No Condemnation

November 19th, 2024
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Nov 18, 2024

Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Romans is written like a scene in a court of law where God (the Judge) enters the court and reveals His righteousness (1:17). Those on trial are the ungodly, and God’s wrath is revealed against them, for they have suppressed God’s truth and exchanged it for lies (1:18ff.). Also on trial are the self-righteous hypocrites who judge others for the same sins they themselves commit (Rom. 2). Truth is, since all have sinned and all fall short of God’s standard (3:10-18, 23), all stand guilty before the righteous Judge. All are born into the sin of Adam, and the judgment of death is upon them (5:12-14). But then Jesus Christ enters the courtroom as the attorney for the accused, and with God’s permission He offers Himself as a substitute for guilty sinners, His death on the cross being a satisfaction to God the Father for the sin of mankind (5:8). Those who receive Christ are thus declared righteous on the basis of their faith in Him alone (3:21-28; 4:5; 5:17; 6:3-10) and are therefore saved from the wrath of the divine Judge (5:1-5; cf. 4:15).

Romans 8 begins with the Judge’s verdict after the presentation of guilt from Romans 1-7: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” What a gospel! Now although this does not flow naturally from the immediate context of Romans 7:25, it flows naturally from Romans 7:6: “But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” So, Romans 7:7-25 simply explains Romans 7:6. Then Romans 8:1 concludes the matter which stems from the issue in Romans 6:14: “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” So, it is only by grace that the guilt of mankind can be dealt with, freeing believers from condemnation, for condemnation is the opposite of justification. God essentially meted out His wrath on an innocent man (Christ) who stood in the place of the guilty. Now the guilty stand justified but only through faith in their Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

The “therefore” in 8:1 draws the reader back to all that Paul wrote prior to 8:1, for it draws a conclusion, rendering God’s verdict. The focus of Romans 1-7 is primarily on justification by faith alone, stemming solely from God’s grace. Per Paul’s use of the first person singular pronouns (I and me) in 7:7-25, it is evident that all Christians, even the great Apostle Paul, will continue to struggle with sin. But the sum of the matter in 8:1 is the great certainty that every believer in Christ, from the greatest to the least, is saved; they are free from sin’s condemnation. So Romans 8 marks a major change in Paul’s focus, expounding on the results of justification.

“Condemnation” (Gr. katakrima) in 8:1 appears three times in the NT, all in Romans (cf. 5:16, 18). It is a legal term that expresses both the sentence and the penalty of a verdict. Note that Paul used “no” (Gr. oudeis) as an emphatic negation before “condemnation,” expressing a divine pardon from the death sentence that sin brings (cf. 5:12-14; 6:23) which is eternal destruction (2 Thess. 1:8-9) in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15). Of course the pardon for this sentence is only for those who are “in Christ Jesus.” They are not simply part of Christ, they are united to Him. Paul said the same thing in Romans 6:3-5: “All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death… buried with Him through baptism into death.”

Food for Thought

The verdict of no condemnation is not for everyone; it is only for those who are in Christ Jesus—believers. Jesus’ crucifixion condemned and conquered both sin and Satan (John 12:31), and His death is our death. On the cross Jesus bore God’s wrath meant for sinners, offering Himself as a sin offering (cf. Lev. 4) to atone for our sins. Now believers are forgiven!