Whenever Our Heart Condemns Us

“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.” (1 John 3:19-24 ESV)

It is always good when we can read passages of Scripture in their full context, for so many misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Scriptures stem from Scriptures being taught out of context. And sometimes (or often) this is being done purposefully in order to deceive naïve minds and those lacking in biblical knowledge and understanding, and in order to trap the addicted to sin who want to hear that they can continue to live like hell and yet still have heaven secured them for eternity.

And so I am going to mention a few of the previous passages in 1 John so that we have some context here. For in 1 John 1:5-10 we learn that if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin but while claiming that we are in fellowship with God, we are liars. And in 1 John 2:3-6 we learn that if we claim to know God but while we do not make it our practice to obey his commandments under the New Covenant, we are liars. We are not of the truth, the truth is not in us, and we do not live by (practice) the truth.

And then in 1 John 3:4-10 we read that no one who abides in Christ makes a practice of sinning. And if we keep on sinning, in practice, after making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, and if obedience to God is not our practice, then we don’t really know the Lord. For it is he who practices righteousness who is righteous in the sight of God, not those who give lip service only to the Lord. And whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil. He is not of God, not born of God, and so not a child of God.

So, the measurement for us to go by with regard to knowing if the condemnation we are feeling in our hearts is of God or of Satan is the truth of God’s word, taught to us in the appropriate context. For the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and all wrongdoing, but Satan also likes to condemn us and to charge us with wrongdoing when we may not be doing anything wrong at all. So we can’t trust our feelings to determine if it is Satan or the Holy Spirit condemning or convicting us. God’s word is our measurement.

But, again, the word must be taught in context. Many preachers will use the Scriptures out of context both to condemn and to exonerate, but not necessarily in truth. For some of them who are liars and deceivers will try to convict the godly who are living righteously of wrongdoing while they will exonerate the truly wicked and habitual sinners of their sinful practices by teaching them a cheapened and altered form of God’s true grace to us. And so evil is being taught as good, and good is being taught as evil.

So, if you want to know the truth, study the Scriptures in their context prayerfully seeking understanding from the Lord and not from other humans. And this is not saying that we humans cannot help one another to learn the Scriptures. We can and we should. But we are always to be those who are testing what other humans are teaching us against the fulness of the Scriptures in their appropriate context. And this way we are less likely to be deceived and led astray to following after the lies and not the truth.

So, what I am saying here is that we cannot go by a feeling of condemnation. For there are times when we will feel condemned when there is no biblical basis for that condemnation. And there will be times when we feel the freedom to keep going in the direction we are headed without any feelings of condemnation, but that doesn’t mean that what we are doing is right and just and faithful and loving and what God wants us to do. So don’t go by what your emotions tell you. Go by the Scriptures (in context).

And all throughout the book of 1 John we are taught that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, and not righteousness, then we are condemned. And we only receive what we ask of the Lord if we are those who are walking in obedience to our Lord’s commandments under the New Covenant, and if we are doing what pleases the Lord, and providing that what we ask is according to the will of God for our lives and that we are asking for the right reasons and in faith (James 1:5-8; James 4:1-10). 

Now when this concludes that the Lord’s commandment is that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, and that if we do that we are now abiding in God and God in us, we need to read this in the whole context of 1 John. And we need to understand that belief in Jesus is not just a confession of faith, but it is walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living and no longer in sin. And loving others is agape love which prefers what God prefers – what is honest, faithful, and morally pure.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

Trust and Obey  

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, 

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey. 

But we never can prove 

the delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows, 

for the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet 

We will sit at His feet.

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.

What He says we will do, 

Where He sends we will go;

Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM

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