Is 2 Chronicles 7:14 For Us?

2 Chronicles 7:14 says:

"If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land."

Many believers in Jesus, if not most, mistakenly apply 2 Chronicles 7:14 to the body of Christ, God's people on earth today.

They create campaigns, have conferences, hold prayer rallies, and preach sermons calling on the church to repent by humbling themselves, praying, seeking God's face, and turning from their wicked ways, believing that God will hear them from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land, meaning the country they reside in.

But is this God's will for us today?

Remember, this is an old covenant verse given directly to the nation of Israel under the Mosaic Law.

It was a call for the nation of Israel to return to God in repentance, then God would hear and forgive them, and heal their land.

If they did not, then the temple would be destroyed

The nation of Israel was experiencing the curses of the law (Deuteronomy 28-29) that came from their disobedience to the law.

God was calling the nation to repent, turn back to the law from their wicked ways, and he would heal their nation.

The nation of Israel never did repent.

Their temple was destroyed in 587 BC by Babylon and then again in AD 70 by Rome under the reign of Nero.

When Jesus was born, the nation of Israel was still under the curse of the law, demonstrated by Rome occupying their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 was for the nation of Israel and not for the church, the United States, or any other country.

The law was fulfilled by Jesus.

Jesus redeemed people from the law (Galatians 4:4-6)

Jesus took the curse of the law (Galatians 3).

The family of God is not under the supervision of the law (Galatians 3).

The family of God is not under the law but under grace (Romans 6).

The law has now been abolished through the cross (Ephesians 2:14-22).

In abolishing the law, with its commandments and regulations,

God has created "one new man" or one new spiritual nation out of the Jewish and Gentile nations through the cross of Jesus in which God lives by his Spirit.

God did this through grace (Ephesians 1-3).

When people place their faith in Jesus, they become a part of God's family of grace...the church.

God comes to live in them individually and collectively.

Together, they make up the family of God on earth.

God is the loving Father of this family of grace (Ephesians 3:14-15).

God is not up in heaven waiting to hear from us.

Our hearts have become his home.

As loved members of his family, our sins have been fully forgiven through the grace he freely and abundantly lavished upon us through Jesus (Ephesians 1:6-8).

In prayer, we approach God in freedom and confidence (Ephesians 2:18; 3:12), not calling out for forgiveness and asking for him to heal our land if we return to him.

This prayer of freedom and confidence comes from knowing "he remembers our sins no more" (Hebrews 8:12; 10:17).

Our role as the church is not to carry out 2 Chronicles 7:14.

This verse is not for the church, which is God's spiritual family of grace made up of Jews and Gentiles from nations all over the world.

Our role on earth is that his manifold wisdom should be made known (Ephesians 3:10).

And what is his manifold wisdom?

It is the grace he has freely and abundantly lavished upon us through Jesus (Ephesians 1:6-10).

It is this grace we are to make known to the world.

Jesus sent Paul into cities all over the world to share the good news of grace (2 Corinthians 4:15; Acts 20:24; 26:17-18).

We now live in the age of grace where the message for today is that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed (Acts 13:38; 26:17-18).

There is no "if and then" connected to grace.

The message is that through Jesus God is not counting our sins against us (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Healing and forgiveness no longer comes through a nation humbling themselves, praying, seeking, and turning...but by God’s grace flowing into the hearts of people through faith in Jesus alone.

The "my people" in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is Israel under the law...not the church...not God's spiritual family of grace.

The "land" is the land of Israel, not any other land in the world.

It is not the United States or any other country, other than Israel under the old covenant of Mosaic Law.

We, the church - God's spiritual family on earth, consisting of people in nations all over the earth - are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6, Galatians).

Our privilege today is to be ambassadors of the greatest message ever:

"All this is from God who reconciled us to himself in Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sin against them. He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God was making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God's fellow workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain (hear about all God did or us in Christ, but not combine it with faith)...Now is the time of God's favor (grace). Now is the time of salvation" (2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2).

This is the message of God for today.

We are ambassadors of this message, as if God himself were declaring this message to the world through us.

Our prayer for today is for the eyes of people's hearts to be open to the good news of grace (Ephesians 1:15-21).

Just think what would happen if believers all over the world would share this wonderful message rather than seek to fulfill 2 Chronicles 7:14.

What if we shared 2 Corinthians 5:18-6:2 instead?

As we, God's spiritual nation on earth...his nation of grace, communicate the good news of God's grace to people all around the world, we will see healing come to families, to communities, to regions, to countries.

Healing and forgiveness is now in the person of Jesus.

The grace God has freely provided for us all is in him.

God's heart is for the church to make this message known to the people of the world.

This was the message of grace the ascended Jesus gave to Paul by revelation to make known in his generation (Ephesians 3).

It is a message of the height, depth, width, and length of the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:14-20).

It is a message of the spiritual blessings from God the Father freely given to us in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-8).

It is a message of one family of grace...one body...one Spirit...one hope...one Lord...one baptism...one God and Father of all nations, of all people (Ephesians 4:6).

God can do immeasurably more through the church, his family of grace on earth, as we embrace by faith what he has already freely and gracefully done for us through Jesus.

God can do more in the church than anything we could possibly ask or imagine in our generation as we allow by faith the power of his grace, flowing from Jesus to us, to dwell in our hearts and then flow from our hearts to the world (Ephesians 3:20-21).

It is a message of grace, faith, hope, forgiveness, healing, and love the people of the world desperately need to hear.

So no more campaigns, conferences, prayer rallies, or church services centered around 2 Chronicles 7:14.

From this point on, we need more ambassadors of the message of God's grace sharing the good news of God's grace freely given to us in Jesus.

We need more of God's people who are citizens of his spiritual nation of grace taking the good news of his grace to people in the nations.

We need believers praying for God to open the eyes of the hearts of people to see the beauty of God's grace in the person of Jesus.

As this message of grace rings forth from the church all over the world, people will hear God saying I love you.

I have forgiven you.

Healing will then take place.

Nations will be healed.

Neighborhoods will be healed.

Families will be healed.

Hearts will be healed.

Welcome to my family of grace!