Romans – The Blessed Overcomer

In Romans 8:5-11, we see the difference between a Christian and the non-Christian, or as Paul says, those who set their minds on the Spirit and those who set their minds on the flesh. I think the difference between these two kinds of people, is like the difference between a fake flower and a real flower. The fake flower has no imperfections, it’s perfect in every way, and it does probably look much better than a real flower, though it’s entirely dead and void of all life. The real flower though, has imperfections to it that reflect its own uniqueness. The real flower might even be drooping and losing a few pedals but it’s truly alive. When you give water to the real flower, it’s likely to spring back up and grow healthier and stronger.

Such it is with those in the flesh and those in the Spirit. Those in the flesh might look like they’re thriving and strong, perfect in every way, but they’re dead. While those in the Spirit are fully alive even though they have imperfections and might droop just a little. Day by day the Spirit sees to them, nurturing them with resurrection life until the day they blossom fully at Christ’s return.

Romans 8:5-11, reminds us that we cannot have two masters. We cannot be in Adam and in Christ. We cannot be in the flesh and in the Spirit. We’re either under the hand of sin or walking in the freedom of Christ. It can be a constant battle.

Where are you today? Who or what has power over you today? I pray you’re living in the beautiful peace of God today. And may you be filled with His amazing Spirit. ~OC

Today’s a new day! I am currently studying Romans and here are some thoughts from Romans 8:1:

In Romans 8:1, we read “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The power of Paul’s words are very strong. There is absolutely no possibility of condemnation coming from God towards believers. Once you are in Christ you are uncondemnable by God.

But what is condemnation? It is an unfavorable or adverse judgment made about us. God makes no unfavorable or adverse judgment about his children.

Now, we might condemn ourselves. We might not yet feel and experience the grace of God upon our lives. We might roll around in our feelings of guilt and shame for past mistakes but this is not from God. There is no condemnation from him.

We might feel condemnation from the world. Others might point and criticize and judge. Being a disciple of God’s will raise the bar of expectation. Condemnation might flow from others, but this is not from God. There is no condemnation from him.

And condemnation might come from the enemy of our souls. A shadowy feeling of failure is a great weapon of the enemy. The enemy loves to convince us of God’s dissatisfaction in our lives, but this also is not from God. There is no condemnation from him. ~OC