Since Satan has been working overtime to attack some of the FAM Fellowship members with condemnation lately, this seems like a very good time to expose its source and destroy its power, because as Christians, condemnation has NO place in our lives! And we KNOW that, because Romans 8:1-2 says Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. And any time we see something like “therefore”, it’s important to see what came before it, because that’s what the “therefore” refers to. And Romans 7:25 says Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. But most of us are probably a lot more familiar with how the inevitable battle between our spirit and flesh is described in Matthew 26:41 (NKJV), which says Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Obviously Paul, who wrote so much of the New Testament, struggled with sin, which he made no bones about in many of his writings. Yet, he said there was NO condemnation for his sin, because of Jesus Christ, in whom there is NO condemnation. And he explained that even more explicitly in Romans 5:15-16, which says But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. And then Romans 5:18 says Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

So Satan absolutely loves it when we beat ourselves up because it’s so difficult to bring our flesh under the control of our spirit. But the GOOD NEWS is that 1 John 1:7-9 says But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. And John 6:63 even says The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. So through the Word, we CAN overcome the sin in our lives, and through the blood of Christ we are cleansed from all unrighteousness.

One of the most difficult challenges when first ministering to someone standing for marriage restoration is getting them to stop looking at their spouse’s sin long enough to examine their own mistakes and sin. But then, just as soon as that happens, Satan comes rushing in with condemnation by filling them with so much guilt and shame that they find it hard to believe God would ever restore their marriages! Yet that’s a lie straight from the pit of hell, and totally contrary to the Word of God, especially John 8:31-32, which says To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” But just as with any other kind of bondage, Satan uses condemnation to keep us from being the witnesses God intends us to be for the praise, honor and glory of Jesus Christ. And if Satan can hinder that process by tormenting us with so much guilt and shame that our lives don’t bear witness to the miraculous peace and joy found through the power of the Holy Spirit, he wins; because our lives won’t glorify Jesus as described in 1 Peter 2:9, which says But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

And Ephesians 1 makes it very clear that EVERYTHING that happens in our lives is in FULL accordance with God’s predestined plan and that it will happen according to HIS time table and not ours, AND that it will ALL be for the praise and glory of Jesus Christ. So that means that even our sins and mistakes WILL be used for the glory of our Lord and Savior. And we find an amazing and very descriptive revelation of how that works by reading Isaiah 55, especially verses 6-13, which say:
Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”
Obviously that flies in the face of believing that God won’t restore our marriages because of our past sins! In fact, it makes it pretty clear that when we repent and refrain from our wicked ways and evil thoughts, and turn to the Lord; SOLELY TO BRING GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST, God will have mercy on us and freely pardon us, AND then actually cause us to reap something TOTALLY different than what we sowed! And He even told us we might as well NOT even try to make sense of that, because His thoughts and His ways are so much higher than ours…BUT HIS WORD NEVER RETURNS VOID! So anyone struggling with condemnation that leads to doubting the Lord will back up His own Word, particularly Malachi 2:13-17, which HE said WILL accomplish what HE desires, should read Isaiah 55 every day if necessary until Satan’s lies are overcome and hurled down when we claim it as the “word of our testimony”! And reading Jesus’ awesome promise in John 15:7-8 should help make us a lot more interested and serious about studying our Bibles, because He said If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. So CONTINUALLY AND CONSISTENTLY studying God’s word is how we overcome the condemnation Satan hopes will discourage us and destroy our faith and confidence in the Lord to restore our marriages and families. And according to Jesus, that’s the one sure way to have our prayers answered! Now there’s NO way to understand that without being very blessed and encouraged! BUT…IF you need more, just remember Romans 8:28 promises that the Lord will cause ALL things to work together for our good when we love Him and when we are living our lives in accordance with His will and word! And that “ALL” means past, present and future, good bad or indifferent…EVERYTHING, just like Ephesians 1 says! And God WILL do it all for the praise, honor and glory of His beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Posted Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 11:47 pm in Seeds Of Faith.