Here it is, something that has been there from the beginning, but which you probably never really noticed or paid sufficient attention to: There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2). See, you may have lived your whole life in fear of condemnation, when all the while the word of God has been telling you that now it is no more.
But before you begin to think salvation is now automatic—and before you discard, with heedless abandon, your efforts to maintain virtue and to be faithful to all of God’s commandments—take a closer look at the text. Indeed, condemnation is no more—for those who are in Christ Jesus. In order to reap the full benefit from this passage, we need to acquire deeper insight into what it means to be “in Christ Jesus.” (Clue: you are not in Christ Jesus merely by thinking or saying that you are.) That phrase is found twice in these two verses, and it is one of the most characteristic expressions in all of St Paul’s writings.
Since I’m not writing a book but only a blog post, I can only examine a couple basic points on what it means to be “in Christ.” For this I will rely mostly on the Letter to the Romans, and particularly on chapters 6-8.
Our being in Christ begins with our sacramental immersion into his death and resurrection, i.e., our baptism. You see, we experience condemnation only for unrepented sin. We were baptized into Christ’s death (6:3), and this was so we could rise with Him as well (v. 5). What was that death into which we were baptized? “The death [Christ] died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives for God” (v. 10). So what is the practical application of our baptism? “You also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive for God in Christ Jesus” (v. 11).
The ability to overcome the stubborn and sticky vigor of sin comes primarily from grace, but our personal cooperation with grace begins with a new perspective—an awareness flowing from faith and embraced in hope. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive for God. That way of looking at things takes into account the objective, mystical/sacramental reality of your baptism into the death and resurrection of Christ–whence comes this death to sin and life for God–with confidence that it is actually possible to realize it in practice. Considering yourself dead to sin, however, has to be based on faith in the Holy Mysteries. If you just say the words as a form of psychological self-talk, you may end up with nothing more than fruitless self-delusion.
Considering yourself dead to sin is, at any rate, only the beginning. The real challenge is to “yield yourself to God as one who has been brought from death to life, and yield your members [i.e., your bodily and spiritual faculties] to God as instruments of righteousness” (v. 13). Set free from sin by God, it is high time for us to serve righteousness—for the immediate goal of sanctification and the ultimate goal of eternal life. Most of us don’t even know that we have been set free from sin, so we haul around invisible chains, somehow assuming that we are no stronger than any thought or desire that chances to creep into our consciousness.
But what does it mean, practically, to be set free from sin? Even holy people are found frequenting confessionals (more so than many who really ought to be found there). When we embrace Christ through faith and baptism, will we never, ever do anything wrong again? Here we have to confront the intense struggle in the depths of the human soul that St Paul tortuously articulates in Romans 7. This chapter is too difficult for me to attempt an adequate explanation, but I do need to mention an important concept: the law of sin and death.
Paul’s lament is the lament of humanity suffering the consequences of its estrangement from Paradise: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (vv. 15, 18-19). How does he account for this? “I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members” (vv. 21-23).
The “law of sin” is a principle, a force that was unleashed into the world with the very first sin of mankind, and which has burrowed like some loathsome worm into every human heart since then. Its ultimate result is always eternal death (see 6:20-21). Is there any way that we can be delivered from this universal parasite, this evil spoiler of every good intention? “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25). This is the good news that Paul preached; this is why there is now no condemnation if you are in Christ Jesus.
The Holy Spirit, who gives the gift of faith, who sanctifies the baptismal waters, who brings to us every spiritual blessing from heaven, has proclaimed a new law, released a new divine energy into the universe, beginning at the first Pentecost: life in Christ Jesus. The incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus have set the whole cosmos on a course of transfiguration and endless life, which would otherwise have been impossible. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death! This “new law” is the only thing that is more powerful than the law of sin and death. Therefore it is only by living in Christ Jesus (“dead to sin and alive for God in Christ”) that we are able to rejoice that there is no more condemnation.
To be continued…
