Romans 7:21-8:8
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
8:1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, n God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. p And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. [1]
___________________
What strikes me in today’s passage is Paul’s declaration in Romans 8:1 that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Even though I know this verse quite well, and it is in fact one of my favorite verses, it is still striking in the context of Paul’s description in Romans 7 of his struggle between slavery to sin and slavery to Christ. Paul’s summary of the struggle is that he is a “wretched” man, doing what he knows is wrong and not doing what he knows is right. But there is deliverance in Christ, who became a sin offering for us.
I can relate to Paul’s struggle. And I bet you who are reading this can as well. We are not the people we know God wants us to be. We are not even the people we want ourselves to be. Sometimes our failures bring us face to face with our weakness, and it is painful.
But here is the good news of what we have in Christ: The victory is not attained through greater efforts at perfection. The victory is attained by trusting in Christ. He is the sin offering for us as Paul puts it. We are forgiven in Him. The Law is fulfilled in Him, and the righteousness we long for us given to us in Him. We still strive for Christ-like living, but our salvation is dependent on Christ’s righteousness, not on our moral successes.
There is no condemnation for me. There is no condemnation for all who trust in Christ. His forgiveness is complete. His righteousness is ours. Yes, we strive to follow after him, but our striving rests on this unassailable foundation: We are not condemned.
So my prayer today is one of thankfulness and praise of the forgiveness that I have in Christ. I pray that the assurance of his grace would be the foundation of my efforts this day to follow after Him in what I say and do.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
To subscribe to Abide Daily Devotion e-mail please click here.
[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ro 7:21–8:8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Leave a Reply