There are verses you highlight, there are verses you memorize, and then there are verses that carry you.
This is one of those.
Welcome to Episode 4 of Verses We Missed. I'm your host, your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb,
and today we're going to slow down and sit inside this one sentence and let it breathe.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
That's Romans 8.1.
Not less condemnation.
Not eventually no condemnation.
Not once you get your act together.
Now for those who are in Christ.
If you belong to him, the courtroom is closed.
The verdict has already been spoken.
You are not on trial anymore.
I've mentioned to you before that context, what came just before, matters.
Romans 8 opens with, therefore, which means, something came first.
I often say, when you see the word therefore, ask, what's the therefore, therefore?
Romans 7 ends with a cry every believer knows.
Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?
This isn't pre-Christian confusion. It's Christian honesty. I know what I should do,
but I don't always do it. I want to follow Christ, but sometimes I fall. Hard. Paul gets it. God gets
it. God is not surprised by your struggle. And in the very next breath, Paul says,
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Therefore, now, no condemnation.
Now here's what this verse does not say.
It doesn't say no consequences or no discipline or no growth needed.
It says no condemnation, no guilty verdict, no divine disgust.
God is not waiting for you to improve so He can love you.
The cross already settled it.
Now here's what it does say.
Your identity is no longer failure.
Your identity is no longer disappointment.
And your identity is no longer barely tolerated sinner.
Your identity is beloved in Christ, covered in grace, and welcomed and held.
You don't obey to earn acceptance.
You obey because you are already accepted.
You don't repent to avoid rejection.
You repent because you've already been set free.
This is not motivational language.
This is legal reality in the courts of heaven.
Case closed, gaveled down, sentence already served by Christ.
So how do we apply this?
Well, when shame rises, you don't debate it.
You answer it like this.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
And when the enemy whispers, God is done with you, you respond with the verdict he cannot overturn.
When your own heart says, you should be past this by now, you remind it,
My standing with God is not built on my progress, but on Christ's finished work.
This verse, beloved, is oxygen.
You inhale it when the air gets thin.
Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father, thank you that the verdict is not hanging over our heads.
Thank you that the cross is enough.
Teach our hearts to rest in what you have already declared.
Help us live from grace, not toward it.
We are yours fully and forever.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Beloved, if this episode eased a weight today,
if it lifted your shoulders,
if it opened your eyes to the marvelous gift
that no condemnation is,
would you return some of that value
with time, talent, or treasure?
Time. Tell someone about the show.
Talent. Contribute art or creativity.
Write to me at steve at lifespringmedia.com.
Let me know what you got.
And treasure.
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Every Tuesday at 10 p.m. Pacific, you matter and there's no condemnation.
None.
Tell a friend about the show, VersusWeMissed.com.
Now, until next time, may God bless you richly.
My name is Steve Webb.
Bye.