Rom 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
We have been discussing our freedom from condemnation. Romans 8 is a big chapter, however, the practical focus is on how to be freed from death and condemnation. Death and condemnation are the same things in Romans 7 and 8. Again, it is important to remember that this is not speaking about how to be delivered from the wrath of God. That was accomplished in the heavens by Christ when He placed His blood on the mercy seat. Christ’s blood was accepted on your behalf and He made peace with God on your behalf before you even knew who He was. He took care of all your sins and blotted them out as a thick cloud, never to be remembered again in God’s sight. When you believed in Jesus, the blood was reckoned to your account as righteousness.
Some people say “just as if I never sinned” when speaking of justification. That is true. But that is a negative use of the word justification. In a positive sense, justification fully qualified you to be enthroned with Christ as an heir of God and to inherit glory and the kingdom which He has prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Christ’s righteousness makes you an heir of the world to come and to have that world and even angels subject to you (1 Cor 6:3; Rom 4:13; Heb 2:5-11). It qualified you to be a member of the Body of Christ, this unique vessel that is the masterpiece of God and the fullness of Christ, the Church (Eph 1:23). His righteousness qualified you to be a son of God and to be a king and a priest and to reign with Christ (Rev 5:10). You are now a member of God’s house, an heir, and a fellow citizen with the saints, with whom you are being built up to be the habitation of God in Spirit, the eternal dwelling place of God (Eph 1:18-22).
You have been qualified! Your righteousness is far beyond what you can imagine. It is a spectacular garment that has been placed on you that shines in the heavens like blinding jewelry (Is 61:10). God has ornamented you with this righteousness. Meanwhile, angels and the cherubim are surrounding the throne of God, which is the mercy seat. They are seeing that blood sprinkled and seeing God has been vindicated in putting you in this position. They are crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Their worship is not only focused on God but on His redemptive work and how He is perfectly righteous in justifying you (Rom 3:26). It’s not “just as if you never sinned”…it is so far beyond that! You’ll see when we get to heaven.
This is the righteousness that is imputed to those who believe in Romans 3. This righteousness has been given as a free gift, regardless of how you feel today. It is true of your position regardless of what the devil tells you and what your evil conscience tells you. Your evil conscience accuses you and tries to tell you that the blood is not enough, and that you need to do something more. It tells you that you have not done enough and tries to drown you in shame.
You may be drowning in shame, but if you believe in Jesus, you are justified and covered with this spectacular righteousness. This is true, even if your faith is the size of a mustard seed and it’s weak faith, and you say, “Lord, I believe, help me with my unbelief.” The point is that the faith believes that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead for your justification and is coming back to receive you into glory justifies you and has placed you in the heavens positionally, apart from how you feel about yourself.