Peace with God now, not later or maybe? Really?

Some days I need to remember where all this started, at a much deeper level, some years back.  And it is still THE driving force that changed everything for me.

I grew up learning that Jesus brought a new and improved version of what they did in the Old Testament. Now instead of sacrificing animals for sin, all you needed to do was to apologize and ask for a little more forgiveness.

And in my particular tribe, you needed to make sure you "did church" the right way because that was also a sin - if you did things "in church" the "wrong way".

You 100% could not know on this side of eternity whether or not you actually had any hope of being saved after this life.  

You hoped it all turned out okay.  But week after week, the people "at church" would make sure you knew it was NOT a done deal and that you were probably going to be in serious doubt all the way through life.

People would say things like, "I just hope I get into heaven. Even if I just get a job as a janitor, mopping out some closet, I just want to make it."  Or things like, "IF I make it, it will be by the skin of my teeth."

It's a wonder that more people didn't just quit and walk away from it all.  There was little hope offered for believers who actually attended church, much less the "rank sinners" out there who didn't go to church.

It was all a big control game.  Still is in a lot of places.  Make sure we get and keep their hearts and minds so we get and keep their wallets and children and thus keep it all going in perpetuity.

Even for those whose motives were pure and they were true believers, their actions resulted in the same thing - powerful social control with little to no basis in reality or scripture.

That's the system I walked away from because I learned some amazing things!

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Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Paul, in Romans 5:1).

We have peace with God now.

We have already been justified through faith, now.  

Already. 

Done.

And it's not subject to the approval of a group of pastors, preachers, elders, etc.  At all.

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But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:11).

We are already sanctified and justified.

Sure, we can improve on and likely will change our behaviors, but we're already good with God.

Already.

Done.

And it's not subject to the approval of anyone. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

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From what I get out of conversations with people, even through today, is that we fear that people will not change their lives or improve on certain behaviors if we don't keep some level of fear or threat over them.

And they might not. 

Sin is its own eventual punishment in this life.

God isn't counting them against us anymore after Jesus.

If you think someone has something between them and God, just come out and say it and don't hide behind a shell game of whether or not someone is forgiven or good with God.

In Titus 2, Paul says, "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age"

It's not rules or vague threats that cause us live or be different, it's seeing, knowing, and experiencing God's grace that does so...so quit using God's favor or disappointment as a carrot/stick to keep people in line.

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That's pretty much it.  When I learned and really began to trust that what God says is true and that I can live in trust and dependence on him and not merely in fear, repentance and obedience, it changed everything.

Anyone I talked to who encouraged a life of trust and dependence on God had a peace that was amazing and when I listened to them, they were often proved right.

Anyone I talked to who encouraged a life of repentance and obedience had an aura of control and manipulation about them and seemed to want me to follow them and not so much God.  Anytime I listened to them, that's what happened almost every time.

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God isn't mad at you.

He isn't keeping a record of your sin(s).  Unless of course you want him to and then he'll be glad to judge you on that basis.  It's your call.  You can live in grace or you can live by your own merit. 

God isn't super psyched when you to go church. He's not bowled over by your songs or your favorite preacher's yammering.  He's not holding blessings back from you until you give more money.

And these aren't just feelings of mine, they're pretty much what I now see in scripture as reality.  

Humanity regularly re-invents the wheel, religiously speaking, when it comes to our relationship with God - and we almost always come back to some control system involving allegiance, money, etc.

You don't have to do that "to be right with God".

You also don't have to quit going to church if you don't want to.

You can give money to a local church if you want to and you're bought into what they're doing - go for it.

If "going to church" is the best you can muster because all that God stuff is too overwhelming and all you can do for now is "show up" to where you think God might be meeting people - do that.  

God can use that and a lot of other things to bring you closer to where you understand the good news.  

Just know that it's not an end in and of itself.

Now I'm just rambling...

Anyways, grace and peace to you and yours.

Don't beat yourself up. God isn't.