There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin
and death. Romans 8 v1-2
By the time you
finish reading this post, you will be able to knock the devil off his perch.
This is his weapon that I am going to expose again.
He has used it to keep Christians away from realising their full potential in Christ. This weapon is called condemnation. He uses condemnation, instilling a feeling of guilt in people for the mistakes and the short comings they make. Have you ever noticed how guilty you feel when you sin and how you feel unworthy before God when you know deep inside that you were not supposed to do what you will have just done?
He has used it to keep Christians away from realising their full potential in Christ. This weapon is called condemnation. He uses condemnation, instilling a feeling of guilt in people for the mistakes and the short comings they make. Have you ever noticed how guilty you feel when you sin and how you feel unworthy before God when you know deep inside that you were not supposed to do what you will have just done?
sin is evil and nothing
to tolerate. However this does not pose a justifiable reason for us to resort
to Old Testament doctrines on sin.
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The devil then
takes advantage of the sin and bombards your mind and conscience with the
memory of the wrongs that you will have done. Why really does he do this? Well,
the devil knows very well that Christians are so uneducated and ignorant of the
effects and meaning of the death of Jesus on the cross, they do not know
exactly how they ought to live and what God thinks about them now. So much
reference is made to the Old Testament and even today, 80% of the messages
preached in modern Churches are based on the Old Testament, and this does
nothing but keep Christians away from knowing what Jesus really died for. Such
a message as this one you are reading will be considered as blasphemous
especially to Christians who are so much being indoctrinated with knowledge of
the Old Testament, the law, the law of sin and death.
The opening
scripture tells us that there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ
Jesus. I want you to know something pretty important about that scripture. The
scholars who translated the Bible into English added all those words (who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit). The words were not there in the
original script but the Scholars failed to believe that such a thing was
possible, but the original script read, There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus,
and ended there. The scholars failed to believe it because they were convinced
that one had to work and put extra effort to be free from condemnation. The
condition for anyone to be free from condemnation is not walking after the
spirit, but the only qualification is being in Christ Jesus through faith
(Ephesians 3v17). The Bible says if any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are become new (2
Corinthians 5v17). It says the man who is in Christ is a new creature, so
there is no condemnation to such a person because he is a new creature, born of
God and with no past for which you can condemn him. It was too hard for the
scholars to believe this and they ended up changing the original Bible to suit
what they believed. The Gospel of Christ is too simple and its simplicity has
caused it to be rejected across the Christianity divide because believers have
been taught that you have to work hard for you to be in good books with God.
Now we know brethren that we live not in the Old Testament but in the New
Testament. During the Old Testament days there was a law which was operating,
and this law was called the law of sin and death. This was the same law that
consisted of immediate punishment for sin. Just remember how Gehazi was cursed
and became leprous just because of collecting an offering from Naaman (2Kings
5v27). That is an example of the law of sin and death. No one could ever be
free in his mind after missing the mark by sinning but rather he would have a
lot of guilt feeling and self-condemnation because of that mistake. Now the
Bible tells us that we are now free from that law because we are in Christ
Jesus. Just remember that woman in John 8 who was caught in the very act of
There is another
law that is now in operation, and that law is called the law of the Spirit of
life. That is the law which is the backbone of the New Testament, and under that
law, there is therefore now no condemnation. The law of the Spirit of life does
not condone self or external condemnation. It is a law that teaches us to run
to God for forgiveness with confidence. The Bible says in Hebrews 4v16: let us therefore come boldly unto the
throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need. Now do you see what the law of the Spirit of life says? We should
come boldly, confidently to God’s throne, the throne of grace to obtain mercy
and grace. We ought to pray with confidence and boldness and not with fear,
shame, inferiority, condemnation, trembling and feeling guilty.
In one way or the
other, guilt is a sin. Watch this: In Isaiah 43v25, God says I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy
transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. God says
it Himself that He will not remember your sins. If God says something in His
Word we ought to believe it. The Bible says whatever is not of faith is sin
(Romans 14v23), and that means if you do not believe that God has forgiven you
when you asked for forgiveness, you are simply not acting in faith and that
according to Romans 14v23 is sin. Unbelief is sin. It is difficult to believe
that God is not mad at you but if you choose to believe the Word more than your
conscience you will experience victory over condemnation. God is not a man; He
is not a human being. He cannot be limited by emotions, whatever you can do,
God can forgive. That means you have every right to receive forgiveness for
sins and be thou very confident that God forgives and forgets, He is not like your
friend who says he has forgiven you but next week he will be saying, ”do you
remember that you lied to me about my money which you had stolen for which I forgave
you?“ Therein lies the difference between God and man. God forgets sin, because
He is too holy such that His mind cannot accommodate memories of your sins.
Take advantage of this truth and seek God when you make a mistake. Do not feel
guilty, you do not lose your salvation, you will still be loved by God. All it
takes is not walking after the spirit like the scholars said; all it takes is
being in Christ and having faith in that identity because faith is the
universal currency in the kingdom of God. It takes faith; the Bible says we are
justified by faith (Romans5v1). To be justified means to God we are Just-As-If
we never sinned. We were justified, in other words we were declared not guilty.
Now this is a typical scenario of what happens when you sin. You are taken to
court. In that court, God is the Judge (2 Timothy4v8), Jesus is your lawyer
(1John 2v1) and the devil is the complainant, the Bible calls him the accuser
of the brethren (Revelation 12v10). Now imagine such a court, do you in any way
think that the devil can win in such a court scenario? I bet he won’t, the
devil is a loser and so is his mother in law. There is no reason ladies and
gentlemen for us to feel guilty because of a sin for which we have been
justified, declared not guilty by God the Judge through Jesus the advocate. No
one has a right to condemn you. The devil cannot rear up his ugly head and tell
you that you are nothing before God. When you make a mistake, do not let him
condemn you, run to God and say God I am sorry, after that, rejoice and know
that God has forgiven you and declared you not guilty. You are justified and
sanctified through the blood of Jesus, and do you know what you need to
qualify? You need faith! I tell you the truth brethren, my conscience bearing
me witness and before God I lie not; if you make use of this truth you will
never be a victim to the devil’s suggestions, you will knock him out, knock him
off his perch. I will explain to you in my next message about how you can live
with a clear conscience, free of guilt and condemnation.
Stay blessed and
till then remember,
Jesus Is Lord!!! TLG
