Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesusbecause through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Rom.8:1-4)

The certainty of our standing with God empowers us to live for him. In the days of the Old and New Testaments, Kings were absolutely sovereign and their declarations became law – standing orders from the King himself. Once it was law, all the forces of the kingdom would be brought to bear to enforce what the King had declared. Once it was law it was unchanging unless it was superseded by another law issued by the king due to a change in circumstances.

Paul tells us that those in Christ stand without condemnation because through Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life has set us free from the law of sin and death. There was once a law, a standing order, that those who sinned must die – the wages of sin is death. Sin was a manifestation of rebellion and rebellion was a capital crime in the kingdom. The consequence of sin for every man was separation and alienation from the Father and death was the prescribed penalty. But a change in circumstances occurred. God himself put on flesh and paid the penalty for all men who would accept his sacrifice and his Lordship in their lives. When that circumstance shifted a new law was declared – the Law of the Spirit of Life. God has declared and established an unchangeable law that for those who have faith in the word of God and the saving work of his Son, there is life imparted by the Spirit and all condemnation has been removed forever as long as there is faith. The assurance of our standing with God based on what Jesus did rather than the shortcomings of man should embolden us to take hold of every promise of heaven.

Jesus said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it” (Mt.11:12). I like that. Forceful men are those (both men and women) who believe aggressively in the promises of God and grab hold of every promise with the assurance that comes from knowing who they are in Christ. These are the folks who run over the devil to get to Jesus. These are the folks who stand on the Word of God and call the devil a liar to his face. This standing of righteousness and acceptance in heaven is not just for some but for all who believe – mature and immature, rich and poor, gifted and not so gifted, saintly or struggling and is the unchangeable law of heaven.

To be clear, the Holy Spirit does convict his children but that is vastly different from condemnation. Conviction is the work of redirecting our hearts, thoughts and actions while condemnation is the work of rejecting us. God does not reject those who trust in Jesus because for them there is no condemnation. The result is articulated in the Book of Hebrews. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb.4:16). Later, in Romans 8, the apostle Paul confirms our sure position with the Father when he declare, “If God is for us who can be against us?” Several translations instruct us to come before the throne not just with confidence but with boldness. I believe God wants his children to live with a boldness that confronts the enemy and scatters him. We can do so because by one sacrifice we have been made perfect forever while God is making us holy. Know who you are. Know what Jesus has done in your life. Know your standing in heaven and live with the boldness of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is God’s will for your life!

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesusbecause through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Rom.8:1-4)

This blog is dedicated to helping people find freedom in Christ through the power that is inherent in the kingdom of God. The foundation of that freedom is always found in the Word of God and one of the great sections in the entirety of scripture is Romans 8. As we launch this new year, I want to take a few blog entries to dissect this chapter to see what it has to say about the power of Christ to set us free and to overcome the power of the enemy.

Paul begins this chapter by reinforcing the truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. It’s my experience that we must know where we stand with God before we can stand against the enemy. Paul says that where we stand with God is a “condemnation free zone.” The key knows that Jesus became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor.5:21). Because Jesus died for our sins, the Father relates to us on the basis of our position rather than our condition.

Many believers assume that God’s evaluation of them is based on their performance as a Christian and most of us find our performance lacking. Because of that, we assume that God is not generally pleased with us and, as a result, he is not quick to answer our prayers or deliver us from the trouble that attaches itself to us in this world. Satan fuels our assumptions with feelings and thoughts of condemnation so that we feel disqualified to serve our God in significant ways or to receive his blessings. As a result we pray with little faith that God will hear our prayers and less faith that he will act on our behalf. We ask for little and expect little because we assume that we are always in God’s disfavor. When we have that mindset, we feel helpless against the enemy and the troubles that come our way. Our testimony fails and so does our courage.

That is one of Satan’s greatest lies. God’s view of us is not based on our performance but on the cross. The covenant that we have with God was not established by our sterling character and righteous works but by the blood of Christ. We are in Christ, covered by Christ, and carried by Christ. We have a position of righteousness before the Father even though our condition does not match that position. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way: “Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Heb.10:14). In other words, God counts us perfect based on the sacrifice of Jesus (our position) while he works on our condition. God is not indifferent to our sinful or weak condition but his promises come to us by faith not performance. It is all about his goodness not ours.

As a result, we can walk in the knowledge that our heavenly Father does not reject us or hide himself from us when our lives have some tarnish. As long as our hearts are turned toward him he sees us as sinless and is more than ready to answer our prayers and work through us. We still walk in the authority of the king and the enemy must still answer to us as long as we submit our imperfections to the grace of God. In Christ, there is no condemnation and any whispers to the contrary are lies. When condemnation begins to sap out strength and our confidence, we can call the enemy a liar and command him to be silent because in Christ we are the righteousness of God. Romans 8 begins with that great assertion and builds on that truth. It is a truth on which everything in our life with Jesus stands and a truth that we should ask the Holy Spirit to write on our hearts with indelible ink!

I’m amazed that in four gospels made up of 89 chapters that recount the life of Jesus, not one of the writers gives a physical description of the Messiah – the deliverer for whom Israel had waited since Moses. They also omit a myriad of details that I think would be incredibly interesting. The gospel writers give us a brief introduction to the birth of Jesus, a snapshot of Jesus at about age 12, and then nothing until he begins a three-year ministry at the age of 30. The writers knew Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. They spent every day of three years with the Son of God but chose (or the Holy Spirit chose) not to fill in the blanks of his years in Nazareth. Neither did they tell us whether he was tall, short, or average. Whether he was thin, stocky, or even pudgy. They never mentioned the color of his eyes, the texture of his hair, or whether he had a dark or light complexion. We don’t know if his nose was large or unusually small or if he had a deep voice or a high, nasal tone.

What physical appearance does your imagination project when you think of Jesus? Does he laugh through the day or is he mostly serious? Does he ever whistle or sing a song or is he always taking care of business? Does he get excited when someone is healed, angry when an injustice is done, or is he always cool and calm – unruffled by events around him? Is he gentle and domestic or is he strong and aggressive? Does he make requests or issue orders in clipped sentences? Some of these things may not matter so much but if we are to become like Jesus then our view of him in many things does matter. I wonder if we need to stop from time to time and see if our personal vision of Jesus needs adjustment.

Most of us probably assume that our view of Jesus is the biblical view. But since many of us disagree about other biblical doctrines we probably disagree about what Jesus was really like as he walked in the flesh. If we see Jesus as the gentle Mr. Rogers then we too may become very gentle and almost passive toward life and be overwhelmed in the face of any situation that requires an aggressive response. If we believe that Jesus watched the world around him with the detachment of a distant and objective observer then we too may watch the triumphs and tragedies of lives around us with detachment and avoid emotional investment in others or in a cause as we take a cerebral, passionless approach to our faith.

If we see him like ourselves, then we may feel that Jesus would see no need for change in us and, therefore, not experience much transformation at all as his disciple. If we see him as a white American then we may find ourselves standing against Israel forgetting that Jesus came as a Jew. If we see Jesus as a social revolutionary with long hair and an unkempt beard then we might lead the way in civil disobedience for some cause we believe offends heaven. If we believe Jesus spent his time pointing out the failings of sinners then we may well do the same or if we see him as so accepting that he never mentions the sin in a persons life then we may be tolerant and accepting of everyone and everything – in the name of Jesus.

How do you see Jesus? Do you see him as predictable and definable and model your Christian walk after that view? Why didn’t the writers of the gospels or Peter when he wrote his letters give us more detail? One reason may be that Jesus simply cannot be typecast. He has never been one-dimensional. At times he seems to ignore the sins of those around him while at other times he warns and rebukes men for their sin. At times he seems passive and gentle and at other times he is turning over tables in the temple or rebuking his own followers. He is both the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah. He is not only the Prince of Peace but also the one who brought a sword of division to the earth – the fragrance of life to some and the aroma of death to those who reject him.

In a sense, Jesus has many layers and one view of him does not do him justice. In many ways he seems unpredictable and surprising but I believe it is because he did not set his own agenda. Jesus clearly tells us that he only did what the Father directed him to do and only said what the Father directed him to say. That is probably the one thing that defines the man Jesus more than anything else and that set him apart from all other men. Jesus was truly Spirit-led and since the Father’s ways are beyond our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, we should expect those who are Spirit-led to be somewhat unpredictable and multi-dimensional as well.

If we are never surprised by what we find ourselves doing or saying then we are probably not being responsive to the Spirit and if we are not being led by the Spirit then we may not be as much like Jesus as we think we are. Hearing the Spirit and being responsive to him is what sets certain people apart in the kingdom of God. I want to hear the Spirit not just in the quiet of an early morning devotional but also in the chaotic craziness of the mall at Christmas time or in rush hour traffic. I want to hear him in the heat of spiritual battle and in the complexities of a family crisis. That is the consistency that I find most in Jesus and the one I want to grow in during 2015 – hearing, doing, and saying only what I receive from Jesus. Perhaps, you will join me!

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:16-21)

To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Col.1:29)

If you haven’t noticed, the devil had his way in many areas across the world during 2014. The Middle East continued to boil in turmoil. Race issues tore at the fabric of America once again. Russia ruthlessly pushed out to expand “the empire” once more. Washington D.C. couldn’t seem to get its act together at any level. Ebola is still ravaging parts of Africa and economies around the world are shaking.

For some believers, these are simply unavoidable signs of the end that we cannot stand against so we should just bunker in and wait for Jesus. That time may come but, in my opinion, this is not the time because too many people groups and nations have not yet been gathered in for the Lord of the Harvest. I believe that 2015 should be a year of pushing back against the enemy and defeating him on multiple fronts. The problem with such a view is that most of us still feel helpless in the face of such national and global calamities.

As this new year begins, we need to be reminded that there is the same power working within each of us that raised Jesus from the dead, toppled the Roman Empire, and spoke the universe into existence – just for starters. Paul sensed that divine power working within him and framed it as a kind of supernatural energy that enabled him to heal, cast out demons, preach in the face of fierce opposition and keep going when his natural strength had been depleted.

Paul asked the Lord to give the church at Ephesus the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they might be aware of the power, authority, and strength available to them in Christ (see Eph.1:17-23). Interestingly, this power does not flow out of God’s desire for conquest but is rooted and established in love. Our capacity to experience the power of God is directly proportional to our understanding of the depth of God’s love for us and for all of his creation.

In order to walk in the power of God we must understand that his power is distributed in order to bless the people he loves. Jesus healed out of love. Jesus raised the dead out of love. Jesus cast out demons because he loved the people oppressed by the enemy. Jesus fed the 5000 because he had a love for these “sheep without a shepherd” and was concerned that they were hungry. He preached the good news because he loved lost people. He entrusts power and authority to us to be exercised on behalf of the people he loves. If we want an increase in power then we should be praying for an increase in love – a greater awareness of God’s love for us and a greater love for the world he cares about.

Great power resides within every believer but is released in greater ways when the exercise of that power is motivated by love and when that power reveals the love of God to those who have not known it before. My prayers this year will include a request for God to reveal his love to me in greater ways and for me to be an instrument of his love for others. The enemy cannot stand against love and it is love that will release the provision and power of heaven into every “hopeless situation.”