Passionate Love 4-17-25

I want the readers to know how Paul the apostle could have suffered inwardly and condemned himself for how he persecuted the church of God. He even consented to the death of Stephen, a deacon in the church. Stephen had preached a strong message to the Jews:

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.  But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,  and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;  and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul (his name was changed to Paul after he was saved).  

And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep (Acts 7:57-60).

Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time, a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison (Acts 8:1-3).

With this being “Passion Week” let’s remember what it really means. Jesus Christ was full of compassion to the point that His love for humanity took Him to the cross. He was condemned; sentenced to death on our behalf.  

The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.” And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS (Luke 23:34-38).

He took the guilt and shame so we could escape the punishment of eternal death, praise the Lord!

John McArthur footnotes from ESV Study Bible:

Condemnation is used exclusively in judicial (in court) settings and is the opposite of justification. It refers to a verdict of guilty and the penalty that the verdict demands. No sin, a believer can commit; past, present,  or future can be held against him or her, since the penalty was paid by Christ and righteousness was imputed (blamed for something falsely or unjustly) to the believer. And no sin will ever reverse this divine legal decision.

I listened to John McArthur for years. He was the first and only person I knew who could explain the doctrine of election that was plain to understand. I don’t agree with him about some other doctrinal beliefs,  but when it comes to this one, he is on point.

I was taught to compare  the judicial system with the life believer who was once guilty of a crime (sin),  and stood before the judge, Christ was his attorney and pleaded on his behalf.

The judge declared the person not guilty. And he could never be charged for the same crime twice (again); meaning what he was condemned for was taken care of once and for all.

The saved are not condemned, but we will be judged by Christ, and it won’t be for our sins, it will be for our service, ministry, assignment (our works)-works will follow- Jesus forgave us for our past, present, and future sins- Hallelujah!

His handmaiden, Betty A. Burnett ~ burnettministries.org