical, inexhaustible grace of God does not cover up sin, it empowers you to live righteously. Grace does not set you free TO sin, it sets you free FROM sin.
Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 15:34 “Awake to righteousness and sin not”. This means that the more you believe that you’re righteous, the more you’ll behave like a righteous person.
Listen to this “right believing always leads to right living”.
Galatians 5:1 in the NLT reads “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law”. The law here is anything the “church”, or someone says you have to DO in order to gain acceptance from God. Or it could be something you think you have to DO in order to gain acceptance from God.
Whenever I hear anyone say the words “you have to”, or “you need to”, or “you should”, I turn off my listening, because what will follow will smack of legalism and performance. A good friend of ours said one day, “don’t let anyone should on you”.
When you get the revelation of how to live your life freely, you’ll drive religious people crazy. Getting a true revelation of the great grace of God will set you free from the tyranny of other people and set you free from the tyranny of yourself.
Here’s that scripture one more time from Galatians 5:1. This time in The Voice version. “So stand strong for our freedom! The Anointed One freed us so we wouldn’t spend one more day under the yoke of slavery, trapped under the law.
It is our freedom. Jesus, the Anointed One, freed us. It was so we WOULD NOT spend one more day under the yoke of slavery, trapped under the law. So why do people insist on living in bondage to rules, regulations, religion and legalism? Why would they spit on and dismiss the powerful victory that Jesus WON FOR US?
For generations the body of Christ has been defeated. It’s been put under a constant siege of condemnation from the accuser because we have believed wrongly that the Holy Ghost convicts believers of their sins. Well that’s just wrong. You cannot show me scripture to prove that. However, I can show you scripture to disprove that false belief. Here it is in the Easy To Read version. John 16:7-11. This is not just scripture, but it is “RED LETTER” Truth.
7 Let me assure you, it is better for you that I go away. I say this because when I go away I will send the Helper to you. But if I did not go, the Helper would not come.
This is Jesus speaking. It would make no sense for Him to say this if He wanted us to be conscious and convicted of sin. He would not say He’s sending “the Helper”. Just ask yourself this question? What is the Helper going to help us do? Certainly not convict us of sin.
Other translations use the word “Comforter” or “Advocate”. Why would Jesus say He is sending a Comforter? Because He knew we would need comforting. Convicting you of sin would not comfort you. So far, I’ve only used one verse of what Jesus said and unless you’ve lost all sense of logic and common sense, you should already believe that the Spirit does not convict us of sin. But if you’re still in doubt, stay tuned. It just gets worse.
8 “When the Helper comes, he will show the people of the world how wrong they are about sin, about being right with God, and about judgment.
Okay. Right here, Jesus says three things the Helper is going to do. One is “show the people of the world how wrong they are about sin”. The second is “show the people of the world about being right with God”. The third is “show the people of the world about judgment”.
I like how this verse reads in the NIV. “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment”. Then in the next three verses, Jesus goes on to explain these three tasks and ties the reason to each of the three things mentioned.
9 He will prove that they are guilty of sin, BECAUSE they don’t believe in me.
Here’s the first one. This is the one where the Comforter, Advocate, or Helper “convicts” the world, not the saints, but the world of sin. Why? Because they don't believe in Him. You can see the word “convicts” in the NAS version. So that settles the first thing.
10 He will show them how wrong they are about how to be right with God. The Helper will do this, because I am going to the Father. You will not see me then.
OH OH. Now the Helper is showing us how wrong we are about righteousness, or how to be right with God. Jesus said that He is coming to show us or teach us that it is not through works or performance. It’s through GRACE, and by His grace we are MADE righteous. So that settles number two.
11 And he will show them how wrong their judgment is, because their leader has already been condemned.
Here’s number three. The Helper will show us how wrong our stinking thinking and belief about judgment is by showing us that Satan has already been judged and defeated. Just look at this scripture in Colossians 2:13-15.
13 You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave ALL our sins.
What I’m showing you here is the work of the Helper to bring this message to Paul. Jesus said He would do this in John 16:8. Just look at this powerful verse. “You were spiritually dead.” That’s past tense. It means you no longer are spiritually dead. It goes on to tell you why you were spiritually dead, just like Jesus answered the three things about the Comforter or Helper.
Then the verse goes on to reveal another one of the “Big Buts” of God. Just look. He GAVE you new life together with Christ. Now here comes one of those pesky statements of truth that just stifles religious/legalists. It says “He forgave all our sins”. Well, if He forgave all our sins, then there are no sins left. Not the previous ones or the current ones or the future ones. There are none left. Then He gave us NEW LIFE together with Him. Continuing.
14 Because we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt—a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.
Well dang it. There’s another one of those truths that just drive religionists out of their minds. How do you even dispute what has just been said. GOD FORGAVE US OF THAT DEBT. Period. End of debate. Over. Finished.
15 He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross he won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see.
Then continuing with Colossians 2:20-23.
20 You died with Christ and were made free from the powers that influence this world. So why do you act as if you still belong to the world? I mean, why do you follow rules like these: 21 “Don’t eat this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t touch that”? 22 These rules are talking about earthly things that are gone after they are used. They are only human commands and teachings. 23 These rules may seem to be wise as part of a made-up religion in which people pretend to be humble and punish their bodies. But they DON'T help people stop doing the evil that the sinful self wants to do.
Do I even need to comment. Just study these verses and look at the highlighted portions. The very end of the verses says “But they don’t help people stop doing the evil that the sinful self wants to do”. I mean, it couldn’t be clearer. Living under rules and laws will not stop people from doing evil. Only the grace of God and being convicted of your righteousness will set you free from sin and death. Study the book of Romans and see this for yourself. Stop being so sin conscious and start being righteousness conscious, because that's what you are.
Finally, no one can condemn me. They can’t even reject me, because how can you reject something that’s already been accepted? Now that's a good place to leave off with that statement and question, but there's much more to come in part 2. Grace and Peace.
Comments