In Romans 8, Paul announces this very good news: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Yes, we are sinners, as he has just shown. Yes, it is impossible for us to justify ourselves in God’s eyes under the law.
The law is “holy and righteous and good.” And the law “promised life” to those who obey it, for Moses said, “Do this and you shall live.”
But it seems there is “another law” in us, the “law of sin and death.” And this law makes it impossible for us to fulfill God’s spiritual law and obtain life.
Paul made this argument to “shut the mouths” of the Judaizers, who were claiming that the Gentile Christians had to be circumcised in order to be saved. They were dividing the church, and he wanted to put an end to their divisiveness.
But what he says goes far beyond the situation in ancient churches like Rome. We are damaged goods. Sin clings to us like barnacles to a ship.
We know what is good. Like Paul, we love God’s law in our innermost being. “Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119).
But we cannot fulfill the law and obtain life. Even as we go forward to meet it, we find ourselves dragged down like a swimmer in a riptide and we wind up doing things we don’t want to do and not doing the things we know we ought to do.
Paul’s point is that we are free from that intolerable burden through faith in Jesus. He has set us free by taking our sins on Himself on the cross and putting sin itself to death.
Oh, what a glorious freedom this is! We rise up in the morning with the weight of the world and our own sins on our back, and then we remember Jesus and we are free! We can feel the fresh ocean wind on our faces! We can see the sunlight glittering on the water!
There is no freedom like this in the world. And it is available to everyone who loves Jesus, who confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his heart that God raised Him from the dead.
Well, you know all this. I just wanted to issue a friendly reminder in this hot, clingy summer weather that we can have the glorious freedom that is found ONLY in Christ. All we have to do is remember to claim it.
