“But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:9-11)
At many times in life we experience guilt and shame because we still sin. We feel separated from God. In these days of pandemic we feel it as well. We wonder why God does not deliver us from this deadly scourge as well as the fear that has crippled our nation. Is He angry at us? Is He punishing us for our sins?
In this time of crisis I hope we all take note that the Lectionary readings of the past few weeks all have timely application. This week is no exception with the readings pertaining to new life in Christ which give us hope and comfort in the midst of dire and news about the pandemic. Especially comforting is the reading from chapter 8 of Paul’s letter to the Romans. The opening words of this chapter constitute one of the most comforting and liberating Scriptures in the entire Bible: There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. So we stand righteous and holy in the sight of God. These words are a great relief to all of us who are paralyzed by fear, guilt, and shame. We need not fear. These words stir the heart, emotions, the mind and the will to rejoice in the great love and mercy of God which He has shown us in Christ Jesus. What a wonderful truth!
“No condemnation” is definite and specific good news, the best news we have ever heard in our lives. We who are in Christ Jesus are no longer condemned. We have peace with God. Christ has atoned for our sins. We have been forgiven of every sin. We now stand in right relationship to God. Even in times of crisis and fear we can rejoice in such comfort because we are certain that, despite what we are enduring, despite the chaos and suffering going on around us, Paul assures us that God loves us!
God has given us His Holy Spirit who plays a dynamic and vigorous role in enabling us to experience the joy of the assurance of faith. We can rejoice in the midst of trials for He makes the new life in Christ real to us. He applies to us the benefits of salvation so that we no longer walk according to the law of sin and death, but the law of the Spirit. He enables us to rest in the power of the Holy Spirit so we can carry out God’s will without fear.