We live and breathe and have supernatural abilities to judge the actions of others (Romans 1:18,19; 2:14,15). We are even better at judging ourselves than others, because we have first hand knowledge of ourselves. Our judgments and criticisms of each other are not generally wrong; they are generally spot on. If the judgment and wrath and criticisms we bear against one another cannot be truly forgiven, we are trapped in our irritations and angers with each other, and we must put forward an acceptable but false persona just to carry on. Forgiveness cannot really be given with a cheap word or thought; God forgives at the cost of the blood of His only precious Son.
So, either wrath and judgment govern our relationships, or the grace of Jesus Christ at the cost of His blood govern our relationships. Once we enter the community of the genuinely forgiven, love truly governs us together. This audio message from the Spring Mockingbird conference in NYC delves deeply into these truths:
The material in this talk was drawn from the following blog posts:
http://thereforenow.com/2013/02/1-john-319-24-the-single-commandment-belief-and-love/
http://thereforenow.com/2013/03/take-the-red-pill/
http://thereforenow.com/2013/03/reflections-on-the-wrath-of-god/
http://thereforenow.com/2013/03/love-in-the-land-of-wrath/
Also, the talk draws heavily from Chapter 8 of the Romance of Grace; you should buy it and read it! Hint hint!
Buy Romance of Grace.
For more great material from the conference, visit Mockingbird’s page with all the audio posted, and donate some money to them for giving all of this away for free:
http://www.mbird.com/2013/04/2013-nyc-conference-recordings-good-news-that-never-gets-old/