A cold hug. Unresolved anger over
a commitment I kept while my mom was in town led to a disappointing goodbye.
It’s the last time I saw her, nine years ago. Three months later, I sat beside
her bed reading the journal entry she penned after this December visit:
“Lord, with
Shauna, it used to be what can Jesus do for you. Now, it’s what can Mary Kay do
for you.”
The slap stung. Pursuing achievement
and recognition in Mary Kay consumed me and affected those around me. The truth
hurt. Not because her words were hurtful, but because they confronted me with
truth I didn’t want to see.
Wracked with sobs, God gently whispered
to my spirit: “Take the truth; leave the guilt and shame.” The heaviness
lifted. The burden of sin vanished. Conviction remained, with forgiveness. A life
lesson. A God lesson. I think it’s what Romans 8:1 means:
There is
therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
When God reveals sin in our
lives, we take the conviction; we leave the condemnation.
How is that, especially when we
continue to sin?
Through the body of Christ, we
are delivered from the law – judgment, punishment, condemnation, and death – so
that we can be productive for God, serving Him “in the newness of the Spirit
and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6). Yet, Paul explains in
Romans 7:15-25, we all face the life-long dilemma of having the intellectual capacity
to understand and yield in obedience to what is morally acceptable to God and
to recognize and hate what is not, but our skin and bones – the earthly nature
that resists God – is drawn off the path of righteousness to violate the very
things He desires. We know and want to do what is good, but don’t, while doing
the very evil we hope to avoid!
“Who will deliver me from this
body of death?” Paul exclaims in verse twenty-four. Answering his own question,
he says, “I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh that law of sin” (verse
twenty-five).
Then he immediately assures us of
no condemnation. Looking back on our trail of blood from Leviticus to the
Cross, let’s put it all together:
We are born with
a sin condition; we are unable to not sin.
Our sin
separates us from God, exacting a penalty.
Blood must be
shed.
Animal
sacrifices offered by a high priest once satisfied the wrath of God, then
Jesus, the final sacrifice, became the propitiation or satisfaction for our sin,
becoming our eternal High Priest.
He died for our
condition, the rebellious heart it creates, and the sins that result from that
rebellion.
When He saves
us, we are able to recognize what is righteous and good and hate what is evil, but
because of our human flesh, we are still drawn away from righteousness to sin.
Because Jesus
died for the condition into which we are born by no fault of our own, in Christ
Jesus, when we sin, there is THEREFORE now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus.
We cannot, however, walk
according to the flesh any longer, but must walk by the Spirit. A change in
behavior is necessary.
Conviction should lead to
alteration.
When I returned home from the
funeral, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I changed. Mary Kay was no longer the
priority in my life. God was. And family. I still worked my business, but it
was no longer an idol.
When viewing inappropriate
content on television, at the theater, or on the internet leaves us sullied
with guilt and shame, take the conviction – the truth that what we’ve seen is
wrong in the eyes of God – but leave the condemnation – the damnation we expect
and want to put on ourselves.
When someone we love dies unsaved
and we are crushed by the weight of feeling we should have done or said more,
take the conviction – the truth that we must be bold in sharing the good news
of what Jesus Christ has done for us – but leave the condemnation.
When we mess up for the umpteenth
time and can’t see how it’s ever going to get better, take the conviction – the
truth that what we’re doing is wrong and we must yield in obedience to what God
desires for that area of our lives – but leave the condemnation.
Leave the hopelessness. The shame.
And by the power of the Holy Spirit, yield in obedience to what God desires.
No condemnation. No penance. Just
freedom.
Is there something the Lord is
convicting you to change? See your guilt and shame nailed to the cross as you bow
down and worship Him there. Take responsibility for
making the changes He undoubtedly is urging you to make. By the power of the
Holy Spirit, move forward, in obedience, lighter and freer for His work on the
cross.
Thank you, Father, that in Christ
Jesus we receive conviction and correction but still enjoy the easy yoke and
light burden available to us in Him. Forgive our sins and help us yield
ourselves in obedience to You as we become more wholly Yours today.
Shauna Wallace
Holy His
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