Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Confidence of Christ

Thursday, December 30, 2004

1 John 2:12,13
I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

In The Search for Significance Robert McGee describes one of the four vast lies Satan propagates among us while he roams free on earth: "You are what you are. You cannot change. You are hopeless."

Because we judge ourselves and others by our behavior and motivation, we can convince ourselves that Satan is right if our nasty behavior and selfish motivation don't change. We feel powerless to change, and so we feel condemned. Christians call this situation "besetting sin."

Without the sacrifice of Jesus, McGee says this kind of sin will cause me to experience "feelings of shame, hopelessness, and inferiority." I become passive, lose my creativity, isolate myself and withdraw from others. This sounds like death on earth.

Now for the good news. Through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, God allows me to choose "regeneration." By his Spirit I am made new, born again, complete in Christ. This does not mean my behavior or motivation become new, born again, complete in Christ. It means that my insides, my self, the main nuts-and-bolts me becomes new.

This new place is where God does his work. It's the Holy Spirit's workshop, right there inside of me. While my outside goes on sinning, God is changing me from the inside out.

It is not my actions or my motivations that God examines, either before or after my conversion. God sees only Jesus. That is why regeneration can work. I stand in the shadow of Jesus.

So John can write to the "young men" with confidence that they have overcome the evil one. Although young men can claim neither pure desires nor perfect actions, they are new nonetheless. And their fathers can rejoice that they have "known him who is from the beginning."

We have been forgiven on account of the name of Jesus. Not because we live clean lives or think clean thoughts. And most importantly, not because we will begin after conversion to live clean and think clean. We may look for that in each other; we may need that from each other to insure a safe, sanctified and sanitary society; but God wants something much purer than that from every one of us.

He gets it through Jesus. I'm off the hook; I can relax and put my arms around Jesus as he puts his arms around me. My sin does not destroy me. The changes I make are fine, the changes I don't make ... they are fine too. The result of regeneration in me is "Christ-centered self-confidence (wow, a contradiction resolved!), joy, courage, peace, and desire to know Christ."

All to Jesus, I surrender ... take me Jesus, take me now.

Devotions Archive

Confidence of Christ

Thursday, December 30, 2004