There is no Condemnation for those in Christ Jesus : Romans 8:1-11
Imagine logging into your online bank account one morning and seeing your overdraft has been completely cleared.
Not just cleared, but replaced with a huge deposit—more than you could ever earn in a lifetime.
You didn’t earn it. You didn’t transfer it. But there it is;
every debt paid, every interest charge reconciled, and your account now overflowing with God’s grace;
Meaning, his undeserved gift for all those who trust in his son.
It sounds quite unbelievable, doesn’t it?
But that’s exactly what God has done for us in Jesus.
In the letter St Paul wrote to the Romans, he speaks of three powerful biblical truths, known as—justification, reconciliation, and sanctification.
For most people, these three words are not very user-friendly in terms of faith – if anything, they are probably more baffling than enlightening.
Similarities between Financial Wealth and Spiritual Wealth
So I thought I’d use something familiar, a personal bank account, as a metaphor to explain how Jesus has not only cleared our debt,
but also transformed our entire spiritual economy, as I unpack these three baffling biblical terms.
This idea was inspired by an incident with my bank manager many years ago, who would not give me a loan when I got in a bit of a muddle with my finances.
So I approached another bank and got an entirely different response.
The second bank manager could see where I was going wrong (I wasn’t budgeting properly) and agreed to take me on, as long as I set up a general account and a budget account alongside it.
I then had to agree to a certain sum of money being transferred each month from the current account into the budget account to pay all my regular outgoing bills.
This would mean, although I often had less to spend on non-essentials, I would always have the necessary funds available to meet my regular domestic bills.
I readily accepted the offer, and it was the best thing I ever did, because it helped me to get my affairs in order, and I never got into such a muddle with my finances again.
God understands that we all sometimes get in a bit of a muddle with things in life, but his eternal plan offers a way out and spiritual riches.
There are three Christian principles, in particular, that pave the way for these eternal riches.
Justification: Is like an Instant Credit Transfer into our Bank Account
Imagine your spiritual account is overdrawn—it’s deeply in debt because of sin. I think we all know where we individually fall short.
But you’re not just broke; you are almost bankrupt.
Justification is something overseen by God, the righteous judge and banker.
And when we accept Jesus into our lives, he instantly transfers the full balance of Christ’s righteousness into our bank account.
Our debt is cleared, and the bank balance now reads: Paid in Full.
And it’s a heavenly legal action—because through faith in Jesus we’re no longer condemned in anyway.
We are in credit, not because we earned it, but because Jesus deposited His perfect record into our account.
Think of it as a divine audit where the books are balanced not by our deposits, but by Christ’s.
And this is what St Paul meant when he wrote in Romans 8; there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Meaning if you belong to Christ, your past doesn’t define you, your failures don’t condemn you, and your future is secure.
Reconciliation: We can understand as a Restored Relationship with God
Now that our account is in good standing, reconciliation is what happens when the broken relationship between us and the bank (God) is mended.
We are no longer flagged as a delinquent customer (as I probably once was at my former bank).
We are welcomed back into full partnership.
Hostility is gone. The account is not just balanced—it’s reopened with trust and access.
It’s like the bank manager personally calling to say, “We’ve restored your privileges. Let’s have lunch next week.”
Or the wise bank manager who kindly got my muddled financial situation back on the right track again.
Sanctification: Is Learning to become Wiser with our Spiritual Assets.
We all know that once a bank account is reconciled, it doesn’t remain balanced forever more without some effort on our part – as I discovered with my new bank account and budget account.
There’s an ongoing discipline of stewardship required. We need to constantly check the balance and refine our financial choices and decisions accordingly
So too, Christian sanctification is an ongoing process, a lifelong journey of learning, growing, and striving to live according to God’s will.
It’s a process of appreciating how to live in alignment with the Spirit who now dwells within us. A process of refinining our souls, minds and lives.
Santification is about growing in grace, aligning our life choices (spending habits), with the values of God’s kingdom.
With our relationship with God renewed, we now manage our spiritual resources wisely in service to Him.
The Holy Spirit acts like a financial advisor, guiding us to live in a way that reflects our new status.
Because we are now not just debt-free—we are also learning to live like someone who’s been entrusted with divine wealth.
But this is not about trying to earn our eternal salvation (we are promised that by our faith) —it’s about maturing into it.
Sanctification is about very gradually growing in love, humility, patience; and eventually bearing fruits of the Spirit.
It’s how believers reflect the image of Christ into the world.
Conclusion
So perhaps using my banking metaphor, you can see that in God’s great economy, when we accept Jesus into our lives, our spiritual accounts are set right, they are justified.
Not by our efforts, but through Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.
Perhaps you can better understand how this then in turn, reconciles a believer to a restored relationship with God.
Sanctification means then learning how to gradually become more like Jesus. It’s the process of being made holy—not perfect, but set apart for God’s purpose, of living wisely with the riches of His grace.
It isn’t about being ‘better than others,’ it’s about becoming more like Christ so we can love others better and live with purpose.
It’s God’s way of helping us develop into all he created us to be.
Challenge
I challenge you to examine your spiritual account to see where you might make adjustments to help you develop into your full sacred potential.
Because to make the most of this amazing bounty, that is offered personally to each one of us,
will be worth far more than any amount of money managed in our personal bank accounts throughout the entire time allotted to us here on earth.
