21 Days of Prayer: Day 6 

No Condemnation – the Gospel


“There is therefore now no condemnation for

those who are in Christ Jesus”


READ ROMANS 8:1-4.


On our journey into these twenty-one days of prayer and fasting, we have just left the Samaritan woman at the well. The woman taught us that there are barriers to true worship of God – going to the wrong wells, unconfessed sin, and ignorance. But Jesus, a determined Savior, pushed through the woman’s barriers to show her the only source of life, the need for repentance, and the truth of God. The woman saw that Jesus was the Messiah – the one whom God sent to teach the people all things. The fullness of God’s truth walked in the flesh and freed this woman from her sins. And today we experience this same freedom when we study and proclaim the truth of God found in the Bible… But what was the focus of that truth? Why did Christ have to come to earth?

We, just like the Samaritan woman, have given our worship to things that ought not be worshiped. We have given the worship that belongs solely to God to other things and people. We have worshiped creatures rather than our Creator (see Rom. 1:25). Because we have exchanged the worship of God for the worship of His creation, we lie broken and twisted in sin. 

On day one of the fast, we saw how Isaiah the Prophet trembled and cursed himself because he, a sinner, stood in the presence of a holy God (see Isa. 6:1-5). Isaiah was paralyzed with fear before God… Why? I think the late pastor-theologian R.C. Sproul summarized the problem well: “God is holy, and we are not.” … God is a totally holy God who does not condone sin – at all. We humans are inherently sinful – no one is holy (see Rom. 3:9-18). Our sin is utterly repugnant to the King of kings. We have no righteousness, no holiness in ourselves. And when we come into the King’s court of law, we lie condemned before Him… We, like Isaiah, tremble before God’s holiness.

But there is hope for us sinners… In the story of Isaiah, God sent an angel to touch Isaiah’s lips to make atonement (payment) for Isaiah’s sin (see Isa. 6:6-7). God paid for Isaiah’s sin and that made him right with God… And this pattern – God making payment for people’s sin so they can come into His holiness – holds for us today… But what does that look like now? Did God send some huge angel with an enormous piece of burning coal to touch everyone’s lips? Not quite… 

God did atone for the sins of His people… by sending His Son to be that payment: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” … What?! This is the beauty of the true gospel! God the Father sent the Son to earth on a divine rescue mission for His people. The people were sinful, the Son was sinless. The Son shared in the complete holiness of God just as the Father did… Yet the Son willingly and joyfully STEPPED DOWN into human history to obey His Father. 

While on earth, Christ perfectly kept God’s law – loving both God and neighbor perfectly. Because Christ did not sin but remained obedient to God’s law, He was righteous. After thirty years of perfect obedience, the time came for Christ to die. Here is the holy Man – the God-Man – who should have been honored… But He did not die like a righteous man should have died…

Christ died in the place of sinners on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem. Instead of taking His reward for righteousness, Christ substituted Himself for sinful people. On the Cross, Jesus took the wrath of God that we deserved for our sin and… “Wait, what does the perfect life and death of Christ do on my behalf?”

That brings us to our main text: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” 

If we trust in Christ, God looks on us and sees the righteousness of Christ. But why? By coming to earth and dying for sinners, Jesus took our sin and the wrath of God it deserved, and He gave us the righteousness and life He deserved. Therefore, when we come into the King’s courtroom, He sees the blood of His Son… And the King declares us righteous! There is no condemnation! Oh Christian, see the beauty of God’s love here!... God says we are right before Him even though we are wrong in ourselves. God humbled Himself to make the sinner righteous. The Holy One sacrificed Himself to make the unholy holy. 

Therefore, we can stand before God! Shame and guilt and sin have no hold on us anymore. God has saved us – who can condemn us? NO ONE. For the Father honors the blood of His Son. 

The question now arises – “How do I respond to this?” … This gospel should cause us to worship God! God has removed every barrier to worship by laying down His own life. Now we respond in true worship… “But what does that look like?” The apostle Paul makes that quite clear: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Paul teaches the church that true worship consumes a person’s whole life – that while a Christians are on earth, their whole lives are an act of worship to God… The Holy made the unholy holy – so that we would be consumed with worshiping His holiness.


Personal Questions:

  1. What sentence do you deserve in the King’s courtroom because of your sin?

  2. What kind of life did Christ live?

  3. What did Christ’s perfect life and death on your behalf achieve?

  4. What is the proper response to this gospel?


Prayer Points:

  • Pray that you and our church would realize more and more the seriousness of sin and the consequences it deserves.

  • Pray that you and our church would dive deeper into the gospel recorded in the Bible (because the gospel is the only way we can come before a holy God).

  • Pray that you and our church would offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God (that our whole lives would be consumed with worshiping God and making Him known).