Fear No Fear

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my concerns, and see if there is any rebellious way in me, and lead me in the ancient way” (Psalm 139:23-24, MEV). Under the Old Covenant, the way to avoid judgment was to be clean before God. This was accomplished through the sacrificial system where the blood of animals symbolised the cleansing of the person through payment for transgression. It had to be repeated every year (Day of Atonement). It was not permanent because it was a symbol. Nothing worthy of paying the price had been offered. In the New Covenant, Jesus (the Worthy One – Revelation 5:12) paid the price of sin and we can be permanently cleansed of Sin and our sins, abiding in Him to maintain our decision not to sin again (yes, we miss it and sin, but He is faithful to forgive when we repent – 1 John 1:8-10). In the Old Covenant the people wishing to be righteous asked God to search them, bring to their notice any transgressions, and teach them the proper way to walk. In the New Covenant, Holy Spirit guides us and corrects us. It is happening ALL the time. But we need to look to Him with the INTENT to be corrected. The INTENT to be led. We need to SEEK HIM so that we can walk in His ways. “This then is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). We are not fearful of judgment. We are desirous of relationship. We are not fearful, we are LOVING. And when we love Him, we obey (John 14:15). We still seek our hearts, but we do it from loving submission to Him, not from fear. He isn’t judging us (John 3:16-18), he is correcting us so that we can be and stay close to Him (Proverbs 3:12). God is all about restoration of relationship and getting us back to where we should always be: in His Son, Jesus. He loves us too much to have us anywhere else.