Verse of the Day for September 23

Two small words open this chapter: therefore now. Paul has just finished chapter 7, where he describes his own struggle with sin in painful detail. He does the thing he hates. He fails to do the thing he wants.

Then, without resolving every struggle, he writes There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Not later, when the struggle is over. Now, in the middle of it.

Notice also the shift in verse 2. Verse 1 speaks of them. Verse 2 says hath made me free. Paul moves from the general to the personal. It is as if he states the truth for everyone and then checks that it includes him.

Most of life is lived in the middle. The work is not finished, the character is not complete, the habit is not broken. People often believe condemnation lifts only at the end, once they have earned it. Paul says the verdict comes before the work is done.

On a building site, a half finished wall is not a failure. It is a wall in progress. If you are in the middle of a hard season of change, you are not condemned for being half built. Read verse 2 with your own name in it, then pick up the next block.

No condemnation is a present tense word.

Put your own name into verse 2 and read it again.