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VICTORY
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
There are folks who pooh-pooh on those of us who recognize that we are wretched sinners saved by God’s grace. They speak and behave as if they’ve bypassed Romans 7, as we examined briefly yesterday: the very real struggle which takes place between the corruptions of the flesh which still remain and the new heart and new spirit we now possess through regeneration as new creations in Christ. To deny this reality is the acme of foolishness and will only thwart our efforts for spiritual victory. As Romans 6 presented the truth of our surrender to Christ as His bond slaves, and Romans 7 presented our very real struggle for Christ as His bond slaves, Romans 8 presents our spiritual victory in Christ as His bond slaves. Because we recognize that the struggle of Romans 7 makes us wretched sinners saved by God’s grace, it exalts the Lord Jesus Christ alone for His substitutionary atonement and His merciful redemption. This is why there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus— because you and I rest upon His finished work and lean upon His everlasting arms. Because you and I are wretches apart from God’s grace in Christ, this is why “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37). For to presume that we are spiritually victorious without the reality of this wretched Romans 7 struggle within us, will cause us to be legalists, who keep God’s commandments in the power of our own fleshly strength. Because we are wretches who are not condemned through Christ’s atoning grace, when our hearts and souls (that is, our understanding and our minds) are “strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph 6:10), when we fail in the flesh, yet remain faithful to Christ, not only are we not condemned because of our faith in Him, but we become more transformed in the renewing of our minds to become less and less like the world (Rom 12:2), and amazingly, become more and more like our Lord (Rom 8:28-29). Hallelujah! What a Savior!
