By Martin Morrison.
This is one of our top devotions of 2020 published on the 29th of June 2020. Find the full article here
One of the great chapters in the Bible is Romans 8. It teaches us the great truths about life in the Spirit. So we will spend a number of devotions working through this chapter. Today we start with Romans 8: 1-4.
The philosopher Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797) said, “No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear”. We’ve all struggled with fear. Fear of losing a loved one; fear of losing your job; fear of not getting married; fear of staying married; fear of being exposed; fear of death, judgement or hell. The main theme of Romans 8 is safety, security, certainty. Romans 8:1 starts off, “No condemnation”, and ends off with Romans 8:39, “No separation”.
Romans 8 is enormously realistic. Realistic in two ways. Firstly, it understands that we, as Christians, still struggle with sin. You win some; you lose some. But it’s an ongoing struggle. So Paul speaks of us groaning inwardly as we await our final adoption into glory. And as we struggle and wrestle, we sometimes wonder if we are still Christians! Look at my performance! Look at my failures! And so you slip into despair, wondering whether you can really be a Christian. And Paul says, “There is now no condemnation”. Secondly, Romans 8 is realistic in that it understands that we struggle with suffering. When we go through suffering we wonder if God still loves us. And Paul tells us that, “Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God”.
Paul describes one of the greatest salvation privileges of a follower of Jesus. He tells us that we are free from condemnation, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). That is one of the most remarkable statements in the Bible. Think back over some of the things you did or said over the years: broken relationships; broken promises; lies; hand in the till; stepping on people, using people; illicit sexual activity; pornography. Perhaps you passed on HIV/AIDS; damaged your spouse, your children, your parents; damaged your reputation. Some of your thoughts or actions have haunted you for years; woken you up at night, and given you no hope of sleep. Everyone reading this page has secrets, things you are not proud of. And the reason is that all of us as Christians have lived in Romans 7: 15, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate”.
And then Romans 8:1 comes gatecrashing into our shameful lives and says, “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. Jesus was my sin offering; Jesus was my substitute; Jesus died for my sin…Keep Reading