No Condemnation

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned.”

John 3:17–18

My friend, if you’ve been living in the abyss of fear for as long as you can remember, it is time for your liberty. You can begin on this journey of freedom today by believing that God’s heart is full of love, grace, and mercy toward you.

Listen to your Father’s heartbeat in today’s scripture. Do you believe in Jesus? There is no condemnation for anyone who calls upon the name of Jesus! All who call on Him and believe in Him are not condemned but saved. That is the good news of the gospel.

Unfortunately, many believers are still living under the heavy yoke of condemnation and fear because they hear the Mosaic covenant being proclaimed and put themselves under the Ten Commandments.

Look at how the apostle Paul describes the Ten Commandments in 2 Corinthians 3:7–9: “But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious . . . how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.”

Can you see the clear distinction that God makes in His Word? The Ten Commandments minister death and condemnation because no man was able to keep God’s perfect law.

Failure to keep the law at any point brings you under its curse, condemns you, and hangs a death sentence over your head. See how in contrast, the covenant of grace “exceeds much more in glory” because it ministers the spirit of liberty and the gift of God’s righteousness.

Now, please understand this: the Ten Commandments are glorious! The problem has never been the Ten Commandments or God’s perfect law. The problem has always been imperfect man’s ability to keep God’s perfect law. That is why our Lord Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it on our behalf (Matt. 5:17).

And the law was perfectly fulfilled at the cross when He cried out, “Finished!” (John 19:30). He met the demands of the first covenant, which is the Mosaic covenant of the Ten Commandments, in order to put the second, which is the new covenant of God’s grace, into effect (Heb. 10:9–10 NLT)!

Beloved, we are in the age of God’s grace. That is why we preach the gospel of grace! My friend, the cross of Jesus has made all the difference! You no longer have to live in condemnation and fear under the old covenant of the law. You are now under the new covenant of grace, where you are fully forgiven, justified, and made righteous by Jesus’ blood to reign in life.

When you realize you are justified by faith and not by your works in the new covenant of God’s grace, something liberating happens. You become free from the ministry of condemnation and the death it ministers—guilt, insecurity, dread, anxieties, and all sorts of debilitating fears.

Condemnation robs you of peace in your heart and of joy in your relationship with your Father. It robs you of faith and confidence in His love and ability to save you.

But when you know and believe you are not under the ministry of condemnation but the ministry of righteousness, you can come freely before your heavenly Father and cast every concern on your heart to Him. You will not be constantly fearful that your failures will cause Him to punish you or withhold His blessings and protection from you, because you know that Jesus bore the punishment meant for you upon Himself at the cross.

My friend, perhaps you know what it’s like to battle fear every day. Perhaps you’ve been plagued by fears of being unable to cope with certain changes in your circumstances. Maybe fearful thoughts of losing your health, your job, your children, or your very life keep you awake at night. Perhaps you suffer from severe anxiety attacks and the very thought of going anywhere outside of your home fills you with suffocating fear.

I want you to know that this is not the life God wants you to live. Through the sacrifice of His Son and the perfection of Christ’s finished work, He has made a way for you to live free from the captivity of fear.

This devotional is taken from the book Glorious Grace—100 Daily Readings from Grace Revolution.