NO CONDEMNATION
Romans 8:1‑2
Romans eight is the spiritual mountain peak of the Roman letter. This chapter begins with "no condemnation" and ends with "no separation". When you move from chapter seven to chapter eight, it is like moving from the darkness of midnight to the brightness of mid‑day. This confronts us with the question concerning the relationship of this chapter to the others before it.

The joyous, victorious man of chapter eight is the same man who was so cast down in chapter seven. What made the difference for him? Some have declared that the man underwent a radical experience between the two chapters. They assure us that the man of Romans seven is a Christian before he is sanctified while the man of Romans eight is the same believer after he has known the experience of sanctification. However, no such experience is indicated in the text. To try to put such an experience into the text is to add something to the Word of God. It is also to misunderstand what this passage is saying.

As we noticed, Romans seven is basically about the law. In both six and seven the Apostle is responding to some objections raised to his message of justification by faith. The critics were contending this doctrine encouraged men to live in sin. Romans six declares that when God justifies a man, it includes provisions for his sanctification and victory over sin. Another objection was raised about justification by faith and the law. Romans seven reminds us that though the law of God is good, it cannot make a man holy. Man's experience with the law both before and after conversion is that in and of himself he cannot keep the law. If man is ever to be holy, something more must be done.

This is where Romans eight comes in. The Apostle really goes back to the theme of Romans five and proceeds to expand the blessed truth of assurance. He combines the truth of assurance with the truth of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is another great statement about assurance. Nothing is going to prevent God from completing the work He has begun in our lives. There is "no condemnation" and will be "no separation". In a real way the whole chapter is just an expansion of the truth set forth in the first verse.

With this background, let us look carefully at the truth set forth in the first two verses of the chapter. It can all be summed up in the words "no condemnation".

THE FACT OF NO CONDEMNATION FOR THE CHRISTIAN
Each word of this statement must be considered carefully. "There is therefore now no condemnation". "Condemnation" is the key word. What does it mean? The Greek word is a compound word. It is made up of the verb to judge and the preposition that gives it the force of down. The form of the noun used here, however, emphasizes the result of the judgment, the sentence or condemnation. Arndt and Gingrich even go a step beyond that in their lexicon. They understand the word to refer to the actual carrying out of the sentence, the actual doom or sentence. So then this word would include the act of judgment, the sentence handed down in the judgment, and even the carrying out of the judgment. This relates the person to the law. It would include the confrontation with the law in judgment, the sentence of the law being handed down, and the actual death imposed by the law.

If "condemnation" is the key word of the statement, "no" is the emphatic. The Greeks would emphasize a word by placing it first in the sentence. "No" is the first word of this statement. The word means that there is "NO" condemnation of any sort, from any cause, person, or source. There is just no possibility of condemnation.

''Now'' may be temporal or it may be logical. Either would be correct in this statement. If it is temporal, it would mean that this is a fact right now. Condemnation is already removed. This would surely be consistent with the promise Jesus made, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life" ( John 5:24). If the word is logical, it would point back to the great truths already set forth. "Therefore" would do the same. This great Gospel fact of "no condemnation" is based on the Gospel of Christ dying upon the Cross for our sins, and justification by faith. In light of the fact that Christ died for us, and God is pleased to justify the ungodly when they come to Him by faith, there is therefore "no condemnation". This is a blessed and comforting fact.

THE CONDITION OF "NO CONDEMNATION" FOR THE CHRISTIAN
Who are these for whom there is no condemnation? They are the "ones in Christ Jesus". This is reason there is "no condemnation" for them.

This statement takes us back to chapters five and six. There we were told that our justification involves our being in Christ. The justified are in Christ for righteousness just like the whole world was in Adam when he sinned. Because we were in Him, when He died we died. When He was raised from the dead, we were raised. Because He lives, we live!

This expression "in Christ" points to a vital spiritual union with Christ Jesus. Jesus spoke of this union being like the union between a vine and its branches. The Apostle spoke of this union being like the union between a body and its members, or the union between a husband and his wife. When this type of union has been affected, whatever is true of the one is true of the other. Whatever happens to the vine happens to its branches. Whatever happens to a body, happens to its members. So whatever happens to Christ happens to us. Because He has triumphed over death in the Cross, we have triumphed over death and the demands of the law against us have been satisfied.

Let me see if I can simplify this truth. There is no possibility of the Christian ever coming to judgment for sin or ever being condemned for sin because he is in Christ Jesus. For those who are in Christ Jesus, the judgment day took place two thousand years ago. At a dark moment in history, the sentence of death was handed down and carried out on the Lord Jesus for us. For God to condemn us for these sins would be totally unjust. God must and does honor the work of His Son upon the Cross.

How does a person come to be "in Christ"? By faith! Whenever you receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, at that moment you are baptized into Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit. You are then one with Christ by the Holy Spirit. This is the only condition for "no condemnation". You must be in Christ Jesus.

THE EVIDENCE OF NO CONDEMNATION FOR THE CHRISTIAN
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death". The Apostle points to this as the proof of this "no condemnation". The last clause found in the first verse of the Authorized Version is omitted by all of the newer translations because it does not occur in the better and older manuscripts. So the text reads, "There is therefore no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death".

Expositors disagree on the meaning of this verse. Many expositors understand "the law of the spirit" to be the Gospel and "the law of sin and death" to be the law of Moses. The Expositors I most respect so understand this verse. However, I agree with those who see "the law of the Spirit" as referring to power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The Apostle sees the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit as being a greater power that overcomes the principle of sin and death, which refers to the power of indwelling sin.

"Hath made me free" should be translated as "made me free". It is an aorist tense which points to something that happened at a point in the past once for all. The point was the point of conversion. The moment you became a Christian something significant happened. The Holy Spirit who is a spirit of life came in. His indwelling makes a person free from the old sin principle because the Holy Spirit is a greater power.

This is the proof of the "no condemnation". The proof that a man will never fall under the penalty of sin is that the indwelling Holy Spirit is giving victory over the indwelling principle of sin.

Let us step back and look at the truths found in this Scripture. The conclusion of the truth of redemption set forth in this letter is that there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. This means that a true Christian will never stand before God in judgment ‑‑‑ it is past. The only condition for this is that we be "in Christ'' To be in Christ is to be in vital union with Christ through faith. Third, the proof of this no condemnation is the greater principle of life in the Holy Spirit being present in the life of the believer. All such believers can truly speak of "Blessed Assurance".