A Judge Without a Jury
We gathered in the living room of the dorm as usual on Sunday nights, filling the chairs and bar stools and then sprawling out on the floor with pillows and blankets. As usual, we got easily distracted with telling one another funny stories from the week, laughing and joking and quoting our favorite YouTube videos. Still, we had not forgotten our purpose in gathering, so we opened our Bibles to Mark, the book that we chose for this semester.
These Sunday night gatherings that we call "overflow" will be some of my fondest memories of my college experience. This group of girls all sprawled out on the floor are the women of God that have taught me so much about what it means to live life together, to pray together, to study the Word together, and to share burdens and victories with one another. Together, we have discovered what it looks like for the spiritual to be a part of every moment - how to be intentional about mingling deep faith and light-hearted fun until they can hardly be distinguished from one another. And we are still learning and growing in this together more and more every day.
On this night, we took a moment to share stories of how God has been teaching us or working on our lives, and I want to share with you what Emily shared with all of us.
Emily is a social work major, and she spent one day this week observing in court. With that experience, she gained a neat perspective on Colossians 1:21-22
"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation."
Honing in on the part that we are "free from accusation", she proceeded to set up a court room scene.
"We are the ones standing on trial, and God is the judge. Christ is our defendant, and Satan is the accuser." She first explained that there is only one accuser. We tend to forget that, and then we turn other people or objects into our enemies, which only creates unnecessary conflict for us. We have only one enemy, and it is Satan the accuser.
"In the court I observed, there was no jury. The judge was the rightful decision maker. In the same way, there is no jury in God's court. He is the holy, righteous judge." He determines our standing, and He has called us His sons and daughters. "So why do we form a jury when one is not needed?" she asked. "Why do we compare ourselves to the standards of others and let them pass judgement on us?"
As Paul said to the Colossians, we are free from accusation as we stand before God because Christ has spoken on our behalf. There is no need for a jury because the judge has spoken:
"There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
We are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24)
"You however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit...If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you." (Romans 8:9-11)
"In Him (Christ) and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." (Ephesians 3:12)
"He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves." (Ephesians 1:5-6)
"Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
These Sunday night gatherings that we call "overflow" will be some of my fondest memories of my college experience. This group of girls all sprawled out on the floor are the women of God that have taught me so much about what it means to live life together, to pray together, to study the Word together, and to share burdens and victories with one another. Together, we have discovered what it looks like for the spiritual to be a part of every moment - how to be intentional about mingling deep faith and light-hearted fun until they can hardly be distinguished from one another. And we are still learning and growing in this together more and more every day.
On this night, we took a moment to share stories of how God has been teaching us or working on our lives, and I want to share with you what Emily shared with all of us.
Emily is a social work major, and she spent one day this week observing in court. With that experience, she gained a neat perspective on Colossians 1:21-22
"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation."
Honing in on the part that we are "free from accusation", she proceeded to set up a court room scene.
"We are the ones standing on trial, and God is the judge. Christ is our defendant, and Satan is the accuser." She first explained that there is only one accuser. We tend to forget that, and then we turn other people or objects into our enemies, which only creates unnecessary conflict for us. We have only one enemy, and it is Satan the accuser.
"In the court I observed, there was no jury. The judge was the rightful decision maker. In the same way, there is no jury in God's court. He is the holy, righteous judge." He determines our standing, and He has called us His sons and daughters. "So why do we form a jury when one is not needed?" she asked. "Why do we compare ourselves to the standards of others and let them pass judgement on us?"
As Paul said to the Colossians, we are free from accusation as we stand before God because Christ has spoken on our behalf. There is no need for a jury because the judge has spoken:
"There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)
We are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24)
"You however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit...If Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you." (Romans 8:9-11)
"In Him (Christ) and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." (Ephesians 3:12)
"He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One he loves." (Ephesians 1:5-6)
"Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)
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