“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.” (1 John 3:19-21 ESV)
Despite the perpetual encouragement of the world around us, Christians should not “follow their hearts.” Not only is the heart “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), but it is also easily deceived. We can feel something in our hearts, even with a strong conviction, and still be entirely mistaken. Following the leading of our hearts as the ultimate compass of our experience and reality often leads us to dangerous and destructive destinations.
This deception does not just include being led astray by heresies such as the prosperity gospel or antinomianism, but also by errors that devalue the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement. John is addressing the self-condemnation that we may find laid upon us by our own hearts, which often occurs when our sense of sin becomes so great that we feel God could never forgive us. Just as our hearts can have too high a view of ourselves, causing us to ignore our need for Christ, they can also have so high a view of sin that we fail to believe the work of Christ is enough to redeem us from that sin.
This is one of the reasons why it is so important for the message we preach to accurately reflect the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus paid it all. The gospel is that our sins, as many and as heinous as they may be, are removed from the believer as far as the east is from the west. We ought never believe—or communicate to others—that there is some level of holiness to which we must attain by ourselves in order to merit righteousness before God.
This is not to say that obedience is irrelevant. In fact, when John says, “by this,” he is referring to the love we demonstrate for our brothers which comes as a result of our conversion. Love of brother is the irrefutable evidence of a new heart. John knows that believers can fall prey to the accusations of the devil, who is the accuser (Revelation 12:10), and thus believe the lies that our sins condemn us before God. While for those outside of Christ, sin does bring condemnation, “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
The truth that John is impressing onto his readers is important enough that everyone who proclaims the gospel—whether to those in our own homes or to those in the remotest parts of the world—must include it in our message. God has given human beings a conscience to know his law as it is written on the heart. Under the law, sin condemns. But the Christ we proclaim brings freedom from that condemnation because he himself has borne it on our behalf (Galatians 3:13).
People should be pricked by their conscience when they sin because sin is an offense to God. But those who have trusted in Christ for salvation have been cleansed by his blood and should never allow their conscience to condemn them. Their sin has been paid for by Christ, and his sacrifice is enough. John Calvin says, “faith is subverted by the disquiet of an evil conscience.” Our conscience can become an enemy to faith when it is used as a weapon against the promise that Christ has borne our condemnation on himself.
Missionaries carry an immense responsibility as they carry the gospel. They are responsible for communicating the truth of sin and the truth of the cross. Their hearers must understand the bad news of their own sin before they can cling to the good news of a Savior, but they must be able to fully understand that good news. When missionaries are sent out from their local churches as gospel laborers, they are to magnify Christ among the nations—and Christ is most magnified when we proclaim the full sufficiency and finality of his atoning work.
The Christ we preach to the world is the slain Lamb who has experienced the wrath of God for the sins of every single one of the elect. We who believe must remember that our sins are paid for, even if the devil tries to use our conscience to convince us otherwise.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Thank you that you have entirely cleansed us who trust in Christ from our sin so that we need not fear condemnation. Help us to look to Christ’s perfect life and death as our only hope when we are tempted to despair over the weight of our sin.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Prayer Requests:
- Tuesday: Pray for missionaries in Bangladesh who are using audio and visual content as outreach.
- Wednesday: Pray for missionaries in Eastern Europe serving with Radio Sinai to receive full funding for a new ministry building.
- Thursday: Pray for missionaries laboring to open new fields of ministry among unreached people groups.
- Friday: Pray for those serving on the Member Care team to promote spiritually healthy souls in each of our missionaries.
- Saturday: Pray for safety and endurance for missionaries serving on medical teams in North Africa.
- Sunday: Pray for missionaries serving in Jamaica as they provide relief and encouragement in the wake of Hurricane Melissa.
- Monday: Pray for missionaries serving through aviation ministry.
Featured Opportunity to Serve:
Registered Nurse
Location: Togo
We have an urgent need for Registered Nurses (RNs) to serve in the nursing department at the Hospital of Hope. Would you consider filling this position?
