• No Condemnation and No Separation by Jerry Parries
• When My Dad Loved Me at My Worst by Justin Holcomb
•
Satan Loves Love by Chad West
A few years ago, I bought a new car and loved it. It came with a three-year warranty that covered absolutely everything. Do you know what happened on the first day of the fourth year? That stupid car fell apart. I don’t know how or why then. I may have offended a magician when I was little, and that was my curse.
Actually, I’m not sure of all the details, but, as with most good illustrations, sometimes one must tweak the story. Nevertheless, it works because people sometimes feel like their spiritual warranty has run out. I’m one of them. I’ve been a “professional” Christian for longer than many of you have been alive, and there are times when I felt that God seemed to no longer care about my problems, that God wasn’t answering my prayers, or that God had had it with me. Like me, if you’ve been there, you probably thought of several options. We can become a first-class hypocrite and pretend that everything is fine. We can wallow in the guilt and try to find out what we did wrong. We can, of course, blame God and walk, becoming one of the “nones” (as in “none of the above” in religious affiliation). Or, on the other hand, we can remember to never doubt in the dark what God taught in the light, and keep trucking until the light shines again.
While I can be a hypocrite
at times, I don’t fake my faith well. I’ve thought about walking, but I’m in too far to get out. And there is a long list of things in my life that should void the warranty. But I’m still here. That doesn’t mean I’ve achieved “Super Christian” status, but longevity is sometimes a benefit. Sometimes I’ve felt like Jacob wrestling with the angel (Genesis 32). Jacob survived (with wounds), and so did I. That means when faith’s warranty seems to have run out, I’ve been there, done that, and think I can help.
A good place to start is with a text. A good warranty text is Hebrews 10:19-25: “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
First note that the text begins with “Therefore.” It’s been said so often that it has become a cliché, but it’s true. One should always ask: What is the “therefore” there for? In this case, we should go to the verses that precede the text. The writer of Hebrews has just talked about how the repeated blood sacrifices (religious stuff) are worthless. They only remind us of our sins. To the contrary, the blood of Christ—final and sufficient—has covered all our sins. It is finished, making us clean and free. It’s a “done deal.”
Do you know why we sometimes leave church more depressed than when we came in? It happens when there is too much talk about “after all that Jesus has done for you, you should not be an ungrateful brat and live like a pagan,” or “if you’re saved and you know it, then your life should really show it,” or a misunderstanding of “faith without works is dead.” That does exactly what the writer of Hebrews said about blood sacrifices: it reminds us of our horrible sins, our failure, and our rebellion. If it’s the wrong kind of religion, it’s easy to lose the primary fact of our faith. We’re forgiven. We’re not forgiven with a caveat or kicker. We’re not forgiven if we truly repent. We’re not forgiven as long as we change. We’re not forgiven when we show it. We’re not forgiven just for past sins, and it’s now up to us. And we’re
not forgiven only when we’re obedient.
We’re forgiven, period.
There is a commercial for a home window company that advertises no payments for a whole year. Then the announcer says, “That means no payment . . . Nada, Zippo, Zero . . . nothing for a year.” What the commercial doesn’t say is that, at the end of the year, the payment will come due, and you’ll probably have to declare bankruptcy. The Scripture says that we’re forgiven and nada, zippo, nothing will ever be asked of us to secure our forgiveness. It just is, and it is forever.
I wouldn’t have done that if I were God. But God, for his own reasons, did “since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” The Scripture teaches that God doesn’t just love, he is love. Love shows itself best when there is no justification for it. If there is justification, it might just morph into a reward.
There is another attribute of God taught throughout Scripture—God’s veracity. God never lies. The text says, “he who promised is faithful.” No matter how counterintuitive, wild, or impossible it sounds,
if God said it, it’s true.
So, if it feels like your Christian warranty has run out, get an attack of sanity and stop calling God a liar. Well, uh . . . that’s a bit strong, but, actually, that’s what we do when we take the clear message of the Gospel and start adding to it. In the case of the Gospel, our testimony is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We’re forgiven, so “let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
But the writer of Hebrews adds something else to help with a perceived spiritual warranty problem. Get new friends! “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
I have a Christian counselor friend who ended a long-time friendship. I was surprised when she told me, since the person was also a Christian and an officer in his church. I asked her why she ended the friendship. She said that she was kind but clear, and said to him, “Sam (not his name), I can’t be your friend for a while. You are law-based and expect everyone else to be the same. I can’t measure up to your standards. When I’m around you, I doubt my salvation, and I can’t go there right now.”
One time, someone said to Charles de Gaulle, the prime minister of France and a strong leader, “My friends aren’t pleased with your polices. What should I do?” De Gaulle said, “Get new friends.”
Do you ever think you might need some new friends? You know the lyric about friends: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” There is some truth to that, but, frankly, I have some friends who remind me of Jesus and others who remind me of Judas, so I have to be careful. In other words, there are some people I don’t want to have a beer with. First, because I don’t drink beer, and second, because I don’t like how I feel when I’m around them. My friend, Ken Smith, once told me he had decided not to spend time with anyone who wouldn’t cry at his funeral. That might be a good idea, but let me give you a biblical one. Don’t spend a lot of time with anyone who doesn’t know that God loves them unconditionally and that God feels the same way about you.
And then there is one other thing I’ve found helpful. Don’t forget that you have an incredible Priest. That would be Jesus. The writer of Hebrews says, “since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith.” Theologians talk about Jesus being “Prophet, Priest, and King.” He is all three, but when you feel your spiritual warranty is running out, Jesus as our Priest makes all the difference. It is the job description of a priest to bring people to God, to be an intermediary between people and God.
We’re on Jesus’ prayer list! And not only that, he’s our advocate before the court where God is the judge (check out Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, and 1 John 2:1). My late brother Ron, who was the district attorney where we grew up, used to say, “When you’re in trouble, you don’t want an attorney, you want a lawyer. An attorney will inform you of the law, but a lawyer will fight for you, stand with you, go through a wall with you, and fix it.”
So, we have an unlimited warranty, we’re innocent (forgiven), we have a lawyer who has never lost a case, and a Priest who is wise and kind.
That may not make you deliriously happy, but it’s enough to help you hang on until the light shines. John Kennedy said that we should not ask what our country can do for us, but instead ask what we can do for our country. In this case, the reverse is true. Don’t ask what you can do for God. He’s doing fine. Think about what he has done for you.
He asked me to remind you.
Always Something NEW
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AND NO CONDEMNATION
NO SEPARATION
God is going to hold me through anything and everything that will happen in my life.
I truly agree with the sentiment of some scholars that chapter 8 in Romans is very encouraging and delightful. It begins with no condemnation and ends with no separation. Our Heavenly Father will not condemn us and there is nothing we can do to get Him to separate His love from us.
WHAT GOOD NEWS!
God will not condemn us and nothing we can do will separate us!
Romans 8:1 – “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”
When you belong to Christ, there is no reason for you to live in condemnation. There is no sin you can commit that God has not already forgiven. Condemnation
is defined as “a statement or expression of very strong and definite criticism or disapproval.” The word literally means judgment coming down on someone. There is no judgment coming down on you from God based upon what you have done. For what reason would a person find himself condemned or living in condemnation? When he commits sin, he is condemned. However, if you have received Jesus Christ as Savior, and He paid for your past, present, and future sins, there is no reason to ever live in condemnation. God has set His approval over you. Jesus himself makes this claim:
John 5:24 (NLT) – “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will NEVER be condemned for their sins, but they have ALREADY passed from death into life.”
Those who believe Jesus
died and was resurrected will never be condemned and have already passed from death into life . . . WOW! That is the Good News of the Gospel.
Romans 8:15 – “So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’”
We are not afraid as slaves are afraid of their master. We are joint heirs with Jesus in the family of God.
As a child I was spoiled by my father. He loved me so much he gave me whatever I wanted. He never raised his voice towards me, never hit me, or spanked me. He gave me pure unconditional love and I felt totally safe with him. Depending on your view of a “father,” that point of view will determine how you see God. If your father was very hard on you, more than likely, you will see God as a nononsense God. If your father was not in your life, you may have problems putting your trust in God. If your father was never there for you, then, it is hard to believe God will be there for you. On the other
hand, you may view your father as I experienced mine. My father was kind, loving, forgiving, and slow to anger. He loved his children unconditionally. I never feared my father a day in my life, even when I was wrong and had messed up.
You do not have to fear God as a slave fears a master because of sin. Rather, you should see Him as a loving father, knowing that whatever you have done He will not cast you away because His love is unconditional.
Romans 8:16 – “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory (favor). But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”
We are in the family and we cannot be cast away. How many times have your children done things that were not pleasing? You may have been disappointed in their decisions but you did not throw them away or kick them out of the family. Your Heavenly Father will not put you out of the family, no matter what you do. I heard a pastor say, “Yes, God is forgiving, but if you keep on doing the same thing over
and over, He will get tired of putting up with you and will allow His wrath to come upon you.” Really? What did Jesus say about that?
Matthew 18:21-22 (NKJV) – “Then Peter came to him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’ ‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven!’”
Luke 17:4 – “Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.”
If Jesus is telling Peter to forgive someone who sinned against him seventy times seven in ONE DAY, how many times do you feel He will forgive you? God’s forgiving power is immeasurable. He will forgive us for the same sin a million times a million per day. Think for a moment, take the most devastating horrific sin that you have committed . . . yes, you are forgiven. God has promised never to remember them anymore.
Our Father loves us beyond what we are able to comprehend. No matter what you do, we are children of God and He loves you. We have become
joint-heirs with Christ.
Romans 8:35 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
In church, I was taught—or maybe should I say understood—this verse with the wrong theology. We were told we could separate ourselves from Christ’s love when we sinned. God would reject us if we found ourselves outside of His will. This is absolutely incorrect. In fact, the text is saying the opposite: “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?” (NLT). The answer is NO! God loves us so much that He has us in His hands and no matter how hard we fight, we cannot get away from Him.
Romans 8:35(b) – “Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?”
If trouble hits our lives, God has our backs! If we find ourselves in calamities, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, tornadoes, or any disasters it does not take away from the fact God is not punishing you. He is there in the midst of it all. None of these things came because of your sins. If you find yourself being persecuted or hungry, or
destitute, you can rest assured God is not mad with you. He loves us unconditionally.
There is nothing we can do that will get God to stop loving us. NOTHING! No sin is too great for God to turn His back on us.
Romans 8:36 – “As the Scriptures say, ‘For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.’”
Paul said, “Lord, there are times we feel as though we are like sheep going to the slaughter.” When trouble hits our lives, it feels as if Jesus is not around. When we lose a loved one in a senseless crime or a child to cancer or other illness that God could have stopped, we feel like sheep headed to the slaughter. When we cannot find jobs to feed our families or pay our bills, there cannot help but be a feeling of helpless and hopelessness. There are days when we do not feel as if God loves us because of something we must have done. Then he makes it very clear to us:
Romans 8:37 (KJV) – “Nay, in all these things . . . “
The word “nay” means “not true.” You may feel that way, but it is not true. Do not look at tribulation, depression, persecution, famine, and nakedness as rejection or failure as punishment from God.
Romans 8:37(b) – “. . . we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
WHAT? We are more than conquerors? YES! None of these things will cause us to lose our “good standing” with God. We may lose everything, even our lives, but we will never lose our salvation in Christ Jesus. WE WIN! God has prepared a place called Heaven, where we will live with Him forever. Paul ends the chapter by the ringing of a crescendo of praise, letting us know we must be persuaded, we must know with everything within us, that God loves us beyond what words can explain. So he began to say:
Romans 8:38-39 (KJV) –“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
YES!!!!! I am persuaded that nothing I do will get God to stop loving me. Nothing I say will get God to stop loving me. He is going to hold me through anything and everything that will happen in my life.
The eighth chapter opens up by saying there is no condemnation. It ends by saying, “And nothing shall separate me from Him.” What Good News God has bestowed upon us! Jesus is awesome, amazing and full of GRACE.
Adapted from Jerry Q. Parries’ book, Grace: The Real Good News of the Gospel.
Many of us think (whether we admit it or not) there must be some breaking point where our Father God gives up on us.
Even if we successfully avoid believing this fallacy, others’ overzealous cries still reach our ears: certainly, there must be some sin or amount of sin that is just too much.
THE FLOOD
My understanding of unconditional love and its implications deepened when I was 10 years old. Our neighbors had moved and they were trying to sell their house. One day I broke in through the back door and closed all the drains in all the sinks and tubs and turned on all
the faucets. Then, I just sat there and watched the water run. I let it keep running when I went home for dinner, only finally returning a few hours later to turn it off. I flooded the entire house.
THE FEELING
I knew right away that what I had done was wrong. I was shocked that I just wanted to do something so destructive. Our neighbors saw the damage the next day while showing the home to prospective buyers. They came to our house, and asked us if we had seen anyone around their place recently. On top of what I had already done, I lied to our neighbors and my parents.
I felt completely messed up. I was destroying stuff for the sake of destroying, and then I lied blatantly to everyone. I had heard about asking God’s forgiveness (my dad had taught me the Lord’s Prayer), so I begged God to forgive me.
But I was worried that he wouldn’t. Surely some-
thing so deliberate and cruel was just too much to forgive.
THE FORGIVENESS
After a month of an uneasy conscience, I was finally found out. Another neighbor had seen me sneaking around and told my parents. My father called me in from playing outside with my friends and asked me if I remembered anything important about the flooding incident. I knew something was up, but I felt like I had to stick with the lie at this point.
Finally, my dad told me that I was busted. I experienced an overwhelming sense of shame and guilt for my sins, and intense fear of the consequences. I sobbed and muttered, “Dad, I’m so sorry. I’ve been asking God to forgive me for so long for this and I don’t know if he ever will.”
In a moment of parental love and great wisdom, my dad said, “If you asked God to forgive you, then you are forgiven. You deserve to be punished, and this will cost lots of
money to fix. But, son, you are forgiven. Go back outside and play.” In that moment, the reality of forgiveness and gratuitous grace powerfully moved me.
Instead of experiencing my fears unfold, I knew I was safe with my dad and I finally understood what he told me growing up: “I love you unconditionally.”
THE FAITH
Now when I confess my sins, I think of that experience of absolution. My dad didn’t take grace “too far.” He saw that my misunderstanding and fear of God’s wrath and my dad’s discipline threatened to crush me. He took on the consequences of my sins and literally paid for them for me.
I know there was nothing I could do to cause him to love me less. And I also know there was nothing I could do to cause him to love me more.
He loved me because I was his.
God the Father loves you like that. It’s gratuitous grace, the only kind there is.
Satan Loves Love
by Chad West
The most selfish, meanest people have a surprising phrase they love.
You should be aware.
Oh, it’s terrifyingly effective.
It’s… I love you.
I know. If you’ve not had much truck with lackluster partners, you might think that’s the best possible thing anyone could say. But stick with me.
There’s a beautiful principle in a verse in Genesis 50 that this makes me think of. What the enemy meant for evil, God meant for good. This is the reverse of that.
You see it all the time. People standing tall. A single tear they’re too masculine to cry. Proudly declaring they would burn the whole world down, break every back, step on the toe of every man, woman, and child…
feelings with you, it kind of sounds like they just want to break stuff.
For you. For God. For country. For… Insert majestic object of love here.
And they might. But if they wouldn’t also apologize when they hurt you, help with the kids, or share their
That’s what’s so insidious. It’s the three words we long to hear so much, used to manipulate us. A drawing of the sun we’re expected to warm ourselves with. And, when done in his name, 15
it’s what God talks about when he talks about using that Holy name in vain. (Ex. 20:7)
The avatar of all things evil doesn’t mind you saying you’d move mountains for those you love as long as you don’t adjust your schedule to attend an important event or talk about your feelings.
The red-suited one yawns when you say you’d die for a partner if you’re not considering their needs and wants and desires as much, or more, than your own. (Phil. 2:3-4)
Old Scratch gives a giggle when you claim you’d walk through fire when you minimize their pain, won’t make single sacrifice or change, admit when you’re wrong, compromise and dismiss their concerns as overreacting.
It’s a performance, a jig, a part we play to make ourselves feel better for truly only loving ourselves, and the king of them loves a good lie. Especially when the person we’re fooling most is ourselves.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Cor. 13:1
Real love isn’t a clanging cymbal crashing. Just like the Christian faith isn’t knowing a metric ton of morals, it’s living our love out loud. We don’t separate words from actions. Husband or wife from believer or citizen or worker. It’s a messy, mixedup life, bursting at the seams with believed, lived truth. Gaudy proclamations are useless without action.
Love isn’t impressive banners. It shows itself in the humbling work of being wrong, inconvenienced, uncomfortable. It shows itself in sacrifice. It has more nods, listening, than words spoken.
Love doesn’t brag. It isn’t proud. It is not arrogant (1 Cor. 13: 4-7).
That prowling, hungry lion (1 Pet 5:8) loves empty words. But love? Love does the dishes.
