“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” + Romans 8v1, ESV
It is nearly impossible for me to genuinely pick a “favorite” verse in the Bible. When I’m asked that question, I have a tendency to list about twenty different verses and three whole chapters. However, if my back was up against a wall and a gun was at my head, and I had to choose a favorite verse, I believe that I would say that my favorite verse in all of Scripture is Romans 8v1. I have two reasons, and one implication as to why I love this verse so much.
The first reason I love this verse so much is that it is a powerfully profound gospel proclamation. It is a massive declaration of the good news of Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The declaration of no condemnation in Christ is one that is new and fresh every morning. It is a reminder I never cease to need. Everyday I get upset and angry with myself, and condemn myself for not being as good as I should be. But the news of no condemnation in Christ is a glorious affront to my guilt driven, performance-based, self-condemnation. Christian, God does not condemn you; so neither condemn yourself. Jesus has paid it all.
The second reason I love this verse so much is because it is exclusively Christ-centered. The reason I am not condemned is not because I am a good person. It is not because God loves me. It is not because I have obeyed God well. The only reason I can stand before God free from condemnation is because of the spotless Jesus Christ’s, unblemished life, His taking on of my condemnation in His death, and His rising again which removed my condemnation as far as the East is from the West; and thus, through His work, He unites me to Himself, making me definitively right with God. In my being taken up in Christ I receive the blessing of no condemnation. I am not right with God by the sweat of my brow, but by the blood of Jesus.
One of my favorite implications of this verse is the reality of liberation it brings. When someone comes to an awakening of what it means to be free from condemnation it changes everything. When I think of the freedom in Christ, I often think of the Pilgrim’s Progress, when Christian’s burden on of his back falls off. Nearly every relationship we have in life is at some level a performance-based relationship. So we are constantly being condemned when we don’t measure up. But for the Christian’s relationship with God, it is utterly Jesus-based. That’s freedom to walk hard after holiness and obedience to God without the pressure of condemnation that would come from failing, were we not found in Christ.
It is finished.
And since I’m that guy, here are some honorable mentions to my favorite verses in the Bible:
- “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” + Romans 8v33&34
- “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.'” + Revelation 1v17&18
- Ephesians 1. The entire Chapter.
- “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” + John 5v18
- “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.” + Matthew 7v28&29
- John 15. The entire Chapter.
- “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.” + Romans 9v16
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