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.
no condemnation
The word “no” is a very emphatic negative: “There is not a single one of any kind of condemnation” for the believer. There is no exception or qualification to “no condemnation.” Christians will never be vulnerable to condemnation. This is an unqualified promise.
The reference to “condemnation” harks back to Romans 5:16,18, where we find the only other occurrences of the word in the New Testament. This is the ultimate or final condemnation of those who are lost forever.
Christians are not under condemnation because they are free from the tyranny of the standards of the law. “Condemnation” is a legal or forensic term designating the elimination of the curse of the Law.
PRINCIPLE:
God will never condemn Christians in time or eternity because of their sins due to the law of double jeopardy.
APPLICATION:
Every person lives under one of two conditions: the law or grace. The grace principle is the new situation that the believer operates under. There is no condemnation or guilt with which the believer must deal.
The stark fact is that every one of us should go to hell because of our sins. That Jesus personally took my hell staggers the soul. Christians have plenty of sins and inconsistencies after becoming believers, yet, even with this, there is no condemnation for the believer. Because Jesus fully paid for our sins, we don’t need to suffer for those same sins again. Two people do not need to suffer for the same system of sins. Jesus did it all, all to Him we owe. We stand uncondemnable because of the principle of double jeopardy.
The principle of double jeopardy means that if a penalty has been for a crime, there is no need to make that person pay for the same crime again. Jesus paid for our sins; there is no justice in God making us pay for that sin again.
I particularly like the comment about double jeopardy