One of the greatest struggles Christians have is against their own legalistic tendency to see our loving and merciful Father as a wrathful Judge when we’ve sinned against Him.
It is of course true that we Christians do sin. We sin everyday–to our grief and shame. But we no longer sin as a criminal in Adam before a Judge in God. Instead, being in Christ (Col 1.13-14), we sin as a child of God before a God in Christ.
When God saved us and changed our relationship to Him, He necessarily changed our relationship to His Law as well. His Law cannot condemn us as criminals (Rom 8.1), but it can and does expose our sin as God’s children who have been called to walk before Him in obedience (Jn 14.15; 1Pet 1.13-19).
What this means, in a nutshell, is that it is wrong of us, when we sin, to see God standing over us as a Judge and ourselves fallen at His bar as criminals. This not only causes us to draw back from Him in fear, but it robs us of the comforts and kisses of His love which He stands ready to give us (cf. Lk 15.20-24).
So the next time you sin–which I know will be today, if you find yourself prone to treat with God as a criminal before the Judge, assure yourself that you are a child, already accepted in the Beloved (Rom 5.1; Eph 1.6), and that God stands ready to pardon you, cleanse you (1Jn 1.9) and comfort you. For you can be sure of this: He is more ready to forgive and restore you than you are to be forgiven and restored; for He is merciful and compassionate (Ex 34.6-7: Ps 103.10-14).
I hope this prayer will help you understand and appreciate the difference:
O merciful and loving Father! I do acknowledge that the sins which I did commit before I was a believer were a transgression of the law of works, because I was under that law; and they were committed against you as you stood in relation to me as a Judge; and that therefore you might have most justly inflicted the curse or penalty of the law of works upon me and so have cast me into hell.
But seeing that you have enabled me to believe the gospel––that you were pleased to give your own Son Jesus Christ to undertake for me, to become my Surety, to take my nature upon Him, and to be made under the law of works to redeem me from it (Gal 4.4; 3.13; Rom 5.10), and to be made a curse for me to redeem me from the curse and to reconcile me unto you by His death–– I know it does not stand with your justice to proceed against me by virtue of the law of works and so cast me into hell.
Nevertheless, Father, I know that the sins which I have committed since I believed have been a transgression of the law of Christ, which I am now under; and I do acknowledge that they have been committed against You, even against You, my most gracious, merciful, and loving Father in Jesus Christ! and that it is therefore just that you should express your fatherly anger and displeasure towards me for the sins which your law has revealed to me, in bringing this affliction upon me (or this judgment upon the nation where I live).
Yet, knowing that your fatherly anger towards your children is never mixed with hatred, but always with love, and that in afflicting them you never seek the satisfaction of your justice, but only their amendment––even the purging out of them the remainders of the sinful corruptions which are still in them and the conforming of them unto Christ’s image––I therefore come to you this day to humble myself before you and to call upon your name––not for any thought I have of needing or having the ability to satisfy your justice or to appease your eternal wrath or to free myself from hell, because I do believe that Christ has done all that already for me––but I humble myself before you in repentance in hopes of pacifying your fatherly anger and displeasure towards me, and to obtain the removal of this affliction or judgment which I feel or fear.
Wherefore I beseech you to pardon and forgive my sins, which have been the procuring cause of this affliction and sorrow. Yes, I pray you won’t only pardon them but also purge them, that this may be the fruit and consequence of your anger: even the taking away of my sin and making me a partaker of your holiness (Heb 12.10)! And then, Lord, remove this affliction and judgment when it is your will and pleasure to do so. In the name of Christ my Saviour, Amen.
Thank you for this great truth. I tend to think of God as my judge at times and not as my loving Father. I love the sentence “…. my most gracious, merciful, and loving Father in Jesus Christ “
Thanks Julie. The truth is, we all naturally tend to think of God as a cruel Judge. It’s the legalism in us. Driving the gospel home to our hearts and minds can correct this. But it’s a lifelong struggle–especially since we have a tireless enemy who supports our false notions in order to discourage us from going to our Father in confession. Always remember, God is more ready to forgive you than you are to be forgiven.