In the previous two posts, we’ve asked the questions “Is there a God?” and “If there is a God, how do I know that he loves me?”
Today we’re asking, “If there is a God, what do I do when I break his rules?”
The fact is that all of us have broken God’s rules. I’ve sinned. You’ve sinned. We’ve all sinned. There are rules, and we’ve fallen short of meeting those rules.
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
Because we have sinned, we are “condemned.” If we were to stand before God in a court of law, we would not only receive a guilty verdict, but we would also receive the appropriate sentence. The Bible tells us that the sentence for our sin is death, eternal separation from God.
For the wages of sin is death… (Romans 6:23)
That’s how serious sin is. At some point, in some way, we’ve chosen our way over God’s way, and the sentence for that is death. But there’s good news out there. We’re guilty and condemned, but God has provided a way for our guilty verdict, for our condemnation, to be completely done away with.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
No condemnation when I’m already condemned? How is that possible? It’s possible because Jesus paid your penalty for your sin by dying on the cross. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or who you’ve done it to, if you give yourself to Jesus and accept his forgiveness, both your guilty verdict and your sentence will be removed.
It’s as if you went out and robbed a bank and got caught, went to trial, were found guilty by the jury, and then sentenced to jail. And someone walked into the courtroom, someone who had never done anything illegal, and said to the judge, “Remove these charges from this person, give them a clean slate and a fresh start, and I’ll serve their time in jail.”
That would be incredible!
And that’s what Jesus has done for you. Jesus paid your penalty. If you are “in Christ Jesus,” and only if you are in Christ, your sentence has been paid. God doesn’t condemn you for your sins. You stand before God the judge and are declared by him to be “not guilty.”
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
In this verse, Paul is talking about two natural laws, like the law of gravity, only he’s talking about the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death says that when someone sins, someone must die. Period. There are no exceptions. Just like the law of gravity says that if you drop a rock, it’s going to fall.
But let’s say you drop that rock and someone beside you catches the rock and lifts it high over their head. Does that mean that there is no law of gravity? Of course not, it’s just that a higher law came into play, the power of a person to lift the rock despite gravity.
The law of sin and death says that when someone sins, someone must die. But the law of the Spirit of life is a different set of laws that overcome the law of sin and death. And the law of the Spirit of life is God’s forgiveness and grace.
We’ve sinned, we’ve messed up, and we’re sentenced to death. We can try to make it up to God all we want, but there’s nothing we can do that is powerful enough to overcome the law of sin and death.
But there’s something God can do. The law of the Spirit of life says that God has chosen to invite you and me back into a relationship with him. God chooses us not based on anything good that we’ve done, or on our trying to do better, or on our promises to try harder, but simply on his decision to extend grace and forgiveness. And the law of the Spirit of life is a much greater law than the law of sin and death.
For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh… (Romans 8:3)
In this verse, Paul mentions the law again, but he’s talking about a different kind of law this time. Here he’s talking about the Old Testament rules, and he says that the rules in the Bible are powerless to conquer sin in our lives. That’s because the rules can’t save us from sin, they can only show us what sin is. All the law can do is show us where we’re not perfect.
But what the law could never do, God did for us. He sent Jesus in a human body, just like ours but without sin, and the death of Jesus satisfied the requirements of justice so that we can now be declared innocent.
…in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)
Only Jesus has completely fulfilled all the requirements of the law because only Jesus never sinned. When we come to know him, we’re not only declared “not guilty,” but we also receive the Holy Spirit, and he provides us with all the power we need to live the kind of life God calls us to.
You’ve broken God’s rules. You stand condemned. Maybe you want to be right with God, so you try your best to follow his rules, be a better person, or do something to earn God’s acceptance. But there’s nothing you can do to get on God’s good side. He’s already done something for you. He’s provided the gift of forgiveness.
Are you still trying to do for yourself what God has already done for you? Come to him today, and ask for his forgiveness. Admit that you have sinned, acknowledge that the sinless Jesus died to pay for your sins, accept his forgiveness and choose to give your life to him.
When you do that, these words will be true of you:
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)