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Romans 8:1

¹There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We are all born with a propensity to sin. Even when we know what God's righteous demands are and have a desire to meet them, we find we can't obey them. We struggle with the guilt that comes with disobedience. It can be very depressing to fail again and again. In Romans chapter eight, Paul instructs us that we no longer need to wallow in condemnation. Jesus has paid our sin debt and given us His righteousness.

If that were the end of all He did, it would be enough, but there is much more. He has given us His Spirit so that we can live in newness of life. Now when we are faced with temptation we have the power to turn from it. This does not mean we will never sin again, but it does mean we have been given the power to obey should we choose to employ that power. Where we were once slaves of sin, unable to break free from its demands, we now are free to obey the Spirit of God and empowered to do so.

We are sorrowful when we fail to employ this power. We still run to the throne of grace and ask for forgiveness, but we don't stay depressed about our failure. We may need to pray for more resolve, or we may need to surrender some area of life to a greater extent; but we know God will help us to overcome. The believer's propensity changes from sin to service stemming from love. Our remaining struggle is to keep the old nature in the grave and our new nature nourished in Christ.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the work of Your Holy Spirit in me! Help me to yield to Him day by day and realize the power He brings to say "Yes!" to life and "No!" to sin.