If God Is For Us: He Is Faithful…Even When We’re Not!
Ever feel like you just can’t get it right? Or if you do manage to get yourself in line you’re right back in the same mess before you even have time to catch your breath?
When writing Romans chapter 8, Paul has just finished saying that everything he wants to do right he doesn’t do. And all the wrong things he doesn’t want do he keeps on doing. (Been there!)
He goes back-and-forth and back-and-forth. Finally, he cries out, “Oh my goodness! Who will help me?” And then he says, “Praise God! He will, through Jesus Christ!” (Romans 7)
And then…
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
Romans 8:9-10 ESV
Paul is saying to us here—no matter how you feel about yourself. No matter what your struggles. The fact remains, if you have accepted Christ, you are in the Spirit. And the spirit of the living God is alive in you. You are seen as righteous, holy, and blameless by the God of the universe, Who loves you and gave Himself for you!
What A Mess I Am!
In her new Bible study, If God Is For Us (Keep reading for your chance to win a FREE copy!), author, speaker and Director of Community Outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention, Trillia Newbell says this about her life before becoming a Christian (accepting and believing in Jesus as Lord):
“Spiritually speaking, I was dead (Eph 2:1)—dead in my sin. But God, who is rich in mercy, brought me to life. He gave me His Spirit and Christ’s righteousness.
This is the experience of everyone who trusts in the finished work of Jesus Christ on their behalf. But something can happen after our conversion. It can happen after a few months or ten years down the road. We can be tempted to forget about the miracle work of grace and begin to notice all the things we do wrong. We can begin to confuse ourselves with our sin. We can even become more aware of sin than we do of God‘s grace.”
You see, Satan loves this tactic—tempting us toward self-focus. It urges us to focus more on our dead, sinful souls than on the grace which has given us a living, righteous spirit.
Satan would have us focus more on our mess than on the Gospel message.
Don’t Fear the Light
While dating, Tim and I studied together through the book of James. Tim had been a Christian for as long as I had, but he had not actively been growing in his walk for some time.
I remember him complaining to me one night how it seemed the closer he got to God the more messed up he felt. I smiled and offered him this encouragement:
The closer we get to the Light the more we can see. Things are exposed when brought into the light. I told him this was a good sign and not to be discouraged. All this meant was that he was drawing closer to the Light of the world! (See 1 John 1:5-7; John 8:12; Ephesians 5:8-15)
Shake Off the Condemnation
Romans 8:1 tells us, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And Revelation 12:10 calls the devil our “accuser.”
You see, the enemy wants us to focus on those exposed sins. To continually beat ourselves up over our mistakes. But Jesus is saying, “Keep your eyes on me. As I reveal things to you that need to be dealt with, just thank me for my forgiveness. And let’s work together in love as you become more and more like me.”
May seeing our sin make us say, “Wow! Look how great God is that He has made me righteous!” Not, look how bad I am. But rather, look how much God loves me!
Thank You for My Weakness
You see, in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 Paul talks about begging God to rid him of things that were causing him trouble. But it is in the midst of Paul’s struggle and weakness that one of the most reassuring truths of Scripture is given.
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
So the next time Satan points you towards your weaknesses and begs you to beat yourself up over them, turn it back around on him. The ultimate backfire!
When Satan tells you how weak you are tell him, “Thank you for reminding me because the weaker I am the mightier the power of God is shown!” Knowing that your weaknesses simply show how great your God is!
God Is Faithful Whether We Are Or Not
Don’t let Satan and his guilt-trips trip you up. Never let his attempts at condemnation cause you to question God’s faithfulness to His Word or to you, His child….His chosen one. You may question and doubt and waiver, but God never does. Check this out:
“What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” Romans 3:3-4 ESV
This is why thinking we can do enough good works to get us to heaven or reconcile us to a perfect, holy, awesome God is complete foolishness!
I love what Trillia says in regards to the passage above, “We lack the faithfulness required to keep a relationship with God. But thankfully—although we should not neglect pursuing a relationship with God—our faithfulness isn’t what keeps us with Him. It’s His faithfulness that secures us.”
Or as my mama would say, “If I can’t do enough to get me saved, I sure can’t do enough to keep me saved!”
Friends, we are going to mess up because we are still human. But praise God, our spirits—if we have accepted Jesus—are alive and well and perfected in Him.
So there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. When God looks at us He sees the perfection of His Son Jesus. All our messes are covered by His blood!
Going Deeper
If you are looking for a great study to take you deeper and draw you nearer, I highly recommend grabbing a copy of If God Is For Us by Trillia Newbell. Given the structure of the book, I would encourage you to do this in a group or with another girlfriend or two. I think a group setting will lend itself to a richer experience.
There is also a FREE Facebook group study of this book where you can connect with others around the world (as well as Trillia herself) as you dig, grow, and come up higher into the awesome life He has saved us for!
If you have never attempted a Bible study before, I would encourage you to give this one a try. It is written in such a way that even the most new-to-the-faith will find it easy to jump in. As Trillia says, “Just as in a marriage, our understanding and love for the Word will only grow as we learn more about it.”
And personally, I also very highly recommend listening to Pastor Jon Courson’s teachings through the book of Romans as a wonderful complement to this study.
No matter how many times you have read this well-loved chapter you will undoubtedly gain some fresh perspective.
In the author’s own words, “If God Is For Us will take us on a journey into Romans 8, reminding us of our great salvation, our inheritance, and ultimately the love of our good Father. My prayer is that, together, we’ll gain a greater understanding of the significance of this passage of Scripture and why these verses mean so much to so many.”
GIVEAWAY
I am grateful to Moody Publishers for sending me a free copy of If God Is For Us to review, and for authorizing me to give away a FREE copy of this book!
To be entered to win please: follow by email, comment below, and share this post. If you share it on Facebook or Instagram please tag me in it. (@jennyzentz)
The winner will be announced on Saturday, April 6!
Next week I will go live with part two of my thoughts on questioning our faith, and why there is so much power in doing so.
