“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1-4
Do you feel free? I mean the Spirit of life has already set you free, but do you feel it? Do you feel free from the law of sin and death?
If we are in Jesus, God has already condemned all our sin and forgiven us, it’s done, we are free, but we may not be waking with the Spirit in that truth. We may still be walking in the flesh and even daily feeling the weight of it.
Those two paths travel to two very different destinations. There is no way to get around the truth that if we are walking with the Spirit, we should be experiencing freedom from the hold of sin. I didn’t say we are perfect, but we are consistently gaining ground under our feet. We’re walking in wide open spaces where our energy isn’t constantly drained by the past or fears for our future. There are clouds of those things, but they pass.
The other option is being free but still walking in the flesh like nothing has happened. It means we are still fighting sin in our own power, experiencing little victory and a lot of condemnation.
Which are you walking in? Where do you spend most of your days?
The key to freedom is confession. Nobody wants to talk about confession. We make confession into a bully when he's actually a friend. We don’t ever want to address it, so we end up with a lot of clutter.
I don’t understand how stuff accumulates in my house, but in the same way I’ve found some junk stuffed in corners of my heart. It needs spring cleaning. Every year I clean and I think, I’m not letting clutter build up like that again, but you know what happens? You do know, because it happens in your house too. Clutter builds up. I wish there was a way to clean one time and be done! Don’t even get me started on vacuuming! I have three children, a black lab, and a husband who builds homes for a living. I will be vacuuming for three days after I’m dead just to catch up!
Confession isn’t a one-time deal like salvation. There was a once and done to pay for all of our sins, past, present, and future, but we are still prone to sins like anxiety because we aren’t perfect yet. Here’s an example: when you buy a home, you own it, it’s done, but then you are responsible for maintenance. Just like buying a home, we have been redeemed and bought back by God. He owns our soul, but the Holy Spirit has to work the maintenance in our hearts. We live in a forgiven state, and yet our sin still has to be acknowledged so that we can learn and move on from it.
When my kids have to apologize to each other, I make them look each other in the eyes and explain what they are sorry for, it acknowledges not just the sin, but the relationship. Confession acknowledges our sin and restores our relationship with God.
Sometimes just talking to God about our sin reminds us of our forgiveness and opens up thankfulness. It's like opening windows to our souls and letting the sunshine into all the dark corners.
Getting rid of sin creates space for "God's love to be poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit." Create some space for God to dwell in your heart by clearing out some of the junk today.
"...and hope does not put us to shame
because God's love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit." Romans 5:5