ROMANS 8:1 "There is, therefore, NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death."

Have you ever wondered why, in the Epistles of the Apostles, they never refer to the churches or members of those congregations they are writing as, "You sinners saved by grace." You'll find they write something like this, "I am writing to all of God's holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus including the elders and deacons." (Philippians 1:1) "I am writing to God's holy people in Ephesus who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 1:1b)

It seems to me that we can spend anxious time before the Lord in prayer asking for things He has already given to us...that our lives might continue to be transformed into the likeness of the Lord Jesus. The Apostles called all the followers of Jesus Christ as "God's holy people." God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west; not just some of our sin/s but ALL of it/them. 

Conviction by the Holy Spirit in a believer's heart exposes the brokenness and points to God's "already available forgiveness. Condemnation from satanic forces has you focused on anything BUT the Lord Jesus. Each of us have a history of sin. Satan knows it and tries to get us to identify as a spiritual failure because we fail. Satan knows your name and calls you by your sin. God knows your sin, and because of Jesus Christ, calls you by your name!

Believers in Jesus Christ are called Holy, by God. Now, the Holy Spirit would not live, indwell and fill a life where sin and death were the ruling force creating chaos in the human heart. God, by His grace and the gift of faith, has delivered us from the dominion and bondage of the kingdom of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, in Whom, we have redemption by His blood, the FORGIVENESS OF OUR SIN. (Colossians 1:13)

"If anyone is in Christ Jesus, they are a new creation. Old things have passed away. Everything has become new. And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ" (2Corinthians 5:17-18). What does that mean to you? You ARE a new creation a new person. You were once spiritually dead in sin and trapped in an old sin-nature that tried and still tries to blind you to God's actual Truth of what He has done for all who believe Him

Read THIS!

Colossians 2:11–15 
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. (It's cut away by God...it's not still dangling there! God has given you a new nature, a new heritage, a new spiritual DNA, a new heart and a new spirit.)

12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, Who raised Christ from the dead. (The Holy Spirit united you to, identified you with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism was identification with a death I deserved that an innocent One took, dying in my place.)

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. (How many sins did He forgive? ALL OUR SIN. That is why, when the Holy Spirit convicts us of sinful behavior, we are not left standing in terror before the Lord. Confession of sin is agreement with God. There are two parts to honest confession. One, YES the behavior was sin according to His Word and Two, Jesus Christ provided full atonement by His death and resurrection. We agree with God and receive out of the everlasting abundance the application of His forgiveness to heal and transform us in an ever-increasing way.  Forgiveness and ongoing washing of His precious blood and part of the eternal inheritance kept for us spotless in God's Presence.)

14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. (The old hymn, "It is Well with My Soul" has a stanza that goes like this. It is utterly biblical and in keeping with what God has done. "My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part, but the whole was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, even so, praise the Lord oh my soul!")

15 In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross." (The Greek here is a word-picture of stripping the enemy and confiscating all their weapon, showing them utterly defeated. The authority to walk in holiness, goodness, humility and hope come from Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Our old habits of sinful attitudes [exerted by the "flesh", the left-over residue of the cut-away old nature], have to be dealt with as His Light shines on those shady aspects of the old way we used to live. The authority of the Risen Lord Jesus is resident in the believer through the anointing and empowering of the Holy Spirit. The Life of God we have been given is lived by the power of the Holy Spirit or not at all."

Another old hymn states "He breaks the power of CANCELLED SIN, He sets the prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest clean. His blood availed for me." Forgiveness is a "state of being" for the follower of Jesus Christ. Satan reminds us of our sin and the capacity we still have to be stupid. Jesus Christ tells us who we are, and it's utterly based on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.

Such infinite grace given to us, a new nature, a new heart, a new spirit, no longer dead in sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. When one is embraced by this salvation, our minds need renewing. We need to view life from God's perspective. I'm so grateful to God for the Bible. I can read His own Words when He states that having begun a good work in me, He will surely bring that work to completion by the Day of Christ return.

Such grace, truly received, moves the human heart to show its love by trust, believing God more than what one can see, and acting on His promises. Loving obedience is a growing "given" since Jesus Christ is at work in you reproducing His character in you. He is causing you to become your best self, and you will always be learning to take God at His Word. 

Also, contrary to present cultural conclusions, how you feel about your life is not a reliable frame of reference to truth. God has done infinitely more than we could ask or imagine...and thus is able in the here-and-now to DO in and through you. 

As you pray, ask the Lord to show you what He has already given to you, your inheritance as a joint heir with Jesus Christ. Your worship and praise will grow as the power of all He has done for you fills your thoughts and informs your choices and actions.