No More Condemnation

Many times, we allow life’s struggles to overwhelm us. When this happens, we find all sorts of reasons to condemn ourselves. Self-condemnation seduces us to extrapolate that God is trying to teach us something with pain and suffering. You might ask yourself, “Does God hear you when you pray?” The answer is yes. To think like this could never be further from the truth of who God is. God forgives you, and He has promised not to condemn you again. Our heavenly Father makes all things new when we receive His pardon. But be pardoned for your sins and receive the promise of eternal life; you must be born again.

Self-Condemnation

Whenever life does not go according to our plans, we blame God for things He is not responsible for. When we lose a loved one to death, we say God took our loved one home to be with Him. When diagnosed with a disease, we assume God is using illness to teach us a lesson. We suppose God causes misery to teach us a lesson when we make mistakes. Friends, these are lies from the devil. God forgives you. Satan makes us condemn ourselves. He uses self-condemnation to make us think God is condemning us.

I have a friend who divorced her drug-addicted husband. After many years, they both remarried. In time, God delivered her ex-husband from drug addiction and turned his life around. Meanwhile, my friend started experiencing problems in her marriage. Things were not working out the way she planned. She felt guilty and blamed herself for the failure of her first marriage, thinking that God was punishing her for her past decisions.

One day, my friend asked, “Do you think God is trying to teach me a lesson for divorcing my husband?” I reassured her that God would never do something like that to teach her a lesson. I said, “God forgives you. He is not angry with you. He loves you, and He would never use pain and misery to discipline you.”

God Turns a Blind Eye to Your Sin

There is no more condemnation for those who believe in Jesus Christ. Before the cross, under the Old Covenant of the Law, God imputed the penalty for sin to the sinner. To be forgiven, a sacrifice was required. That sacrifice was the blood of an innocent bull, ram, or lamb. But Jesus, who had nothing to do with sin, became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. This act of love and sacrifice should fill us with gratitude and reverence for our Savior.

Therefore, God is righteous in forgiving you and me. At the cross, God imputed the penalty for our sins on Jesus, who did not sin. He became the innocent sacrifice for our sins. In addition, Jesus wiped out the handwriting of requirements against us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

On this side of the cross, God is not angry with us, nor does He condemn us for our sins. The Bible says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Jesus paid sin’s ransom once and forever. In the place of His anger, God gave us grace—his unmerited favor. Friends, God forgives you. He is not angry with you, and He will never be angry with you, for God Himself says,s,

‘For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
— Isaiah 54:9-10 NKJV

God Buried the Hatchet When Christ Paid the Debt

On this side of the cross, God is not angry with us, nor does He condemn us for our sins. He loves us, and love forgives sin. How do we know? Because Christ paid the sin debt in full, once and forever. No longer angry with us, God gave us grace — His unmerited favor, and peace — the everlasting peace of Jesus. This is a message of hope and encouragement that we can cling to in our darkest moments.

But why would God make such a promise to us? The answer is Jesus! Isaiah 53 speaks of God’s Son, His birth as a man, His suffering and death, and why He died such an agonizing death on the cross. God said it pleased Him to crush His Son, to offer Him as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. What happened at the cross demonstrated the love of our heavenly Father.

No More Condemnation

The next time you feel like you’ve fallen short of God’s expectations, remember this: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Why? Because God forgives you. So, don’t let anyone, including yourself, make you believe that God is angry with you or trying to teach you something through your misfortune. God has promised that He will never be angry with you. He poured out His anger on His Son on the cross. God does not condemn you. He loves you. If you trust God, He will deliver you. “For God so loved the world, that He gave (offered up as a sacrifice for sin) His only begotten Son (Jesus), that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) shall not perish (die for his sin) but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). We only love God because He loved us first (1 John 4:19).