Before reading today’s devotion spend time praying that the eyes of your understanding will be opened to the truth of who you are IN Christ because what we will be discussing today is where many Christians struggle the most! Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” The word no means no! It doesn’t mean there is now some or certain kinds of condemnation. It says there is NO condemnation for those of us who are IN Christ Jesus! But we have a responsibility to walk according to the Spirit in the mindset of Christ or we will not understand or accept this truth!
This truth is a vital key to understanding who you are IN Christ! Your brain and the devil use condemnation as a weapon of deception to drive an invisible wedge in your mind; in order to convince you that you can be separated from God when you commit a sinful act. It’s a lie! But if you do not understand this, the devil can drive a wedge in your mind because he wants to gain a foothold in your soul! If you do not come against him, and he gains a foothold, that foothold soon becomes a stronghold and eventually it leads to a stranglehold of death in your thinking! As a new creation IN Christ, under the New Covenant, NOTHING you do can separate you from God because you are IN Christ and Christ is IN you!
The devil has used deception and the weapon of condemnation since the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and it led to their destruction because they believed it. Let me explain. In the Garden when Adam and Eve committed a sinful act; did God change in His relationship with them? And did He separate Himself from them? The answer to this question is found in Genesis 3:8-9. It says, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?””
Can you see it? God NEVER changed in His relationship with man when man sinned and He NEVER separated Himself from them! Man changed because of his shame for the sinful act he committed and man separated himself from God; when he hid. And it was here where man became afraid at the sound of the voice of the One who could save him from his sinful act! There’s no way to know what would have happened if Adam and Eve would have approached God and repented; instead of hid from God in shame! But what we do know from this account is what we should and should not do; when we commit a sinful act.
As new creations IN Christ we should always approach God and repent by renewing our mind to the truth that our sinful act was paid for on the Cross. This is where we are freed from the mindset of condemnation. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) We should never try to hide from God under the condemnation of shame because this is exactly what the devil wants us to do! He knows that if we renew our mind to the Truth, the Spirit will remind us that Christ made us free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:2-4 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Our responsibility is to renew our minds and know that as new creations IN
Christ we live according to the Spirit, not according the flesh!
But if our minds are not renewed to this truth we will set our minds on the deception of the devil and condemn ourselves and accept his lie of condemnation. This is called living according to the flesh and this mindset always leads to death in our thinking. Romans 8:5-7 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
The devil knows that if we fully accept the truth about who we are IN Christ and who Christ is IN us; he cannot oppress us any longer because we will not accept his lie as truth. He knows that the person who is spiritually minded is peace filled in the knowledge of their righteousness IN Christ! And he knows that the spiritually minded person is the one who will fulfill God’s purpose and the one who will put his works to death; which will lead them to introduce other people to life IN Christ! He does not want this to happen!
If you want to operate as a spiritually minded person here is what you can do as an exercise of faith in this area. The next time you commit a sinful act renew your mind to the Truth about who you are IN Christ and who Christ is IN You! Stand firm in your faith until the temptation to accept the devil’s lie of condemnation passes! Tell him he is a liar and meditate on God’s Word until it becomes deeply rooted in your mind. Praise God for your liberty IN Christ and deny the devil the right to put you back into the bondage of a sinful mindset! You are liberated IN Christ and I will talk about that in tomorrow’s devotion so you can gain an even greater understanding of who you are IN Christ and who Christ is IN you.
Prayer: Lord help me to understand that I am not condemned when I commit a sinful act! Give me the wisdom to comprehend Your Truth about who I am IN You and who You are IN me, so the devil does not deceive me into believing the lie of condemnation. I believe by faith that I will overcome in this area by the power of Your blood that You shed for me on the Cross! Your blood covered my sin and made me free from the death that my sin required! Thank You for loving me so much that You took my place and help me to come to a full understanding of what that means. Amen
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