I'm Not Guilty...Am I?

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:28

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 3:15

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee Proverbs 23:7

Lusting constitutes adultery? Hating constitutes murdering? I don't know about everyone else, but this seems like pretty harsh labels considering I am not actually physically doing them. Maybe in the heart, but not in action. I mean who has not done any of that? I can understand that to hate and lust are wrong, but to treat me as a murderer and adulterer, shouldn't I be offended about that? That seems to offend people and the reason I think it does is because of a lack of understanding. Let's see if we cannot make any sense out of why these verses say what they do.

One day I began contimplating why we are given such harsh titles in light of how we feel. I can understand if I actually killed someone I would need to pay for that, but hating isn't killing. As goes the same with adultery. As I was thinking about this concept, I feel the Lord gave me the answer. And the premise for this answer is found in the above verse in Proverbs. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he". Ok, so now we understand that, lets think about the why.

Have you ever been so mad at somebody, or burned with such lust over someone, that if it were not for the consequences of the actions you would follow through with them?
Maybe it was the thought of stealing something from the store, but then you were detered because you didn't want to go to jail. Maybe you despised someone so much that you didn't care if they lived or died, in fact, you would have preferred the latter and maybe even wanted to harm them yourself. Maybe you are married, and you have allowed your heart to entertain thoughts of another but would never follow through because of the consequences. Ok, now remove the consequences, let's pretend they do not exist, now what would you do? I believe we would follow through with them if we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to change us! Ah the flesh unrestrained is a scary thing. And this is the answer to why we are considered a murderer and adulterer to God (apart from repentance and heart-felt change through discipleship), because it was in my heart to do it. Because if there was no foreseen consequences you would do it! Therefore to God, you have done it because you performed it in your heart! You see, your heart defines who you are! That is why it is so important to allow the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ to change our hearts. You see, to God I committed adultery and I murdered because He knows if there were no civil and/or family consequences to those actions, that I would have done them anyways, therefore I am guilty of committing them.

Never forget, the real you is the "heart" you. Not the masks that we put on in front of other people - but the real us. Some parts of our personalities we would never let show to other people because we would be afraid of the reprecussions. But make no mistake, whatever is in your heart is YOU.

Now in light of all this, will I really have confidence in front of an all-knowing God one-day? I know personally I wouldn't, but God allowed something to happen. The most beautiful love story happened over 2000 years ago. Love Him or hate Him, it is well known why He died - and that was for people like us. See God demands a penalty for breaking His law. It is arrogant of me to think I can actually live a good enough life and earn His forgiveness. The only sorry God will accept is trust in His Son Jesus Christ and turning to Him, saying "I know I cannot clean myself up. I need you to forgive me God not because I deserve it, but because Jesus paid my due penalty".

He became sin who knew no sin, so that we could be masked inside of Him. Now when God looks at Chris Goff, the old Chris is not seen - the precious blood of Jesus is what is seen and through His Spirit He is continuing to work on my heart.

I want to please God because I love what He has done for me through Jesus Christ - not to work for my salvation because I can't. I am a spiritual cripple unable to do a thing to please such a great God unless He comes to me. His mercy and love has granted me a restored relationship with Himself - not based on fear but on His love expressed through Jesus' sacrifice. Sin had to be paid for, its the law of life. Jesus redirected this law upon Himself, and will take what you have done as well if you give yourself to Him.

I thought I grew up a pretty good person, and at the end of the day did not think of myself as a bad guy. So with that said, why did I need Jesus anyways? It really was not an active question in my life, but a natural, underlying one, given my misunderstanding of my condition. And the answer to this was because, in God's eyes, I had done so much evil in my heart, and remember, whatever is in our hearts is who we are. Our hearts define our character, and thankfully God made our hearts an easy thing to evaluate in light of His Word. If those things are still in our hearts, we need to repent, bind, rebuke, consecrate, crucify our flesh - drawing near to Jesus until our hearts see things as our beautiful Jesus sees them!

When I understood this truth, I had no more legs to stand on, I wasn't a good person! I think I used to be naturally unappreciative of Jesus' work on my behalf because I never did anything that bad (in my estimation). Once I realized this scary truth though, Jesus Christ became all the more relevant and appreciated. I did need Him, because my heart before the Lord needed and needs to be cleansed!

Maybe you have struggled with appreciation for His sacrifice and don't think you were forgiven for much. Trust me though, YOU WERE! Thank You so much Jesus for what You have provided!

For those of us hidden in His sacrifice, I hope the Lord uses this to deal with any unrepentant or just plain old unappreciative attitude in all of our lives! For those who have not had the benefit of knowing Him, if you feel that need deep within yourself - respond to it. The Bible makes clear this is a moment that God is granting you repentance because all of a sudden you know He is real and you know He died for you. God is drawing you to Himself - just let go control of your life and give it to Him, you will not regret it. Don't pass this moment off as unreal - it is very real. If you are not having that moment yet - continue to seek Him out. God says in scripture, "You will seek me and you will find Me, when I see that you are truly seeking me with your whole heart.

With love brothers and sisters,and future brothers and sisters :)
Chris Goff

P.S. I would love to talk with you if you are interested in hearing more. Do not be shy or afraid, its not worth going through life uncertain.