John 5: 24 NKJV
I was listening to a radio preachers sermon this week as he was speaking to the topic of Gods judgement upon His children. Now, if you're like most Christians, your ears perk up whenever the topic of our Lords judgement is brought up. For we have been conditioned to believe that we are but sinners saved by our Lords love and grace. That our sins are what prevents God from drawing near to us. Well, I am not foolish enough to believe that I once carried no sin within me. I admit to my former condition, and thank Jesus for loving me enough to save me from myself. Indeed, it is Jesus who Himself became sin that sins punishment would not fall upon me {2 Corinthians 5:21}. I thank Jesus for putting to death that sin which once enslaved me {Romans 6:6}. So, as I rejoice in my new life in Him, is my enjoyment to be tempered by the realization that I must also face my Lords judgement? If so, what is it for which I am being judged? Will I be judged for those past deeds which God has already deemed forgiven? Is God a Indian giver in that respect? Assuring us that our sins are no more before Him, yet bringing them up once again at the judgement? It is for this reason that I believe that whatever judgement I once faced was wiped away the instant Jesus gave Himself for me upon that cross. It is here that I passed from a life of being a sinner, to a life in Christ. The apostle Paul also certainly received this realization in his own life. It was Paul, who in his former life, was a vile persecutor of the early church of the followers of Jesus. That is, until he was introduced to Jesus on the road to Damascus. So, did Paul believe that he was still to answer Gods judgement for that which he had done? No, for in Paul's own realization, that old man he once was was now dead, having been crucified at Christs side. It was Paul's belief that what remained was His life in Christ Jesus {Galatians 2:20}. Despite all which he had done, when God now looked upon Paul, he did not see the stain of the sins he once carried. So it is with us.
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5: 21 NKJV
There is, in our criminal justice system, a unique right we all enjoy. That being the freedom of double jeopardy. This guarantees us the right to never be prosecuted and punished for the same offense. That is, once we are found to be innocent, we cannot be charged again for the same offense. I believe that this is a good illustration of how it is that God looks upon our former offenses. What does God see when He looks upon us? He sees Jesus who is now in us. If we were to petition God for the forgiveness of all we had done, His response may very well be, what sin? What sin is there which our heavenly Father has not absolved us from? What sin is there which Jesus has not bled and died for upon the cross? I feel that it is a fools errand to continue trusting in the belief that we must yet answer for some sin despite the fact that we no longer live as sinners. Despite the fact that Jesus put our sin to death {Romans 6:6-11}. Yet, church theology continues to tell us that despite the fact that Christ died for our sins, that we must also face judgement for them. Any decent lawyer would dismiss this as double jeopardy. Despite what modern theology tells us, I believe that God does not intend for us to live a life of fear of what He might yet do. However, I do believe that His desire for us is to live a life of freedom in Christ Jesus. After all, we live as Jesus, and what will Christ be judged for?
Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV
~Scott~
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