Walking Thoughts

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:1

As Christians we are free from the condemnation of our sins.  We have grace bought by blood, given to us by Jesus Christ and lived out in us through the Holy Spirit.  How is it, then, that so many Christians walk around feeling condemned, and not only that, condemning the world and other Christians?!

I was speaking with a Christian friend of mine, asking him what God had been teaching him lately.  He shared with me that he was learning about what he should be doing and afterwards kept reiterating that he wasn't doing enough, or there were so many things that he should be doing but was not.  His focus was not on the cross, not on grace.

Now, I had lunch with another Christian friend of mine, and her response was that God was teaching her the importance of being refreshed in Him and not trying to do it herself.  She said that whether or not she gets her devotion in has no bearing on the way the day goes, whether or not something bad or good happens.  God's grace is not dependent on what she's done, otherwise, she said, she was saying that the sacrifice on the cross wasn't enough to take care of her sin - that the cross wasn't enough for God to be able to take care of her.  Her mind was on God's grace, the cross, and His active Holy Spirit in her life, whereas the first was focused on how he himself was being a Christian - not Who had died to make him one.

The opening verse you can find in any Bible, but, only the King James has the latter half that explains that only by walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh is freedom attained.  I'm not trying to make a case to throw out all versions of the Bible written in the latter half of the 20th century, but I am making a case that God, in His infinite grace, has given us the Holy Spirit to receive His blessings outside of our own merits and faults!  That is grace, that is by the Spirit.  If we at any point think that our own efforts determine the amount of grace we receive, we are relying on our flesh, our intellect, our knowledge, and our own ability to do what only God can and has done - make us righteous.

Alister Baig once said in a sermon that those who believe that they have earned their salvation through their own merits deep down fear that they can lose their salvation because of their merits (i.e. faults). This is profound because it sheds so much light on why we come under condemnation - we are relying on what we've done!!  Somewhere along the way, we believe that He wasn't good enough to take care of our sin and we need to do something.  But since we are stained, we are condemned!! And if we believe at some point we have earned it, when we fail, which is as inevitable as death, we come under condemnation because our own efforts weren't good enough.  They never will be.

Accept God's grace for you. Nothing is too big for Him.  Conviction was meant for discipline to righteousness, condemnation is of the devil.  Accept His conviction, His grace, and His great love for you.  Let Him be the owner of your salvation.  Be blessed!

Salvation belongs to the LORD;your blessing be on your people!
Psalm 3:8