Good afternoon, everyone!
Today I read Romans 8-10.
Romans 8:1 - Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
We are not condemned for our sins, because Jesus took that condemnation for us. We are now clean and free from that burden of atonement. That does not, however, give us leave to sin whenever we feel like it without regard for consequences. If we mess up, and ask forgiveness, however, we will receive it.
Romans 8:2-17 - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
I'm going to break this up before I got to verse 9, because this is quite long. When we are in Christ, we are made new, and as such, Christ renews our minds, and we are to do so continually, focusing on things of God, rather than the things of the flesh. Sometimes this is difficult, because the flesh never wants to obey God. But with Christ, we can overcome our flesh.
However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
When we accept Christ, we become children of God. As God's children, He will help us when we ask Him. That doesn't mean the road will always be smooth, or that we won't fall or fail. Just as we sometimes fail our earthly parents, we can also fail our Heavenly Father. But we are not condemned when we are in Christ, as long as we truly live by the Spirit. When we mess up, He is faithful to forgive us.
I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read Romans 11-13.
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