Confession & Declaration 21
Romans 8:1 Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.
The word “katakrima” (condemnation) is often misunderstood; many take it to mean no more conviction for sin for believers. F.F. Bruce has well defined it as “punishment following sentence – in other words, penal servitude. There is no reason for those who are in Christ Jesus to serve sin as if they had never been pardoned and never been liberated from the prison-house of sin.” In other words you have been delivered from the condemnation and the bondage of legalism through the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. Positionally we are in Christ through the new birth of the Spirit; through becoming His Body; and through trusting in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. There is now no more condemnation because I have been hidden in Christ through His Blood.
Robert Robinson was a wild young man who came to repentance listening to a George Whitefield sermon. He later became a pastor and wrote a couple of hymns, particularly the famous, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, which was written in 1757. Later in life, Robinson wandered from the Lord and apparently felt he could not return. Perhaps as the story of Pilgrim’s Progress, when Christian and Hopeful were captured by Giant Despair and taken to Doubting Castle, he too fell prey to the devil’s lies and forgot for a time the Promises of God. For those who aren’t familiar with Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Hopeful escape Doubting Castle when Christian realizes he has a key called Promise, which will open all the doors and gates of Doubting Castle. It is said that Robert Robinson also found that he had a key called “Promise” when years later, he was riding in a stage coach with a young woman who did not know who he was but actually quoted the hymn, Come Thou Fount, to him. He replied, “Madam, I am the poor, unhappy man who wrote that old hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had back then.” It is said that she responded by telling him “Sir, the ‘streams of mercy’ are still flowing.”
Declaration 21: Lord I come to You through the valley of death and despair. Yet even here You have prepared a table for me in the midst of my enemies. As I look for Your Table I see that there is no more condemnation for me. You have given me Your promise – becoming Promise for me. Thank You Jesus that through You the streams of mercy are still flowing for all who find themselves in doubts prison. I insert the key of trust in Your Promise that I have been released from the servitude to sin. I am no longer it’s slave. Sins’ shackles have been broken. Thank You Jesus I have been released from the prison house of sin and I have been pardoned. I thank You Jesus that I can tell the devil of hell that Your Blood has secured my pardon, opened hell’s gates, and set me free to be in You! Thank You Jesus!
Who’s Your One? Day 17, January 29
