"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ." Romans 8:1

What an incredible weight that is lifted from those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior! No divine judgement for those who follow Jesus! I'm so thankful for that truth of the Gospel.

But I need to reread this verse from time to time to remind myself that it reads, " no condemnation" for those in Christ.  Jesus took my punishment at the cross! He took the place of every single soul who would accept His gift of salvation. My sin has already been judged! Praise God for He is so merciful!

 It does NOT read, " no faith failure" for those in Christ. It does not read , " no consequences for my sin" in Christ. It does not read " no difficult days" for those in Christ.

God never promises us easy cushy lives because we make a profession of faith. In fact, the Bible promises that because we choose to turn from our sinful way and to follow Jesus's ways we are going to find tribulation.  Jesus tells us plainly in John 16:33, " In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world".

God knew that as Christians, on this side of eternity, we will still wrestle with a sin nature. Though we strive to live holy lives, there will times we stumble and fall. 1 John 1:9 reminds us of the merciful and gracious Lord we serve . He is faithful even when we are not!  The apostle John writes these words that bring such comfort when we feel condemned by our sin ; " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". 

If you are feeling condemned and want to shut down and hide, that is from the devil. Satan wants us to give up and quit! That is NOT from God!  Holy Spirit conviction will bring to our attention that we have sinned but the Holy Spirit will bring a sense of encouragement to go to draw near to God; To lay it at the cross and learn from the error of our ways. Conviction gently pushes us to be more like Christ and do the next right thing. It may mean going to someone and asking for forgiveness. It may be that you pour your heart out to God and get honest with yourself! Conviction never shuts us down to give up and quit. 

So today let us praise our awesome God for freeing us from condemnation. We will not see the wrath of God as the unsaved will one day.  Let us also rejoice that when we do have one of those moments, one of those days, one of those weeks, God isn't finished with us yet! Confess your sin to God, get cleansed and keep on living for Jesus!