Title: There Is No Condemnation
Contents
title ; there is never condemnation
main text ; Romans 8:1-2
It happened in Long Beach, USA. A gentleman left a young lady accompanying him in his car and went into a roast chicken shop and bought a whole chicken. However, the store owner mistakenly put the whole chicken in a cash box that had been in business all day and handed it over to the box instead of the box.
The owner had put money in an empty box to make a deposit in the bank, but he only knew it was a whole chicken box, so he wrapped it up and handed it to the customer. The gentleman took the box, returned to the car, and drove along with the lady who was waiting. When they arrived at the park and opened the box, they found that it contained a bundle of cash, not a whole chicken.
In fact, that moment was when ordinary people were most vulnerable. The gentleman knew something was wrong and drove back to the store. And returned the money box to its owner. The owner is so surprised and thrilled that he says:
"Sir, please sit here for a second. I'll call the newspaper and send you pictures and articles. You are the most honest people in the world."
Then the gentleman shook his head and spoke. “Oh, no. Never do that. Please.” The shopkeeper asked the gentleman because he was too strict. “No, why not?” The gentleman replies with a shy attitude.
"As you can see, I'm married. But this lady with me right now is not my wife."
Ladies and gentlemen, this is an ironic story that clearly shows that people who appear to be very honest and very sincere on the surface are full of corruption in real life.
In other words, no matter how plausible a person may appear, if you look closely and deeply, there are numerous blemishes and sins. This is what the Bible says about human sinfulness. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
I once heard a missionary preaching the gospel in Japan saying this.
"I spent seven years trying to achieve sanctification by my own efforts. But achieving sanctification by my own efforts was like a heavy burden. 'O wretched man I am. The confession of the Apostle Paul who lamented, “Can you rescue me?” (Romans 8:24) was my confession.”
In other words, even if we try to live a cleaner and more holy life after believing in Jesus, the sinful nature that springs up from the depths of human beings is unavoidable. And when we feel this sinful nature, human self-esteem is destroyed, and we feel stress and severe shame.
In the end, this kind of condemnation prevents us from living a normal Christian life of faith and ultimately makes us weak Christians.
It was Martin Luther's time for the Reformation. While I was preparing in my study, the devil appeared. Then he shows Luther what he wrote on the paper. Luther looked at it for a long time and was stunned. It was dark ahead. Mac was out of whack.
It was because the devil had written down the sins he had committed long ago on a piece of paper. Luther was astonished to see that he had written down every sin he had even forgotten, now so old.
Then the devil shows the back to Luther again. When I looked closely at it, I wrote down all of Luther's recent sins. And the devil turns to Luther with a smile and asks. "Are all these records true?"
Luther had no choice but to answer yes. If you say no, it's because the devil knows he's trying to write down the sin of his lie on a piece of paper again.
Then the devil pointed his finger at Luther and spoke. "What kind of religious reform is this filthy bastard reforming? You live right now! How are you going to pay for this sin?"
Luther could no longer speak. But as I was sitting with my head bowed and powerless, I heard a soft voice clearly heard from behind. "Luther, all your sins have been washed away with my blood. There is no one to condemn you." As soon as he heard this voice, Luther was awakened.
And I remembered the words, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." So Luther got refreshed and shouted aloud, picked up the ink bottle on the desk and threw it against the wall.
"There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Who will condemn me?" Then it is said that the devil who was accusing him disappeared somewhere.
However, it is very sad to see so many Christians not being able to overcome these accusations of the devil and falling into stress and anguish, unable to fully enjoy the grace of Jesus.
It is a story that took place in a village in India. There was a big market there. Everyone brought things to buy and sell. One of the farmers brought a flock of quails. And each bird had a rope tied to its ankle, and all the ropes were tied to a round iron with a stick in the center. Then the quails continued to spin and flap around in the circle.
However, a Hindu believer took pity on the quails and asked the merchant the price of the quails. "I'll buy them all." Then the merchant is very happy, and after receiving the money, he is about to hand the quail to the Hindu.
"Let all those birds go." "No, what do you mean, sir?" "I didn't tell you to cut off the leash from the birds' ankles and set them all free. Set them all free." "Oh, yes, sir, that's it. If that's what you want."
The merchant cut the quail legs with a knife and freed all the birds. Then the birds, though set free, did not fly toward the firmament, but continued to circle in the circle of the ground.
Eventually, the Hindu forced the birds to fly. But even after sitting some distance away, the birds continued to spin around in a circle. Clearly, they acted as if they were still bound, despite being free from bondage.
What will you feel when you see this image?
Are you not like the bird in this scene? Surely you are freed from your sins by believing in Jesus, and even though you have been forgiven of your sins, are you still acting as if you are bound by that bondage? Do you not lose the freedom that Jesus gave you and live your life because of your own guilt?
Everyone, you definitely know. Jesus set us free. Therefore, you and I are no longer slaves to sin. Jesus freed me and you, who were sold into slavery to the devil because of sin, so don't let the precious freedom that Jesus gave you fall into your own guilt and bondage.
The Bible clearly says it.
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).
"Jesus said, I do not condemn you either" (John 8:11).
Today I want to tell you another story. Russian Tsar Nicholas I had a habit of wearing soldiers' uniforms and checking the ranks. One night the emperor came to a barracks where the son of one of his favorite generals was treasury.
Unfortunately, this young man was being dragged around by a gambling board mixed with a bunch of bad guys. When he lost all of his money in gambling, he began working with the army's funds. And the debt grew little by little until it became a debt that he couldn't pay. Then he fell into despair and thought that he would rather commit suicide.
The young man went to his office late one night and took the money left in the safe and put it on one side of the desk. And he opened up a ledger showing the amount that was to be in the safe. Then he picked up a pen and wrote the following at the bottom of the last line of the book:
"Who can pay such a great debt?"
Then the young man put the pistol on his desk to commit suicide. Then he fell into deep thoughts as his past actions passed by like a lantern. Then he was so tired that he lit a candle, buried his head in the ledger, and fell asleep.
Just then the emperor saw the light of a lamp shining from the young man's office. And the emperor quietly opened the door to find out why the young man had not slept through the night, thinking of the young man's friendship with his father.
Then, written in a ledger on the sleeping young man's desk, "Who can pay off such a great debt?" I saw an article saying
After reading this article, the emperor came to understand all the circumstances. And without waking the young man, the emperor quietly picked up his pen and wrote on the ledger: "I will repay you! Emperor Nicholas I of the Great Russian Empire!"
Guys, isn't this what Christ did for us? Wasn't it impossible to pay the debt of your sins and me? But didn't Jesus Christ, the ruler of the universe, come to us 2,000 years ago and write with a pen of indelible blood?
"I will repay you! Jesus Christ, King of kings!" Hallelujah !
Gentlemen, no matter how great the debt of sin is, Jesus has already paid for the light of our sins. Therefore, we are no longer debtors. The debtor, the devil, has no right to insist on us any more. Therefore, we have no condemnation for sin, no stress, no depression, no anxiety, no fear.
We are free people free from debt. Therefore, shake off the anxiety and worry that comes from the feeling of condemnation, and get the peace and happiness that Jesus gives you. This is the gospel.
The law condemns, but the gospel of Jesus Christ sets us free from the condemnation of the law. We are people who have received the gospel, not the law. shout out loud Sing. "I'm free! ♬"
An old man in England lived in poverty all his life, and did not believe in Jesus. After he turned 60, he fell ill. Perhaps he was afraid and afraid of living with only sins all his life, and he was worried about his own fate after he died.
So the old man called his granddaughter from the neighborhood and asked her to read the Bible. The granddaughter read the Bible to her grandfather again and again. However, the more I listened to the Bible, the darker my heart grew and the deeper my guilt grew.
But one day, while reading the Bible, this granddaughter came across 1 John 1:7. The verse reads: "... the blood of his Son Jesus will cleanse us from all sin."
When he heard this verse, the old man was startled and asked his granddaughter. "Is there such a word?" "Yes Grandpa!" "Read it again." Then my granddaughter read the verse slowly again.
Then the old man was moved and asked, "Is there really such a thing? Please read it again." The girl read the verse again. “The blood of his Son will cleanse us from all sin.”
Then, this time with tears in his eyes, Grandpa asks, "My child, put my finger on that passage of scripture." The granddaughter pointed the Bible verse to grandfather's finger, and the grandfather said:
"Child, let everyone know that I died by believing this."