28The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”… 30But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God…”
Luke 1:28, 30
I frequently say that God is good. All the time. No matter what my circumstances are, I know that the God who is in control loves me beyond my understanding and wants more goodness for me than I understand. Yet it doesn’t always feel that way! Well, I could say that it doesn’t always feel like my husband loves me, too, but I know the truth is that he does. My feelings aren’t the gauge of God’s love for me. Truth determines reality and the truth is that God loves me and is always working both within me and in the circumstances around me to conform me to the image of Christ – and that is definitely for my good. Doesn’t matter how I feel about it. What does matter is how I respond to it.
The angel of the Lord spoke and reported Truth to Mary when he greeted her, saying “The Lord is with you” and “you have found favor with God.” Of course, he immediately follows up the latter greeting with “you’re going to become pregnant even though you aren’t married yet and you haven’t had sexual intercourse yet.” He might as well have met her with the greeting “Good morning, Mary! God is with you! He’s about to mess up your life big time!”
Finding favor with the Lord is a good thing. Having our lives turned upside down – well, from our perspective, not always such a good thing! Lord, give us Your perspective! Example after example after example in Scripture and in history shows us that when God wants to use someone, their life is turned upside down – when God blesses them, their life becomes unpleasant.
It begs the question: What is our definition of being “favored” or blessed by God? Is it a “pleasant” life? Or is it being used by Him to impact those around us and beyond? Mary’s life immediately became unpleasant, and ultimately her heart was shattered as she watched her Son die a horrific death. Yet the angel greeted her “you have found favor with God.”
I want to find favor with God, and I want Him to use me to impact those around me and beyond. I think that means I ought to get used to a life that seems turned upside down. I’m pretty sure it also means that I ought to greet those jumbled and chaotic circumstances with more faith and hope (confident expectation) than I often do. Again, I pray, Lord, give me Your perspective!
How about you? Are you complaining about your circumstances today? Perhaps they are the circumstances that God has orchestrated to favor you. How did you greet them? With grumbling or in faith with thankful praise?
God, help me to greet the jumbled, chaotic circumstances you throw me today in faith and with thankful praise. Help me to respond as Mary did:
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”
Luke 1:38a
Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him.
2 Samuel 14:14
One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture. We’re all going to die. “But God” – how thankful I am that God steps in to change my situations! He doesn’t take away our life – instead, He “devises ways” – I love that – He devises ways – schemes and plots and plans, going to great lengths and implementing fantastic scenarios – “so that the banished person may not remain estranged from Him.”
That’s grace, my friend! Found in the Old Testament!
He loves us so much! Our sin has banished us from the presence of a Holy God. It has made it impossible for us to look into His face. This passage was spoken to David who longed to see the face of his son who had been banished from the Kingdom because of his sin. We have been banished from God’s Kingdom for our sins.
But God…He devised a plan – even before I was born – that would bring me to a place of recognizing that there is a God, that He is a good God, that He made a way for me to know Him – not only know Him, but spend all of eternity with Him – and that I was willing to submit my life to that God. What a plan! Trust me – it took quite a bit of devising to bring me from the place I was (an unbelieving aetheist who had nothing but disdain for Christians) to the place of trust in Christ. God makes a way…“so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him.”Thank You, Lord!
“I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” God’s grace is truly amazing!
In my last blog, we looked at Ephesians 1:3 and learned that we have been blessed beyond our understanding – “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms” simply “because we belong to Christ.” (NLT) I know that I don’t begin to understand the heights and depths of those blessings. I don’t begin to understand how those blessings impact my life even today – although I sure enjoyed meditating on the passage yesterday. Another verse that came to mind – one that we looked at just a week or so ago:
1Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. 2Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth.
Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV)
It’s how I want to live my life – so confident of the realities of heaven, so confident that this world is not my home, that the things of this world have less and less power to drag me down. That was the message and application of Ephesians 1:3 for me. Now let’s move on to verses 4 and 6. I’d like to continue looking at the verses in two different translations, the New International Version (NIV) and the New Living Translation (NLT):
4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1:4-6 (NIV)
4Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.
6So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.
Ephesians 1:4-6 (NLT)
When I read these passages, several words stand out to me, and they make the verses have very personal meanings:
“chosen” – Before the creation of the world (“before the foundation of the world” is how it reads in the King James Version) God chose me. I am not in Christ because of some fluke accident. I am in Christ because I was predestined to be in Christ. Now I’m not going to get into doctrinal discussions about predestination vs. free will because I don’t believe we can fully reconcile the passages in Scripture that address both subjects – but I believe they are reconciled in God. (God’s mind is so much bigger than mine, which is quite a comforting thought!) Suffice it to say that I am fully confident that it is not God’s desire for anyone to perish but for all to come to the point of repenting for their sins and turning to Christ for forgiveness (2 Peter 3:9). Furthermore, I’m confident that I have been “chosen before the creation of the world” and that knowledge changes me. It does something in the core of my being that changes how I view myself and the world around me.
Furthermore, I have been chosen for a purpose – to be “holy and blameless in His sight.” When I view myself as someone whom God has called, chosen and predestined to be holy and blameless, I act differently than when I view myself as someone who is called to a lower standard. I walk taller and am more aware of my actions. I want to please the One who chose me.
The New Living Translation doesn’t use the word “predestined” – instead, it describes it as God’s “unchanging plan.” We serve a God who never changes. His plan has been to bring us to Christ from the beginning of time. The Old Testament tells the same story as the New Testament. God has always made a way for people to find Him.
Why? Because it gives Him “great pleasure.” It boggles my mind that I give God great pleasure, but Scripture is clear about it. Psalm 147 is just one place that tells us that “the Lord takes delight in His people.” God takes delight in me. I love the word “delight.” If you look it up in a dictionary, you’ll find words like “extreme satisfaction,” “great pleasure” and “joy.” Adopting me into His family has given God great pleasure. I’m real good with that!
Lord, thank You! Thank You for adopting me into Your family. Thank You for purposing from the beginning of time – before you even created the world I would live in – that I would become holy and blameless in Your sight. Forgive me when I don’t live up to that calling. It is my great honor to please my King.
One of my favorite movies is Guess Who with Ashton Kutcher, Zoe Saldana, Bernie Mac and Judith Scott. It’s a 2005 remake of the 1967 film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner with Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy & Sidney Poitier.
In Guess Who, Theresa brings her boyfriend Simon home to meet her parents. Theresa and her parents are black. Theresa neglects to tell her parents that Simon is white, complicating all the relationships. Overriding the issue of race is Theresa’s father’s distrust of Simon. After a dinner ruckus that many consider the funniest part of the movie, Theresa goes to her father to talk. Every time I watch this scene I am stunned by its strength and truth.It is a perfect message for Father’s Day.
You can watch their interaction in this clip. The clip is 8 minutes and 35 seconds and includes the dinner scene, but the scene that makes it perfect for Father’s day begins at 6:29. Watch the whole thing or just part of it (or just continue reading below).
Theresa confesses to her father that she is afraid to marry a white man. She loves him and he’s a wonderful guy, but she’s experienced hateful words and looks when they are in public and she is afraid. Here’s the interchange that impacted me so strongly:
Theresa:I need you to tell me that it’s OK to be with him. Her Father: Baby, me telling you it’s OK is not going to change the world. Theresa: But it would change my world. Daddy, it’ll change my world if I know you’re behind us.
“But it would change my world.” Somehow, knowing that we have our father’s support, approval and blessing changes our world. Knowing that we have someone behind us gives us courage to face the battles in front of us.
Yesterday I was organizing some old photos and I came across the envelope that holds all the memorabilia associated with my father’s death. I don’t think I’ve looked through it since my dad died a few years ago, and I didn’t go looking for it yesterday – God’s timing sure is interesting, isn’t it? One of the things in the envelope was the printed version of his online guestbook. I read all the entries, and here’s part of my husband’s entry:
“Hey there, old man!” That’s how Pat and I always greeted each other. My father died of cancer when I was 12 years old. For the last 29 years, Pat Parks was as close to being a father to me as anyone. I always felt like he had my back. He wasn’t one to hover over us, but I always knew that he was watching out for me…I look forward to seeing him again – on the Other Side – and saying, “Hey there, old man!” (emphasis mine)
Dads – let your kids know that you have their backs. Don’t hover, but let them know you are behind them – cheering, encouraging and backing up in a fight when necessary. (And be sure to tell your daughters how smart and beautiful they are!)
The wonderful thing about being a child of God, is that He is a perfect Father. Whether our earthly fathers were supportive or not, we can stand with confidence and face the battles in front of us because He always has our backs. He promised He would. And we can bank on that.
18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-30
5bfor he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” 6So we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5b-6
11The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
13“But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
14The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
17Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.
Judges 6:11-17
2 Lessons of Hope
Did you catch Gideon’s perspective and attitude?
He is living his life in the midst of a terrorist state. Verses 3 through 5 of the chapter paint the picture for us:
3Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.
Judges 6:3-5
Imagine living in a place where every time you are ready to receive your paycheck, terrorists invade your business and steal your check, then ruin all the equipment and set the building on fire. OK, so the first time that happens you’re pretty devastated, but you pick yourself up and you build again and you work and work until you’ve earned enough money to actually take some money out of the business. Or maybe you find someone else who has built again and you work for them and you are about to get your first paycheck in quite a long time. In either scenario, just as you’re about to receive your paycheck, terrorists strike again. They steal your paycheck and all money in the building, again demolish the property and set fire to the building. What do you do? How do you feel?
That’s where Gideon lived. He was doing the best he could for his family, but he was clearly not at the top of his game spiritually. He was secretly threshing wheat in a wine press to feed his family. I imagine as he sat there alone that he struggled to hold onto the faith of his fathers. I imagine that the voices in his head were leading him to despair instead of hope.
You can hardly blame him for his responses to the angel –
“If the Lord…why? Where are all His wonders…?” (v. 13) “How can I…” (v. 15) “If…give me a sign…” (v.17)
Yep! Gideon is at a very low point spiritually. I’ve been there. I’m guessing you have as well.
It’s fascinating that this is the person God chooses to use to save the Israelites.
Lesson #1: God can use us in the midst of our own personal crisis of faith!
Did you catch how the angel addressed Gideon?
Gideon – who is at an emotional and spiritual low point and who is hiding from the enemy in terror – is addressed by the angel of the Lord as “mighty warrior.” The word that is translated “warrior” is chayil and means “strength, might, efficiency, wealth and army.” It is often translated valor. (Tomorrow I’ll blog about more about this word – it’s pretty exciting.) The angel makes his point even stronger by adding an adjective (gibbor) that means “strong, mighty.”
I repeat – the angel of the Lord called Gideon “mighty warrior.” I imagine Gideon looked around to see who the angel was talking to. Given his current mindset and experience, I wouldn’t be surprised if a moment of terror seized his heart as he imagined that the angel was talking to someone about to steal his family’s food again.
Lesson #2: God sees us as the finished product, not as we are in the midst of our failures.
Yes, He sees our sins and our failures. But He sees BEYOND our sins and our failures to the person we truly are. Our sin and failure does not need to define us for all our life.
Perhaps my real-life example helps illustrate this: Yesterday, I was experiencing a moment of weak faith, wandering about mentally and emotionally and fighting against despair about my future (I’ll blog about this in a few days). But even in that moment, God knew that I would skirt the brink of despair and settle on the Rock of Hope. He would have been totally correct to address me as “Rock of Hope settler” had He spoken to me as I was resting at “Despair Place” because that is where I ended the day.
“Mighty warrior” is the person God saw in Gideon. “Rock of Hope settler” is the person He sees in me.
Where are you, friend? Are you hiding from the world, having been terrorized by the enemy? God can still use you. He sees beyond your weaknesses and failures and even beyond your sin. Be encouraged. Gideon went on, after a bit of coaxing by the Lord, to be that “mighty warrior” the angel found hiding in the wine press. You can too.
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? …
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:28-37
Today’s reading included Galatians 3. I am challenged each time I read this chapter – it is one of my favorite chapters of Scripture (but then I think I write something like that in every blog!).
1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
6Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
Galatians 3:1-7
Paul speaks to me and says “Foolish Sandy! Are you so easily deceived? Did you receive the Lord by your good works or by believing that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for your sins? If God provides salvation through His Son Jesus, won’t He provide all else through Him? Are you trying to earn those other things on your own?”
And I am challenged to let go of striving and take hold of faith. I am challenged to see that my efforts are a slap in the face or a turning of my back on the One who gives freely.
Paul goes on to explain to the Galatians and to me, that the promises of God came to the Hebrews, not through the law, but through His covenant with Abraham. It is not obedience to the law that enables them to receive the promises of God, it is through the covenant that God initiated and made with them. Similarly, it is not through my works that I will receive God’s promises and the inheritance He has promised me, it is through the new covenant He has initiated with me.
1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4“As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”
Genesis 17:1-7
God initiated the covenant with Abraham – it is by God’s grace that the covenant was established – His choosing, His reaching to Abraham, His goodness. It was not because of Abraham’s efforts or goodness that he became a party to the covenant, an inheritor of the promises.
God told Abraham to leave his country, his people and his father’s household and “go to the land I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Scripture records simply “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:4a). Abraham demonstrated his faith by leaving all that was familiar and following the Lord.
Likewise, God initiated His covenant with me by His grace. I didn’t go to God and ask for Christ to die for me. I didn’t reach out to Him before He reached out to me.
9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 4:9-10
I demonstrate my faith the same way Abraham demonstrated his faith – by leaving what I know and following God. By saying “Yes, Lord” with my feet and my hands and my heart and my head.
Recognize that following and saying “yes, Lord” means that we are not walking in front of Him, rather He is walking in front of us. And it doesn’t mean that the responsibility for the success of any one thing or everything I am doing doesn’t live or die with me. To believe that it does – or to act in such a way that reveals that I believe it does – puts me in the ranks of the foolish Galatians.
However, when I understand that my actions demonstrate the faith that I have and when I grab hold of the confidence that God has given me His many promises – where is there room for striving? There is none. There is only room for faithful obedience. Faithful obedience has reflects that we know that we know that we know that God is in control and there is no place and no need for my striving. Faithful obedience is full of hope and confidence that each step is a step toward the good things that God has prepared in advance for us to do.
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-9
God has prepared the works for us to do, friends, and He has prepared us to do them. There is no place for striving in it. Reading this passage this morning prompted me to pray. Including that prayer seems an appropriate way to end this blog. I hope that it is your prayer as well.
Lord, thank You for Your grace. I am awed and humbled and blessed beyond measure by it. Thank you for releasing me from the need for striving. Forgive me when I forget that it’s all about You and all about Your plans. And beyond that, Lord, forgive me when I make it about me by trying to achieve on my own. Help me to apprehend the life you have created me to live not through earthly means, but by following You.
If you’re reading along with us using the Resting at the River’s Edge reading plan, yesterday you read Numbers 34 and found the Lord defining the boundaries of Israel. He very specifically identifies the boundary lines on the north, south, east and west.
Israel had not yet battled for the land – it was still inhabited by their enemy. It would take much warfare to reach those boundaries. Yet the Lord defined the boundaries for them. As I read the passage, I wondered why God would do such a thing. Why tell them the vastness of their property when it is all inhabited by the enemy? Why tell them the limits of their property, regardless of how big it might be, before they fight their first battle?
As I continued to read, I experienced a sense of peace and wondered if that was the answer to my question. By telling the Israelites the specific boundaries of the land that belonged to them, God was doing several things:
He was encouraging them – building courage into them by declaring that the land already belonged to them. They could fight for it with authority and confidence because God had already given it to them.
He was giving them peace, because knowing their boundaries also meant knowing that there would be a time when they had conquered the land and battle would stop. When I’m in a battle, knowing that it will end brings me internal peace. It can be easy to fall into despair in the midst of a battle. Knowing that you are fighting a God-ordained battle and that the battle will one day end brings hope and light into the darkness.
He was giving them confidence by assuring the Israelites that He already saw into their future and knew what their boundaries were. In the midst of a battle, I love knowing that God already knows the end of the story; He has already seen it and seen me in it.
He was also giving them every reason to remain faithful to and humble before their God. All along, the Israelites have been journeying to the land that God has promised them. He was now establishing the boundaries of the land they were to be given.
I see the love and faithfulness of God, even as he tells the Israelites what their boundaries will be in the Promised Land.
Of course, God has established boundaries for us, too. They represent the length and breadth of “land” that we are to conquer and settle. They include many of the freedoms and the authority in which we walk as co-heirs with Christ. We can have confidence when we fight battles to win these freedoms – God has already established that those freedoms are well within our boundaries. We can be encouraged when the battle seems long, knowing that God has already given us the territory.
The boundaries God has set for us also include specific limits for our life and ministry. Many like to think that there are no limits on what we can do for God. I disagree. God has gifted each of us according to His plan and purpose for our lives. To operate beyond His calling on our lives is to be outside our boundaries. That’s not to say that we should never operate outside our spiritual and natural giftings. Often, God calls us to step into the gap and serve in an area in which we’d much rather stay far away from. God will supernaturally supply our need to accomplish His will in that interim position. We show our faithfulness to Him by going wherever He calls and leads. Setting these temporary assignments aside, however, it’s important that we not push beyond the boundaries that God has set for us. Has He gifted you to be an outstanding small group leader? Be satisfied with that ministry, not looking to expand your territory. In America, bigger is always better. In God’s kingdom, living life fully to the boundaries and not beyond is always best.
3Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
Exodus 19: 3-6
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10
Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12
As I said in the first blog in this series, I want to take hold of the eternal life to which I was called. I have accepted Christ and seek to give Him full authority in my life. Yet I know that I often limp through this life not taking hold of all that He has for me here and now.
One of those things is living my life free from condemnation. When thinking about this, your mind probably goes to the same verse you’ve heard so many times:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Romans 8:1
We all say “Hallelujah” when we hear this verse, and we should – there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus – none – nada – zip – zilch – zero. There is none.
But I doubt that we live like that. I know that there are many times when I don’t.
It’s interesting to note that the writer of the book of Romans is the Apostle Paul. If ever there was someone who would be tempted to feel condemnation it would be Paul. We first see him in the book of Acts. As Stephen was being stoned to death for proclaiming Christ, Acts 8:1 says Saul, who would later become Paul, “was there, giving approval to his death.” Acts 8 continues:
2Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
Acts 8:2-3
Paul had a history and his name was Saul. As Saul, he persecuted the church. It’s not a history I would want to have. I think I’d be tempted to feel lingering (or strong) condemnation as I sought to live out my new life in Christ. Yet Paul wrote “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Hallelujah! If Paul can be forgiven so fully that there is no longer any condemnation associated with his former life, surely I can be forgiven, too.
What’s even more interesting is the context in which Paul wrote the verse. Let’s look at the verse in context:
21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Romans 7:21 – 8:4
In making his declaration that there is no condemnation, Paul wasn’t even referring to his persecution of the church before he came to know Christ. He was referring to his life after Christ – that even after coming to know and serve Christ he found himself continually tempted to sin. He is so remorseful about this that he writes “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” But you have to love his proclamation in response to his own question –“Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
It seems to me that Paul’s focus of being set free from condemnation related to his sin nature and his current proclivity to sin speaks loudly in what it leaves out – it’s as if he’s so free from condemnation from sins related to his former life that they’re not even on his radar any more! That is, if he is free from condemnation of his sinful nature even after coming to Christ, if he is free from condemnation of the sins he does to this very day, how much more so is he free from condemnation for sins committed before coming to Christ?
Paul embraced his new-found freedom in Christ and found himself released from the Law, which required regular blood sacrifice for the atonement of sins. Released from the Law of sin and death, he lived according to the law of the Spirit of life. Living under such a law means living free from condemnation.
Potential Sources of Our Condemnation
It seems to me that condemnation can come from one of four sources:
Ourselves
Others around us
Satan
God
We’ve already shown that God does not condemn us, so we can rule Him out, but just in case you are still in doubt, let’s look at one more passage. You probably know the first verse, but do you know the two that follow it?
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:16-18
If you believe in Christ, you are not condemned by God. Period. He accepts and forgives you. Unconditionally.
Satan doesn’t want you to believe that, of course, and he will hound you with accusations for past, present, real and imagined sins. Follow the advice of Peter:
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith.
1 Peter 5:8-9a
Stand before Satan’s onslaughts saying, “I am a forgiven child of God. Christ died so that I might be saved, not so that I would be condemned.” Repeat as necessary!
Perhaps it is the condemnation of others that hurts the most. It does for me, anyway. Especially when it comes from people I respect and/or have had a close relationship with. Earlier today God brought me face to face with an old insecurity of mine. As I wrestled to determine the source of the insecurity, God reminded me of an incidence from my long ago past. Being reminded of the incident, I asked God, “Lord, do you have anything to say to me about that situation?” What I sensed was that the accusation – the condemnation – that was brought against me was brought out of the other person’s insecurity. I also sensed that the entire situation brought pain to both of us, causing us both to walk with a limp for a period of time. These were not limps that God desired us to have.
In Christ Jesus, there is now no condemnation! Accusations that have been waged against us, accusations that we have taken into our hearts and spirits, accusations that we have allowed to grow into cancerous tumors with fingers that choke out our life – Be gone in Jesus Name!
Ask God for healing of past wounds where healing is needed. What He said to me about that long-ago situation brought healing to my heart and spirit. A sadness in understanding the long-lasting affect it has had on both of us, but healing nonetheless.
Don’t let others throw condemnation onto you. Take the condemnations immediately to God and ask Him to remove even the smallest speck of the accusation that might take hold in you.
Finally, we are often our own worst enemy, aren’t we? I have worked diligently over the past several years to change the way I speak and think. There was a time when I would quickly condemn myself for even the most minor failing. When I catch myself in such a thought or word, I immediately speak the opposite. “I am an intelligent, thoughtful, capable woman of God. Even if I wasn’t, God would be passionately in love with me. Who am I to think so wrongly about someone (me) of whom the Lord thinks so highly? Am I calling Him a liar? Am I dissing the forgiveness that He has given me so freely and at such a great cost? I surely hope not! Lord, forgive me, and I will know that once forgiven, I am not condemned.
Scripture is clear: We are not condemned by the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Creator of the Universe. “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) That’s a rhetorical question – the short answer is that many people may be against us, but none will prevail unless we give up the ground we’ve been given. Friends, take hold of the eternal life to which you’ve been called – a life that is free from condemnation by God. With that freedom, release condemnation that might be thrown your way by Satan, other people, and yourself. Let your shield against these fiery darts be your knowledge that you stand forgiven by the One who has all power and authority to forgive and that you do not stand condemned. Walk in freedom!
There’s an old hymn by that name. Perhaps you know it. The chorus goes like this:
“I love to tell the story, ‘Twill be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.”
As we are reading Isaiah 43 in our Resting at the River’s Edge reading today, I’m replaying an old blog based on the first four verses. They are verses that tell the old, old story of God’s great love for us and are a foreshadow of that love demonstrated by Jesus. Take a few minutes to read or re-read my blog from last December, “How Very Much We’re Loved by God!“
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