Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 

Romans 8:1-2 (CSB)

Welcome back!

I wasn’t sure you’d join me today after I parked us on such a bold statement yesterday, but I’m oh so glad you did.

To recap, in yesterday’s discussion of Romans 8:1-2, I shared the following key points:

God disapproves of sin.

God loves people.

Sin carries a death sentence.

God does not sentence people to death.

Sin carries people into death.

There is no condemnation for those in Christ because Christ allowed our sins to carry Him into death, then He rose again, demonstrating God’s power over death and over sin.

And here’s that bold statement again:

In Christ, we have no need to fear God’s disapproval.

Now, maybe that doesn’t seem so bold a statement to you, but, as I’ve shared before, I grew up with a vision of God as an angry judge, an all-seeing, all-knowing judge who could and would strike me down where I stood for anything He wanted to based on how merciful He was or was not feeling that day.

If that’s not the impression of God you grew up with – pause and thank Him right now and then call up your Sunday school teachers and preachers if they are still living and say thank you to them too – then, join my frame of reference by isolating your understanding of God to the Book of Numbers where dissenters and sinners are met with fire from Heaven, pits swallowing them and their families, plagues, poisonous snakes, and death by overeating quail just to name a few.

So, thinking of God in this incomplete way, you can imagine why the statement that “In Christ, we have no need to fear God’s disapproval” seems so bold to me. I grew up in constant fear of God’s disapproval and impending judgement – and when I say I grew up – I mean, I’m 42 years old and still struggle at times with this incomplete view of God.

But in recent years, as I draw nearer to Him, God has been filling in the gaps of my understanding, and one truth that just floors me again and again no matter how many times He reminds me is:

I have no need to fear God’s disapproval because there is no fear in love and God is love (1 John 4:8 and 18).

You see, there’s a lie that the enemy employs against those who have this incomplete view of God, who see Him primarily as an angry judge, and it’s a lie with just enough truth twisted into it to seem believable. Here it is:

When you sin, God disapproves of you. You can’t go to God with sin in your life; He’ll look down on you with displeasure at best and punish you at worst.

The enemy even has verses that he twists out of context to make this lie seem true. After all, we know that God is holy and cannot tolerate sin, that He hates sin, and that intentional sin in our lives junks up our ability to fellowship with Him (Revelation 4:8; Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:2). The enemy twists these verses to make us think God disapproves of us anytime we are anything less than perfect – which is all the time (Romans 3:23).

The enemy uses this lie to keep us from going to God when we are weak or experience temptation or when we realize we have sinned or are currently sinning. The enemy wants us to fear God’s disapproval so we will hide from God like Adam and Eve hid in the garden or run from God like Jonah did. The enemy knows that if we are too afraid of God’s disapproval or punishment to go to Him, then we’ll stay bound up in our sin and in the shame and anxiety that comes with knowing we’ve sinned or are sinning. And make no mistake, bound up in sin and shame and anxiety is right where the enemy of our souls wants us.

But dear heart, God wants you to know this as deeply as I know He wants me to know it:

God LOVES you unconditionally. He NEVER disapproves of you personally. You can ALWAYS come to Him just as you are. Coming to Him is the ONLY way you will be free of sin and shame and anxiety.

And… I’m going to park us here today. Read that statement above as many times as you need to today. If you didn’t get an opportunity to read or to finish reading Romans chapters 6 through 8 yesterday, I encourage you to take some time to read it. Consider also reading First John chapter 7.

I hope to “see” you again soon as we continue meditating on what it means that there is no condemnation for those in Christ.

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