Case Closed Against Us

Reading: Romans 8:1-4

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1.
With no condemnation against those who are "in" Christ Jesus, the case against Christians is
closed too. One axiom of the Christian gospel is that what is now true of Jesus the Christ is also
true of his believers. Paul's little word "in" is the key. When you are "in" him, it's "case closed."
How do people get in on what happens to Jesus? Paul has only one word for that: faith. And
faith means trust. Trust Christ when his "case-closed" happens, and it's true for you. It's yours.
Trust him not, and it's not yours.
In today's reading Paul describes how it all came about. God sent his Son into our sinners'
network. Once there, and willingly there, he also became enmeshed in the lock-step sequence of
"the law of sin and death:" if sin, then death. And thus he died.
But once the law carries out its sentence on an offender, it can no longer touch him. Jesus is the
one flashpoint in our world where the "law of sin and death" is past history. To be in on that is
heaven on earth. It's ours for the trusting. Trust him, and it's yours.
Not only does such trusting get us "out" of the law's jaws, but we get "in" on the Spirit of life, the
death-proof life, in Christ Jesus. "Case closed" on the law of sin and death is freedom. And
freedom is an entirely different case. By faith it's ours.
Prayer: We still argue our own righteousness, Lord God, falling away from the "in" that erases
all condemnation. Bring us back "in" to faith in Christ, trusting that our case is indeed closed, so
we can tend to the other business that you put before us. Amen.

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