there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Rom. 8:1). As the subject of the Third and Fourth Chapters of Romans is God declaring how the sinner can be righteous, so the theme of this Chapter is God making the sinner holy. This Chapter opens with “no condemnation” and closes with “no separation.” The subject of Romans 5:12–21 is “condemnation” for all who are in Adam; the theme of this Chapter is “no condemnation” for all who are in Christ. The word “condemnation” in the Greek is “katakrima,” which means “an adverse sentence, a verdict of guilt.” Going back to 7:24, an Egyptian punishment at that time was to fasten a criminal to a corpse and leave it attached until death. It was a terrible bond, as would be obvious, and the more so because the man bound knew that the bond would result in death. This was possibly before the Apostle’s mind when he wrote 7:24. Such a helpless and hopeless prisoner, held in a bond so loathsome and fatal, would cry out with anguish, “Who can deliver me from this dead body?” This is the moral condition of all who are in Adam. Christ, in a sense, took this very position at Calvary, and died in consequence. But having atoned for all sin, Satan could not hold Him in the bondage or captivity of death, so He rose from among the dead and ascended above the highest heavens, having, by His Death, destroyed death (Heb. 2:14), abolished sin in the flesh (Heb. 9:26), and exhausted the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13). The glad tidings of the Gospel consist in the declaration that all who by Faith are in Christ died and rose with Him, and there is consequently no person and no thing that can condemn them. For Christ there is now no condemnation. He suffered its fullness infinitely at Calvary. But He suffered that condemnation there on behalf of, and for the benefit of, all who believe upon Him. Hence, there is no condemnation for us. We are in a new position entirely beyond and above the reach of everything to which condemnation attaches. Where Christ and all who are in Him now stand there can be no question of sin, of wrath, of condemnation, or of imputation of punishment. All such questions were settled before He ascended thither; and He is on the Throne of God, His Person and Work accepted because these questions were settled. The glorious truth that liberates the Believer’s heart is that he is there in that glory with Christ, where nothing that condemns can reach him. “Even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ, (by Grace you are saved;) “And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly Places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5–6). The Believer is dead to the old life, for he was Crucified with Christ. As a partner with Christ, he, therefore, enjoys all the advantages of the partnership acquired by Christ before he was brought into it. This is not merely an experience, it is a Divine Operation apprehended and enjoyed by Faith. Swaggart, J., 2005. The Expositor’s Word For Every Day
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 11:10:28 +0000
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