FREEDOM FROM CONDEMNATION
God is a good God! He is merciful, kind, and gracious; He’s a Loving God. Perhaps a tragedy has happened to someone around you, or you did something wrong, and you are full of guilt and condemnation, wondering if you could be forgiven or given a second chance and find freedom from condemnation. I have good news for you. All your past, present, and future wrongdoings have been forgiven. He repeatedly voiced it out in three chapters. “He also says: “Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17. Hebrews 8:12. Jeremiah 31:34.
FREEDOM FROM CONDEMNATION
John 8:36. So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.
I heard how Abraham Lincoln visited a slave auction ground. He saw how the slave buyers were mean, bitter, and angry toward the enslaved people, so he decided to put an offer on one of the little girls, and he succeeded in owning this slave girl by putting in a higher bid.
Abraham Lincoln was now the owner of this little girl. The girl appeared to be very bitter and angry and looked at Abraham Lincoln on his face and said, what next?
Abraham Lincoln responded, what do you mean? She said, what do you want me to do for you? He said nothing. I bought you to be free. Free to do whatever I want? Abraham Lincoln said yes, free to do whatever you want.
The girl looked at Abraham Lincoln on his face with tears and smiles and said to him I would go with you and do whatever you want me to do.
She is free to do whatever she wants, exactly what Christ did for us.
Christ’s gift of freedom has no clause. Therefore, we willingly offer an act of service to Him like what the girl did to Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln gave this girl a gift of freedom not because the girl was kind to him or not because Abraham Lincoln needed service from the girl in return. Not at all.
Abraham Lincoln’s heart was pure toward the little girl, and he was willing to sacrifice his wealth to free the girl. So the scripture said while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
MAINTAINING THE GIFT OF GRACE
See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of BITTERNESS/RESENTMENT springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; Hebrews 12:15.
When a purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. Grace has been abused and misused; that is why God is speaking to us through the writer of the book of Hebrews to maximize the precious gift of grace so we will not trash it.
What does it mean to fall short of the grace of God? My simple understanding of to fall short means “to be inferior to,” “to live beneath,” or “to be smaller than.” This scripture says to me here: Don’t face anything in life without applying grace to it. Nothing in life was meant to be met without God’s grace. When you try life without grace, you will come upon the short end of things and get bitter.
Another way to look at it is, don’t live below what Jesus has paid for you to have. But, on the other hand, don’t live smaller than the incredible life that grace will create for you.
Grace brings you into the promises of God without a struggle. Grace brings you into a life beyond your wildest dreams. God has provided life in Christ for you much more significant than ever imagined, both in this life and the future. We don’t get there by what we do but by what He did for us.
What is impressive is that we all know, deep down, that we were created for something bigger than ourselves. I know this because of what Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 3:11.
He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.
Many people today live with inner dissatisfaction, without faith in God. But it is not because they are entirely immoral or ungodly. It is because they have not found or heard about a God big enough to make sense of the things in life, big enough to allow them to make mistakes without damnation or punishment, sufficient to awaken their highest destiny, and big enough for them not to be threatened or scare them into accepting Him.
To believe in a smaller God than who He is is to fall short of the grace of God. If we think we’re one mistake away from His wrath or judgment, this falls short of His grace because it is less than what grace has done for us.
We don’t fall short and live a little life because of something we do. We live short lives, falling short of His grace because of something we believe. When we think life is a struggle to please Him, a battle to receive His love and acceptance, a work to receive His favor and goodness, we are living inferior, falling short of the grace of God.
When we believe our mistakes are more incredible than His grace, we will live a smaller life than He intends. Naturally, this will make us bitter. When we believe that what people have done to us is more significant than what God has done for us, we will fall short of His intended life. This, too, will make us bitter.
Bitterness is the evidence that we are not applying God’s grace to our life or situation.
Joseph’s life was a graceful life of living. He understood God’s grace that would be fully realized in Christ Jesus. after his brothers had sold him into slavery.
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].
Genesis 50:20.
He understood that God’s plans were more extensive than man’s plots. No matter what man did to him, Joseph knew God was doing something for him and through him. This understanding of God’s grace and goodness prevented him from being bitter. As you apply these truths of grace, you will not fall short, live small, or be upset again.
FORGAVE, FORGIVEN, AND FORGOTTEN
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, Colossians 2:13.
Most Christians have no trouble believing that Jesus has forgiven them of all their past sin. Many, however, have great difficulty believing that Jesus has already forgiven them of all their future sin as well. Because of this lack of revelation, they feel they must continually confess and repent of their sin and be cleansed of them, and they feel far from God until they have done so. As a result, they get caught up in what the Bible calls “dead works” or “faithless works” because they do not have a revelation of total forgiveness.
The truth is, God doesn’t forgive our sins; he forgave us our sins. Forgiveness is past tense. It is a completed work, not something we hope will happen someday, and is also not an ongoing process via installments. Our forgiveness is past tense; it happened 2000 years ago. When we came into Christ, we came into total and complete forgiveness of all the sins we have ever committed and all the sins we will ever achieve. The Cross looked ahead at every sin and dealt with it right there.
If the Cross only dealt with past sins, it would mean that only those who sinned before the crucifixion could be forgiven. Thus, everyone born after Jesus would not receive forgiveness and would be stuck with their sin. Their only hope would be for Jesus to be crucified again.
Similarly, if Jesus’ crucifixion didn’t atone for your future sin, then every time you sin, He would have to be crucified again for those newly committed sins to be atoned for. This Bible is clear; He forgave us all our sins-past, present, and future.
Many can’t accept this because they still have an old covenant mindset of having to offer a sacrifice to pay for their sin. When you don’t see how the “one for all” sacrifice of Christ has thoroughly dealt with all sin, from the start to the end of time, you’ll feel you need to continually offer something to pay for your sin and get rid of the guilt. Look at how the book of Hebrews explains it.
Day after day every Priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. Hebrews 10:11-14.
If you get this right, you will be free from guilt, and Satan will stop taking advantage of your ignorance.
Here it is again, “But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins. “This scripture says that Jesus offered one sacrifice for all sin and all time. Not many sacrifices, but one sacrifice. Not some sins, but all sins. Not just time passed, but for all time. That means past, present, and future sin. All sin was included and wholly dealt with.
I am confident to let you know that all of your future sins have already been forgiven, even before you have committed them. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8.
Knowing this will seriously affect how you live your life and the relationship you enjoy with God. It will free you from many lifeless rituals and release you into a new and living way of serving God and being fruitful.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! Hebrews 9:14.
Many Christians, when they sin, feel unrighteous, dirty, and guilty. They think they have let God down and that God is no longer pleased with them. Their guilt then drives them to try and deal with their sin. So they pray and confess their sin. Then, finally, they repent and promise God that they will never do it again. Remember the Prodigal Son’s story when he returned to his father with an inferiority mindset. Still, his father never gave room to that and corrected him, telling him that he was a son and not an enslaved person.
I am no longer worthy to be called your Son; make me like one of your hired servants.’
Luke 15:19.
Do you know that there is no Scripture under the New Covenant that commands born-again believers to confess their sins, repent of them, or even ask God to now forgive them? I know this challenges our modern-day sin-conscious mindset and strikes fear into the heart of some believers who think this will lead to casting off of restraint.
To confess, repent and ask God for the forgiveness of sins is a contradiction to the Gospel. Why? Because by one sacrifice, He has dealt with all sins. And you need to go back and look at all the scriptures that people use to try and get you confessing and repenting in their proper context. You will be surprised.
Under the New Covenant, we are not called to confess our sins but to confess our righteousness in Jesus Christ.
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Take your eyes off your sin and get your eyes onto Christ. The more you do that, the more you will overcome sin in your life.
FREE FROM GUILTY CONSCIENCE
Acts 24:16. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.
The desire to want to say sorry to God and to ask for forgiveness is the result of a conscience that is more aware of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil than a consciousness of the finished work of Christ.
A conscience that wants to get rid of guilt by practicing these dead work rituals is a conscience that needs to be washed with the blood of Jesus. Therefore, it would be best if you renewed your conscience to grace.
Of course, we’ll feel guilt after sin. That’s normal. Something would be seriously wrong if we didn’t. But it’s how we deal with that guilt that’s important. Do we try to achieve righteousness and forgiveness, or do we rest in the finished work of Christ and confess our perfect righteousness and purity in Him?
The kind of confession I make if I mess up, “God, I’m so sorry. I did not want to do that. That’s not part of my new creation nature. But I will not get all morbid and introspective or sorrowful and guilty. You don’t want that. You want me to lift my head, stay in the Spirit, and thank you for your free gift of righteousness and total forgiveness. So I fix my eyes and consciences on Jesus, whose blood has washed away all my sin. Thank you that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I believe it”.
God doesn’t want guilt-ridden introspection that focuses on our sin. Instead, he wants us to focus on Him continually.
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2.
“Relationship with God [Christianity] is not about how much we work extremely hard to please God; it is about knowing who He is and experiencing Him.”
