Written March 24, 2015
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit Romans 8:1 (margin)
Receiving revelation from God and bearing the fruit of the Spirit are indicators that we believers have, on the whole, been abiding in Christ our Vine for a season. Romans 8:1, however, may be applied as a reliable test to reveal which spirit we believers are of at any given moment: the Holy Spirit or the fallen one. The Holy Spirit never condemns us when we sin, for Christ Himself is our Righteousness now and forever more. He came to save the world, not condemn it (John 3:17). Condemnation comes from our own hearts (1 John 3:21). The Lord does convict us of our sin, however, and conviction always comes swaddled in the Father’s great love for His wayward children.
When we who are in Christ Jesus feel condemnation, it is because we are momentarily living according to the old self (already crucified with Christ!) and not according to the Spirit. We are prudent to realize that our outer man, hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13), often attributes the origin of the condemnation to the people interacting with us at that moment, and is blinded to the fact that it is a consequence of God’s law of sin and death (Romans 5:16, 18).
The feeling of condemnation in a Christian can also be useful in causing us to realize (only with the Lord’s gracious reminding, of course) that we are momentarily living a lie, for Christ did not come to condemn! God’s glorious truth is that we have been crucified with Christ; not only are our sins forgiven, but that old sinful nature has been done away with – we are not under law, but under grace! In Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of Life has set us free from that law of sin and death (Romans 6:6, 14; 8:2)!
Hallelujah! May God graciously remind us of these truths in the midst of our feeling condemnation, and may He enable us to receive these revelations in markedly increased measure than we do at present. May we encourage and assist one another to apply them from this day forward, for the glory of Jesus Christ to be expressed within and through His Bride. Amen.
…test the spirits to see whether they are from God… Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God 1John 4:1b, 2b-3a
Rejoicing with you in Christ our Deliverance, your sister deanna
The Lord Is With Us 