DAILY DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR WESLEY February 15, 2022

No Condemnation

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. Romans 7:15-25, Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

We can all relate to Paul’s dilemma in today’s passage. These verses describe the internal struggle we have with sin, even after salvation. When we give in to temptation, we’re often plagued by feelings of condemnation and may wonder if God has abandoned us. That’s why Romans 8:1 is such a comforting “Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

When the Savior went to the cross on our behalf, He lifted the guilt and penalty for sin from our shoulders and made us righteous. Our sins are wiped clean, and we are chosen and loved by God. Condemnation is reserved for those who reject the Lord, not for those who have been reconciled to God by the Savior (John 3:36).

If you experience feelings of rebuke, they are not from the Lord but from the devil who accuses us. To realign our thinking with the Father’s, we need to fill our mind with the truth of Scripture and remember that He never condemns those who belong to Him. Satan whispers lies, but God’s Word always speaks truth. So, rely on it and thank the Lord for loving and saving you. We do not have to feel condemnation for transgressions because our sins are wiped clean.

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