If you are “in Christ,” you can live …
A life without condemnation.
Verse 1 of Romans, Chapter 8 – “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Circle that tiny, little word “no.” In the original text, that’s a Greek word, and it’s the strongest possible word for “no” you can use in the entire language. It means “absolutely, positively NO!” There is absolutely, positively NO condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Fact: God is not angry with me.
Fact: God is not angry with me.
When you blow it, God does not reject you. When you sin, God does not hold a grudge against you. Why? Because your sins have already been paid for. That’s what Jesus did on the cross. So, if Jesus paid for your sins, you don’t need to pay for them. That would be double jeopardy.
Jesus said it Himself in John 3:17 – “I didn’t come into the world to condemn the world, I came to save it.”
So, if God is not beating you up over your past mistakes, then you’ve got to stop beating yourself up!
I read about a church where they march through the streets with whips, weeping and wailing, and whipping their backs bloody to show the world what sorry sinners they are.
I thought, I know a lot of churches like that! You go to church and they beat on you, week after week. A lot of people don’t feel like they’ve been preached to unless they get a good verbal spanking. “Pastor, that message was so good! It made me feel so bad!” That’s masochism to feel like you haven’t been to worship unless you feel like you’ve been run over by a bulldozer.
Write it across your heart: God is not angry with me!