Good morning people who desire freedom

(By Graeme Cann)

Today we are looking at the second of the freedoms that God has given us: The Freedom from Self Condemnation.

How often do we hear people say, “I can believe that God has forgiven me, but I cannot forgive myself”?

I suspect that the real truth would be “I choose not to forgive myself”.

What we really need to understand is that God did not need to forgive us. He CHOSE TO FORGIVE US. He CHOSE to see Christ’s death as sufficient to pay the debt we owed, and He CHOSE to see us as forgiven from that very moment. We also must make a CHOICE based on the very same truth. Either we CHOOSE to see Christ’s death and resurrection as sufficient to purchase our forgiveness, or we CHOOSE to believe that despite everything that He is done we are still un-forgiven.

Why do we still believe that we are guilty even after God has forgiven us? Let me suggest a couple of reasons.

Firstly, we FEEL guilt feelings and we do not know what to do with them. Sometimes these feelings relate to something that we have done that we know was wrong and sometimes those feelings are about things that other people have done to us. Whichever they are we need to take those FEELINGS to the cross and leave them there. Jesus died not only for our sins but also for our guilt.

Secondly, we are often uncomfortable with the truth that Christ has done all that needs to be done to set us free. It is like we have to pay some additional price, so we go on condemning and punishing ourselves long after God has fully forgiven us. Listen to what Paul says.

Romans 8:33-34 ”Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

Further Reading: Romans 8:31-39

(Today’s BIY written by Graeme Cann)