There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…
Romans 8:1a
When a house is condemned, it means it’s unfit for use—nobody is supposed to live in it because it’s uninhabitable.
When you are under condemnation, you believe you are unfit for God’s use; you don’t believe God will use you. You don’t doubt God’s ability to do something, but you doubt His willingness to do it through you. You don’t believe God will heal the sick through you, or raise the dead through you; you don’t believe God will bless people through you because of how you’ve messed up.
When you sin and then feel undeserving of God’s love and unfit for His use, you are condemning yourself.
People have gone crazy because of condemnation. They sin, and feel like God has not forgiven them, then they think they have to jump through hoops to receive His forgiveness. Even after this self-inflicted punishment, some people still feel unforgiven—it’s just an endless vicious circle. Some people have ended up depressed as a result of condemnation. Condemnation kills! Condemnation kills!!
There is no condemnation because you are in Christ Jesus!
You don’t have to look at yourself and feel like you are unfit for God’s use or unfit for His Kingdom. God paid a precious price for you. God thought you were worth dying for—your Creator thought you were worth dying for. Regardless of what you have done, don’t look at yourself as worthless. You are precious in God’s eyes; you are valuable to Him. When Christ moved into your spirit, He gave you the gift of no condemnation. Don’t just read over that last sentence, you need to take some time to meditate on it. A lot of Christians have read Romans 8:1a and it’s not effective in their lives. Even Christians who are mature in Christ have to catch themselves sometimes feeling condemned and beating themselves up over something they’ve done. Jesus was condemned in your place. On the cross, all of your sins were condemned on the body of Jesus, so you don’t have to beat yourself up. You don’t have to feel like you will suffer the punishment for your sins, because Jesus already took all the punishment you deserve upon Himself.
On the cross, when Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” [see Matthew 27:46]. He wasn’t quoting a Psalm or being symbolic, God literally forsook Him. God turned His back on His Son. God and Jesus had never been separated until the cross. On the cross, God turned His back on Jesus so that He would never turn His back on you. So when you mess up and sin, don’t think God has left you, He is right there with you—He never left. If He left you, who would pick you up out of the mess you are in, and what are you going to do to get back into communion with Him. Can you get back into God’s grace in your own strength, ability or power—what could you possibly do?
God gave you a relationship with Him as a gift. He said He would never leave you, never forsake you. [see Hebrews 13:5]. The interesting thing about the Greek word translated “never” is a forceful never—meaning God will never ever leave you; that will never happen; He will never forsake you. Your righteousness is eternal in God’s eyes. Praise God!
When you mess up, don’t start looking at yourself in the light of yourself, don’t start looking at yourself outside of Christ. Instead, go to God, admit your wrong and receive His forgiveness. Your performance didn’t bring you into Christ; all you did was receive His gift of righteousness, His gift of salvation. So all you need to do when you mess up is to receive His gift of forgiveness—this gift is already made available to you. Just say, “I’m sorry Lord, I know what I did was wrong. I believe I receive Your forgiveness. I thank You for punishing my sins upon the body of Jesus. I believe that I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”
Sometimes it’s hard to believe and confess that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus—especially when you just messed up. The truth is, it is more important to believe and confess that you are the righteousness of God in Christ when you have just messed up. It is when you know who you are in Christ that your behavior changes. So every time you mess up, you need to say, “I’m still the righteousness of God in Christ.” Sometimes when I do this, I feel stupid, the devil reminds me of what I just said or did wrong. But the truth remains that, regardless of what you do wrong, you are still the righteousness of God in Christ. Because you are in Christ, God sees you based on Christ’s perfect obedience on the cross.
Say these out loud; “I am in Christ. Sin has no dominion over me. I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 1:13-14
The Amplified Classic version says, “[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins.”
Why should you feel condemned or let condemnation have dominion over you when the scripture says you have been redeemed and you have forgiveness of sins! Your redemption and forgiveness are not something that would happen in the future; you already have them. Forgiveness of sins has been made available to you through the finished work of Jesus. When Jesus cried out, “it is finished!” [see John 19:30], your redemption was one of the things He took care of, your healing was one of the things he took care of, and so much more. Jesus has given you everything that pertains to life and godliness. [see 2 [Peter 1:3]. If it’s healing you need, if it’s mental stability, you want to stop being ruled by your emotions, Jesus already took care of everything. All you need to do now is receive it—just like how you receive a gift, you don’t work for a gift. A gift is something you don’t deserve; you just receive it with thanksgiving. Receive all that God’s grace has freely provided for you, and thank Him.
You will stop feeling condemned when you start being righteousness-conscious, and not sin-conscious. When you are righteousness-conscious, it is difficult for the enemy to condemn you—because you’re conscious of who you are in Christ. You are not conscious of yourself outside of Christ; you are conscious of Christ in you, the hope of glory—Christ in you, your Redeemer; Christ in you, your Savior; Christ in you, your Healer; Christ in you, your Provider.
Stop being so focused on your shortcomings. Stop being self-occupied; be Christ-occupied. Don’t be introspective—looking at yourself, examining yourself for your flaws, your shortcomings, your mistakes. Stop looking at yourself. Start looking at Christ in you, because when God looks at you, He sees you in Christ—because you are a new creation, God doesn’t see you in yourself. God doesn’t see you outside of Christ; He doesn’t see you in your ability, your shortcomings or your flaws; He looks at Christ in you.
What is really sad is most Christians are more conscious of the old man [the sin nature] than they are of their new nature which is engrafted in Christ [joined with Christ]. This shouldn’t be! When you know who you are in Christ, your behavior will change. God is not looking for behavior modification; He’s looking for a heart transformation. A lot of Christians modify their behavior; they look like a genuine Christian on the outside, but inside [the heart], there’s no change, no transformation. This is not what God wants. True change starts from within, and when you are transformed from the inside, it’s going to become evident outside.
The enemy is terrified of Christians who know who they are in Christ, Christians who know their rights in Christ. This is why you should be that kind of Christian—the kind of Christian that terrifies the enemy.
Do you want to be that kind of Christian? I believe your answer is yes. The enemy should be terrified when you wake up every morning; he should cringe and wonder what you are up to.
