No Sentence Left to Serve

After a relapse the mind holds court. Charges are read, old failures are entered as evidence, and the verdict is always the same before the trial even begins. You wake up feeling condemned, and that feeling is so familiar that you mistake it for the truth about where you stand with God. Paul writes something that cuts directly across this: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Hold on to that word now. Not someday, when you have strung together enough clean weeks. Now, on this morning, in this exact condition. Condemnation is a legal word; it means a sentence has been passed and punishment is coming. Paul says that for the man who belongs to Christ, that sentence has already been carried out by someone else, and there is nothing left to pay. The guilt you feel is real as a feeling, but it is not a fresh verdict from the judge. The judge has already ruled, and he ruled in your favor at the cross. This is hard to believe precisely because it is so much better than we expect. Let the truth of it sit against your shame today, and when the accusations start, answer them with the ruling that has already been handed down.