Fifth Sunday in Lent: Epistle, Romans 8:1-11                     

Romans 8:1-11

Oh my! Is there a passage of Holy Scripture where a sweeter theology of grace is stated? And from the gate. Read: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (8:1). Is it alright to admit that in reading and savoring that passage, I struggle? And here it is. All our lives we are striving for a moment where we can live imagining or saying, “That’s too good to be true,” or “It just cannot get any better than this.” Am I right? Even if we live lives in which we are generally content, who among us hasn’t wished for that moment of bottomless bank accounts, or moments on white sand with uncharted blue just steps away? Soft breezes, please. I know you have.

But this passage brings infinitely more than blue waters and cash. This is life. Indestructible, imperishable LIFE. We cannot work for it. We cannot guard it in our hands with white knuckles, gritting our teeth to keep it. It is a gift from first to last and it is displayed for us in a clean record (and conscience). Paul writes, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” NO CONDEMNATION. None. The slate is clean and the heart opened by and to the impenetrable light of the gospel: saved and secured before God by Another.

Sweet indeed.