Therefore,
my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is
proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free
from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of
Moses. Acts 13: 38 – 39
There is no fear in love.
But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears in not made perfect in love. I John 4: 18
When
Jesus died on the cross, he took all of our sin past, present and future and
the guilt and the shame upon himself as the perfect sacrifice. He took all the punishment that was due to us
for our sin. Our sin incurred the death
penalty. As it says in Romans 6:23 ‘for
the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.’ Jesus took
the death penalty for our sin and in a divine exchange, gave us the free gift
of eternal life. It was a complete, finished work.
However,
as Christians, when we do wrong our mind set can still be that God is angry
with us and wants to punish us. We need to get hold of this divine truth that
God does not want to punish us for anything.
Jesus took ALL the punishment due to us for every sin when he died on
the cross. God does not want to punish
us when we do wrong but to set us free from sin and its consequences.
If we
look at God’s Word in the light of God’s desire to free us from sin, it takes
us from a vengeful God ready to pounce on every wrongdoing to a God that longs
for his people to be liberated from the burden of their mistakes.
This amazing
thought can free us from fear; fear of failure, fear of sinning, fear of
punishment, fear of judgment, fear of disappointing God. We cannot disappoint God because he knows
what we will do before we do it. Disappointment comes when things do not work
out as expected. If God knows what is
going to happen, he cannot be disappointed.
When we sin or when God shows us our shortcomings, our proud thoughts
and bad attitudes, we must resist every temptation to think that God is angry
or disappointed in us. We must take hold of the truth that God is liberating us
from these shortcomings.
God
hates sin because it separates us from his unconditional love. God has dealt with sin in sinful man through
Jesus’ death on the cross (Romans 8: 3 – 4). Let us live in the joy of being forgiven children
of God who need have no fear of their loving heavenly Father and let us walk in
that wonderful freedom.
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