Changing Your World

For the new covenant of grace to manifest itself in our lives, we need the Holy Spirit’s presence. It’s good to have knowledge of scriptural principles, but He takes that knowledge one step further by making it real and bringing it to life. The law didn’t stop at just the Ten Commandments; it included hundreds of additional rules designed to externally regulate man’s moral behavior.

For the new covenant of grace to manifest itself in our lives, we need the Holy Spirit’s presence. It’s good to have knowledge of scriptural principles, but He takes that knowledge one step further by making it real and bringing it to life. The law didn’t stop at just the Ten Commandments; it included hundreds of additional rules designed to externally regulate man’s moral behavior.

Our mindset makes a huge difference in how we live our lives. Being conscious of our sins causes us shame and condemnation; by contrast, being aware of our innocence in Jesus Christ frees us from negative emotions and changes our behavior. Most churches constantly focus on sin; however, Jesus delivered us from this, and God has now forgiven all believers. Faith in this this makes us righteous, so that we therefore no longer have to define ourselves by our performance.

Our mindset makes a huge difference in how we live our lives. Being conscious of our sins causes us shame and condemnation; by contrast, being aware of our innocence in Jesus Christ frees us from negative emotions and changes our behavior. Most churches constantly focus on sin; however, Jesus delivered us from this, and God has now forgiven all believers. Faith in this this makes us righteous, so that we therefore no longer have to define ourselves by our performance.

Our mindset makes a huge difference in how we live our lives. Being conscious of our sins causes us shame and condemnation; by contrast, being aware of our innocence in Jesus Christ frees us from negative emotions and changes our behavior. Most churches constantly focus on sin; however, Jesus delivered us from this, and God has now forgiven all believers. Faith in this this makes us righteous, so that we therefore no longer have to define ourselves by our performance.

Sin-conscious people are consistently aware of their guilt and are therefore focused on sin in their lives. They don’t accept the fact that Jesus has already dealt with the issue. This is spiritually dangerous because being more conscious of our sins than of our righteousness makes sin the focus of our lives. A better way of thinking is to instead pay more attention to our innocence that Jesus died to restore to us; because God has forgiven us, we no longer have to live feeling guilty or ashamed.

Sin-conscious people are consistently aware of their guilt and are therefore focused on sin in their lives. They don’t accept the fact that Jesus has already dealt with the issue. This is spiritually dangerous because being more conscious of our sins than of our righteousness makes sin the focus of our lives. A better way of thinking is to instead pay more attention to our innocence that Jesus died to restore to us; because God has forgiven us, we no longer have to live feeling guilty or ashamed.

Sin-conscious people are consistently aware of their guilt and are therefore focused on sin in their lives. They don’t accept the fact that Jesus has already dealt with the issue. This is spiritually dangerous because being more conscious of our sins than of our righteousness makes sin the focus of our lives. A better way of thinking is to instead pay more attention to our innocence that Jesus died to restore to us; because God has forgiven us, we no longer have to live feeling guilty or ashamed.

Being conscious of our sins isn’t the way God wants us to live. By contrast, being aware of how God sees us in Christ—innocent and free—lets us focus on our righteousness. We are forgiven because Jesus has dealt with our sin. We aren’t what we do; bad behavior doesn’t separate a person from God, but rather the sinful nature of a person before they get born again.

Being conscious of our sins isn’t the way God wants us to live. By contrast, being aware of how God sees us in Christ—innocent and free—lets us focus on our righteousness. We are forgiven because Jesus has dealt with our sin. We aren’t what we do; bad behavior doesn’t separate a person from God, but rather the sinful nature of a person before they get born again.

Being conscious of our sins isn’t the way God wants us to live. By contrast, being aware of how God sees us in Christ—innocent and free—lets us focus on our righteousness. We are forgiven because Jesus has dealt with our sin. We aren’t what we do; bad behavior doesn’t separate a person from God, but rather the sinful nature of a person before they get born again.

Being conscious of our sins isn’t the way God wants us to live. By contrast, being aware of how God sees us in Christ—innocent and free—lets us focus on our righteousness. We are forgiven because Jesus has dealt with our sin. We aren’t what we do; bad behavior doesn’t separate a person from God, but rather the sinful nature of a person before they get born again.

Being conscious of our sins isn’t the way God wants us to live. By contrast, being aware of how God sees us in Christ—innocent and free—lets us focus on our righteousness. We are forgiven because Jesus has dealt with our sin. We aren’t what we do; bad behavior doesn’t separate a person from God, but rather the sinful nature of a person before they get born again.

What we focus on dramatically impacts the quality of our lives. An awareness of sin, and the shame and guilt it brings, comes from the knowledge of the law. It causes believers to see themselves as unworthy and condemned because of their failures and makes them think they must work to get into heaven. By comparison, being aware that we’re innocent comes from knowing that Jesus has redeemed us and made us righteous.

The devil is always actively working to destroy us. One of the ways he makes inroads in our lives is by getting us to be more aware of our sins and shortcomings instead of our righteousness. God sees born-again believers as innocent and acquitted of all accusations the enemy has made against us. We must therefore be more conscious of what Jesus has done for us under grace than sin, and the shame and guilt that accompanies it.