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To be condemned means to be guilty, disapproved, or under judgment. Guilt is a burden and a weight that holds us back from realizing our true destiny and our full potential. Although we have been declared free from sin by grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, many of us still carry the burden of our past sins and mistakes with us in the form of guilt. Those burdens hold us back from truly enjoying the gift of freedom that God has given us.
We will never know what it truly means to be a child of God if we do not free ourselves of guilt. Guilt keeps us from fully accepting the unconditional love of Christ and from truly loving ourselves. Guilt makes us feel that we do not deserve the blessings of God and keeps us anxiously waiting and wondering when we will experience the failures or disasters that we believe we deserve.
In Romans 3:24, the Bible tells us that we are “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “Justified” means that we are declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life as a gift through His grace. If we remain trapped by guilt after we have received Christ as our Savior, it implies that we have not understood the power of justification; nor have we fully comprehended the gift of grace that has been freely given to us.
The book of Romans is one of the most powerful books in the Bible. In Romans 7, the Apostle Paul helps us to understand the depravity of man, the sovereignty of God, and the freedom that we have in our relationship with Christ. After reminding us of how powerless we are when we try to obey God’s law in our own strength and how powerful grace is to save us even from ourselves, he begins Romans 8:1 with these powerful and liberating words: “there is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
What a relief! What freedom! I do not have to walk around feeling guilty, ashamed, disapproved of by God, or under judgment. I no longer have to carry shame and the emotional scars of my past mistakes.
However, in the verses that follow, Romans 8:1, Paul explains certain conditions for us to be able to enjoy this freedom and relief.
To be free from condemnation, you must :
- Be in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
- Not walk according to the flesh (Romans 8:2-13)
- Walk according to the Spirit (Romans 8:2-13)
The Apostle Paul recognized that those who walk in condemnation are not allowing Christ to reign in their hearts and lives. They may have professed faith in Him, but they are not walking in Him and, therefore, not allowing His Word to guide their thinking.
As a result, they are walking according to the flesh rather than the Spirit. They are being controlled by how they feel, what they see, and what they hear rather than by what they believe and by what God has revealed to them through His Word.
For those who are not used to them, the ways of God can seem counterintuitive, especially for the entrepreneur who somehow believes that one should get what he or she deserves. The reality is that none of us would be here if we all got what we deserved.
Fortunately, we get what we believe through Jesus Christ instead. Due to our sins, we all deserve death, but God showed us mercy and saved us from death because of our relationship with Jesus Christ. None of us deserve grace (and in fact, the definition of grace is the undeserved or unmerited favor of God), but God has given sufficient grace through Jesus Christ to overcome our weaknesses and realize the call He has upon our lives.
What has been holding you back from giving your all to build the business that God has called you to build?
Repent and free yourself from the guilt and shame of the past and allow God to reveal Himself mightily through you. When success comes, remember to give Him all the glory and the praise. As a result, everyone will know that God is your strength and your reason for contentment and success, and He will be given the credit that He deserves.
My prayer for you today is that your eyes would be opened to see the greatness of the LORD’s gifts of mercy and grace so that you may enjoy the freedom that God has for you as you pursue your call.
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