That truth was so clear, I couldn't understand how a Christian could wrestle with condemnation. I never thought I would struggle with the idea. The Enemy could attack me with whatever he wanted, but condemnation, I told myself, wouldn't work.
It's strange how much I underestimated the power of condemnation. Over the past year, I have seen it face to face, and I have crumbled before it. I have found myself awake for hours some nights, kicking myself over something I had done that day, and unable to receive God's forgiveness.
We're all familiar with the first sin. Man chose to put himself in the place of God, by choosing his own way first. In doing so, Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From that moment, the plan of redemption had begun. It started with the Old Covenant, marked by laws and sacrifices. The entire message of the Old Covenant was centered around the knowledge of good and evil. The law laid out right from wrong, and the way the people should lead their lives. The purpose of the law, as stated in the New Testament, was to show the people how far they fell from being able to keep God's commands. It painted a picture of good and evil, but could never be kept by a sinful human.
But it didn't end there. The New Covenant was not marked by knowledge, but by life. The people of Israel had lived under the law for centuries; they had the knowledge. That wasn't the message of the gospel. Jesus didn't come to earth to tell people how they should live their lives. He certainly addressed this topic, and His words contain incredible truths about what the Christian life should look like. As Pastor Andy Stanley said, however, Jesus' message wasn't His teachings; His message was Himself. His message was life, and He spilled that message forth by giving His own life on a tree. He created a New Covenant with man. He freed us from sin, and we are no longer ruled by the knowledge of good and evil, and the condemnation of knowing we can't make it on our own, but by a message of life.
How does this affect our lives, on this side of the cross? The first relates to our own fight with condemnation, on a personal level. The Enemy's lies of condemnation are rooted outside of the cross. He uses the knowledge of good and evil, and holds our failures over our heads. And part of that attack is rooted in truth; we have done wrong, and we deserve punishment. But, through the New Covenant, that punishment has been taken. Yes, we are sinners. We have no plea in and of ourselves before the throne of God. Through the cross, however, we are no longer slaves to sin but sons of righteousness, in Christ. We are no longer under the control of sin, but the covenant of life. In Christ, there is no condemnation. We have fallen short... but we have been redeemed.
The message of the tree of life goes even deeper than that. Not only does it affect our personal lives, but it affects the way we view the world around us. Currently, there are countless political issues flying around, that the Bible directly addresses. Take homosexual marriage, or Planned Parenthood. How do you view those people? I'm not asking what your position is on those issues. How do you view the people involved?
Christians are becoming increasingly outspoken about these issues, and I love the fact that the church is coming out of hiding and speaking truth. But Christians also have a reputation of being some of the most condemning people in the nation. Christians... who are supposed to be living in the shadow of the cross; who call themselves followers of Jesus, who was the most loving person to ever walk the face of the earth.
The problem, as Christian leader Anny Donewald stated, is that Christians are speaking out of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We believe in the New Covenant, but, when it comes to these issues, we are so often living in the Old. Instead of love, we bring a message of condemnation.
What is the first thing that comes to mind, when you hear about or see a homosexual person? What thoughts do you have towards a mother who has had an abortion? Yes, they have done wrong. We are not called to embrace their lifestyles, or stand by and watch as they destroy themselves and others. God hates sin... but He loves the sinners. Jesus portrayed this so clearly, as he ate with cheating tax collectors, reached out to Samaritan prostitutes, and washed the feet of His betrayer. He didn't accept their lifestyle; He called them to something higher. But He did it, not through condemnation, but through love.
What do you see, when you look at those people? If you only see their actions, and their wrong, I would challenge you to ask yourself if you are truly looking at these people through God's eyes. Do you only see the sin, when you look at the sinner? We have all sinned against God and, at the core, our sins are just as bad as theirs. But when God looks at us, He doesn't see our sin. He sees the life of Jesus, poured out in us. He looks at us through the eyes of love.
Anny Donewald experienced the message of condemnation firsthand, in her early adult years. Although she travels across the nation sharing the message of hope, she wasn't always living a clean, tidy Christian life. She spent years of her life in the sex industry, working in night clubs all across the country. Hearing about her story is incredible. She wasn't being trafficked; she could have left at any time, and she tried to, but she felt herself trapped. It was as though she had nowhere else to turn. And the Christians in her life, instead of showing her love, brought only condemnation, telling her how damaging her lifestyle was. Anny wasn't freed through the knowledge of good and evil; she was freed through the life and love of Jesus Christ and, today, goes back into those same night clubs to minister to girls in the industry with the light of the gospel. One thing she said, in an online interview, really stood out to me: "You can't tell these girls they're going to hell. They already know that; they're in it right now."
There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. We are not condemned, nor are we called to condemn others. Are we brave enough to look past the sin, and love the sinners? Are we willing to live our lives in the shadow of the tree of life?
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Worship Song:
"No Longer Slaves",
by Bethel
"No Longer Slaves",
by Bethel
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