One of the greatest things people struggle with most is overcoming guilt, shame, and condemnation feelings for things they actually did wrong, but Jesus came to deliver you from this completely.
Bill Stevens
“1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.” Romans 8:1–4 (NLT)
Read this passage again. Slowly read verse 1, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” How do I get to this place of guilt free, shame free, and not condemned living?
1.. Understand what laws in the Bible were not capable of doing:
God gave two kinds of laws, moral code laws like the Ten Commandments and sacrificial laws where they would sacrifice lambs and other animals to remove the guilt of their sin. But there was a problem, not with the law, but with jacked up people and our broken desires. These laws are not capable of giving you life, eternal life, forgiving you, bringing you peace and reconciliation with God, changing your wrong desires, and removing the guilt, shame, and condemnation hanging over your life. They could not clear your guilty conscience nor are they capable of making you a good person either. No matter how hard you try to keep these on your own, you will end up more guilty, full of shame, and under a cloud of condemnation. They could never rescue you from your desires gone wrong and the path of death to where they lead.
2.. So what were the purpose of these laws?
These laws were to point out that impersonal laws are not capable of making you a good person. They could never reach into your heart and change your desires.
These laws pointed out that sin (rebellion against God’s ways) was serious, real serious, but even the blood of a lamb, goal, or a bull could not remove the hostility between humanity and God. People still said, “I want my own way, I don’t want God to be in charge of my life.”
3.. God’s solution to the problem: Himself.
Read verse 3 very slowly and carefully. Look what God did to solve this problem. God sent His own Son, Christ Jesus. The God who spoke the world into existence became a human. Jesus is God in human flesh. He came to do what the law could not do.
- He came to forgive fully and remove condemnation, guilt, and shame.
- He came to give life, not sentence you to death.
- He came to change you and help you become a new person, unlike the law which just stood there with its finger pointed at you telling you how bad you are.
- He came to reconcile you to God the Father by making peace with humanity and God Himself.
How did Jesus do this?
God the Father sacrificed His own Son, the worst execution in history. Christ not only died for us but God poured out all of His wrath and judgment upon His Son. Jesus took all the punishment for all the sins of the world. In doing so, Christ lived a perfect life and became the perfect sinless sacrifice for our sins. He fulfilled the law so you wouldn’t be shackled with religious rules, but be filled with life because you have a personal relationship with Christ. He made a way for you to have this life if you would place your faith in His death as the only hope of removal of your guilt, your shame, and your condemnation. No matter what you have done, His blood sacrifice will wash away your sins, but only if you come to Him and ask Him.
Father, thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus. I receive by faith His sacrifice as the payment for my guilt, shame, and condemnation. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for taking all this from me. Help my feelings to catch up with my faith. Thank you for forgiveness and for forgiving me. Amen.