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I was speaking to someone recently and I could see that they were struggling to understand what felt like mixed signals in the Bible. On the one hand, there are verses that speak of believers as being clean, washed of their sins, forgiven, and made holy. On the other hand, there are verses that speak of God being grieved by our sins and disciplining us for them. When the Bible speaks of our forgiveness and cleansing is God just trying to inspire us? Or when the Bible speaks of the ongoing presence of our sins is God just trying to scare us? When God sees His children is He shaking His head in frustration? Or is He graciously looking away from the areas where we still falter? How should believers understand God’s attitude toward them when they sin? Let me suggest that there are two hats that can help us make sense of the Bible’s competing descriptions of God’s attitude toward us.
1. In God’s role as Judge, He declares us innocent
There isn’t anything half-hearted about God’s forgiveness. If we confess our sins, 1 John 1:9 promises that “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That’s why the apostle Paul can call believers “saints” who are “faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesus 1:1). As the Judge of all humanity, God sees all of a believer’s sins as having been transferred to Jesus on the cross and paid in full (John 19:30). For Him to punish us for our sins would be to suggest that Jesus didn’t finish the job. For God to still charge us with even a little guilt would be for Him to view Jesus’ work on the cross as inadequate. The Bible isn’t just trying to give us a spiritual pep talk or boost our spiritual ego. We know full well that we’re not always knocking it out of the park as Christians, but because of what Jesus did, God sees us as faithful and declares us innocent. We’re forgiven, accepted, cleansed, and holy. And those adjectives describing God’s evaluation of us don’t grow when we have a good day or fade when we have a bad one. We’re only saints because of Jesus. We’re only righteous because we’ve received Christ’s righteousness. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” So, in God’s role as Judge, He declares us innocent, but that’s only half of the story.
2. In God’s role as Father, He helps us grow
Given everything that we’ve said so far about our innocence and holiness in God’s eyes, there are other Scriptures that are hard to make sense of. For instance, why are we warned not to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30) if God sees us as “faithful in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:1)? If he considers us “saints” (Ephesians 1:1), which literally means holy ones, then why does He warn us to “be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19)? And for that matter, why does God discipline us (Hebrews 12:5) if He’s forgiven us? These verses which seem to be in tension are just describing God’s attitude from two different perspectives. While as a Judge He declares us innocent because of Jesus, as a Father He joins us in providing the help we need to battle sin. While the judgment of our innocence never changes, we please God when we take steps to obey Him (1 Thessalonians 2:4), and we grieve Him when we don’t (Ephesians 4:30). He doesn’t ever punish us to make us pay for our sins, but He does discipline us to help us grow. In fact, the Lord’s discipline is a sign of His great love for us. As it says in Hebrews 12:6, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” For a believer in Christ, God is always our ally against sin. Of course, we’ll cause God pain at times because of our sin, but that’s only because He loves us so much. No one understands us more. No one else has been tested as we have (Hebrews 4:15). And no one is more compassionate, so we can always turn to Him no matter how far we’ve fallen.
When you picture God next, remember that He declares you innocent because of Jesus. No more judgment, no more condemnation, no more punishment. That was all dealt with at the cross. But remember that He’s there to help you grow as well. He warns, encourages, teaches, strengthens, and disciplines us for our good. We’re not alone with our sin anymore. God is on our side. And as Paul says, “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)? What more could we ever want?
In awe of Him,
Paul
