“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” [1]
There are only two religions in the world—“do” or “done.” One of these religions attempts to coerce the god (or gods) worshipped within that particular religion to accept the worshipper as they perform prescribed rituals. The other, less popular religion, seeks mercy from the God Who gives life to all. The first of these two religions depends upon the worshipper doing something to make himself or herself acceptable. The second of these religions realizes that the worshipper can do nothing to make himself or herself acceptable. In the latter religion, worshippers cast themselves upon the mercy of God. Two religions—either worshippers feel they must make themselves acceptable, or worshippers accept that the work is done by the God they worship.
What has this to do with the message? Everything! The overwhelming majority of people want to “do” something to assure themselves of a place in Heaven. They believe there is a god, and that they must “do” something in order to placate that god. Perhaps that is obvious for Muslims and Buddhists, for Hindus and practitioners of Voodoo, but it is true even for much of Christendom. Why else do mothers of infants want to get their infants baptized if not to secure those babies a place in Heaven? Why do people who have no time for God or for worship during the course of the year feel compelled to attend church services at Easter and Christmas? The answer is the almost universal thought that we must do something if we will secure a place in Heaven.
Why is it so popular throughout the world to try to do something to placate the deities who are thought to control life? Isn’t it because we realize intuitively that we are guilty of violating the mandate of Heaven? Isn’t it because we realize that we are sinful, broken people? It doesn’t require great persuasion to convince us that we do sin.
When witnessing to people concerning the salvation Christ offers, on multiple occasions I’ve read, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [ROMANS 3:23]. I cannot recall that anyone has denied the reality of what is written in that verse. Many will attempt to deflect or mitigate God’s assessment; but no one ever dissents from the divine censure. “Of course I’ve sinned,” a person might admit, “but I’m not that bad!” At other times, the individual may attempt to deflect what is revealed by saying, “But I’ve never killed anyone.” Or the individual may say, “I’m okay; I’m not a bad person.” However, when pressed, all have agreed that they have sinned at least once! The logical response is, how many sins must one commit in order to demonstrate they are a sinner? The answer is evident—one sin exposes you as a sinner. We are not sinners because we sin; but we sin because we are sinners. And our past condemns us as sinful!
Ask a cultist such as a Jehovah’s Witness whether she is forgiven, and she can only equivocate. So long as she continues doing what she believes is required to satisfy Jehovah god, she hopes she may get a shot at the new world. Nevertheless, she has no assurance that she is forgiven. She is terrified of disobeying Jehovah god. Mormons are similarly squishy when asked if they have any certainty that their sins are forgiven. Muslims have no assurance that Allah accepts them. Buddhists can only hope that they may eventually somehow achieve some sort of eternal peace through their efforts. Hindus can never have a firm hope of acceptance by the multiplicity of gods worshipped.
Christians, however, have this wonderful and comforting promise from the Lord: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” [1 JOHN 5:13]. The Word is written so that you may know that you have eternal life! The Risen Saviour wants His people to have confidence that they are forgiven. Our Saviour is quite clear on wanting those who believe in Him to know that they are accepted and that they have new life in Him.
I was invited to speak to a religious society on one occasion, a supposed church. The man inviting me was the preacher for that particular society. I challenged his invitation, stating that he really didn’t want me to speak to his people. He was somewhat shocked as evidenced by his response to my assertion. He questioned my rationale for saying what I had said, “Why would you say that brother?”
The answer became self-evident when I asked him how a person could be saved. “Well,” he began, “you have to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“And?” I questioned.
“Well,” he hesitated before answering, “you have to be baptized in Jesus’ Name.”
“And?” I questioned yet again.
“Well, you do have to get the gift of the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues.”
“And?”
“Well, you have to hold on to the end.”
With that, I responded, “And that is why you really don’t want me to speak to your people. I will bring a message that salvation is the free gift of God. Because it is a gift, salvation is freely given without demanding any effort on the part of the one receiving that gift. Faith in Christ as the Risen Lord ensures that the one believing is forgiven all sin forever. It is faith in Christ, without any effort on the part of man that ensures God’s salvation.”
At this, he admitted. “You’re right, I really wouldn’t want you to speak to my people. Your message would go against all I teach.”
Even after receiving the free gift of God, we struggle with understanding how Holy God could forgive someone with a past such as ours. We don’t have to be a murderer, a violent person, a thief or any such lawless individual to realize that we don’t deserve the freedom that God gives. We are astounded when we actually meditate on the grace of God, and especially how that grace has transformed our own life.
Apparently, our struggle to free ourselves from what lurks in our past is not something that occurs only in this present day. Early in the history of the churches, the Apostle of Love wrote, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life” [1 JOHN 5:13]. Even in that day, believers struggled to accept that God had truly forgiven them. They longed to know that they were free from the prison of the past.
CONDEMNED BY THE PAST — “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” [ROMANS 8:1]. Here is an old adage that is worthy of memorisation: Any time you see a “therefore,” ask what it is there for. When Paul attests there is now no condemnation, his words compel us to look back. We can accept that God will not condemn us going forward, but we can’t erase the past.
If my past was displayed on a screen before the congregation which I am privileged to serve, you would be hesitant to accept me. I’m a sinner, and I have done things of which I’m not proud. In fact, I’m quite ashamed about choices I made in earlier years. Operating in the darkness at one time, I confess that I lived like others. Each of us is compelled to confront what we were as we read the words Paul penned in the Ephesian Letter. There, the Apostle has written, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” [EPHESIANS 2:1-3].
We may not talk about what we were when Christ found us, but too often we are quick to condemn those who are themselves “children of wrath” now. Nevertheless, where they are now is where we once were! We were there, but we don’t want to think about it. And the reason we don’t want to think about what we were is because the knowledge that we performed the same awful deeds and approved of others who did them makes us ashamed. Elsewhere, the Apostle addresses this struggle when he writes, “When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” [ROMANS 6:20-23].
It is bad enough when we allow ourselves to recall those incidents that characterized our sinful hearts during our dark past; however, each of us has those dark choices made in the recent past, or even dishonouring acts performed in this day. The point is not to censure anyone because we are sinful people—we are sinful! The point of this admission is to enable us to confess our brokenness so that we might receive cleansing from Christ who delivers us from sin. That is the import of John’s words when he writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” [1 JOHN 1:9].
It is a distressing truth that we must admit that just because we are saved does not mean that we have ceased making choices that are sinful, dishonouring to the Lord. This was Paul’s mournful admission when he wrote these dark words, “We know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” [ROMANS 7:14-20].
Then, with brutal honesty and a rapier thrust, the Apostle concludes by noting, “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” [ROMANS 7:21-24]? Indeed! Who will deliver me from this body of death? This is the question that each of us has likely asked at one time or another.
At this point, Paul delivers the answer that I need—the answer that comforts my tortured soul, writing, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” [ROMANS 7:25].
As I serve the law of God with my mind, the flesh is dragged along into the light, fighting and resisting, following where the mind leads. Jesus warned, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” [MATTHEW 15:19]. What my mind feeds on is where I gravitate. Jesus’ words anticipate what Paul will write later. “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” [ROMANS 8:5-8].
Having stated this dark truth, we who follow the Saviour are encouraged when we are taught, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” [COLOSSIANS 3:1-3]. We need this encouragement because we were trained before we came to Christ to focus on this life. Now, in Christ, we want to honour Him as Lord.
There are none among us who are able to say that they are free of sin. Perhaps some are not conscious of grave sin, but in the shadows of their memory lurks dark secrets that too often rise to haunt them. They may attempt to dismiss any talk of sin by saying, “Well, I’m not a murderer! I never committed adultery! I never did anything really bad.” Jesus had another take on such efforts at self-justification. He cautioned, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery” [MATTHEW 5:27-32].
Well, that certainly sets a different standard from what we had hoped to see! Where my mind lingers can condemn me. What my hand touches can condemn me. How I treat my spouse can be grounds for divine condemnation. So, even those who are not gross sinners according to the standard of the world can be condemned by God?
How universal is the condemnation under which we find ourselves! Paul compiles a damning collection of quotations from the Word of God, writing,
“None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
[ROMANS 3:10-18]
Shortly, Paul will sum up all that is written in this one, dark, dreadful affirmation encompassing each of us, even we who are followers of the Christ: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [ROMANS 3:23]. And that is precisely why we need a Saviour, One who can deliver us from the condemnation of our past. And that One is Christ the Lord whom God presented as a sacrifice for our sin.
A moment ago I cited that 23rd verse of the 3rd chapter of Romans. It is a dark verse, but the Apostle didn’t leave us in that darkness. Listen as I read that verse again followed by the verses that immediately follow. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” [ROMANS 3:23-26]. That is not just good news—that is great news! God does not leave us in the prison of the past!
I don’t know the secrets of your past, but I do recognise the fact that sin is ubiquitous; none of us have escape the taint of sin. Each of us know that there are blots on our life that have marred us, staining our memory and contaminating our joy. At the most inopportune time, at the most inappropriate moment, that secret sin rises up to mock our longing to be righteous. Somehow, at just the moment when we are seeking to honour God, or at the moment when we most want to bless another, the past manages to haunt us, reminding us that we are but flesh, and flesh that has been contaminated by choices we made when we were unaware of the consequences.
FREED FROM THE PAST — Our text asserts, “The law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” [ROMANS 8:2]. We were under sentence of death when we were in the world and outside of Christ. Perhaps we knew about God, but we did not know God who is life; thus, we were dead.
The Word of God speaks pointedly of our situation when we are told, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” [JOHN 3:36]. This is not a condition that awaits lost people—this is their situation now. The lost person, the individual who does not have a vital faith in the Risen Saviour is now condemned. All that keeps him from slipping into the eternal separation from the grace of God is the mercy God has for all. Let such a one turn to Christ now, receiving the grace that is offered in Christ the Lord.
No Christian can gloat in the fact that they are saved, because each of us came from this background. Our dark past is accurately described when the Apostle writes, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” [EPHESIANS 2:1-3].
But Paul didn’t simply condemn us for what we once were; rather, the Apostle quickly pivots to what God has done for us by delivering us from the judgement we deserve. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” [EPHESIANS 2:4-10].
Scripture declares our freedom in Christ on multiple occasions. In Paul’s Second Letter to Christians in Corinth, the Apostle boldly testifies, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” [2 CORINTHIANS 5:17].
Perhaps one of the clearest statements of the freedom we enjoy in Christ as Lord is provided in a letter the Apostle wrote to a group of saints who were beginning to drift because of some false brothers who were tripping them up. To the churches in Galatia, Paul wrote, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” [GALATIANS 5:1]. Consider the freedom you have received, and refuse to surrender that freedom for licence.
Shortly after writing these words, the Apostle emphasized this truth by writing, “You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” [GALATIANS 5:13]. Rejoice in the freedom you have received in Christ the Lord. Don’t ever allow yourself to again be restrained by ersatz religion that seeks to tie you down, to limit your freedom in Christ.
Before Paul had ever written those words, James, the half-brother of our Lord had testified, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” [JAMES 1:22-25].
I know the temptation that plagues our lives as people who have been freed from past sins. I also struggle against sin as I seek to tread the pilgrim pathway, just as you do. I’m speaking in particular of the temptation to dwell in the past, wallowing in the devastation resulting from actions and words that dishonoured Christ our Lord. And each of us has experienced this temptation. Far too many of us have surrendered to this temptation. It is bad enough when outsiders wallow in the guilt of past acts, but when the people of God permit themselves to soak in the sewer of regret, it is beyond tragic! Each of us were once in the world, and we said things, and we did things, that have left us wounded. The evil one seems amazingly capable of dragging down the most noble child of God by reminding us of what we once did or what we once said. At such times, we realise that we dishonoured Christ. It is distressingly easy for the wicked one to get us to join a pity party in which we begin to question how God could love us since we are such terrible sinners. We must not permit ourselves to play that game; rather, we must cease living in the past because Christ has not left us there when He saved us.
Dear people, what you once were is not what you now are in Christ the Lord. Listen as Peter expresses the transformation that has taken place. “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” [1 PETER 2:10]. There is a distinction, a marked difference, when considering what I once was as contrasted with what I am now in Christ. Years ago you would hear some Christians say, “Please be patient with me—God is not finished.”
Though those living for this dying world make their assessments of one another according to the criterion that the past defines the present, we who are redeemed know the power of God to transform our lives so that the past no longer has power over what we are or over what we are destined to become. God is working out His will in our life, and He will bring that work to completion. Paul has provided this testimony in the Letter to the saints in Philippi, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” [PHILIPPIANS 1:6].
As we read John’s First Letter, we discover a truly exciting statement. John writes, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” [1 JOHN 3:2]. Then, the Apostle of Love encouraged each follower of Christ when he wrote, “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” [1 JOHN 3:3]. What we will be has not been revealed yet; but it has already been determined! The Lord God has already determined what shall be, and His will cannot be altered. We are destined to see Christ, becoming just as He is!
We do not see one another in the purified condition that shall be, but the Saviour has already set the course for each of us who follow Him! If we were able to see one another as we shall be, we would fall down in awe before the beautiful creatures that we shall be in Christ. Even now, our God is working in each of our lives to perfect the work He has begun in His redeemed saints.
We read the words Paul wrote, but somehow our memories must be refreshed. “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” [ROMANS 8:28-39].
Is there a blot on your life because of some sin from days gone by? You can live in bondage to the fear that that sin imposes on you, or you can look to Christ who sets us free. Charles Wesley understood the freedom given in Christ when he wrote,
He breaks the pow’r of canceled sin,
He sets the pris’ner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me. [2]
Child of God, refuse to continue sitting in the foul hold that has long held you captive. Let the love of Christ Who has redeemed you strip the chains that now bind you so that you may step into the freedom that is the divine heritage of the redeemed sons of the Living God. When the infernal jailer attempts to restrain you by reminding you of what happened long ago, let the Saviour present your defence. He will stand before His Father when the evil one attempts to prosecute you for what has been forgiven, and when your great Defender presents your case, He will show the wounds in His hands and the wounds where the crown of thorns pressed down on His head, and He will testify of your innocence because you now rest in Him. The Father will declare that there is no charge to bring against you because you are delivered by the blood of the Lamb of God. Amen!
FREEDOM IN CHRIST— “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” [ROMANS 8:1-4].
Did you see where Paul had just taken his readers before he wrote those words? He had just written of his struggle against his own sinful nature. The Apostle had the desire to honour God, but he didn’t have the ability. He did recognise the mercies of Christ, writing, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” [ROMANS 7:25a]!
There is no condemnation for that one who is resting in the Risen Son of God! Freedom from God’s judgement! Freedom to be all that God intended that we should be! Never fearing God’s wrath! And yet, we can ask what does Freedom in Christ look like? Can we relate our freedom as followers of Christ to the prevalent concept of freedom that is commonly held by most people in our world today?
I wish I could do justice to the theme of the freedom that is ours as followers of the Christ. My vocabulary is impoverished whenever I attempt to speak of the freedom that is found in Christ the Lord. There is a paucity of words when I want to point to the freedom the Master offers to all who come to Him in faith. There is a perception among the lost that God is seated somewhere above the earth. It is as though He is detached from what is taking place on the earth. And yet from that lofty vantage the lost of this world imagine that God functions as sort of a cosmic bully. It is as though they imagine that He is just waiting to strike down anyone who is trying to have fun. The greater tragedy is that a surprising number of those coming into the Faith stubbornly cling to this caricature; it is obvious from their perception that they have never actually known God.
Contrary to the distorted perception that God doesn’t want people to enjoy life or that He doesn’t want people to be filled with joy is the definitive statement delivered by Jesus when He testified, “I came that [people] may have life and have it abundantly” [JOHN 10:10b]. Christ Jesus the Lord wants you to live joyously, to revel in the life He has given you, to delight in all that God’s hand has provided. The freedom Christ offers is not some ersatz freedom that denies you what is good; freedom in Christ is freedom to become all that He created you to be. Freedom in Christ means that you will be enabled to fulfil your potential, the potential which is your divine right. Rather than restricting you, the freedom offered in Christ Jesus ensures that you will know the power to excel in every aspect of life that glorifies the Name of the Father and in those aspects of your being that permit you to achieve that for which you were born. Imagine! Life without limits is the promise given to those who follow Christ as Lord of life!
I cannot know the secrets lurking in the dark corners of your mind. Hidden in those dim shadows are memories of past failure, reminders of sins that you hope will never be known, evidence of choices that hinder you to this day. We have an admonition given by the writer of the Letter to Hebrew Christians that urges us to excel. We read, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” [HEBREWS 12:1-2]. There it is! Those shameful memories will hobble us, if they are not confronted and the cobwebs of our mind swept clean. We must lay aside everything, anything, that would slow us down in this race for glory.
But how do we embrace the freedom that is ours? What practical steps can we take in order to enjoy the freedom that Christ gives? We must first ruthlessly confront those dark secrets lurking in the recesses of our mind. We must confess to the Master that these are our sins—we own them! We seize the promise that He has made when it is written, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” [1 JOHN 1:9]. Not only can we be forgiven (we are, in fact forgiven in Christ), but we can be cleansed from “all unrighteousness!” The past is past, and our dark secrets are nailed to the cross.
Then, we must ask Him Who empowers us to give us power so that we are enabled to refuse to be controlled any longer by what used to be. We must refuse to live in the past. Yes, we did things we wish we hadn’t done; but we aren’t doing those things now. This fallen world would punish us for what we once were. The denizens of this darkened world are incapable of recognising redemption and transformation. But we who are twice-born know that God not only saves, but He transforms us. Even now we who are saved are “those whom he foreknew;” and because this is true, we are therefore “predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” [ROMANS 8:29]. God is even now changing us into the image of His Son. We will not bear this fallen image much longer.
In a practical sense, we must embrace the teaching we are given in the Letter to the saints in Colossae. There, Paul has written, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” [COLOSSIANS 3:5-17].
There it is! Confront the past; identify those sins that now bind you. Confess those sins, those acts and words that trip you up so that Christ can forgive you and restore you to the freedom that is yours in Christ Jesus the Lord. Then, seek His empowerment so that you will no longer submit to what would hinder you in your pursuit of holiness.
I read of a pastor in Korea during the dark days of the Korean conflict. The northern communists had invaded the south, and the commissars sought to co-opt the churches by discrediting the pastors. If the leaders could be controlled, it would be an easy thing to control the people. One pastor of a large church in Seoul was notified that the commissars knew of a sordid past when he had engaged in illicit sexual activities. If he would not co-operate, they would tell his congregation of what he had done, ruining any hope of ministry in the future. The choice was clear-cut he could co-operate with the godless communists, or he would be ruined. Or so it seemed.
The next Sunday, the pastor stood before the congregation and confessed his sin. The congregation was stunned, as you might expect. But they embraced their pastor, forgiving him and praising God for cleansing the sin of all who confess. The suppositions of the communists, their despicable plot, was foiled by God’s people.
You can’t destroy one walking in the light. The pastor had sinned egregiously; and as is often the case, his efforts to hide his sin only compounded the sin and exposed him to greater danger still. The same is true of each of us; when we attempt to hide our sin, we endanger our walk with the Master. However, when we confess our sin, we are forgiven and fellowship is restored. My dear people, I urge you to live boldly, to live as the free people you are in Christ our Lord. Live boldly in Him. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Charles Wesley, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” 1739
