Romans 8

After yesterday’s message it seemed to me a good thing to expound a little on a key passage for us in understanding the meaning and depth of God’s forgiveness.  Here is a snippet of thoughts from Romans 8.

Verse 1: Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus.  Wow!!  What a verse.  Because of the death of Christ on the cross as a sin offering on our behalf and our acceptance of that offering by faith, we are not condemned by God.  When He looks at us he doesn’t see our sin, our failures or our unworthiness.  He sees a new creation, covered by the blood of Jesus.  “There is NO condemnation NOW”.  This is not our future condition, this is our present condition.  Today He declares us innocent of all charges.

v. 12: So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh.  Because of our current condition of innocence, we should live as those who are not condemned.  Our life comes by the Spirit of God and so we should live in the presence, power, confidence and joy of the Spirit.

But what of our past, we still have it and it still clings to us.

v. 28: We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.  That goes for our past especially.  The past that haunts us has been forgiven and will be redeemed by the Lord.  That means that He no longer holds that against us, but that He will take that past and bring the best out of it.  That which Satan desires to use against us as a blunt object against our future, the Lord will use for His glory.  He will take that past and bring the very best out of it.  I don’t have to be afraid of my past, the Lord will use it in my life for His good.  Imagine how wonderful the Lord is, that He could take my horrible sin from my past, forgive it and then use it to bring others to Himself.

More later…