Devotion Booklets for Seasons of the Church Year Lent 2018 | Page 43

No Condemnation Now
Wednesday, March 21st
Romans 8:1
Imagine what it would be like to be a criminal on death row. You know the inevitable is coming; you’re
going to be put to death. Then imagine what it would be like to be exonerated from death row. One
moment you’re facing death, then all of a sudden you’re set free and the charges against you have been
dropped! Since 1973, the U.S. Death Penalty Information Center has recorded the number of people
exonerated from death row. As of this writing, the total count is 160. Over the past 45 years, only 160
people have ever experienced what it’s like to be set free from death row. Chances are, you aren’t one
of them.
However, you do know exactly what it’s like to be set free from a death sentence. You once lived under
a condemnation. You were once faced with the inevitable fact that you were going to die for your
crimes. There was plenty of evidence that you were guilty of breaking the many laws God set before
you in his Word. Your sin was evident to others and to God. The hope of getting your death sentence
overturned seemed impossible.
And yet, the charges against you have been dropped. There is no longer any condemnation for you.
Instead of facing a death sentence you have been set free to live, and more than that, to live forever. All
this is possible only because Jesus took your spot on death row and suffered your death sentence for
you. The sins that you committed became his sins. The life of righteousness he lived became your life.
You are free from condemnation!
There is no condemnation for you because you are in Christ Jesus. Earlier in Romans, Paul explains
what it means to be “in Christ.” Being in Christ means you were baptized into Christ’s death. You were
buried with him through baptism into death. Now, just as Christ was raised from the dead, you too will
live a new life!
You can give up living in the past. You don’t have to live as someone under a death sentence. Instead,
you can live every day as someone who has been set free from death row. Jesus set you free from the
consequences of sin. Now live your life as a thank-you-note to the one who freed you from
condemnation.
Prayer: Dear Loving Savior, thank you for freeing me from my death sentence. Help me live in you as
you live in me. Let my life be one of gratitude to you for taking away my condemnation. Amen.
Activity: Ask this question to yourself or those reading this devotion with you: “What is the first thing
you would do if you were set free from death row?” Now ask: “How will you live your life differently
today knowing that Jesus set you free from your death sentence?”
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