Verse of the Day 8/6

Through the Bible - Psalms 80-84, Romans 9   Good  morning,  In Romans chapter 7 Paul describes the ongoing struggle with sin.  As you read his words you understand that he has "been there", he has experienced the same emotions that we have.  He finishes the chapter with these words:   Rom 7:24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.  NLT Chapter 8 begins with a turning point.  It is significant that the Holy Spirit is mentioned only one time in the first seven chapters and that is in the introduction of the book (1:4) and not again until verse 8:1.  In Romans 8 alone there are at least 20 references to Him starting with verse one which is today's verse. . Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.   NKJV Think about what it means to be "in Christ", it is the standing of all true believers.  We have the Holy Spirit in us, assuring us, enabling us to live for Him.   John MacArthur writes, "Romans 8 portrays the Holy Spirit as the divine agent who frees us from sin and death (v.2-3), enables us to live righteously (4-13), assures and comforts us in our affliction (14-19), preserves and sustains us in Christ (20-28), and guarantees our final victory in eternal glory (29-39)."   When we think of the word condemned we may think of a building that has been deemed unsound and must be destroyed.  Were it not for Christ our sins would bring destroy us.  But in Christ, there is "no condemnation".  MacArthur continues, "condemnation is used exclusively in judicial settings as the opposite of justification.  It refers to a verdict of guilty and the penalty which the verdict demands.  No sin a believer can commit - past, present, or future - can be held against him since the penalty was paid by Christ and righteousness (right standing) was imputed to the believer.  And no sin will ever reverse this divine legal decision."   Satan would like to condemn us, or at least make us feel that way.  We need to remember what we have "in Christ" - forgiveness, grace, mercy, assurance, hope.....  What would you add to the list?  Praise God for it today.   "to be spiritually minded is life and peace" - Rom. 8:6  NKJV    Read the beginning of Romans 8 from The Message below.  How does it speak to you today? In Christ, Mike   Rom 8:1-4 The Solution Is Life on God's Terms Romans 8  With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us. (from THE MESSAGE)