{"id":3803,"date":"2020-06-24T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2020-06-24T11:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/?p=3803"},"modified":"2020-06-25T07:36:42","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T12:36:42","slug":"life-in-the-spirit-no-condemnation-continued-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/life-in-the-spirit-no-condemnation-continued-2\/","title":{"rendered":"LIFE IN THE SPIRIT ~ \u201cNo Condemnation\u201d (continued)"},"content":{"rendered":"
This week, we are looking at how we live our life in the Spirit of God without any condemnation.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Our focal passage is\u2026<\/span><\/div>\n
Romans 8:1\u20134 (ESV)<\/span><\/div>\n
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 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, 4 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.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Now, I realize that condemnation is referring primarily to being damned to hell. However, I believe there are some psychological aspects to this idea that we should explore. Since, because we are in Christ, we do not live under any condemnation and are set free from the law of sin and death, how should we think about ourselves and others?<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPLICATION:<\/span><\/div>\n
1.\u00a0 Apart from the power of God, our self-image has been shaped by the communities where we grew up and continues to be shaped by our present communities.<\/span><\/div>\n
There is an old saying that illustrates this:<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 “I’m not who I think I am,<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I’m not who you think I am,\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 I’m who I think you think I am”<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
*Many of us have received much condemnation from our communities.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
When I was a young boy, I was loaded with freckles.\u00a0 I had quite a struggle with this. I remember hugging my mom, when I came only to her waist, and crying, \u201cI\u2019ll never get married. I\u2019ve got freckles.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
One day at church an older man, Mr. Christy, said to me, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you how to get rid of those freckles.\u201d Then, he suggested using sandpaper.\u00a0 He thought he was being cute. But, to me, what I heard him saying was that my freckles were undesirable.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
2.\u00a0 Everyone of us is a part of the community shaping the self-images of others.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
* Many of us have given much condemnation to others in our communities.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
3.\u00a0 One of the marks of Christian maturity is the development of our self-image separate from our communities (whether positive or negative), experiencing our identity only in Christ.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
In 1 Corinthians 4:3-4, Paul says,\u00a0 \u201cI care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
It is the Lord who judges me.\u201d (NIV)<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Paul knew that his identity was not based on what others thought about him and not even on what he thought about himself.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
Years ago, Warren W. Wiersbe wrote a book titled, \u201cBe What You Are.\u201d\u00a0 In that book, he lists 12 things that describe what our identity in Christ is all about.\u00a0 Here are some of them:<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
A Child in God\u2019s Family,\u00a0 A Sheep in God\u2019s Flock, A Pilgrim Citizen, A Member in Christ\u2019s Body,\u00a0 A Priest at God\u2019s Altar, A Stone in God\u2019s Building, A Soldier in God\u2019s Army, A Runner in the Race,\u00a0 An Ambassador of the King, A New Creation.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
In the office of one of my friends hung a sign: \u201cBe who you is, cause if you be who you ain\u2019t, you ain\u2019t who you is.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
4.\u00a0 In Christ, we have been freed from condemnation both from others and from ourselves.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 * When we condemn ourselves, we deny our true Identity.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 * When we receive condemnation, we deny our true Identity.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 * When we give condemnation, we do not represent Christ to others.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, we are looking at how we live our life in the Spirit of God without any condemnation. \u00a0 Our focal passage is\u2026 Romans 8:1\u20134 (ESV) There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3803"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3803"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3816,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3803\/revisions\/3816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}