"To them which are in Christ Jesus. Think it not a strange expression. It is well chosen. Faith in Christ, union to Christ, and similar expressions, mean much more than can easily be comprehended. The expression 'them which are in Christ' is added, that we may not too soon think we understand the others.
In Christ, as Noah was in the ark. Without, the besom of condemnation swept the universal face of things; but there was no condemnation to him who had fled for refuge to that sanctuary. In the ark with Noah was all that had life, and all that could nourish life. Abundance of blessing within, desolation without.
How terrible a venture would it have been to go forth of that ark."
— George Bowen (1816–1888) · The White Sadhu of Bombay✦ As Noah Was in the Ark
Bowen chooses an image that makes the abstract physical. Not "believing in Christ" as an intellectual position. Not "united to Christ" as a theological formula. In Christ — the way Noah was entirely, physically, completely inside the ark. Enclosed. Surrounded. Contained within something that held while everything outside was swept away.
Two realities separated by the wall of the ark: abundance within, desolation without. Everything that had life, everything that could nourish life — inside. The besom of condemnation — outside. And Bowen's quiet warning: how terrible a venture would it have been to go forth.
Condemnation
The besom sweeping the universal face of things. Nothing left standing. No refuge, no sanctuary, no life. The sentence executed on everything outside the wall.
No Condemnation
All that had life. All that could nourish life. Abundance of blessing. The same storm, the same flood — but inside the ark, none of it reaches. The wall holds.
"In Christ, as Noah was in the ark."
— George Bowen · Not a theological formula. A sanctuary. A place to be."As a young Christian, I would receive condemnation as truth, because after all, I am a sinner. Now I don't support it as truth, because with time, this was more and more revealed to me through the work of Jesus Christ in my life and guidance of the Holy Spirit."
The young Christian hears condemnation and thinks — yes, that fits. I know what I am. The 500 denari debt is real. The condemnation sounds accurate. And so the soul moves toward the door of the ark, ready to step back into the storm, because the storm seems to match what the soul deserves. But years of walking with Christ reveal what the young soul could not see: the condemnation that sounded like truth was a lie dressed in humility's clothes. Romans 8:1 is not a hope. It is a declaration. There is now no condemnation.
"Think not that 'no condemnation' is a merely negative thing. The revoking of a sentence of condemnation, even in the case of an earthly prisoner, gives him to enjoy the blessings that descend in such profusion in the beams of the sun, spring up in the abundant crops and the manifold fruits, blow in the breeze, and murmur in the stream; restores him to the society of many loved ones, and affords him the opportunity of rising to wealth and distinction.
And the words 'no condemnation,' in the case of the spiritual captive, removes the veil that hindered him from meeting the reconciled face of Him whose name is Love.
The words not only liberate him, but liberate ten thousand ministers of God, celestial and terrestrial, who spring forth to wait upon him, and will never leave him till they have brought him, victorious, radiant, pure and blessed, to the company of Gabriel, and of Michael, and of all the saints in light."
— George Bowen (1816–1888)✦ The Reconciled Face of Him Whose Name Is Love
"No condemnation" is not merely the absence of punishment. It is the beginning of everything. The earthly prisoner walks out into sunlight, feels the breeze, hears the stream, sees loved ones again. The spiritual captive receives something greater still — the veil removed that hid the reconciled face of God. Not an angry face. Not a face turning away. The face of the One whose name is Love, now visible because condemnation no longer stands between.
✦ Ten Thousand Ministers Liberated
And the liberation is not only for the captive. "No condemnation" releases ten thousand ministers of God — celestial and terrestrial — who spring forth to serve. Angels held back by the sentence, now free to attend. And Bowen says they will never leave — till they have brought him, victorious, radiant, pure and blessed, to the company of Gabriel, and of Michael, and of all the saints in light.
The Ark
In Christ as Noah was in the ark. Abundance within, desolation without. The wall holds. The soul that stays inside is not reached by what sweeps everything else away.
Not Merely Negative
The revoking of condemnation is the beginning of everything — sunlight, breeze, loved ones, the reconciled face of Love. The removal of the sentence opens the whole of creation to the one set free.
Ten Thousand Ministers
The words liberate not only the captive but the angels. Celestial and terrestrial ministers spring forth — and will not leave until they have brought the freed soul victorious, radiant, pure and blessed to the saints in light.
"Thank you George Bowen, I receive every word."