Follow the Diet of Redemption to Lose the Weight of Condemnation

by Barbara Latta

The new year is full of advice for losing weight. Diet plans abound and most New Year’s resolutions

involve a person’s goal of shedding a few pounds. Unfortunately, very few stick to the diet because they involve too much self-control and willpower. Losing weight requires a change of lifestyle, not a temporary diet restriction.

But the kind of weight we really need to lose is the burden of condemnation. If you are a human, (and I assume you are if you are reading this!), condemnation has gripped you at some point in life. It’s a fact of human nature. Because we were born in into the fallen nature of Adam.

But God.

God had a plan that included redemption before the foundation of the world.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, redemption means the action of gaining or regaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.  Adam incurred a debt. Jesus paid it off. That means done, complete, nothing owed.

Have you ever felt so badly about something you did that you ran from God? You felt so condemned the thoughts of “how can you approach God now after having that thought or doing that act?” I have. I let my mind condemn me until I wouldn’t read my Bible or pray for weeks because I felt so unworthy. 

Well, of course, I wasn’t worthy. None of us are. But Jesus is. When we are born again, He is in us so He makes us worthy to approach God. If we don’t approach our Father when we have sinned, who else can we go to? We can’t clean ourselves up enough. But the truth is we are already clean on the inside, no matter what sin we may have committed. The sin is in the mind or body and that’s where the Word cleanses us (see John 13:10).

Jesus came to earth as the second Adam and fulfilled what Adam should have done when tempted. Adam should have kicked the serpent out of the garden and completed God’s plan of perfection on earth. God had given him the right and authority to do that.

But Adam submitted to temptation and sin entered the world and thus the bloodline of mankind.

Jesus completed God’s plan. He didn’t give in to temptation. He didn’t sin. He became the perfect sacrifice with his blood, and He gave to us the power to be cleansed from the fallen sin nature.

But because we still have a mind of our own, we can still give in to temptation and sin. But that doesn’t mean the debt returns. Our debt is cleared. For all time (Hebrews 8:12).

But the mind will still condemn us.

The devil will condemn us.

 Other people will still condemn us.

When we give in to the attack of condemnation, the burden of sin weighs us down. That’s why it’s important to feed on the Word of God from spiritual birth so that we are following the diet of redemption. Then we will recognize those lies of condemnation and they cannot get a stronghold in our minds.

Knowing our inheritance shows us what God gave us at salvation.  Here a diet plan (all references from NKJV):

• 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. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).
• For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:10).
• The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned (Psalm 23:22).
• Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God (1 John 3:21).
• Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more (John 8:11b).

Just like losing physical weight requires a change of lifestyle, losing the weight of condemnation requires a change of mindset. When we follow the diet of redemption, we lose the weight of condemnation.

Join the conversation. Feel free to add to the diet plan of redemption.

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