Freedom from judgment.
As believers, we are well acquainted with judgment. We’re well acquainted with what Scripture tells us what’s right and wrong, and frequently we find ourselves in the wrong, and so we feel the guilt of condemnation. We also feel judged by others. It could be something someone says, it could be a look, it could be something as subtle as someone withdrawing from us. We know judgment because we know the law and our inability to obey it. We know judgment because we know of our sins. We know judgment because we know how depraved we really are.
We know judgment very well, and judgment knows us. It visits us every week, every day, every moment we’re not alert. We think we’ve locked the door and have properly shielded ourselves, but judgment is always looking for an unlocked door or window to sneak into our hearts. Then, once it gets in, it reeks havoc on us. It attacks our minds, our hearts, our spirit. Even if we have no great big sin we’re currently battling, it’ll go to the box we all keep our past in, and it’ll dig through the archives of our pasts bringing up times where we did a whole lot of wrong, and before we know, it we’ll be reliving the past, enslaved by it. Judgment is dangerous. As believers, we know its power over us, we fear it, and it seems inescapable at times. Our belief in judgment as believers is some times far too great. As if judgement is ultimate. However, though this is often the case, I want to clearly say that such a scenario is not how it ought to be, and it is not how it will end. Judgment is not ultimate, it is not the final authority.
I’ll show you what I mean with a few passages.
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.” 1 Cor 4.3-4.
Apostle Paul sounds like a straight up gangster. He’s saying y’all can’t judge me, I don’t even judge myself! However, the interesting turn comes when he says that he is not acquitted, which means he knows he’s still guilty despite the fact he doesn’t seem to care about what he’s done! Why is this, how can Paul act like this without sounding crazy? He goes on…it is the Lord who judges me. Which, to be honest, on first read, doesn’t sound like a good ending because in my mind if you’re going to be judged by God, then you’re pretty much screwed. Who can stand before God? Paul seems to be a little off his rocker when he’s talking here, but to fully grasp what he means here, we need to find out more before we can come to a more satisfactory conclusion besides “Paul has lost his mind”.
“And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin [Adam]. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” Romans 5.16-17.
For believers, those who place their faith, their active trust and belief in the resurrected Son of God, they are justified before our Holy God. They, we, have been imputed the free gift of Christ’s righteousness (His righteousness has become ours)! We are no longer seeking justification by the works of our own hands, otherwise we’d always feel dominated and controlled by sin and judgment. However, as believers, we have the justification and righteousness of Christ, in faith!
It is important to see the difference here. We feel judgment because of our sins. We know we sin. We sin all the time, throughout the day. Not one day passes without our countless sins against God, and if it were up to us to obtain salvation, why even continue trying? It’d be absolutely hopeless. However, though we are indeed sinners, through faith in Christ we receive the righteousness of God, this is why Christ died! He died because God knows we cannot achieve any semblance of righteousness on our own because all have sinned. Instead, He offers us a way, through faith, to receive the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
If you are indeed in the faith, then “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, Romans 8.1. Are you- in the midst of watching your judgment highlights- remembering what Christ has done for you, or how all your efforts have fallen short? Are you remembering the sacrifice of Christ and His love poured out for you, or are you still trying to feel good about yourself through your own actions? If you’re relating more with the latter half in any of these questions, then you’re still operating with faith [which is true], but a faith that is in yourself, you place no faith in God. However, if you relate with the former half, then believe in God, and believe that you need God and there is no good in you. Otherwise, you give judgment and Satan a foothold, an unlocked door, a way into your mind, heart, and spirit to reek havoc. Remember, place your faith in God, not yourself. This becomes easier when you are willing to be humble before God.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4.10. James instructs us to be humble because when we are humble we soberly see and are reminded of who we truly are before God. Sinners in need of redemption outside of ourselves.
“The Reformers expressed it this way: Our righteousness is an ‘alien [outer] righteousness’, a righteousness that comes from outside of us. They were saying that the Christian is dependent on the Word of God…If someone asks him, ‘Where is your salvation, your righteousness?’ He could never point to himself. He points to the Word of God in Christ Jesus, which assures him salvation and righteousness…And it can come only from the outside. In himself he is destitute and dead.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
We humble ourselves so that we remember that we are forever incapable of self-producing the righteousness our Holy God demands. True righteousness is only found outside of us, where by faith in Christ we are given the righteousness of Christ himself.
Judgment tells us we aren’t good enough. That the deeds we did yesterday, today, and the sins we will commit tomorrow disqualify us from ever being ‘good’, and that the sooner we stop trying and faking to be someone we’re not, the better off we will be. Judgment teases and tempts us to look into ourselves because it knows that when we look at ourselves, we will see no trace of righteousness solely from the inside. We’re sinners, it’s impossible, all is dark in the night of our sinful hearts. However, we as believers engage judgment here and now with the full Gospel where we humbly admit that we are indeed sinners in desperate need of salvation and righteousness, but that such righteousness comes through Christ alone, whom we place all of our faith in. It is by Christ’s righteousness we stand, it is outside of ourselves, we merely have to believe in Him and are then justified. This is why it is a free gift, since we know we don’t deserve it, that’s the nature of gifts.
Judgments tells us we have no rights, it tries to strip us of any hope, but I think if we are humble and remember who we are and who our God is, then we should not fear facing judgment. Rather, each time you feel it coming, preach to yourself the Good News again. Yes, we deserve judgment and condemnation. We deserve death because of all of our sins. However, we believe in God, we believe in Christ, and because of that, we have received the free gift of Christ’s righteousness, on whom we fully depend. We do not depend on ourselves in light of the Gospel. We depend on Him who has saved us from ourselves.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died- more than that, who was raised- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Romans 8.31-34.
Paul uses seemingly stupid questions to remind us of who we are. ”These things” are all the accusations and condemnations that Judgment brings to our doorstep. These are the big sins we’ve put in our archives, the ones we think are too big to simply throw out. Matter of fact, we feel that they’re too heavy, they’re stubbornly staying in that corner of our hearts, making a home for themselves. However, Paul reminds us that when these past, present, and future sins come and seek to tempt us into despair, we need to remember who our God is. Loving. Compassionate. Giving His all, His own Son. Judgment seeks to condemn us and win us over through the magnitude of our sins. It seeks to make us feel such intense guilt and shame that we no longer remember the ultimate hope we have in Christ. In such cases, emotions work against us. Judgment knows how we work and manipulates us in such ways. However, this is when we must remember that if God doesn’t condemn us, but has instead justified us, then we are free from all condemnation!
Verse 34 deserves an exclamation mark in the margins of your Bibles. God is the only one who by His very nature has all the rights to condemn us. Not your mom, not your dad, not your friends, not your bf, gf, and certainly not yourself. Only God does. However, He doesn’t condemn you. Instead, He’s justified you, and the term “justification” is tossed around way too lightly. Unpack it and realize that justification means Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, all-in-one. It means death, life, resurrection, ascension, and intercession. Justification implies all the life and sacrifice of Christ, spurned from His love. For you and for me. Justification is no cold word or Christian term, it is jam-packed with God’s love; otherwise, if God truly didn’t love you and me, why would He go on interceding for us to this very day, in this very moment?
If God, who has all the full rights to send us to Hell, choose to provide us forgiveness of sins and His salvation/righteousness instead, then what can condemnation and judgment say? We’re not worthy? We already humbly admit to that! We know who we are, sinners. However, we’re aren’t solely sinners, we’re redeemed sinners! We know we don’t deserve redemption, but we receive it by faith through Christ. This is why it is a free gift! This is why we hear the word grace thrown around so often. We are shown unmerited favor for no reason other than God loves us, sinners unworthy of His love. So again, what power does condemnation, guilt, shame, sin, and judgment have in the face of Christ? We already know…”Then Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” Matthew 28.18. Christ has conquered all things, judgment and condemnation included. This is the grace of Christ that causes believer’s spirits to soar, and hearts to be transformed.
The only practical question left for us today, here and now is, where or who are we placing our faith in today? Still ourselves, or God? Are we still believing we have a fair chance of working out our own salvation, are we still forsaking the sacrificial love of Christ, are we still letting Christ be crucified in vain, and consequently giving judgment the keys? Or are we humbly confessing our total depravity, and in total desperation and dependence fully depending on Christ to save us, here and now, every day, from the tyranny of sin, in and around us? If Christ has justified you, you are no longer unforgiven in any way. You cannot still ‘not forgive yourself’ for certain things because “for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews. 10.14. If you still have trouble believing you are forgiven, it goes to show that you still trust yourself (your mind) more than God’s Word. Consider and decide which one is more trustworthy now.
God’s judgment towards us was taken out on His Son. God’s love towards His Son, He has graciously shared with us. Faith in these truths will lead us into the freedom of Christ.
4 years ago…
I had a sore throat. I remember standing in front of this praise team that rocked out every Sunday like this set was the last set they’d ever play. I remember standing there thinking I couldn’t sing along with them. I remember standing there, contemplating the meaning behind some lyrics. I remember growing frustrated with my then 23 years of non-committal Christianity, where I’d only give 90% at my best of times, and who knows what at the worst of times. I remember this time because I had recently graduated the previous Spring semester from RU and hadn’t the slightest clue as to what I was going to do next in life. I remember checking out graduate schools for clinical psychology because I thought that was the next logical step to take. I remember graduating and doing nothing more than grilling outside whenever I woke up on a sunny summer afternoon, all by myself. I remember going to Taiwan for half a year just cause I had nothing better to do. There was an internship out there at a psychiatric ward through some of my parents connections. I remember going there and wasting away at night all by myself. I remember relying on the slowest freaking internet connection to keep my sanity and having Tim Be Told’s first album play on repeat countless times, especially the last track.
I remember all this post-grad activity, from graduation until this Sunday with the sore throat, this Easter Sunday of 2008 because I felt utterly broken, frustrated, and hopeless. I was close to giving up, I was tired of trying this thing called Christianity but having it never come to any avail. I remember growing up in the church all my then 23 years and always feeling inadequate and judged, held to the highest level of critique.
Yes, 4 years ago on that Easter Sunday, I felt less worthy than anything I’d ever known. This was the moment that God had led me to over the course of 23 years, for this very next moment. I broke. I gave in, I threw away all personal reservations and fears of committing fully, wholly, 100% to God, and I jumped in. By God’s grace I said yes to Him for the first time that truly mattered, the first time I truly meant it with all of my heart, with all of my being. The next thing that came was totally unexpected. I felt physically lighter, or rather an intangible yet real burden had literally been lifted off my shoulders. I wish I had spiritual eyes to witness it because I know this occurred. I had heard about it happening to other people through my years in church, but I never believed it. But now, I experienced it myself. Yes, it was 4 years ago that my life was never again to be the same. God’s intervention came to full fruition, or rather He inaugurated a new phase in my life. We became truly Father and son, no longer estranged by the wall of sin I sought to scale through my works of self-righteousness.
Every Easter since then has been doubly precious to me. Not only celebrating the LORD’s resurrection, but also my own resurrection, from death to life. In these last four years, I cannot even begin to recount all that has occurred. God has blown a strong tailwind and carried me to places I had never ever imagined, and I certainly am not speaking pure geography. Just look at me now, finishing up my third year at Westminster. This fact alone shows how amazing His grace is, as well as His patience haha. For real, 23 years and then some. All the time it took for God to show Himself to me, and for me to respond in faithful, obedience allegiance. What a God my God is.
Just to finish up…the following fall, after that Easter service, I enrolled in discipleship under Pastor Jae. That was when I felt I learned Christianity for the first time for myself. It became my own. The truths taught were now applicable to me, personally, and not because I’m the son of an elder of one of the largest Chinese churches on the East Coast. It blew my mind, then reshaped it. It brought me closer to God and things were escalating between God and I, in a good way. In January of 2009, a few months into Discipleship, I went on the Prayer Mountain trip with some GCC folks to some place…who knows where, I don’t recall. Anyways, on the last day there Pastor Jae had us circle up before heading out, and this is when he began to specifically pray over each and every one of us. When he came to me he said that I have the ministry of Barnabas, whose name translates into “son of encouragement”, and that has stuck with me ever since. At that time, the job I held was essentially, functionally just that. I remember coming back into work that following Monday and talking to my supervisor, Ken, who was a fellow brother and I told him about this, which was when he sent me off on a 1/2 day so I could go to the NB church office, which was still at 46 Bayard at the time, just to pray. ’Cause things were happenin’. Little did I know God was calling me to seminary.
Rewind 2 days back to when I returned from the Prayer mountain trip and my mom talked to me saying that I should further pursue after God. I thought she was being Captain Obvious at the moment, but I realized that she had always been hounding me to work at her company, so I asked her what she meant by that no-brainer comment, to which she replied seminary. Dun dun dun. Prior to hearing that word leave her mouth, I had never thought of it for myself. Back to the conversation with Ken, before he sent me off to pray, he told me that he believes I would best flourish somewhere I can openly speak and learn about my faith. He didn’t suggest seminary, but I suppose it could be implied there. The coincidence between Pastor Jae’s prayer, mom, and Ken was just too much. I knew God was speaking to me through those 3 instrumental figures in my life, all of which I looked up to in different areas of life (church, personal, work).
When Ken let me out of work that day I drove straight to the office, hopped onto that old elevator and made a beeline to the end of the hallway. I got in, hit the play button, and prayed my little overly-excited behind off. After I sent up every prayer I could muster up I went online and started researching seminaries. By the time the Discipleship course was wrapping up I was applying to seminaries. By March of 2009 I was accepted into WTS, quit my job, and in June of 2009 God led me to Glenside, PA, where I now have another year or so until the next phase comes? These past 3 years have been one heck of a rollercoaster. From contemplating of dropping out in my first year, to being lulled into theology at the expense of my heart, to now, where I finally feel like I’ve found solid footing again this third year. The time here at WTS has been no laughing matter, but when I look back at what God has been doing in my life these past 4 years, today, in hindsight, I am grateful for where He’s led me to, and how He has sustained me.
Besides a few crazy term papers I’ll have to start and finish by next month, I’m looking forward to my last year and where God will lead me afterwards. Sure, some times fear of the unknown future hits me like a senior in high school not knowing where he’s going to college, but I’ve come to know my God is trustworthy over these years. I’ve also come to know that I cannot trust myself or others. No one but God is sovereign, and no one loves me like my God. So it is in Him I trust, Christ, who is my Savior and Provider. To God’s intervention in my life made manifest 4 years ago, and to living in faithful gratefulness and worship with every day I’ve been given thereafter. Sure, my consistency can get spotty and sin seeks to interfere here, but I write this to thank God as well as encourage anyone who will be encouraged by these words and testament.
Intercession.
We know Christ intercedes for us…
Hebrews 7.24-25: 24 But Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore He is able also to saveforever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
However, do we know the full implications of Christ’s intercession? No, not quite. I think we indeed find some comfort in knowing Christ is interceding on our behalf, but what does it mean when we are suffering, or going through a hard time now, on Earth, far removed from Heaven, where Christ sits? Intercession seems to mean less, especially in our here and now. Maybe I should stop speaking for the masses, but I do believe it is a very normal experience, thought, or feeling we come to know ourselves.
Been reading a whole lot and I came upon this that opened my eyes a bit regarding Christ’s intercession for us.
“the intercession of Christ brings within its scope all that is necessary to salvation in the fullest extent of its consummated perfection. This is to say that the intercession covers the whole range of what is requisite to, and of what is realized in, the eschatological salvation. The intercession of Christ is interposed to meet very need of the believer. No grace bestowed, no blessing enjoyed, no benefit received can be removed from the scope of the intercession and the intercession is the guarantee that every exigency will be met by its efficacy. The security of salvation is bound up with his intercession, and outside of his intercession we must say that there is no salvation.” ~ John Murray.
When I read this, it made me realize just how much more Christ loves and cares, far more than my meager, unbelieving mind gave Him credit for, and how I need to be reminded of His ways more often because it comforts me. Actually, to merely say He comforts me is also missing the mark. God loves us far more than we can imagine. Correction: God loves us far more than we can ever know. His love for us goes beyond our finite comprehension. We know, but not in full because that is simply not possible to know, at least from the perspective of a finite being.
This is our God. He intercedes, for us. May this fact cause your heart to swell. Christ is praying for you.
