Thought for Thursday
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. Romans 8:1
A legal principle exists as a constitutional right in Canada – and in several other countries – that is called double jeopardy. This principle states that once a person has been acquitted of a specific crime, they cannot be placed in legal jeopardy again for that same crime. This principle also protects a person who has been punished for a crime from being punished a second time for the same crime. This protection is written into the constitution because it is an important element of law. God also has His double jeopardy principle… after punishment for our sins has been carried out, there is no more punishment for us. When Jesus died on the cross, our punishment was complete. In His great reckoning, God is satisfied forever. He will not, and cannot, ever bring up the matter of my sins again.
But some will say that we can sin after we are saved, and those sins are not covered by the pardon received at Salvation. Why would they not be covered? 1 Corinthians 15:3 tells us that Christ died for our sins… not some of them, but all of them. Yes, we can and do sin every day. But our sins have been forgiven forever. When Jesus died on the cross, He did not take away only those sins that I committed up to my Salvation and leave me responsible for the future sins. No, all my sins were in the future when He died. And His blood protects me from ever been charged with any of them.
I asked a young man in one of the denominations whether he believed in the eternal security of the believer. His answer was, ‘of the believer, yes’. But he believed that a person could stop being a believer, and lose their Salvation. Not according to our text today! Just as a man who has been acquitted of a crime does not need to keep looking over his shoulder in fear of the arresting officers, so we don’t need to torment our souls over any possibility that God will require us to be punished for sins that His Son paid for.
No condemnation! What a glorious truth! No double jeopardy with God! -Jim MacIntosh