No condemnation
Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Romans 8:34-37
The next question Paul raised persists, “Who then is the one that condemns?” The only possible answer is God for it would make perfect sense. God alone has the right to condemn sinful human beings. Yet, the Father instead sent His only Son to die for our sin. Since Jesus is not guilty of sin, He is the one who died for us. He has shown that it is possible to do the will of God perfectly while He was in the flesh. Furthermore, He allowed himself to be killed in our place. Who has a better right to condemn? But there is more: He “was raised to life.” We can best understand what grace is when we realize that God could (and had every right to) have destroyed the human race on that first resurrection day, but instead, He used the power that overcame death for Jesus to make it possible for us to overcome death. He “is also interceding for us.” The only one who is in a position to be the prosecuting attorney in our case has chosen to act as our defense attorney. Instead of condemning us, He is pleading for our salvation, not on the basis of any goodness of our own, but on the basis of His own righteous death and resurrection. God wants us to be assured of our salvation. Our good standing was accomplished through Christ’s death on the cross. It is Christ who provides unassailable security by His grasping them in His hand, the Father doing the same. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:28–30). “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). No condemnation to those who have surrendered their lives in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
