Who am I? - Part 3

Who Am I?  I am free from condemnation (Romans 8:1) The Word of God says that I am free from condemnation. The Amplified Bible puts it this way:

 Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.

            Those of us who have been around for a while know that there is no shortage of things we could be judged guilty of. The Bible is very plain about the kind of people we became after sin entered the world. Spurgeon calls it our “union of nature” with Adam, resulting in death (spiritual, moral, eternal, and eventually, physical). The adamic nature is displayed in our gross self-sufficiency and complete independence. The description of who we are apart from Christ . . . and what we do if we do not stay in relationship to Him is painful to read because of its truthfulness. Here is a list of things we could be condemned for: immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, divisions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, etc. (Galatians 5:19-21). If that wasn’t enough, we read in Proverbs of the seven things the Lord hates:

A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19).

             With any or all of these things potentially working in our hearts at some point in our lives, how can we be free from condemnation? The answer is amazing. Jesus satisfied the Father’s requirement, paying the price for sin, with His own blood. He sacrificed His own life for us. The Father accepts His blood as payment for our sin which then frees us from condemnation. When I begin to see what Jesus did for all of us, and then I believe it as effectual for me, as an individual, something happens. I enter into a relationship with Him, and I’m made a new creation. I am freed from condemnation. Praise His name.