No Condemnation Free Reprint Article

NotifySnack

Christian Articles for All of your Publishing Needs!

LIKE US

Translate this Page Here

Word Count: 3871

Send Article To Friend

Print/Use Article

Contact Jon von Ernst

No Condemnation

by Jon von Ernst
8/07/2023 / Bible Studies

If you are a genuine Christian, if you have been born from above and the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, that indwelling Holy Spirit will teach you all things. John assures us saying, “And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him” (1 John 2:27).

When we were born again we became new creations in Christ. Paul declares, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Having been placed in Christ by God, we have received so many incredible blessings. Paul says, “Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12). God gave us His Spirit to teach us, that we might know the blessings that have been freely given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul explains in the first chapter of Galatians that he was not taught the gospel by men but by revelation from Jesus Christ. “For I would have you know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel which was preached by me is not of human invention. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11-12). How much of the gospel have you received by revelation from Jesus Christ?

Nearly everything we have learned about the gospel has been taught to us by men, not by revelation from Jesus Christ. We were taught by men who were taught by men who were taught by men.

Because we have experienced so little revelation, because we have experienced so little teaching directly by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we have a very limited understanding of the scriptures. The typical Christian today is virtually ignorant of the scriptures. Most of what we know is what some person has told us. And most of what we have been taught has never been challenged.

With much of what we have been taught, we have never attempted to verify by searching the scriptures to see if those teachings are true or false. Therefore, we, the church, have become very susceptible to being led astray by false teachings. In fact, it seems that many of the teachings being preached in the churches today are false teachings. Many of these false teachings have severely undermined the faith of the believers. Many of these teachings seem to be designed to make professing Christians feel better about themselves and about how they are living their lives preaching “Peace, Peace!” when there is no peace.

Let us now look to the Holy Spirit to teach us what Paul meant when that same Holy Spirit directed him to write the first verse of the eighth chapter of the letter to the church in Rome. In Romans 8:1, Paul wrote, “Therefore no condemnation now exists for those who are in Christ Jesus” (HCSB).

What meaning did the Spirit intend to communicate by the use of the word “condemnation” in this verse? Paul’s letter to the church in Rome was originally written in the ancient Greek language. Therefore, to begin our quest to understand this verse we can examine the meaning of the Greek word that was translated as condemnation. We can also review how the various other translations interpreted that Greek word. Most importantly, we can examine the context in which that word was used in this verse as well as wherever else it was used in other passages of scripture.

Paul, in writing to the church in Ephesus, prays “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him" (Ephesians 1:17). May God grant us that same spirit of wisdom and revelation now as we look to Him for real understanding.

A popular teaching in many churches is based on understanding the word condemnation in Romans 8:1 to mean guilt or blame. They interpret the word condemnation here to refer to emotions or feelings. Thus, they understand this verse to say, “Therefore no guilt or blame now exists for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

In order to support this interpretation, they teach that when a person gets saved, all their sins, past, present and future are forgiven. If all sins, past, present, and future have been forgiven, the believer should never again feel any condemnation or guilt because they are in Christ. If they do feel guilt or blame when they sin, that condemnation is from the devil. It is the enemy accusing them. If they accept his accusation, they are doubting the effectiveness of the death of Christ on the cross for their sins and the effectiveness of His blood to take away those sins.

As a consequence, they teach that when God looks at them, He doesn’t see them as they really are, but He sees Jesus. They are covered over with His robe of righteousness.

They freely admit that they live sinful lives. In fact, they say they sin all the time, many times every day. They justify their life of sin by teaching that it is normal. It is the expected experience for a Christian.

They use chapter 7 of the book of Romans as their gold standard for how a Christian is expected to live. They teach that Romans 7:13-24 is Paul’s personal testimony of his life as a Christian when he states that he is enslaved to sin, that he has no ability to do the good that he wants to do, and that he practices the evil that he hates.

It is because of recent encounters with these and similar teachings that I have sought the Lord for understanding of Romans 8:1 and of Romans chapter seven. I have asked the Lord to teach me what the word translated as condemnation actually means based on the meaning of the Greek word used in the original writings of Paul, and on the context within which he used that Greek word.

I have also asked the Lord to teach me what the Holy Spirit, through Paul, was attempting to communicate to us in chapter seven. Was he referring to his experience as a Christian? Or was he referring to his experience as a merely natural man, an unspiritual man, that had encountered the law of God and had agreed in his mind that the law was good, and had set out to do that good that he saw in the law?

Within the next four chapters of this book, I will attempt to set forth what the Lord has shown me concerning these matters. We will begin this journey together by examining the meaning of the Greek word that has been translated almost universally as condemnation.

The Greek word that has been translated as condemnation is “katakrima” We find, according to “Strongs Exhaustive Concordance,” that this particular Greek word was used only three times in the entire Bible. All three times were in this one letter of Paul to the church in Rome. It is used once here in the first verse of the eighth chapter of Romans and twice in the fifth chapter of this same letter.

According to “Strong’s,” the Greek word #2631, katakrima, means “an adverse sentence.” Here Paul is speaking in a legal sense. He has in mind a person that has committed a crime, an offense, and has therefore been brought to court to appear before the judge. An accusation has been made and the evidence is presented. The court, the judge, then weighs the evidence and arrives at a judgment.

The judgment, the verdict, of the court is announced, either innocent or guilty. If the accused is determined by the court to be guilty, then sentence is passed. The guilty person is then sentenced by the court, condemned to death, or condemned to 20 years in prison, or some other specific adverse sentence. This condemnation is an adverse sentence. It is a sentence passed against the guilty person that must be carried out until or unless an acquittal or a pardon is received setting the prisoner free.

Here Paul is using the word condemnation to refer to an adverse sentence that was passed against a guilty offender. However, he is not using it in a general sense of just any condemnation. He is using it to refer to a very specific condemnation, a very specific adverse sentence handed down by the court on the occasion of the judgment of a specific person found guilty of a very specific offence.

In order to understand what this condemnation, this specific adverse sentence is, we need to understand who the guilty person was and what the specific offense was. In order to arrive at a correct understanding, we need to consider the immediate context of the passages where this Greek word katakrima is used.

The word, katakrima, translated as condemnation, appears in chapter five, verses sixteen and eighteen. The context in which it appears is as follows: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned . . . death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression . . . the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation (an adverse sentence), but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification . . . So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation (an adverse sentence) for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:12-19).

Here Paul is speaking in very particular terms. He is referring to one person who sinned and upon whose sin judgment was passed resulting in condemnation. The condemnation, however, was not just upon the one man that sinned, but upon all men. “So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned.” Paul is referring to one person that sinned resulting in condemnation, an adverse sentence, being passed upon all men, all people. “By the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one.”

“Through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” Who was this person that sinned resulting in condemnation to all men?

Paul explains, “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned” (Romans 5:12, DRA). Who is this one man in whom all have sinned?

Paul goes on in verse 14 to reveal to us who the one man was whose transgression resulted in condemnation unto all men. “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience” (Romans 5:14).

It was Adam who sinned. It was in his sin, in his disobedience, that all were constituted as sinners. “Through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19).

What was the specific adverse sentence, the specific condemnation, that resulted in not just Adam, but all men being made sinners as a result of the one man’s sin? We need to get a better understanding of the mind of the judge in this case in order to understand the adverse sentence he passed.

Jesus Christ our Lord reveals this mind of God, the righteous judge, to us. He specifically reveals God’s mind concerning this adverse sentence that was passed against Adam for his sin. In John chapter eight we are enlightened by Jesus during His conversation with the Jews who had believed in Him.

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered Him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, “You will become free”?’

“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin . . . So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free’” (John 8:30-36).

Jesus told these Jews that had believed in Him, that if they would continue in His word they would know the truth and the truth would set them free. The Jews rightly understood that Jesus was telling them that they were slaves. He was telling them that they had been enslaved and did not even realize it.

The Jews proved they did not realize their enslavement by insisting that they had never been enslaved to anyone. Jesus therefore explained to them the reality of their enslavement saying, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” This was the truth that the Jews did not understand. They were slaves to sin.

When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden by disobeying God’s commandment not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, God judged Adam. Finding him guilty of sinning, God condemned Adam based on this truth that Jesus revealed to the Jews that were believing in Him.

Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” This truth was the basis that God used in His condemnation, His adverse sentence, that He passed against Adam as a result of his transgression.

Because Adam sinned, God condemned Adam to be enslaved to sin. Thus Adam, and all mankind in Adam, became enslaved to sin and were thereby made sinners. All mankind, as a result of God’s condemnation, became enslaved to sin.

God condemned Adam, and all mankind in him, to slavery to sin. This was God’s condemnation, His adverse sentence, that He passed against Adam. As slaves of sin, all mankind were constituted to be sinners by nature. That is what fallen mankind does, they sin because they are sinners.

Therefore, all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Paul tells us in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. The penalty of sin is death. “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sinned. 2 Chronicles 25:4 states,“Every man shall die for his own sin.”

However, Jesus revealed to the Jews, not only that they were slaves to sin but, that if they would continue in His word, they would know the truth and the truth would set them free. He told them, “So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”

How would they be set free? In Romans chapter five verses sixteen and eighteen, Paul reveals the secret of this freedom that Christ promised. Here Paul uses the Greek words translated as justification.

The word justification appears only three times in the King James Version of the New Testament. It appears once in Romans 5:16 and once in Romans 5:18. The third occurrence is in Romans 4:25.

The Greek word translated as justification in Romans 4:25 and 5:18 is dikaiosis, which means acquittal. The Greek word translated as justification in Romans 5:16 is dikaioma, which means a decision to render innocent.

“And the gift is not like the one man’s sin, because from one sin came the judgment, resulting in condemnation (an adverse sentence), but from many trespasses came the gift, resulting in justification (being rendered innocent, being freed). Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness (having been rendered innocent, holy) reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

“So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation (an adverse sentence) for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification (acquittal) for everyone. For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous (innocent, holy)” (Romans 5:16-19, HCSB).

Paul tells us in Romans 4:25, “He (Jesus) was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Jesus was delivered up, crucified, dying on the cross as our substitute for our sins. He died in our place, paying the price for our sins.

Jesus was also raised from the dead for our justification. God demonstrated His approval of Jesus’s holy life and sacrificial death by raising Jesus from the dead. Through God’s acceptance of Jesus’s death for us, as payment for our sins, we who trust in Him are rendered innocent and are set free from the condemnation of slavery to sin.

Paul explains, “For since by a man death came, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Corinthians 15:21-23, NASB).

“Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Romans 8:1-2, HCSB). “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we who are in Christ have been set free from the law of sin and of death. We have been set free from bondage to sin, now in this life, and will be made alive with Christ at His coming!

According to John, “Anyone who believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the One and Only Son of God” (John 3:18, HCSB). Only those that have, by faith, believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, have been freed (acquitted, rendered innocent) from the condemnation of slavery to sin.

It is this condemnation that Paul says no longer exists for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 in this context actually means, “Therefore there is now no enslavement to sin for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Those in Christ are no longer slaves to sin. They have been liberated.

Paul writes, “Apart from the law, God’s righteousness has been revealed—attested by the Law and the Prophets —that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely (rendered innocent) by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . . . in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. God presented Him (Jesus) to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous (holy) and declare righteous (holy) the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:21-26).

The point Paul is making in Romans 8:1 is a summation of the case he presented in the preceding passage from the middle of Romans chapter five through chapter seven. Those that are in Christ Jesus have been set free. They are no longer slaves to sin. Sin no longer has dominion over them. They have been set free to serve God in newness of life.

By the entire context, Paul makes it clear that his use of the word (katakrima) condemnation has nothing to do with feelings, especially feelings of guilt over sin. If anyone in Christ Jesus sins, they should and will experience feelings of guilt, unless their consciences have been seared by repeated refusal to heed the Spirit’s conviction and call to repentance.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light - Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be! Click here and TRUST JESUS NOW