Not guilty!

There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus. . . But if Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God, even though your bodies are going to die because of sin. If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you. (verses 1,10, 11)

Read Romans 8:1-11

A number of movies have been made about people who are imprisoned, even executed, for crimes they didn’t commit. The Shawshank Redemption is one such movie. The story tells of a man falsely accused of murdering his wife. He eventually finds freedom, and what sweet freedom it is!

But I’m yet to see a movie about someone who is actually guilty and is let off the hook. The Bible is your redemption story. Every person is guilty of sin, even those who strive to live clean, blameless lives. Yet in God’s law court you are declared ‘not guilty’. Jesus bore the ‘guilty’ verdict in your stead. In Jesus you can say with confidence, ‘The Sovereign LORD himself defends me—who, then, can prove me guilty?’ (Isaiah 50:9a). Your sentence has been dropped, your record wiped clean. What sweet freedom this is!

Dear Jesus Christ, thank you for freeing me from all condemnation and giving me your Spirit of life. Help me to remember this freedom daily and to walk in your ways. Amen.

by Simon Cooper, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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