Today in our Gospel Jump-Start post, Pastor Ray Ortlund offers encouragement to Christians in their fight against indwelling sin.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” –Romans 8:1
Ortlund wrote:
Two great armies clash on the battlefield of life—the people of God and the sins that would defeat them. God’s people do not fight as well as they should. Sometimes they even yield to their enemy. But even as the battle rages, well before the promised victory, the Commander of God’s army orders a banner to be raised right in the middle of his troops for all to see. The banner reads, ‘No condemnation now for those in Christ Jesus!’ And that declaration has a remarkable effect upon the people of God. They do not use that assurance as an excuse to defect to the other side. They rejoice in the certainty of their final triumph and are energized to fight on.
Romans 8:1 raises that banner. We look up at it with joy, and it stiffens our resolve not to quit…It is a plain and forceful cry. No condemnation for sinning, struggling Christians who yearn to be rescued from their Romans 7 frustration and failure! (Supernatural Living for Natural People, pg. 13, emphasis original)
Look at the banner. Take heart, the victory is sure. Press on.
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Written by Matt Baker