January 23

Double Jeopardy

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  ––Romans 8:3-4

If you are like me, you grew up watching Alex Trebek on Jeopardy! Even if you didn’t grow up in a Jeopardy! household, everyone’s aware of the iconic game show that’s been running for more than half a century. The beloved trivia game got its name from Merv Griffin, the creator of the show. As in, contestants are given the answers, but are “placed in jeopardy” of losing money if they can’t come up with the correct answers.

One of the meanings of the word jeopardy is “the danger that an accused person is subjected to when on trial for a criminal offense” (Mirriam Webster’s). So the whole idea for Jeopardy! was a show that built that tension of possibly “losing it all” (which happens sometimes to contestants). And of course, on the game show, contestants play a second round, called double jeopardy, where the rewards—and risks—are even higher.

Thankfully, in real life, there is no double jeopardy. For example, in this country, a person cannot be tried for the same crime twice—known as double jeopardy. And as God’s men, the news gets even better: when we walk with Christ, condemnation has been put to death—buried with Christ in cold stony tomb, and redeemed by His resurrection.

Here’s the wrinkle, though: We have an adversary who fights tooth and nail to get us to forget this truth. One of the devil’s greatest stunts is tricking us into believing that we can be re-condemned, even though there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)

How insane is that? We are fully forgiven and covered by God’s grace, but we allow ourselves to be retried in hell’s court of double jeopardy—even though Satan has no jurisdiction to do so. Man of God, you’ve already been tried and found innocent because you have an advocate in heaven who has already paid the fines, secured your freedom, and set you on the path of grace.

Don’t allow the enemy to drag you back into court.

Case closed!

Father, thank You that in the courts of heaven, I am not condemned. I am so grateful today for my freedom in Christ!