NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE IN CHRIST
____________________________________
Admitting Our Inability
The transition from Romans 7 to Romans 8 reveals “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1) – no condemnation for admitting our inability to live the Christian life. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2) – the dynamic of the Spirit of Christ has liberated us from the legalistic performance techniques of religion.
The Christian can now complete his exclamation, “I can’t; only You can; I am willing to let You.”
- “I can’t” – the cry of inability and defeat.
- “You can” – the admission of divine ability.
- “I am willing to let You” – the response of faith that is available to His ability, and receptive to His activity.
The first three steps of the common twelve-step recovery programs attempted to reproduce this sequence, but the replacement of the divine “You” with an impersonal “higher power” sacrificed the divine dynamic and opened the door for idolatry. Many Christians need to realize that the “you” who is able to solve their problems is not their counselor, their pastor, their spiritual mentor, their spouse or their friend, but only the divine “You” wherein is “the power of God unto salvation.”
This sequence of statements sums up what the Bible refers to as “repentance,” a word seldom heard in modern Christian teaching. Repentance is not simply the apology of saying, “I’m sorry,” not the emotional chagrin of remorse, and not the masochism of self- chastisement.
The Greek word for “repentance” is metanoia, indicating “a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior.” The change of mind is expressed by “I can’t!” The change of action is facilitated by “He can, and I will let Him.”
Repentance is a turning from self-effort to the acceptance of Christ’s active expression of His life in our behavior. We must not, however, set out in self- effort to effect such repentance in our lives.
“God will reveal it to you”
When Paul admitted to the Philippians that he “had not already become perfect” (Phil. 3:12) in behavioral manifestation, he went on to say, “If in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that to you” (Phil. 3:15).
God not only exposes our inability to deal with our fleshly desires by our own efforts, but He also reveals the particular areas of our selfishness that He wants to address and overcome.
When He does reveal an area of selfishness, we are responsible to submit and do what is necessary to let Him deal with it. It may involve a “renewing of the mind” (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23). It might involve refraining from or engaging in certain activities.
God works uniquely in each individual’s life, for each Christian is a novel expression of the life and character of Jesus Christ. There is no formulized “how to” guide for living the Christian life. As previously noted, Christianity is not a morality structure of ethics
demanding exacting conformity. It is important that Christians recognize the diversity and spontaneity of God’s dealings and expressions in their own and in other Christians’ lives. “Others May, You Cannot,” wrote G. D. Watson (1845-1924), explaining that we are only responsible for responding to what God is doing in our own lives, without comparison to what He is doing in the lives of others.
Until God chooses to reveal what He wants to do in our lives, we should proceed with an inner peace that is not fretting about what we should or should not be doing. To engage in introspective expeditions of self- examination is often just another exercise in self-effort.
God is quite capable of directing our attention to what He wants to do in our lives.
“
He Who began a good work in you, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). Proceed “in the clear” with your eyes straight ahead, focused on Him, and do not stop to “dig for worms.” Enjoy every aspect of your life, unless, and until, God reveals that there is an issue of self-orientation that He wants to deal with.
This assumes, of course, that the Christian is being totally honest and available to the Lordship of Christ.
Next:
God Identifies Sin...
Dr. James Fowler | IOM Staff Writer
*All of the images on this page are live links.
