What Does It Mean To Have No Condemnation?

Romans 8:1 Therefore, now, there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus,

Many people think that the word “condemnation” here means an accusation or a guilty feeling. However, that is not the case. The Greek word rendered “condemnation” here is katakrima, which means a condemnatory sentence carried out by execution. Thus, it refers to the eternal death which we all deserve as the righteous punishment for our sins.

Romans 8:1 starts with “therefore,” which draws from what came before. In the previous verses, the Apostle Paul repeatedly emphasizes the fact that living sinfully results in death:

• 6:21, “because the end of those things is death.”
• 6:23, “because the wages of sin is death.”
• 7:5, “the passions of sins... were effecting... unto the fruit-bearing to death.”
• 7:9, “sin revived, but I died.”
• 7:11, “sin... killed me.”
• 7:13, “sin is working death, ...”
• 7:24, “Who shall rescue me from the body of this death?”

According to 8:1, this state of “no condemnation” is a “now” reality. This implies a different past reality. There was once a time when there was condemnation to us. When was this time?

In 7:5, Paul refers to that past reality: “When we were in the flesh...” When we were unsaved, sin was actively and continually causing death in us by using the law to cause us to live sinfully. However, in the next verse, he speaks of the “now” reality:

Romans 7:6 But now, we were separated from the law, having died in that which we were being bound.

Now that we are saved, we are no longer “in the flesh,” and therefore sin is no longer able to use the law to cause us to live that death-causing sinful lifestyle. This “now” reality of 7:6 is the same “now” reality of 8:1. Thus, the “condemnation” spoken of in 8:1 refers to the death that would have resulted to us if we had continued living sinfully.