Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:1-2.

I pray that out of the glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Ephesians 3:16-17.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 1 John 4:18 NASB.

This morning in our Friday Zoom Retreat, we first enjoyed real moments of joy and laughter and happiness that spilled over and invited still more joy. And then we watched a video by John Ortberg titled “No Condemnation”. He said condemning and blaming, the normal human existence in our fallen world, is wrong judging because we never have the whole story. Everyone has a story and condemning carries malice and inaccuracy which is the opposite of love. That everybody has a story and – every story is different when Jesus enters into it. To think of me and Jesus as I see people, because malice and untruth in me fade away with Jesus. And I realized that all the things and people in our world that I condemn in anger just leave me weighed down and struggling. And that’s why we need Jesus. Our chapter, Hebrews 8, I’ll again pick up with the last paragraph of the chapter before…For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son made perfect forever…Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See”, He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

When I read the first Scripture verses cited above with all that John Ortberg was saying and in remembering what will be when Jesus Himself returns, I read it differently. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I am in Christ Jesus! To have His heart actively working in my mind and my heart, I need to let go of condemnation and judging now…For the law of the Spirit of life has set me free in Christ Jesus. Are there still people in our world doing things I cannot understand and that do grievous harm? Of course! But I don’t have Jesus’ heart of love for them! That changes everything. The challenge remains in this life to trust God’s love to be the healing – we all need. There was a graphics visual preceding Ortberg’s video showing the Biblical story of the woman caught in adultery. People in the background moving around. A woman sitting alone on the ground and Jesus slowly bending down to her level and being still with her. I want to remember that visual every time I want to look down on someone and judge them harshly. Everybody has a story…and every story is different when Jesus enters into it. Malice and untruth fade away with Jesus. Can we let that sit with us awhile? There is no fear in love…His perfect love casts out fear. And back to our chapter, Jesus the Son when He was on the earth with us was not a priest because there were already priests serving a copy and shadow only of the heavenly things that are…He was doing a more excellent ministry than they could – of the better covenant which was enacted on better promises…He bent down to minister to the people suffering and needing healing only He can bring! For I will be merciful to their iniquities…and I will remember their sins no more!