No Condemnation
Preliminary:
ROMANS 8 HAS been called the “inner sanctuary within the cathedral of Christian faith.” It sets before us some of the most wonderful blessings we enjoy as believers: being free from God’s condemnation, indwelt by God’s own Spirit, adopted into his family, destined for resurrection and glory, and full of hope because of God’s love for us and because of his promise to bring good to us in every circumstance of life.
Read:
The reader is hardly prepared by the contents of ch. 7 for the glorious pronouncement that there is “no condemnation” at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. Here is the statement of the gospel in just a few words.
‘Condemnation’ is a word the apostle employs only three times in his letters—here in 8:1 and in 5:16, 18. It denotes ‘not merely a pronouncement of guilt … but an adjudication of punishment’; thus, it may be translated as ‘judicial pronouncement upon a guilty person, condemnation, punishment, penalty’.285 In 5:16, 18 Paul explains that condemnation for all people followed Adam’s transgression, something he contrasts with justification for all those who believe because of Christ’s obedience.286 However, condemnation is not only the result of Adam’s transgression but also of each person’s own sins.287
condemnation is part of legal terminology. When it is discovered that a crime has been committed, that the law has been broken, the process of investigation may lead to formal charges being levied against a defendant. The process of litigation leads to the outcome, a verdict of acquittal or guilt. The verdict indicates that the defendant is either free from or accountable to the law’s penalty for that crime. Thus the result is either vindication or condemnation. Condemnation can refer either to the legal status of liability to punishment or to the actual infliction of that punishment. At times the word is also used in a broader context to refer to negative evaluations of a person by peers or by one’s own conscience. This legal process is to some extent the background for biblical language about judgment and condemnation.
In biblical theology, God as creator, redeemer, and lawgiver, is the judge of all humankind.
In the words, “There is therefore now no condemnation,” there is a note of rejoicing and a deep sigh of relief. In the KJV the negative Greek particle (ouden) is translated “no.” Shedd says, “Ouden is highly emphatic, by its position: ‘none at all, of any kind’ ” (226). Wuest translates this verse, “Therefore, now, there is not even one bit of condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (127).
We see here one who has moved from a state of deep despair to confidence that in Jesus Christ all condemnation has been taken away.