This verse sums up the great blessing of faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and sin-bearer. Here Paul is summing up all the great truths of salvation in Jesus Christ which he has been expounding so far in this tremendous letter. Paul goes on to make this summary clearer as he continues this chapter. So let us address this wonderful verse.
Being in Christ Jesus speaks of being united to our Lord Jesus Christ in all the saving work he has done for sinners. We are united to him as we put our trust in him alone for our acceptance with God, and when we do this, renouncing any claim of any righteousness of our own, and being deeply repentant for falling short of God's glory, all that Christ worked for us in his life and death is put to our account before God, so that there is no condemnation from God upon us. This is because our beloved Saviour has met all the demands of God's holiness in our place and for us.
However, although we may believe this by faith it is true in the experience of many believers that the absolute security of this truth is not always enjoyed, and doubts and fears assault the mind. It is such experience that I want to speak about in this thought for the month.
As soon as, the gift of faith in Jesus Christ is received, we are translated from Satan's domination into the kingdom of Christ. Satan is naturally furious at losing one of his subjects, and although he can't bring us back into his kingdom, he does shout at us over the border, with assaults of doubts and fears, and seeks to destroy our faith, and return us to works for our acceptance with God.
The way forward to defeat the doubts Satan puts into our minds is to dwell on the truth of our text. Because Christ has worked perfect righteousness which meets all the requirements of God in his holiness, there is no condemnation for the believer in Jesus, because this perfect righteousness of Jesus is put to our account before God, and so by faith we are eternally accepted by God. So when Satan keeps reminding us of all our sins and failures, we reply to him 'the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin.