Episode Transcript
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
1 John 3:21–22 (ESV)
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
CONSIDER
There have been times in my life when I have committed sin, received forgiveness, done it again, asked forgiveness again, and again, until finally I have reached a point where I feel a terrible sense of condemnation. I naturally feel this condemnation is coming from God, when in truth it’s probably coming more from my own sense of guilt and shame. Bottom line: I have no confidence in bringing this sin before God any longer.
Some of you may be thinking, Of course God condemns sinful behavior, especially when repeated over and over again. I would point you to Romans 7, which highlights the condition of repeatedly doing that which you hate. The deeper truth comes in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (ESV).
John told us earlier that we must abandon our self-abnegation and return to confession, no matter how many times it takes. Remember this from 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”?
We can experience defeat without actually being defeated. Condemnation is a satanic strategy designed to lead us deeper into defeat, keeping us away from the only one who can heal us.
This path of persistent confession is the only pathway by which we are set free of the condemnation we heap on ourselves. We must keep returning as many times as it takes. If Jesus tells us to forgive a person seventy times seven, how much more do you think he will forgive us? This gospel of mercy and grace empowers us to come before God with confidence and even boldness. This is not taking a casual approach to sin. It’s actually quite a serious approach. Satan wants us to disqualify ourselves from grace, which only leads to more and more sin and death. Jesus tells us that because grace will not let us go, we must never let go of grace. The only way through sin is a deeper and more doggedly determined engagement of grace.
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
So what’s this bit about receiving from God anything we ask? It’s a mistake to read this text as an if-then statement (i.e., if we behave, then God will bless us). Rather, this text is all about persevering in a relationship with God until the Word and ways and will of God break through in our lives. It describes life in the zone of abiding. Asking and receiving is a fruit of real discipleship. It’s coming to a place with God that is a pure gift, though we had to contend and wrestle to get there. This is the place Jesus described when he spoke of asking and receiving, seeking and finding, and knocking and the door opening.
Let’s give Jesus the last word today with two quotes from John’s gospel:
I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:13–14)
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)
PRAY
Lord Jesus, thank you for this really good news about there being no condemnation for your followers, no matter what. Teach me this way of taking sin seriously yet taking grace more seriously. Come, Holy Spirit, and give me perseverance in this war of grace until sin is defeated and I am free. In your name, Jesus. Amen.
