Are you feeling like you need to be better before you can talk to God?

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

No Condemnation

We were all essentially on death row awaiting our execution (Revelation 20:12-15), but then Jesus stepped in and died for us and cleared us from this certain condemnation. So why do many still feel condemned? Why do we feel we are not good enough to talk to God? In reality, none of us are good in and of ourselves (Romans 3:10-12), but Jesus’ shed blood gives us the righteousness of Christ so that now the Father sees us as He sees His own son. This means that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). We cannot trust our feelings, but we can trust the Word of God. Who’s going to condemn us? Nobody because Jesus died for us and now intercedes for us, being at the very right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34), and that’s as intimate of an access to God as there is.

Our Mediator Intercedes for Us

Jesus Christ has every right, being God and perfectly sinless, to speak to the Father. But did you know that for those who’ve repented and put their trust in Jesus, they too have this right? But they still need a Mediator or an Intercessor. That Mediator is Jesus Christ. Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those of us who draw near to God through Him because he always lives to make intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25). Without this Mediator, we’d have no access to the throne room of heaven. But now, with Christ entering into the Holy of Holies with His own blood, we can speak directly through Jesus to the Father.

The Reconciler

Jesus reconciled us to God by His own blood, by His own death, and the sinless became sin for the sinners. Those of us who were before His enemies are now His very own children, and we’ve been reconciled to God (Romans 5:10) because He died for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Our sins had previously separated us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2), but we have now received reconciliation (Romans 5:11) through Jesus Christ. There was no other way this could have been done except by Jesus (Acts 4:12). So are you still feeling like you need to be better before you can talk to God? You can’t get any better than having the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

A Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for reconciling me to Yourself through Your Son’s supreme sacrifice, which made it possible to have access to You through my Mediator, Who intercedes for me when I need You, and I need the forgiveness of my sins (1 John 1:9). I thank You in Jesus’ precious name.

Amen