Comfort for
Christians
by Arthur W. Pink, 1952
NO CONDEMNATION
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ
Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
"There is therefore now no condemnation." The eighth
chapter of the epistle to the Romans concludes the first section of that
wonderful epistle. Its opening word "Therefore" may be viewed in a twofold
way. First, it connects with all that has been said from 3:21. An inference
is now deduced from the whole of the preceding discussion, an inference
which was, in fact, the grand conclusion toward which the apostle had been
aiming throughout the entire argument. Because Christ has been set forth "a
propitiation through faith in His blood" (3:25); because He was "delivered
for our offences and raised again for our justification" (4:25); because by
the obedience of the One the many (believers of all ages) are "made
righteous," constituted so, legally, (5:19); because believers have "died
(judicially) to sin" (6:2); because they have "died" to the condemning power
of the law (7:4), "there is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION."
But not only is the "therefore" to be viewed as a
conclusion drawn from the whole of the previous discussion, it is also to be
considered as having a close relation to what immediately precedes. In the
second half of Romans 7 the apostle had described the painful and ceaseless
conflict which is waged between the antagonistic natures in the one who has
been born again, illustrating this by a reference to his own personal
experiences as a Christian. Having portrayed with a master pen--himself
sitting for the picture--the spiritual struggles of the child of God, the
apostle now proceeds to direct attention to the Divine consolation for a
condition so distressing and humiliating. The transition from the despondent
tone of the seventh chapter to the triumphant language of the eighth,
appears startling and abrupt, yet is quite logical and natural. If it is
true that to the saints of God belongs the conflict of sin and death, under
whose effect they mourn, equally true is it that their deliverance from the
curse and the corresponding condemnation, is a victory in which they
rejoice. A very striking contrast is thus pointed.
In the second half of Romans 7 the apostle treats the
power of sin, which operates in believers as long as they are in the
world; in the opening verses of chapter eight, he speaks of the guilt
of sin from which they are completely delivered the moment they are united
to the Savior by faith. Hence in 7:24 the apostle asks "Who shall deliver
me" from the power of sin, but in 8:2 he says, "has made me free," that is
has delivered me, from the guilt of sin.
"There is therefore now no condemnation." It is not here
a question of our heart condemning us (as in 1 John 3:21), nor of us finding
nothing within which is worthy of condemnation; instead, it is the far more
blessed fact that God does not condemn the one who has trusted in Christ, to
the saving of his soul. We need to distinguish sharply between subjective
and objective truth; between that which is judicial and that which is
experimental; otherwise, we shall fail to draw from such Scriptures as the
one now before us the comfort and peace they are designed to convey. There
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. "In Christ" is
the believer's position before God, not his condition in the flesh. "In
Adam" I was condemned (Rom 5:12); but "in Christ" is to be forever freed
from all condemnation.
"There is therefore now no condemnation." The qualifying
"now" implies there was a time when Christians, before they believed, were
under condemnation. This was before they died with Christ, died judicially
(Gal 2:20) to the penalty of God's righteous law. This "now," then,
distinguishes between two states or conditions. By nature we were "under the
(sentence of) law," but now believers are "under grace" (Rom 6:14). By
nature we were "children of wrath" (Eph. 2:2), but now we are "accepted in
the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6). Under the first covenant we were "in Adam" (1 Cor
15:22), but now we are "in Christ" (Rom 8:1). As believers in Christ we have
everlasting life, and because of this we "shall not come into condemnation."
Condemnation is a word of tremendous import, and the
better we understand it, the more shall we appreciate the wondrous grace
which has delivered us from its power. In the halls of a human court this is
a term which falls with fearful knell upon the ear of the convicted criminal
and fills the spectators with sadness and horror. But in the court of Divine
Justice it is vested with a meaning and content infinitely more solemn and
awe-inspiring. To that Court every member of Adam's fallen race is cited.
"Conceived in sin, shaped in iniquity" each one enters this world under
arrest--an indicted criminal, a rebel manacled. How, then, is it possible
for such a one to escape the execution of the dread sentence? There was only
one way, and that was by the removal from us of that which called forth the
sentence, namely SIN. Let guilt be removed and there can be "no
condemnation."
Has guilt been removed, removed, we mean, from the sinner
who believes? Let the Scriptures answer: "As far as the east is from the
west so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). "I,
even I, am he who blots out your transgressions" (Isa 43:25). "You have cast
all my sins behind your back" (Isa 38:17). "Their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more" (Heb. 10:17).
But how could guilt be removed? Only by it being
transferred. Divine holiness could not ignore it; but Divine grace could and
did transfer it. The sins of believers were transferred to Christ: "The Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa 53:6). "For he has made him to
be sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21).
"There is therefore no condemnation." The "no" is
emphatic. It signifies there is no condemnation whatever. No condemnation
from the law, or on account of inward corruption, or because Satan can
substantiate a charge against me; there is none from any source or for any
cause at all. "No condemnation" means that none at all is possible; that
none ever will be. There is no condemnation because there is no accusation
(see 8:33), and there can be no accusation because there is no imputation of
sin (see 4:8).
"There is therefore no condemnation to those who
are in Christ Jesus." When treating of the conflict between the two natures
in the believer the apostle had, in the previous chapter, spoken of himself
in his own person, in order to show that the highest attainments in grace
do no exempt from the internal warfare which he there describes. But
here in 8:1 the apostle changes the number. He does not say, There is no
condemnation to me, but "to those who are in Christ Jesus." This was
most gracious of the Holy Spirit. Had the apostle spoken here in the
singular number, we should have reasoned that such a blessed exemption was
well suited to this honored servant of God who enjoyed such wondrous
privileges; but could not apply to us. The Spirit of God, therefore, moved
the apostle to employ the plural number here, to show that "no condemnation"
is true of all in Christ Jesus.
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are
in Christ Jesus." To be in Christ Jesus is to be perfectly identified
with Him in the judicial reckoning and dealings of God. And it is also to be
one with Him as vitally united by faith. Immunity from condemnation does not
depend in any way upon our "walk," but solely on our being "in Christ." "The
believer is in Christ as Noah was enclosed within the ark, with the heavens
darkening above him, and the waters heaving beneath him, yet not a drop of
the flood penetrating his vessel, not a blast of the storm disturbing the
serenity of his spirit. The believer is in Christ as Jacob was in the
garment of the elder brother when Isaac kissed and blessed him. He is in
Christ as the poor homicide was within the city of refuge when pursued by
the avenger of blood, but who could not overtake and slay him" (Octavius
Winslow, 1857). And because he is "in Christ" there is, therefore, no
condemnation for him. Hallelujah!