“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus…” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Here we come at last to the place toward which everything we have talked about so far has been aiming. Here we find Paul’s magnum opus. If all of Romans is Paul’s best work, chapter 8 here is the brightest jewel in the crown. We have spent several weeks working through the hard news of the Gospel. Sin is messy stuff to say the very least. But grace is bigger. Grace is better. Starting with today and this incredible declaration of freedom in Christ, let’s explore with Paul some of the wonderful implications of what God has done for us in Christ and what makes the Gospel such very good news.

Let’s start here at the beginning, which is always a very good place to start. Romans 8 begins with a thunderous “therefore.” I always love seeing that word in Paul’s writings. It is unfailingly an invitation to a deeper exploration of the Spirit-directed words he wrote. It invites us to look back in order to look forward. It is rooting whatever comes next in what has come before. As I say regularly to my congregation, whenever you see the word, “therefore,” you have to go back and see what it is there for.

In this case, Paul is referring most directly back to what he was just writing in chapter 7 and which we finished talking through last week. He’s referencing the struggle we face as believers and the guilt-ridden anguish that comes with it. And, again, I understand there is an argument for his talking about the experience of unbelievers, but I remain unconvinced that is the best way to frame Paul’s tortured account of the struggle against sin. I dare not categorically preclude it, but I also don’t actively consider it. More to the point, Paul is doubling down on the relief that comes when we finally put ourselves in the hands of Jesus, when we accept Him as Savior and Lord, and align our lives with His kingdom and authority.

I think we can broaden our “therefore” here out even more than just that. Paul is referring back to everything he has written since Romans 1:18. I said when we started that huge section back in January that before we were going to be able to get to the real good news of the Gospel we were going to have to work through the hard news. The hard news is that apart from Christ there is a great deal of just condemnation hanging over us. Apart from Christ we are completely bound up in sin. We’re not as bad as we could be, but we are nonetheless corrupted by it at every point. There is no part of our lives – our doing, speaking, or even our thinking and reasoning processes that are not impacted by it.

What’s more, we choose this path willingly. Paul made abundantly clear that sinners are ultimately without excuse. The idea that God didn’t make Himself sufficiently knowable for us to be able to follow Him instead of our corrupt hearts’ desires is one that is entirely without merit. It is itself an indictment of the willfully chosen blindness of those who are not following Jesus as Lord. God has made Himself abundantly knowable for anyone who is willing to honestly examine and consider the evidence of creation. No, He didn’t make His existence so overwhelmingly apparent that it can be proven with mathematical certainty, but that’s because He wanted to honor the ability to make meaningful and consequential (i.e., free) choices He gave us such that faith is an inescapably integral part of the process. Still, the case is so incredibly positive that anyone who rejects it is, in Paul’s words, ultimately “without excuse.”

In Christ, though, all of that guilt, all of that shame, all of that condemnation is gone. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Imagine that. A life free from the condemnation of sin. Not just a little bit free either. Entirely free. It is completely gone. Forever. It doesn’t ever have to come back.

What’s more, with the condemnation eliminated, all of the guilt and shame of sin can be gone as well. In Christ, our sins are forgiven. He paid the price we couldn’t afford and still maintain a relationship with the God who created us and loves us in spite of our rebellion and rejection. He took the guilt on Himself. He bore our shame. Now, in Him, we can stand confident in forgiveness before God our heavenly Father. We can approach the throne of grace with boldness because we know the one we have standing there at His right hand advocating for us.

Remember, though, that experiencing the freedom from condemnation that comes in Christ isn’t going to magically make our lives perfect and easy. The struggle Paul agonizingly described in the last chapter is still there. The consequences of our sin will still be there as well. If we have broken relationships, it will still take work for those to be restored. If trust was shattered, that will still take time and intentionality to be rebuilt. If our sinful choices brought with them economic consequences, we’ll still have to work hard to gain back what was lost. If we got ourselves addicted to something, we’re going to still need ongoing, patient, loving, convicted accountability to stay away from whatever it was. If there were legal consequences, those won’t immediately go away.

Occasionally the story of someone who was wrongfully accused of a crime gets some public attention. Those individuals may have spent years under the condemnation of the state. It was unjust condemnation, and so the illustration breaks down completely on that point, but it was condemnation all the same. When that condemnation is finally lifted, the feeling of freedom is immense and incredible. The lightness of life that comes with it goes beyond proper description. But the person still has to rebuild his life, and that’s no small task. In Christ, our condemnation is gone, but we still have to rebuild our lives. Thankfully, He helps us with that task as well.

There will be much more in the days ahead of us including Paul’s immediately proceeding explanation of how this freedom is granted to us, but today it was worth starting with the good news itself. In Christ, your condemnation is gone. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Sin’s power is broken and you are free. You are clean. You are whole. That’s very good news indeed.

One last thing. As a little something special this morning, here’s a song from Josh Wilson called “No More” that captures the good news of this verse better than any other I’ve heard before. Enjoy.