No Condemnation!

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Hank:

"For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7:18b-20

See if the following scenario sounds familiar to you: You try to do the right thing most of the time, but it seems the more you try, the more difficult things become. You attempt to keep that passage of Scripture in mind that says "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9)

But then something else happens, and before you know it, you've gone and done something you know you shouldn't have done. And the next thing you know, you're beating yourself up for stumbling, and you're listening to that negative voice that keeps telling you that you will never get it right, so you might as well just stop trying! (As Pastor Fred is fond of reminding us, "Who would tell you a thing like that?") Can you relate to Paul's struggles as he describes them in today's passage of Scripture? I know I sure can! Of course, by now you are aware that the negative voice you keep hearing is none other than satan. He knows that we all have a sinful nature, and he uses that knowledge against us very well. He fills us with guilt, and tries his best to get us to just give up on walking with God and trying to please Him. He loves nothing more than when we condemn ourselves for our sins and mistakes, and when we disable our witnesses, and stop trying to impact the lives of others.

But, brothers and sisters, Paul did not stop there. He goes on to share with us what is my favorite verse of Scripture: Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Did you catch that part about "NO CONDEMNATION"??? Once we are in Christ Jesus, our sins, all of them, are forgiven. Past, present, and future! If Jesus Himself does not condemn us, then who are we to condemn ourselves? We just need to remind ourselves that we are "in Christ Jesus", and that we do not walk "according to the flesh" (we don't walk anyway, we stumble and fall according to the flesh), but rather, we walk according to the Spirit! So I urge you today to stop putting yourself down when you make mistakes, to stop trying to walk by the old, sinful nature, and to be guided each step of the walk by the Spirit of God Himself, in Whom there is never any stumbling!

Keep this reminder at the forefront of your thinking: THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS!

Love in Jesus,
Hank

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