Hold Your Head Up High
Rev. Dr. Maxine Thomas, Columnist
*Reprint from February 2019*
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Beloved, we often walk in self-condemnation because of sins from our past. Each of us has some things that we have done that have not been pleasing to God and that the old dirty devil will try to bring back to our remembrance to haunt us. But God wants you to know that it does not matter what bar stool you sat on, who you laid down with, what lie you told, or what crime you have committed. The day you asked God for forgiveness and invited Jesus to come into your heart, God washed every one of your sins away. The Bible says, “He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). God has washed you as white as snow.
Still, some will remind us of the “boulevard” that we used to live on. But that is a trick of the enemy, for if Satan can get you to walk around all bound up in guilt and shame, then you will not walk in the sufficiency of God’s grace and morning dew mercies. You will not lay hold to the fullness of your great inheritance purchased by the blood of the sacrificial Lamb of God. When you leave this old, wicked world behind, your salvation is more than pie in the sky. You can have peace in your soul while you are still in the land of the living.
The Bible says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..” To be in Christ means that you have been baptized into His burial and resurrection. Just because one has his or her name on the roll at Big Bethel or at St. Mark does not mean that they are in Christ. Everybody in church is not saved. In fact, the devil goes to church on Sunday morning, too. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,[a] so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21), so it is for Christ and every born-again believer. Christ is in you, and you are in him, and you are one. (John 17:21-23) There is one body, one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. (Ephesians 4:5) We are all (each born-again believer) in the body, and Christ is the head of the body. (Ephesians 4:15)
If you want to experience true freedom from the guilt of your past, then you must receive the cleansing of your conscience as well as the cleansing of your heart. Instead of being conscious of past sins, you must be conscious of the redeeming blood of Christ. Allow God to cleanse the remembrance of and shame of past sins away. Don’t dwell on it. Don’t even think about it. The Word says, “4c We destroy arguments 5and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). You cannot stop a bird from landing on your hair, but you don’t have to let it make a nest there.
When Christ is in you, He is your hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) There is hope even after a life of drug addiction or prostitution. Whatever it was, there is no hope. Your glory is not in your shame; it is certainly in nothing that you and I did. We glory in Christ’s life, death, burial, and resurrection. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got to give God the glory!
The Bible goes on to say, “… who walk not after the flesh….” If you’ve been born again, you ought not to go to the same places and do the same things. God is calling for a people who would deny the lusts of the flesh, pick up their cross, and follow Him!
If you have been born again, you must endeavor to walk in the Spirit. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). That means we ought to walk in love, for the Bible says, “And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love His brother also.” (I John 4:21) We ought to walk in peace, and in joy. We ought to walk in the knowledge that our sins have been forgiven, and the blood of Jesus has washed every stain. My friend, you are really loved.
Exhale
I have wept long enough over sins that have already been forgiven. I exhale the remnants of sin consciousness and venture forth with renewed hope. And yes, I am forgiven.
