Free From Condemnation

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1. It is unspeakably great that there is a “place” in this evil world where we can be free from condemnation. The Scriptures have confined all things under sin (Galatians 3:22), and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. 1 John 5:19. If a person lives in conscious sin, he is under condemnation. However, we are free from this condemnation if we are in Christ Jesus. It is therefore extremely great to be in Christ, so we can have a share in this liberty. A pious bishop who lived in the seventeenth century wrote the following words about Romans 8:1: “We need to experience a new life as a necessary fruit of faith, so we can receive the full power of grace and be free from condemnation.”

We do not share in this glorious liberty as long as we are carnal babes in Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:1. We need to grow out of this baby stage—from partaking of milk—by the laws which God has given us through the body of Christ, and start partaking of solid food. All this takes place according to laws. We cannot skip over the laws in Ro­mans 7, saying it is bondage to obey them, and then believe we are in Christ and free from condemnation. That is living in a deception. We cannot experience freedom from sin without the obedience of the faith.

The law of the Spirit of life makes us free from conscious sin (Romans 8:2); and as we serve the law of God with our mind, we are increasingly freed from unconscious sin. Romans 7:25 and 8:13.

Being in Christ is synonymous with having all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge at our disposal, because they are hidden in Him. Colossians 2:2-3. Therefore we become “teachers” after a time (Hebrews 5:12) and partake of the Urim and Thummim (Deuteronomy 33:8-9), which is light and perfection. When we are in Christ, nothing can hinder us from attaining to “a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13.

We can only receive and be stewards of the unsearchable riches of the gospel of Christ as those who are mature, not as babes in Christ. Paul’s aim in his work was that they might all attain to the fullness of Christ. For example, consider the content of this one expression: “The fullness of Christ”! Do we see something infinitely great in it? Have we been apprehended by it, so that we are always occupied with it in our thoughts? If we are in Christ—as citizens of a new world—then the things that are seen increasingly lose their power over us, and we rejoice over the world to come. The strong bonds within us, which bound us to ourselves, are loosed: thus we do not possess anything, but are God’s stewards of all things.

“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 John 2:6. He lived only for the sake of the others; He loved everybody, and gave His life until He had shed His last drop of blood. The love of Christ which we already possess must constantly increase in ardor, so we can experience a development into the image of Christ. Then we abide in Christ, just as the branch abides in the vine. We have gone through a cleansing according to the flesh and the spirit; we draw both sap and strength from the root and fatness of the vine. Oh, how glorious is this place of rest in Christ, without condem­nation!