Ah, freedom...
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
In Ephesians 3, and a lot of other places, Paul, one of the people God used to share the good news, tells us that it is through Jesus that we can approach God with freedom and confidence. Freedom and confidence!
One of the messages that I think a lot of believers struggle with is this one. Can we really live our lives in relationship with God in freedom and confidence?
There are times that other messages are given with a great deal of confidence that seem to tell us we cannot live our lives in a way where we can always approach God with freedom and confidence.
They may not say, "NO, you cannot approach God with freedom and confidence" in a direct way - though I certainly have heard many say that kind of thing over my life time.
Instead they may simply redirect your attention to other things, ignoring completely the question of where you stand with God and focusing you on what they want you to believe and do.
You will hear things like, "You are to be a reflection of Jesus in this world by how you live. Be sure that you do that. And if you don't know how to do that, we will tell you how to do that, over time. Trust us."
Or you might hear something like, "If you want to be pleasing to God, you need to ______" and then they will provide you with a list or a description of what YOU need to do.
Or even things like, "The world is a dangerous place. We are to band together and fight for what we know God wants. Step up to the plate and be all in with us."
__________
I'm certain that we are a reflection of Jesus and that we can pursue what we know pleases God and that we can work together to encourage and strengthen one another in the challenges life throws at us.
But none of that has anything to do with where we stand with God. God is the one who makes it happen. He, by decree, has said we are already able to approach him in freedom and confidence.
It has nothing to do with our performance, our intentions, our success or failure, with how good or bad we are, or any other thing that people might say. Nothing.
As a gift, we are forgiven, given the gift of his Spirit in us, and put on a path of new life alongside all others who have accepted the gift -- that's it.
Doesn't matter what anyone says from a stage or social media - your place with God, as you are right now as a believer is secure and not conditioned on some cobbled together list of passages shared with you.
Have you messed up royally in life? Have you still not overcome some problem or sin? Or have you done everything just perfectly? Have you lived a good life? You're all still in the same boat with God.
__________
A lot of times when people read things like the letters that Paul wrote, they completely skip over the first bits where Paul talks lavishly about what God has done for us and our security in him.
People will instead just jump over "the good stuff" and to the places where Paul is telling the believers to avoid and/or quit sinning and instead step into the new life God has given us.
Paul is 100% telling people they need to avoid sin and sinful stuff, but his point is not "And if you don't, you're gonna be lost and kicked out of the ability to approach God with freedom and confidence."
If Paul was saying that it was all conditioned on our ability to manage our sin level, then he wouldn't have said all those other things about what God has done for us - he would have jumped right into warnings.
Read through Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians sometime - they're relatively short. Read them all the way through in one sitting, as they were written, and not in chopped up sections.
In doing so, you can see Paul is saying, pretty consistently, "God has blessed you through Jesus! Now live up to the blessings you're given and the secure place you have. Don't waste time in that junk anymore."
__________
Some will say that it's important to keep people on the edge of their seat and afraid that they will be just a skip and a jump away from hell. "If you can't keep them afraid, they'll stop being good."
Yes, all through the New Testament, after the New Covenant began and the Old had been wrapped up, sin is discussed as to be avoided or put to death in your life, but it's never the main point of a life with God.
A person CAN expect that over time they will experience a reduction of sin in their life as God changes their perception of what's good and worth pursuing. Our perception changes as we know him more.
When a person learns what "sin" is, they can partner with God and allow him to lead them to better things that help us live in a more fulfilled state with him and others.
A problem that exists is that most people make sin management their primary focus and not their trust in God and what's he done and proclaimed is true about us through Jesus.
There's a lot that can be said here that I'm skipping over for time/space sake, but it's important to remember that God is NOT counting our sin against us anymore - people do, but God doesn't.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul says "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them."
So when you "approach God" in prayer or just in everyday passing thoughts, you are able to know you can "come before him" with confidence and freedom, not judgment and condemnation.
Hard to believe isn't it? Like if you've just thought some terrible things or done something that others would judge you for as sinful, you probably feel like God is mad at you and that you need to grovel.
In Hebrews 4, the writer says, "Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
When you've "messed up" and feel awful about it, that's a time of need. When you feel the condemnation of people and self, God says we can come to him without fear and we'll find mercy and grace.
__________
It's not unusual for someone to hear me say that and respond with, "But you need to read your Bible so you can know that God is _____________ and that people need to be ______________."
For me, I get that 100%. I used to believe and live like that. I still occasionally have to stop and remind myself of the good news we live under now and to reframe that not-so-good news I used to live under.
Remember that a lot of people are tied up trying to blend the Old Covenant of law, blessing, and curses with the New Promise we live under of grace, mercy, and peace.
You even see people in culture through politics, entertainment, and other avenues trying to bind each other up under different kinds of law or truths with threats for not following them and blessings for following.
The New Covenant that we saw begin after Jesus was raised from the dead and after he sent his Spirit - that Covenant or promise is not like the Old one.
We believe a new thing and we don't need to continue trying to keep our feet in the old thing, "just in case" God was kidding about what he's done for us in Jesus.
You can relax into the good news of what God has done for you in Jesus.
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declare the Lord.
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
From Jeremiah 31
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