“The great conclusion to the suffering and death of Christ is this: ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ To be ‘in Christ’ means to be in a relationship to Him by faith…Christ becomes our punishment (which we don’t have to bear) and our perfection (which we cannot perform).” (p.42)
“Being ‘justified by faith’ and being ‘justified…in Christ’ (Gal.2:17) are parallel terms. We are in Christ by faith, and therefore justified.” (p.42)
It is hard to accept condemnation. When someone stands with their finger pointing at me, accusing me of something or condemning me of something, it is hard to accept it. I see my mortal enemy doing that: standing before the Father pointing his finger and like a prosecuting attorney rattle off this-n-that, counting off on his fingers all my wrong, sins, mistakes, and law-breaking. But Jesus rises in my defense and counters every attack with a simple “I took care of that.” Romans 8:1 comes hammering down: “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
There is NO!!
Quotes with page numbers are from John Piper’s book The Passion of Jesus Christ.
Praise God! — Because I would be guilty as charged!
Amen, Bill! No condemnation!
Hallelujah! So, so grateful!
To not accept His gift of sacrifice is like trying to sacrifice Him again. That’s a slap in the face of the Almighty.
We humbly accept the gift of grace.