All across the world, good and honest believers have this idea that they must work at “doing good”. They must struggle and strive to “do the right thing”, to make God happy or to prove their love for Him, or whatever the underlying motivation may be; it leads to the same place: a merit-centered, man-centered mentality which is not focused on God, but is focused on self-performance and behavior.
Many believers think that if they themselves or their fellow brother or sister in Christ is failing in a particular area of behavior, that it is due to some sin in their life, or that they are just being lazy and they need to try harder. But is this what the scriptures actually say?
In this study today, we will be taking a look at what God has to say on this very subject, and how God’s diagnosis of the problem of wrong behaviors is not what we might expect. As you see this truth, it will give you a new mindset regarding this issue, and a new confidence in your relationship with God as well.
How would you evaluate the current state of your life? It may seem pretty good right now, or it may seem like a total mess, or anywhere in between. Often times what we tend to do is take stock of our life and then use what we perceive as good or bad circumstances as a barometer for the love of God towards us. When things are good, we feel as though God is happy with us and loves us and we are on cloud nine; but when things are not going our way, we feel as though God is angry with us or that we have some kind of test to pass or a lesson to learn.
The truth though is that today God is not angry or wroth with you anymore. He exhausted all of His righteous and holy wrath on the body of Jesus Christ in your place. He suffered and died as you so that today you can receive all fullness of blessing and life as Him.