God Says, You Are Fit …

In my Small Group at church we are studying the book of Romans.  This week we were studying chapters 7 and 8.  I read them before going, but my Small Group leader shed light on a verse that has been on my mind all day since leaving.

Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

She asked a very important question.  “Do you know what it means to be condemned?”  I had to stop and think for a minute.

We read words in the bible all the time.  In that moment, I had to stop and ask myself, “Do I really know what Paul was trying to say?”

He said ….

If you are IN Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation.

To Condemn means to “declare to be unfit for use.”

We walk around this earth at times, I must admit that I, myself, can be guilty of this.  We all can be guilty of this.

But we walk around and speak such things over ourselves that demean us, put us down, make us sound as if we are horrible people.

We look at our past and translate that to mean we are a waste.

We look at our past and think that nothing good can come from us.

We see our situations …. our experiences … our lives …. and certainly at times we think, “I can’t be loved.”

But Paul said about the saints …

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

There is a lot of power in this verse.  I see a couple of critical statements …

No condemnation.

Those in Christ Jesus.

I was studying this.  So, if we are In Christ Jesus … we have no right to think that we could be declared “unfit for use.”  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Because we are IN Him, we are fit for His use.  Because we are IN Him, He can and will use us.

To be in Christ Jesus … to be “in” something means that we are enclosed or surrounded by something else.

How wonderful that I can be enclosed by Jesus.  How wonderful that I can literally sit at His feet and just soak in all that He has given to me.  So can you.

He says that those that are In Christ Jesus … He says … They can receive …

His redemption.

Freedom from condemnation.

The Spirit of life.

His love.

The Truth … and it shall set us free.

We can have unity.  We can have faith.

He gives us righteousness.

Hope. Security.  

He says, if they are in me, “They are Established.”

We are a new creation.

We have His power.

We have grace.

So what do we do from here?

I’ll tell you what we do …

We get up … We pick up our mats and we walk this thing out.

We lift up our heads.  We are not concerned with what the world says.

The world says, “You are no good!”  To that … you say, “I’m more than good.  I’m blessed. I’m fearfully and wonderfully made.  I’m a child of the most High God.”

The world says … or maybe you say, “No one needs me.” I use to feel that way … but in that statement, there is nothing but lies.

We are needed.  We are needed to rise up and accept the challenge that God has given us ….

Yes, we are needed.  We are needed to walk this out.  To impact some lives.  To allow His glory to shine through us.  Yes … Yes … we are needed now more than ever.

We are fit!

We are blessed!

We are wanted.

We are loved!

So you’ve messed up!  So have I … and when I say I’ve messed up, I’ve messed up big time before!

But … I am also IN Christ Jesus.  And because I’m in Him … there is so much forgiveness, grace, mercy and love … that my sins, my wrongdoings … they are forgiven.

God knew we weren’t going to be perfect.

But He also needs and wants us.

We have work to do.

Will you call yourself unfit?

Or ….

Will you stand up and do the thing He has called you to do?