|
Experiencing God’s Love
With rehearsed nonchalance, a few lanky teens played hacky-sack outside
the church entrance as people streamed toward the doors. A cross-section
of our town showed up for the evening—a university professor, a mother
with small children, a pair of teenage girls wearing one-size-too-small
clothing, a school janitor, a man with a ponytail who worked at the ski
hill. Though diverse, all were ordinary, small-town people. I was one of
them.
We all settled into our seats as the visiting pastor began with three
questions.
“How many of you believe God is love?” Hands rose like a stirred flock of
birds, then resettled into laps.
“How many of you believe God loves you personally?” he asked. Again, many
hands flew up. Why such easy-Sunday-school-type questions? I wondered.
“Now, how many of you experience God’s love in a tangible way on a regular
basis?” I noticed only a few responses in a room of several hundred
people. The discrepancy was striking and perplexing.
Flawed Thinking
For many Christians, belief about God’s love doesn’t translate into
experience. On a gut level, a gap exists. Although we say God is love,
inside we endure a bewildering disconnect from God, wondering if He is
somehow disappointed with us. After all, as the saying goes, If you don’t
feel close to God, guess who moved? Vague feelings of condemnation can
form an unspoken belief that God is not for us but against us because we
don’t measure up. Many who are painfully aware of their shortcomings feel
far away from God in a quagmire of condemnation.
Many Christians live under condemnation, knowing they’re saved by grace,
but mistakenly believing that performing good works maintains their
salvation. Some will reference James 2:14-18, saying faith without works
is dead. Others may never consciously think or speak this. Nonetheless,
this hidden belief causes them to strive for God’s love instead of working
from it as a basis of security.
Is God Disappointed with Me?
Condemnation has many faces. Yet the underlying notion is the same—God is
probably disappointed with me.
Ted prays formal set prayers and is never quite sure he’s saved. He has
gone forward to “receive Christ” many times. Stuck at the entrance of his
faith, he does not grow beyond a basic knowledge of God.
Cindy, after six abortions, believes she’s beyond God’s forgiveness. She
goes to church regularly but never feels close to God. Reading the Old
Testament reinforces her belief that God is primarily a God of judgment.
Michael grew up in a religious family. His seemingly perfect parents had
high standards. But he struggles with lustful fantasies, hiding his
failure from his parents and, he thinks, from God too.
Josie grew up in an abusive, alcoholic home. As the oldest child, she
assumed many adult responsibilities. She believed if she were good enough,
her parents would stop drinking. Now she apologizes constantly and always
volunteers at church to secure favor with God.
My Hidden False Beliefs
Condemnation themes overshadowed my own young faith after I committed my
life to Christ at age fourteen. Though I read my Bible, prayed, and joined
a church, I still lived under an unspoken and flawed theology. I believed
God forgave all my past mistakes, but now as a Christian, I knew better
than to make more of them. Scripture, I thought, supported this belief.
When Jesus rescued the woman caught in adultery He said, “Neither do I
condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:11).
From that story, I assumed that avoiding condemnation depended on my
ability to live a sinless life. I took Jesus at His word, and over time my
failures made me feel unworthy of His love. The lie of condemnation was
embedded in my thoughts and kept me at a spiritual standstill. Internally
I wrestled with what to do: either hide my sins or pay for them myself.
Unconsciously, I decided to appease God through good works to compensate
for my failures.
But how much and how often was enough? No matter how I tried, I still
lived under a vague feeling of God’s disappointment. Every time I sinned,
I pictured an exasperated God wearing an expression like Moses must have
had when he found the people of Israel worshiping a golden calf (Ex.
32:19). Consequently, God seemed far away.
I continued to read the Bible, encountering verses pertinent to my
struggle. Romans 8:1 proclaims, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus” (NIV). But this plain truth didn’t fit
into my belief system. I believed the apostle Paul’s words were true for
Christians who had their lives in order. Someday, if I tried harder, the
freedom of this verse would be true for me, I reasoned. Like a dangling
carrot, however, freedom in Christ remained out of reach.
Condemnation was like a two-sided T-shirt I didn’t realize I was wearing.
The front said, “How am I doing?” The back said, “I’ll try harder.” I
approached God from the premise of “I’m almost okay, Lord … just give me a
little more time.”
Condemnation in the Bible
True condemnation from God is reserved for those who reject Christ. It’s
not a matter of how perfectly we live the Christian life. Believers are
made righteous by faith in our Savior (2 Cor. 5:21). Even before we accept
Christ, God relentlessly pursues our hearts with His love (Rom. 5:8). And
how much more so after we come to Christ. But people condemn themselves by
rejecting salvation. “This is the condemnation, that the light has come
into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light…” (John 3:19).
CONDEMNATION vs. CONVICTION
Here is a simple test for believers to recognize whether we are
experiencing condemnation by the enemy of our souls or gentle conviction
by the Holy Spirit. If guilt or shame is drawing us further away from the
Lord, the enemy is trying to lead us deeper into sin while making us feel
helpless to change. Whereas if our guilt is drawing us closer to the Lord,
the Holy Spirit is nudging us to confess and forsake our sin. And He
wonderfully provides the power to overcome (Rom. 2:4; 8:31-39; Phil. 4:13;
Luke 22:31-32).
Secure in Christ
Christianity is a kingdom of love, not of fear; and this distinction sets
our faith apart (1 John 4:18). When we accept by faith the death of Christ
as payment for our sins—past, present, and future—we enter a relationship
of grace. God receives us as His sons and daughters (Eph. 1:5). He
embraces us in our immaturity, knowing we are a work in progress (Eph.
2:10). He trains and disciplines us from the premise that we were born
with a sin nature (Heb. 12:5-10).
God knows the difference between a person struggling with sin and a
hypocrite. Notice how differently Jesus treated the Pharisees versus
Peter, who denied Him, or Thomas, who doubted Him. Our relationship is
secure because Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2).
God is watching over our spiritual maturity even when we’re not, and more
importantly when we can’t.
A Moment of Revelation
I had been a Christian for almost twenty years before I realized I was
living under condemnation. Truth came in a moment of revelation. I was a
leader of a women’s Bible study. I remember sitting with the other leaders
contemplating the truths in Romans 8 as we prepared our lesson. When we
discussed verses 15-16, time went into slow motion for me. Everything
faded in the room. Other voices became muted as the Holy Spirit brought
life to these verses, assuring me I was God’s child: “For you did not
receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received
the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’” (Rom. 8:15, NIV).
God spoke tenderly to me through His Word, as if the two of us were alone.
As I savored the moment, a deep shift took place in my spiritual
understanding. God released me from the entrapment of condemnation. I
would no longer resign my place as God’s beloved daughter. Now I was
secure in His love. For me, this single truth became a catalyst for
experiencing God’s love in tangible ways on a regular basis.
Steps to Freedom
Jesus said, “Know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32,
NIV). For many, like me, merely exposing the lie of condemnation will
bring freedom. For others, some action steps may prove helpful:
-
Meditate on
Liberating Scriptures: See Romans 8, John 1:12-13, Ephesians
1:13-14, Philippians 1:6, 2:13, 1 John 3:1, 4:18, 5:13
-
Get Real about Sin:
If you’re struggling with ongoing sin, it is likely you are under
condemnation. Confess your sin to another (1 John 1:7) and ask for
prayer and accountability. Jesus says God will forgive all sins except
one—blaspheming the Holy Spirit, meaning rejecting Christ (Mark
3:28-29).
-
Identify Forms of
Penance: Give up any “religious” activity motivated by guilt
or fear. Let go of making deals with God, sacrificing something for
Lent, making New Year’s resolutions, or even fasting if it’s a way to
compensate for failure.
-
Spend Time with God:
Do you stay up late, always run late, and wake up early and hit the
floor running? Do you have endless “to do” lists? Sometimes the driving
force behind this Martha-type lifestyle is condemnation—striving for
approval from God. God wants your company, not your works. Let life slow
down.
We Are God’s Beloved
One of the greatest deficits in the church today is that many of God’s own
people don’t know they are His beloved. They live in perpetual insecurity,
secretly wondering whether God is for or against them—even though they
hear sermons and read Scriptures about grace.
Lacking the fullness of God’s love in their lives, they also deprive
others, for they cannot offer what they do not have. God wants His people
to come into a new place of understanding. “How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1
John 3:1, NIV). And that is what we are!
The Lord says to every person:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with
loving-kindness I have drawn you.” (Jer. 31:3)
A PRAYER TO RECEIVE JESUS
“Lord God, thank You for Your amazing love and grace. I acknowledge
that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead to give me
eternal life. Please forgive me and cleanse me. I receive Jesus as my
personal Lord and Savior. God, I want to have a close relationship with
You forever, through Your Son. I want to regularly experience Your love.
In Jesus’ holy name, amen.”
A PRAYER FOR FREEDOM FROM CONDEMNATION
“Lord God, I call out to you for help. I’m experiencing condemnation
from the enemy of my soul, who wants me to feel unworthy, or hide from
You, or blame others, or beat myself up emotionally. But I know You love
me as Your beloved child. Please forgive me for the wrong I’ve done by
___(identify it)__. Thank You for restoring my fellowship with You. For in
Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures
forevermore (Ps. 16:11). In Jesus’ holy name, amen.”
COPIES AVAILABLE AT:
TRUE-WAY TRACTS®
P. O. Box 1258
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
www.truewaytracts.com
Copyright © 2007 TWT. Cover artwork © 2007 Harold Miller.
Copies are available free with any donation. To request
permission to reproduce, e-mail
tyner@truewaytracts.com. TWT offers gospel tracts, life issues tracts,
and apologetics tracts (giving reasons to believe). You can view them or
order them online.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in this
publication are from the New King James Version. Copyright Ó1982 by Thomas
Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked “NIV” are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International
Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
|
