To those of us who struggle with guilt due to the past sin we’ve committed, or guilt from not being able to resist fleshly temptations…
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Realize that when Christ died on the cross for your sins, all of your sins were future sins. So in that time of His death, He shed His blood to pay for EVERY ONE of your sins, all of those in your past, and every one that you would EVER commit. By raising Himself on the 3rd day, He conquered all of your sins once for all, for all eternity.
Romans 8:1 says that there is “now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” The word “no” in this verse is not shaded with gray in its use or tense at all. It means “no”. None.
If you are a saved person (John 3:16 “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life“), God has forgiven and forgotten every one of your sins, past, present, and future. He doesn’t condemn you when you sin day to day. He’s already forgiven those sins. But He expects us to acknowledge those sins to Him and ask for forgiveness day by day. This is called “keeping a clean slate”.
The part about our sin that we struggle with is that we have trouble forgiving ourselves. Unlike our heavenly Father, we can’t choose to forget.
I believe we get some key help from this verse for victory in this area…
1. Be sure of your salvation. The “no condemnation” applies to those “which are in Christ Jesus”. Are you saved? If not, it’s very simple. Acknowledge that you are a sinner, and ask Jesus to come into your heart and save you and forgive you of your sins. He will. It’s that simple.
2. Be sure your daily walk is in following the Holy Spirit’s leading, and not following your own fleshly desires. Galatians 5:16 says, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:25 says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Walking in the Spirit is simply giving up control of your life to follow His leading day by day. Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” On our own, we are weak clay vessels, easily led into temptation. But we can avoid fleshly lusts and temptations by yielding to the Spirit.
You qualify for “no condemnation” only by being a Christian. You can maintain your walk with the Lord by walking day by day following the Holy Spirit, and by not walking after the flesh.