"No Condemnation for Those Who Are in Christ Jesus"
Thinking about Romans 8:1.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
Romans 7 ended with a mournful cry of the one outside of Christ who realizes the condemnation they face because of their sin.
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24)
The answer to this plea is “through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25). And in Him, “there is now no condemnation” - where outside of Him there is condemnation, or there is a “death sentence.”
The Good News.
What good news. There is NOW no condemnation. It will be true after this life that there is no condemnation but it is also true that there is now, NOW, no condemnation. Is there no ground for assurance here? Only a fool says no! There is now NO condemnation for those in Christ. - McGuiggan, Romans, 223
While the law could not deliver the sinner from sin (Hebrews 10:1-4), the sacrifice of Jesus Christ did (Hebrews 9:24-28).
The sins that once condemned us to the death we had rightfully earned (Romans 6:23) are “done away with” when we are buried with Christ through baptism into death (Romans 6:4-7).
And in Him, we do not stand condemned for those sins anymore. Jesus Christ came and did what the law could not do (Romans 3:21-31).
“In Christ Jesus.”
Paul described Christians many times as “in Christ.” Christians get into Christ Jesus by faith and baptism (Romans 6:1-11; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-12; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5-7). No other way to get into Christ Jesus is found in the New Testament.
And the blessings that belong to those “in Christ” are abundant.
One can do nothing for or with Christ unless he is first “in Christ.” One cannot approach the Father unless he is “in Christ.” The only way for one to be in the body of Christ, the church, is “in Christ.” The only way to live in the Spirit and not the flesh is “in Christ.” - Pollard, Truth for Today Commentary, 263
Paul’s point about being “in Christ” means that now they are no longer “under law” (Romans 6:14). Sin isn’t their master anymore.
Now that they are “in Christ,” they have a duty to serve their new Master and not live for the old master of Sin.
What a blessing it is to be “in Christ!”
After the tragic, mournful wail at the end of Romans 7, this chapter begins with a shout of victory and thankfulness.
Outside of Christ Jesus, a person cannot deliver themselves from sin. They stand condemned. But “in Christ,” it’s a totally different story.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
