Have you ever questioned whether or not God is happy with you? Perhaps in the past you’ve been tempted to feel like he must look at you with disappointment. If not active disappointment, perhaps he only grudgingly welcomes you into his kingdom out of a sense of obligation. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably spent seasons of your life feeling the dread of not measuring up and perceiving the weight of condemnation for all the ways you fail to live up even to your own standards—let alone God’s.
“Am I doing good enough?” “Is God disappointed in me?” These are questions that we can easily start to ask ourselves, especially when we (knowingly or unknowingly) begin to place our assurance in our own discipline, our own obedience, or our own feelings toward God.
In response to these very common and very real anxieties, Scripture speaks a beautifully comforting word in the book of Romans. In the first verse of Chapter 8, the apostle Paul writes, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
I can think of fewer verses more soothing to the anxious soul than this one. For those who struggle with anxiety towards their Heavenly Father, this is a verse to memorize—to root deeply in your heart and to have close at hand whenever you feel the dread of underperformance creeping in.
Paul speaks these words so matter-of-factly that they almost seem trivial, but when examine them more closely, that should only serve to emphasize how strong and certain this truth really is. Paul speaks it with the force of a truth that isn’t even worth debating—for those who are in Jesus, there is no condemnation. Not now, not ever. Full stop.
We need to pay careful attention to where this freedom from condemnation comes from. Paul is very clear that it is found in Christ Jesus. In his perfect life, sacrificial death, and vindicating resurrection, Jesus frees all who trust in him from the weight of condemnation under the law and gives them new life in the Spirit.
Apart from Christ, our perception of the weight of condemnation under God’s law is actually quite justified. But, in Christ, all of our sins—past, present, and future—are fully and completely forgiven and our weak and imperfect obedience is swapped like a filthy piece of clothing with the spotless robe of Jesus—obedience that we can confidently wear before the throne of God. As the author of Hebrews writes, knowing that Jesus is out great high priest who was tempted as we are and yet never sinned— “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
If you are in Christ, there is therefore now no condemnation for you today. May all of us who trust in him rest in those truths today and every day of the rest of our lives!
All the best,
Luke
