Gal 5:1
So Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get all tied up again in the chains of slavery
(TLB)
The key to experiencing the revelation that ‘Grace has swallowed up sin’ is found in Rom 8:1 There is therefore ‘now no condemnation‘ to those who are in Christ Jesus (NKJV)
Let’s unpack those 3 words, ‘now, no condemnation’:
1) NOW – Now is in the present continuous tense, it is always taking place. Therefore if we sin today, tomorrow, next week, next year; the moment we sin, there is ‘NOW’ no condemnation. The word NOW is always operative.
2) NO – This word means nothing, not now, not ever. Therefore when we sin, not even minuscule condemnation can attach itself to us because Jesus took the judgement for all our sin at the cross.
3) CONDEMNATION – Condemnation follows judgement. The judge finds us guilty and condemns us to punishment: EG – “I now find you guilty of the said crime and condemn you to death”. Again, Jesus took all our condemnation at the cross. He was judged, found guilty and condemned in our place.
Therefore, this verse is telling us that no matter what mistakes, failures or sins we commit: There is ‘now no condemnation’.
Let’s look at how this works in practice:
We go for a job interview. We come away feeling we didn’t give a good account of ourselves. We can either turn it over in our minds again and again, telling ourselves how badly we performed and beat up on ourself OR we can say,” Father, I performed badly in that interview but I invite Your grace to come and swallow up my mistakes and turn my bad to good. I refuse to berate myself (condemn, feel guilty or ashamed) and I trust the situation to You”.
So, we may have made a mistake, but our heart is at peace and we are at rest, because, ‘where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.’
OR – we make a mistake at work that costs the company hundreds of pounds. We apologise and the boss allows us to stay in our job. Nonetheless we know it was a serious mistake and has not been received favourably by our fellow workers.
We can either, hang our head in shame and keep a low profile, hoping it will soon blow over OR we can say, ” Father, that was a serious mistake, but I thank You for Your forgiveness and know Your grace has swallowed up my sin. Therefore, I throw off all shame, guilt and condemnation and I trust You to repair the damage done to my relationships. I refuse to behave like a criminal and hold my head up high”.
Friends: When we utilise the revelation that ‘grace has swallowed up sin’, we will experience the wonderful freedom that Jesus death on the cross has provided for us.
Meditation Point: Grace has made it easy for us to live in true freedom.
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