No condemnation

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8.1

No condemnation now I dread;

Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;

Alive in Him, my living Head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

So writes Charles Wesley in his amazing hymn ‘And Can it Be.’

'No condemnation' must be two of the sweetest words that could even be heard. Being condemned is a terrible state. few years ago I read a novel about a man on death row. The feeling of being condemned year after year and hearing after hearing was brutal. The man knew, deep down, that he was condemned to die.

We can be so distraught by the 'wretched man that I am' aspect that we can end up is a site of self-condemnation. But, there is no need for that. We need not fear condemnation because Jesus has the power to deliver us from the draw of the flesh.

Those of us who are in Christ are freed from the condemning power of the law and the flesh. Our new life in Christ frees us from all that. The world cannot condemn us, the Law cannot condemn us, the grace robbers cannot condemn us, and we cannot condemn ourselves.

No condemnation, now I dread.