"No Condemnation" August 17 Readings: Ecclesiastes 3-4, Romans 8:1–17, Psalm 96:1–6, Proverbs 20:19–20

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Reading the Bible in 2023

Each day this year we will read a selection from the Old Testament, the New Testament, a portion of the Psalms, and part of Proverbs. By the end of the year, you will have read the entire Bible. We read this way to give you a bit of variety. In reading four portions of God's word in a day, one of them is bound to speak to your life!

NOTE: if you get behind, do not give up. Read today's readings and try to catch up when you have a chance. The goal is not to "accomplish a task" but to meet God in his word. Read the word. Also, if you are short on time, READ GOD'S WORD and skip my devotional!

Bible Readings: Ecclesiastes 3-4, Romans 8:1–17, Psalm 96:1–6, Proverbs 20:19–20

    Scriptures linked to Bible Gateway in ESV version 

Daily Devotional:  No Condemnation

There will be a fearful day, spoken of in Revelation, when the sinners of all time gather before the Great White Throne of God and receive their judgment; their just condemnation for all the sins they have committed. The wages of sin is death and that will be payday. Those who have died in their sins will be cast into the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels to receive the punishment their sins deserve.

It is horrible to even imagine this, but the God of Heaven is holy and the day of judgment is real. But there is one bit of good news for me.

I won't be there!

Well, at least I won't be on the receiving end of the fateful words, "Depart from me, you who are cursed..." I will be standing with my Savior, already transformed into his image and with nothing facing me but an eternity of glory.

Why? Because of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:1-2 makes this absolutely clear.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
No condemnation. None. Not even a little. I face none of God's judgment against sin. And it's not because I'm not guilty. I am. In one form or another, I've broken all of God's laws. But according to this passage, the Spirit's law of life has set me free. Through Christ's death and resurrection and through the work of the Spirit in me I am forgiven - once and for all. 

I put other things ahead of God and tried to create gods to my own liking. I broke the law and I deserved death. But the law of life freed me from the law that revealed my sin and brought condemnation. No condemnation now exists. 

I have failed to take time for God and used his name in vain. But there is no condemnation for me, because of the law of life at work in me. I disobeyed my parents, walked in anger (murder of the heart), lusted (adultery of the heart), spoke lies, took what did not belong to me, and coveted what was not mine. Were I to stand before the Throne to be judged for those sins, the law would convict me and God would judge me. I would be without hope. 

But for me, there is no condemnation because Jesus Christ paid it all. The Spirit's law of life has set me free from the law that reveals my sin and would send me to death. Through Christ, there is no condemnation. Do I deserve judgment? Yes, but Jesus set me free. Could I earn heaven? No, but Jesus earned it for me? Could I defeat sin on my own? No way! But Jesus forgave me because of his finished work. 

Shall we sing the Doxology right now? 

It is the greatest truth in the world - guilty sinners are set free by the blood of Christ and face no condemnation through him. Regardless of my spiritual struggles, failures, and sins, there is no condemnation because I am in Christ - redeemed, sealed, secured, and free!

  There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's vein, 
  And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose ALL their guilty stain!
Father, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I deserved death, but in you I have life. Thank you. 

Consider God's Word:

Did one of these passages speak strongly to you today? Which one? 
Is there sin in your life that needs to be confessed and dealt with that was revealed in one of these passages? 
Is there a struggle in your life that one of these passages spoke to? 

Take time today to not only confess sin, but to glory and rejoice in the fact that your sins are covered by the blood of Christ, that you bear them no more! Thank God for his saving grace through Christ.

As you read through Romans 8, write down all the great blessings you find. 





 

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