Wednesday, August 3, 2022

 

Wednesday, August 3, 2022


Psalm 78:16-38


Hosea 8


Romans 8:1-8


Principal Festival: Stephen, deacon and first martyr



There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.



We now start our journey of sanctification: we have begun taking baby steps down the path of discipleship towards the open, encouraging arms of God. There are many pitfalls we will have to look out for, and today we will learn of one of the most common.


To understand this pitfall, we need a basic idea of a “sin offering”. This is an ancient Jewish religious custom, which Paul is referring to in verse 3. Another word for it used to be “guilt offering”. (“Condemn”; “guilt”; “law”; “free”: this is all beginning to sound rather legalistic.) If we think of “guilt”, we see it comes in two forms: the first, is that guilt is a mechanical state of being. A criminal is “found guilty” by a court. The second form is moral; we “feel guilty” for something we have done that we wish we hadn't.


Sin had been found guilty in the court of God. God dealt with it, when He hung on the tree that first Easter. The Law of God is now to be followed spiritually, by those of us who “live by the Spirit”, that is, those of us who trust that glorious truth. The pitfall that we need to learn about today, and therefore be able to avoid, is the danger of negative accusation and guiltiness, as opposed to holy conviction and loving encouragement. We need not “multiply altars to expiate sin” (Hosea 8:11), since sin has been “expiated” once and for all. Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit is our Advocate, while the devil is the Accuser.


Since the Holy Spirit now dwells in us, and points us to the beauty of Jesus, we will be told about our sin. But the Holy Spirit convicts us to change our ways for the better, while the devil tells us our sin makes us guilty and worthless. Discern between the two! And when the devil comes to drip his evil, depressing words of guilt, always remember: there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.


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