Category Archives: Bible Study

FURIOUS GRACE, AGGRESSIVE FAITH

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This furious grace that obliterates sin, sweeps aside guilt and shame, flings open the door to fellowship with God the three in One, and envelops us in a blanket of love and favour, demands only one kind of response…aggressive faith!

What do I mean by “aggressive” faith? I mean the kind of faith that tolerates nothing in its path to receive God’s goodness. Aggressive faith does not take “no” for an answer.

Now, we must not confuse aggressive faith with demanding and expecting everything we want, nor does it mean manipulating God’s Word for its own ends. There is a kind of “faith”, illegitimate and ungodly, that proposes that we can “name it and claim it”! Run from this teaching. You will not find it in the Word.

The Bible is full of examples of aggressive faith. Jesus told the story of a widow who appealed to the judge for vindication. Her pleas fell in deaf ears until the judge responded, not to help her but to get her off his back.

Jesus told the story to illustrate the contrast between the judge’s reluctance and the Father’s willingness to answer our cries for help.

Luke 18:1, 7-8 NIV
[1] “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up….
[7] And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? [8] I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Jesus ended His story with a puzzling comment…until we understand its meaning in context. When we connects verse 1 with verse 8, we recognise that aggressive faith is the key to answered prayer.

Aggressive faith is based on the character of God.

The widow appealed to the judge for help because, in his office as judge, he was obliged to respond to her plea. How much more, as a loving Father, will God answer the cries of His children because we are His childten? However, He sometimes delays His answers to fit in with His bigger picture.

It takes aggressive faith in the promises and character of God to persist until we receive an answer. Aggressive faith does not tolerate doubt, unbelief, or insecurity.

James 1:6-8 NIV
[6] “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. [7] That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. [8] Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.”

Aggressive faith has a solid foundation, God’s Word. If He said it, He will do it. His character is the guarantee since He is faithful. His promises are His guarantee that He will answer us.

Numbers 23:19 NIV
[19]”God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

Aggressive faith understands authority.

Matthew 8:8-9 NIV
[8] “The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But JUST SAY THE WORD, and my servant will be healed. [9] For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

To Jesus, God gave all authority based on His perfect obedience.

Philippians 2:8-11 NIV
[8] “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! [9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Matthew 28:18 NIV
[18] “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Jesus underwrites all God’s promises since He is the Word of God in person.

John 1:1-2, 14 NIV
[1]” In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning.”…
[14] “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV
[20] “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

Aggressive faith understands the place of God’s will in answered prayer.

1 John 5:14-15 NIV
[14] “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

Is it God’s will to support us with His furious grace? A resounding “Yes! ” Will He graciously intervene in response to our aggressive faith? Again, a resounding”Yes! “

Our cries to the Father will never go unheard because, unlike any human champion who is subject to his own whims, God is God. He is utterly committed to His own nature. He loves His sons and daughters with an everlasting love. He gave His own Son to rescue us from our plight. He hears the “cheep” of a fallen sparrow. He is dedicated to reclaim and restore what was broken by the Fall.

Romans 8:32 NIV
[32] “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

FURIOUS GRACE, AGGRESSIVE FAITH

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1. Am I a soldier of the Cross—
  A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause,
  Or blush to speak His name?

2. Must I be carried to the skies
  On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
  And sailed through bloody seas?

3. Are there no foes for me to face?
  Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
  To help me on to God?

4. Since I must fight if I would reign,
  Increase my courage, Lord!
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
  Supported by Thy Word.

In the name, the precious name
  Of Him who died for me,
Through grace, I’ll win the promised crown,
  Whate’er my cross may be.
https://www.hymnal.net

The words of a hymn like this makes us feel uncomfortable, don’t they?

I often sang this hymn in my youth thinking, “I feel like a hypocrite when I sing these words!”

Everything we do in life, in the end, flows from the way we treat God’s grace. How often we drift back to the idea that our obedience to Jesus puts Him under obligation to us. We give of our resources to help others, not because His furious grace provided and provides everything we need in this life but because we think He owes us.

No way is Jesus obliged to do anything for us. We forfeited that possibility forever, long ago, by confirming Adam’s choice in our own lives. Rebels we were and rebels we will always be but for God’s “furious” grace.

What do I mean by “furious”? Look at the dictionary definition.
“Full of anger or energy, violent and intense…”

How can we use this definition to describe God’s grace?

Was God’s grace full of anger and energy when He sent His Son to save us? Yes, it was!

God’s anger was directed at the sin that destroys us….so angry in fact that He turned His anger on His own Son. Jesus bore God’s wrath in His own body on the cross so that the Father’s anger was spent and satisfied forever. Since Jesus paid our debt, the Father is free to lavish His grace on His children.

Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT
[5] “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. [6] All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”

1 John 2:2 NIV
[2]”He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Is God’s grace “violent and intense”? Yes, it is!

Since through His grace, the Father made a way to forgive our sin and to restore fellowship with Himself, will He not also provide, through His furious grace, the power to maintain the fellowship we have with Him?

What is the use of a provision so costly that His own beloved Son suffered untold agony for us, only to leave us to our own devices to navigate all the obstacles to that fellowship He made possible by His grace?

Paul urges us not to waste the grace God has provided.

2 Corinthians 6:1 NLT
[1] “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.”

God’s grace in salvation is only the beginning of His supply. His offer of divine provision is part of the package. If we ignore His furious (violent and intense) grace when we step out in the morning, we have no excuse for the failures we accumulate in the course of our day.

When we humbly acknowledge our utter inability to live apart from Him,

John 15:5 NLT
[5]  “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing”…

Jesus assures us that grace steps in to provide every resource for us to move on unscathed by tests and trials.

2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
[9] “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

No only does God plough down the obstacles through us but, through His powerful interventions, He also shines the light on Himself.

“…so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

God’s grace is as many-faceted as the most intricately cut diamond that unveils its hidden beauty. The Bible calls it,

1 Peter 4:10 NIV
[10] “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its VARIOUS forms.”

The Greek word “poilikos”, translated “various” has the idea of “multicoloured” or many-faceted.

This reminds me of the octopus which has the ability to change its form at will to blend into its surroundings. Whatever the shapes and colours of its environment, so it takes on the same.

God’s grace takes on the form of the needs it meets. We become stewards of that grace as we use the Spirit’s gifts flowing through us to meet the needs of others.

God’s grace is not the gentle flowing stream we think it to be. His grace is a violent torrent of power we tap into by faith that sweeps us along with Him in our journey towards our eternal destiny. If we fail to avail ourselves of that power, we may be swept aside into the backwater of His purposes. We may be left to flounder in the shallows of grace and miss the of a life plugged into Jesus and the grace He provides.

To be continued…

WHO TRAPPED WHOM?

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Jesus’ public ministry was littered with conflicts with His opponents. In fact, many of His profoundest teachings came from these heated debates. John’s gospel, in particular, records many immortal words of Jesus spoken to His adversaries, that steady and guide us through the various mazes of our lives.

Some of the people who claimed to believe in Jesus, fell foul of His insights. Claiming to be “free” and never enslaved to anyone, they
received a severe tongue-lashing from Jesus for their hypocrisy.

John 8:30-32 NLT
[30] Then many who heard him say these things believed in him. [31] Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. [32] And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Their retort revealed their true heart condition.

John 8:33-34 NLT
[33] “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” [34] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.”

First, Jesus gave them the condition for true discipleship. Their “faith” must be translated into obedience to His teaching. Only this walk of obedience would contribute to a life of inner freedom.

They claimed descent from Abraham as their passport to God. Jesus saw right through them.

John 8:37, 44 NLT
[37] Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message….
[44] For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

However, it was not only Jesus’ words that revealed His impeccable character but also the attitudes and the principles He displayed that give us glimpses of the Jesus we know and love.

The wily Pharisees and religious boffins tried hard to trap Him, both in His words and actions, but Jesus was never fooled by their trickery.

Let’s look at some of the ways in which these men were caught in their own traps.

The story of the woman caught in adultery is a familiar one. The entire scenario was a setup designed to lure Jesus in making a judgment against the law of Moses. They knew that Jesus’ bent was, always towards mercy. How would He react to someone so undeniably guilty of adultery? Would He release her when stoning was the required penalty for her sin?

Without hesitation, Jesus’ response was both clever and effective. He could not deny her guilt because there were more than “two or three witnesses” to testify against her. He could, however, get rid of the witnesses by shining the light on their guilt.

Jesus was steeped in the Word. After all, He WAS the Word. Using Jeremiah’s words, He showed them His intimate knowledge of their names and, by implication, their darkest secrets. He bent down and wrote their names in the dust!

Jeremiah 17:13 NIV
[13] “Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.”

In the discomfort of His exposure, they melted away, witnesses gone, leaving Jesus to show the woman mercy, forgiveness, and the freedom to live a new life.

Jesus…one, Pharisees … nought!

Jesus showed these scheming hypocrites that they could never trap Him. He knew the law of Moses AND the mercy of God. He caught them in their own guilt.

On another occasion, they tried to lure Him into overturning the demands of their Roman oppressors by ruling against paying taxes.

Matthew 22:16-17 NIV
[16] “They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. [17] Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

Jesus saw through their ploy and turned the tables on them. (Have you noticed how often Jesus answered a question with a question?)

Matthew 22:18-20 NIV
[18] “But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?
[19] Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, [20] and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

How smart was that! They had to admit that the coins they used belonged to Caesar. It was obligitary to give to Caesar what belonged to him. Much as they hated paying tax, it was the right thing to do and this they could not deny.

Matthew 22:21 NIV
[21] “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Jesus added a bit that caught them unawares.

“…and to God what is God’s.”

What were they doing with what belonged to God? They were spending their very lives in doing what God hated, defrauding and deceiving His people by masquerading as His representatives and milking them of their money.

Jesus…two, Pharisees…nought!

A third trap, this time testing Jesus’ allegiance to their revered rabbis, Hillel or Shammai. Hillel was the liberal, Shammai the strict interpreter of Torah, the Law of Moses. “Which one do you support, Jesus?”

Matthew 19:3 NIV
[3] Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

Again, Jesus was smarter than they! Ignoring the opinion and teaching of the rabbis “with authority”, Jesus, went straight to the heart of the matter. “What does the Word say?”

Matthew 19:4-6 NIV

[4] “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’” [5] And he said, “‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ [6] Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”

Case closed! What Moses had to say was irrelevant. What God said in the beginning was what mattered.

But no, they persisted. Moses again! Their revered authority above the Scriptures.

Matthew 19:7 NLT
[7] “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked.”

Again, Jesus, went straight to the heart of the matter, the matter of the heart. God, not Moses, had the final say.

Matthew 19:8 NLT
[8]” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.”

Who could argue with that!

Case closed.

Jesus…three, Pharisees… still nought.

The final trap… arrest, trial, conviction, and death. Not even Jesus could wriggle out of their clutches this time…or could He?

Acts of the Apostles 2:23-24 NLT
[23…”With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. [24] But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip..”

Jesus…complete and utter victory forever, Pharisees (and every other opponent for all time)…complete and utter loss!

No one can ever take Jesus on and win.

MASSIVE CHANGE IS COMING!

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I wish I could say that massive change is coming to our country. For us, our lives in South Africa are teetering on the brink of disaster. From our human perspective, it all depends on who can shout the loudest, those who made the mess but think they can still rule, or those who think they can do better. Some are proving they can do better. Others think they can but have neither expertise or experience to do it.

For us who have a hope far greater than what our fellow humans can offer, we know that massive change is coming. When? We hope soon but have no idea when.

What is the source of our hope? Not the empty promises of fickle humans. Not the grandiose words of fools. Not the nauseating repetition of hot air by lying, thieving politicians. Not even the well-meaning hopes of fallible men.

We pin our hopes on the infallible word of a faithful and all-powerful God. How do we know that His promises are reliable?

He said it and He proved it.

Numbers 23:19 NLT
[19] “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”

This claim has been tested and answered innumerable times both in His Word and in human experience.

His Word has promises, from beginning to end, that He will restore what was broken and defiled. Included in that promise is the coming to earth of the person on whom all our hopes are pinned.

This person, Jesus, came exactly on time and in the way God had predicted, and did precisely and perfectly everything that God said He would do. Jesus has spoken God’s final word. He set the entire universe on a new course to restoration, which will happen instantly when He returns to set up His eternal kingdom on earth.

Peter warned his readers that some people would laugh and scoff at this promise. Why should they believe that anything will change, they say, when nothing has changed in thousands of years? Of what value are the words of the scoffers when we measure them against God’s words?

2 Peter 3:3-7 NLT
[3] “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. [4] They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” [5] They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. [6] Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. [7] And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.”

Ungodly people think that God is as fickle as they are, that His Word is empty and unreliable. Trouble is that they don’t understand that God measures time differently from the way we do. He is outside of time and views every event in our timeline as “now”. When He has said something, it’s as good as done.

2 Peter 3:8-10 NLT
[8] “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. [9] The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”

However, time will run out, just as He has said.

[10] “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.”

Did you get Peter’s point? There is mercy in God’s delay! He is giving people as much time as possible to repent and turn to Him but…

Even God’s patience will run out because He has a goal to reach and a purpose to fulfil. Finally, time will end. Massive change will happen in an instant. Man has taken thousands of years to mess the earth to the state it’s in now. God will fix it faster than we can blink.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NLT
[51] “But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! [52] It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.”

Not only will we shed our mortal bodies and be clothed in immortality, but the universe itself will also be transformed.

His Word, like a fire, will consume every thought, word, and deed that belong to this world system, extinguishing, in an instant, every philosophy, world view, and belief that is based on th devil’s lies since he is NOT God.

Satan and his minions, together with every person who has bought into his lies will be summarily removed and banished forever from God’s realm.

Revelation 20:1, 10, 12, 15 NLT
[1] Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand.
[10] Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever…
[12] I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books…
[15] And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Unlike “hope” in human experience, hope in God’s promises is secure and infallible. Look at the end result of the massive change that is surely coming.

Revelation 21:1-5 NLT
[1] “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. [2] And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. [3] I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. [4] He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” [5] And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

Did you get that? John saw, in a vision, everything that God said He would do. DONE! From heaven’s viewpoint in eternity, it’s already finished. From earth’s perspective, God said it will be done so, it will be done.

Revelation 21:6-7 NLT
[6] “And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. [7] All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.”

What of us, God’s children,
who struggle with our imperfections in this life. How can we ever be perfectly holy as He is as long as, we are by our old sinful nature? We have God’s promises, first, that He is working in us to prefect His holiness and, second, that He will complete the process in an instant when we see Jesus. Imagine that!

1 John 3:2 NLT
[2] “Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

Instant transformation!

What should our response to these infallible promises be?

1 John 3:3 NLT
[3] “And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.”

Oh yes! Massive change IS coming. We can lean on God’s promise, we can pin our hopes on His Word, we can live in this mess knowing that, without a doubt, God will press the “reset button” and begin again. How we revel in this hope!

LOVE AND FEAR, MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE

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1 John 4:18 NIV
[18] “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

I’ve thought long and hard about John’s statement. Why did he contrast love and fear? Why not love and hate? Why is our love for God imperfect because of fear? Why are we afraid of punishment?

Let’s go back to Jesus’ final words on the cross, according to John.

John 19:30 NIV
[30] “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Looking at Jesus’s words from a theological perspective, we could draw out a wealth of meaning from this one Greek word, “tetelestai”! However, when we view its meaning from the essential purpose for His death, we must conclude that Jesus meant, “Sin is finished.” He came to die in our place to pay the debt for our sin.

Which sin did He finish? Since the Bible states, more than once, that Jesus died “before the foundation of the world”, His death must be the payment for all sin from Adam’s first transgression until the end of time.

Revelation 13:8 NIV
[8] “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.”

Does this mean that God dealt with the issue of sin before He created the world? Did God forgive all sin before He made Adam? God is outside of time, therefore all “time”, for Him, is now. The fact of Jesus’ death in history and its effects, span the whole of time. Therefore, He could forgive sin in the Old Covenant, pictured by animal sacrifices, because of Jesus’ death even though, from the human point of view, He was yet to die in time.

I know this is difficult for us to understand because we cannot think and experience outside of time. However, we must receive this truth by faith since it is God’s Word.

This brings me back to our Scripture. If Jesus’ death provides forgiveness for all sin for all time, we are called to trust in God’s perfect love no matter what and whenever stuff happens to us in this life. When we experience hardship, pain, or loss, we must learn to view these adversities through God’s love. This is not punishment. This is discipline. Why?

The writer to the Hebrews assures us that God is treating us as sons. Human fathers discipline their children to correct wrongdoing and train them to live responsibly, as an expression of their love. How much greater is God’s love for His children! He uses trials, suffering, and hardship to guide us towards holiness because, without holiness, we cannot have fellowship with Him, and we will not “see Him”.

Hebrews 12:9-11, 14 NIV
[9] “Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it…
[14] Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

If we still insist on thinking that God is punishing us for some or other sin we have committed now or in the past, we immediately cancel our faith in Jesus’s words, “It is finished.” We have denied the truth! We are believing a lie! Now, the fear of punishment, which is Satan’s lie, replaces our confidence in God’s love.

The only way we can become mature in our faith in God’s love is to cling to the truth that, even if we sin, God has made provision, forgiven our sin, cleansed us from sin’s pollution, and will always love and treat us as His sons and daughters.

Does this mean that any sin I may commit in the future has already been forgiven? Apparently, yes! Does this mean that sin doesn’t make any difference to my standing with God? Yes and no!

Yes! Sin affects my fellowship with the Father and with His children but, no, it does not alter my standing as His son or daughter.

1 John 1:5-7 NIV
[5] “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. [6] If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Again, it’s John who assures us that God has made provision to forgive and restore our fellowship with Him. Jesus is not only the sacrifice but also the Advocate who presents His blood to the Father as His solution for our sin.

1 John 2:1-2 NIV
[1] “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. [2] He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

So…

1 John 1:9 NIV
[9]”If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Confessing our sin doesn’t provide for forgiveness. Jesus did that on the cross. Confession restores fellowship with the Father and with our fellow believers.

Our love for God matures, when we trust His love for us, no matter what. Our thoughts, focused on God’s unfailing and unconditional love, drive out fear by replacing them with God’s love.

So, Paul was convinced, through his own experience that God’s love was infallible and impenetrable, no matter what.

Romans 8:31, 35, 37-39 NIV
[31] “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?…
[35] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?..
[37] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38] For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”