“The Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned” (Psalm 34:22).

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

What a promise! And this is no light or small thing.

• To condemn means “to pronounce to be guilty, to sentence to punishment, or to pass judgment against.”
• Wisdom tells us that it is our sin that condemns us. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
• And every single one of us is guilty. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
• And that condemnation results in death. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

So, what is our hope, then? Our hope is in Jesus. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).

Notice the opening scripture in Romans; it begins with the word, “therefore.” Whenever we see that word, we must ask “what is it there for?” Typically, the preceding verses will tell us. In this case, Romans 7:21-25 gives us part of a discourse by Paul on our sinful nature: ^“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful naturea slave to the law of sin.”

The fact is that we are born with a sin nature, and we live in a corrupt environment. We, in and of ourselves, have no power over the presence of sin in our lives. In other words, we have no hope in ourselves or anyone else to rescue us, other than the blood of Jesus, who died to save us from our sins. Jesus paid the price for our sins. All we must to is believe and receive this unbelievably valuable gift. I love that the word “rescue” is part of our mission. As the Mission, we do offer an earthly last resort to anyone who is broken, down, and out. However, ultimately, Jesus is our rescue, our savior. In the words of Paul in Romans 7:24-25:

“Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

In Christ,

Judy