Everything is gonna be alright

I'm not quoting Bob Marley here, although I like his music. Everything in this world obviously doesn't end up okay. People succumb to disease, families are torn apart by divorce and unfaithfulness, we still find ourselves slaves to bad habits, churches split over petty issues, and no matter how hard we try we'll never be able to elect a leader who will save us economically or morally. But in the end, some things are going to be alright.

I received a very long email from a former student late last night, a message in which he basically bore his soul and confessed his sins. He didn't need to confess anything to me but he did so because he simply needed to put it into words that matched what his heart was feeling. This young man was broken over his sin and desperate to reconnect with the God of the universe whose back he had turned on years ago. It was sobering to read his words and my heart hurt for my friend, yet at the same time I was thankful for the work the Holy Spirit is currently doing in his life, refining him and molding him into a man of God.

As sincere as this young man is, there is still an area of his determination that was troubling him. Would he fall flat on his face again? Could he maintain this walk with Christ that he was crying out for, or would he slip back into the same old destructive habits from the past? Did God even want him back?

As someone who has experienced a bit of a destructive past myself - and as one who still finds himself under regular attack by the enemy - Romans 8:1-2 has always been one of those "victory verses" for me: "Therefore, no condemnation exists for those in Christ Jesus, because...Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." Sin is terrible, it will destroy you and lead to death (that's a brief summary of Romans 1-7), but in Christ we no longer stand condemned. We will continue to sin and continue to fall, but we are no longer condemned to eternal death. We are free.

My desire for my friend is that he will no longer live under the banner of condemnation but rather bask in the glory that is God's grace and forgiveness. This grace isn't cheap but it is free. Moving on from sin isn't so much a matter of trying to stop doing what you've been doing as it is a desire to become the person in Christ that you haven't been. In Christ we find that identity and because of that everything is gonna be alright.