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2 Peter 2

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I once heard a successful pastor’s testimony, where as she was growing up, she couldn’t see past how ugly she looked or how untalented she was. She lived believing those lies for so long that she couldn’t see herself as a righteous daughter of the Lord, so much so that she was living in self condemnation and identified herself as a person unworthy of God’s love. When we run away from His love, we often try by our own efforts to earn his love before we feel “safe” to return to Him again. Do you see yourself or others as unrighteous? Even if you don’t know how to judge or see for yourself, God knows how.

The Holy Spirit not only convicts the world of sin, He also convicts us believers of our righteousness before God. If we live in condemnation and remain very self-conscious of our sins, we only allow ourselves to tune in to the voice of the Accuser (Revelation 12:10). We must also learn to position ourselves under the sound of the ruler of this world who has been judged through the cross. This is the truth that the Holy Spirit leads us into – that we have already been made righteous before God (John 16:10).

In 2 Peter 2:7-9, Peter tells us how the Lord delivered Lot who was righteous in God’s eyes, though perhaps it was hard for others to see his righteousness; his righteous soul was tormented by the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah day by day. It is possible that he allowed himself to tune in to the voices of his accusers. The Lord delivered Lot because of his righteous soul. God knows how to deliver us from the temptations we face. We can trust in God’s deliverance of the godly because it is just as stable and certain as His judgement of the ungodly. 

So although it’s hard to see it for ourselves, let’s continue to position ourselves to ask in His name for the Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth, that the Father loves us even as He loved Jesus (John 16:27). Knowing this sets us free to live under grace and not under law. The Spirit is our helper, not accuser. He convicts, not condemns.

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