God at Work
Lent 5, Epistle, Romans 8:1-11
What is it like to live in fear of a judge’s descending gavel? What is it like to realize that your future (the big picture) is all in someone else’s hands and all the scales are tipped against you? What is it to really grasp that you are GUILTY? Well it’s not pretty. But that is what makes the epistle lesson for this Sunday so … so … well, I don’t even know how to finish. None of the words I usually tap to describe good stuff even come close. Romans chapter 8, a chapter filled with the Holy Spirit, a chapter that has no imperatives because God does all the work, a chapter that begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation … well just read how it begins, “ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1).
Read that again. And again. No condemnation. NO CONDEMNATION. NO CONDEMNATION. I’m not sure there is actually much more to say, but I’ll try. Paul has spent the first seven chapters of his letter to the young Christians at Rome, by laying out first, God’s just case against all humanity, the hopelessness of their plight and their dire standing before a holy God. Ah, but then He begins to declare “the power of God for salvation” in Jesus Christ. And in Him alone. The plan through Abraham (chapter 4), justification by faith alone (chapter 5), entrance into the family and sanctification through the baptismal life (chapter 6), and uselessness of the Law to seal anything before God (chapter 7).
Then like a rocket engine igniting on the launch pad, Paul makes this statement. So simply. Almost without fanfare. That judge’s gavel we referenced, those tipped scales? Done. Gone. Out of the way! Why? Because you and I are in Christ. We’ve been placed into Christ. We have been baptized into Christ. Do you FEEL it? I know, I know it’s not about feelings but … do you? Let yourself feel that joy, that relief, that freedom. The gavel has been smashed on the Rock of Ages, the scales washed away in the blood of Christ’s cross. Rejoice. NO CONDEMNATION!
- Read Romans 8:1-11 at least once a day between now and Sunday.
- Ask someone else to read Romans 8:1-11 at least once a day between now and Sunday.
- Thank the Lord Jesus Christ for Romans 8:1-11 every single day.
