I am mostly wondering whether I will go to heaven when I die I guess that is my main concern sadly.. I really badly want to love Jesus, but how can I when I see Him in such a harsh way that I know isn't true.. I don't know if I'm explaining it well.. I have been sick for a very long time with a condition that could very well kill me so I am grasping for some kind of security.. Melissa

Hello, my dear Melissa!

Ah yes, the vengeful God who demands perfection and enjoys punishing those who fail. What a terrible God indeed. But I have good news for you, Melissa. The heart of God is not seen through the Law but through Christ. To see God according to the Law is to see only sin and death, to see God in Christ is to see love, pure love.

You really think God expects you to keep the ten commandments? I can tell you that he knows you could not possibly do so. Instead, the law has the effect of making sin go crazy in you! Seems totally wrong, doesn't it? But it's true, seek your life in the law and you'll only find sin and death; find your life in Christ and find true life and freedom.

How can this be? Because God already dealt with sin and death in Jesus Christ. He killed him on our behalf. This has nothing to do with the pain factor in Jesus' dying, as if he God was happy to make him hurt, but it has to do with the doing away of the old so the new could be established. Christ did away with our condemnation by condemning sin in his body in death.

God has forgiven you because of Christ. There is nothing to hold against you.

By the way, the "discipline" of God is not a negative thing, but instead describes his dealings with us as being sons and daughters. In other words, discipline comes from the heart of a father who only deals according to love. Punishment, on the other hand, has to do with condemnation and is centered on sin.

There is nothing that can separate you from the love of God ... not even death.

Love,
Jim