“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” (Romans 8:1).
In the simplest terms, God’s eternally purposed plan of salvation is like a two-sided coin. It has two equally important and essential aspects to it. To be free from the guilt of your heinous sins against the holy God of heaven you must be in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). To be free from the law of sin and death ruling your life Christ must be formed in you (Colossians 1:27).
This is precisely what Paul declares above as essential to being uncondemned: You must be in Christ, and you must be spiritually minded, not carnally minded. Those who have been raised with Christ (via the spiritual victory gained in obedience to the gospel) must “seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:1-5).
Not everyone who is in Christ remains free from condemnation. “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” (Colossians 3:18-19).
Enjoying the blessed state of “no condemnation in Christ” is conditional: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 1:6-2:2—emphasis added).
There is a monumental, heaven-and-hell, plain-as-day difference between being freed from sin and being freed to sin.
