Freedom from Guilt

Before we come to Christ, we are legally guilty -- guilty as sin -- before God (James 2:10). We are sinners, enemies, and rebels against God (Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:21). Because we are guilty we were unlovely, inadequate, insecure, and unworthy.

But the good news of the Christian life is that when we become Christians, Christ takes our legal guilt away. He paid the penalty of all our legal guilt. Not only is our guilt taken away, but we receive Christ's righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21) -- a righteousness that comes from God, not from ourselves (Romans 10:3-4). We become holy (Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 1:2; 3:12). This is why we are called saints, "holy ones" (2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; etc.).

But even after we become Christians, feelings of guilt can still linger. Even though we are totally accepted by God (Romans 15:7; Hebrews 13:5), we do not experience acceptance. We often continue to experience feelings of unworthiness, shame, and incompetence -- i.e. guilt.

This is not God's desire for us. Hebrews 10:21-22 says: "...and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."

God wants to replace our "guilt complex" with His guilt-free identity. You can try the various methods of Positive Thinking, come to an understanding of psychological guilt, and investigate the myriad forms of Eastern ID; but you will never arrive at a satisfactory solution to the guilt problem until you become certain you are complete and acceptable in the sight of God.

If you are a Christian, then believe it or not, understand it or not, accept it or not, you are absolutely virtuous in the sight of God . . . as a PERSON.

At the moment of your Christian conversion, God declared you virtuous. As a person, God sees you as perfect.

"Christ gave himself for our sins . . For by the one offering he made forever perfect in the sight of God all those whom he is making holy" (Hebrews 10:14 TLB).

When we become a Christian we are justified. Justified means, God sees me "just-as-if-I'd" never sinned . . . as a person.

A Holy God could not have a relationship with you, not for a moment, if you are not perfectly virtuous.

"Because of what Christ did for us; God decided to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault - we who stand before him covered with his love" (Ephesians 1:4 TLB).

Therefore a Christian should never experience self-condemnation: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

The remedy for self-condemnation is to see yourself as God sees you!

Believe it or not, like it or not, accept it or not, your PERFORMANCE will never be virtuous this side of heaven.

"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8 -- note the word "deceive").

It is quite possible for us to "explain away" the wrongness of our bad behavior to the point that our mind becomes "deceived." Our conscience can become so hardened that we no longer feel any sorrow over our sin at all: "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared as with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:2).

The rare and extreme example of this is the "psychopath" or "sociopath" who can commit cold-blooded murder . . . seemingly without feeling any kind of remorse.

So, while you must be consistent to confess the righteousness of your person . . . you must also be equally as diligent to confess the wrongness of your performance! Paul calls this "godly sorrow" and says that God intends us to experience this type of sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:9). But godly sorrow leaves "no regret."

You have a New Father. This Father always differentiates between your Person and your Performance.

The problem: Having been saved, we have not really been led to act on the basis of all we have become . . . and we have not realized and believed what we are!

The Cross allows God to make us new creatures (as contrasted to gradually redeeming the old):

There are many reasons why God would not want you. But don't worry; you're in good company.

- Moses stuttered.
-- David's armor didn't fit.
--- John Mark was rejected by Paul.
---- Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
----- Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
------ Jacob was a liar.
------- David had an affair.
-------- Solomon was too rich.
--------- Abraham was too old.
---------- David was too young.
----------- Timothy had ulcers.
------------ Peter was afraid of death.
------------- Lazarus was dead.
-------------- John was self-righteous.
-------------- Naomi was a widow.
------------- Paul was a murderer. So was Moses.
------------ Jonah ran from God.
----------- Miriam was a gossip.
---------- Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
--------- Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
-------- Elijah was burned out.
------- John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
------ Martha was a worry-wart.
----- Mary was lazy.
---- Samson had long hair.
--- Noah got drunk.
-- Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
- So did Peter, Paul - well, lots of folks did.

But God doesn't require a job interview. He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses, because He's more our Dad than our Boss. He doesn't look at financial gain or loss. He's not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.

As much as we try, God's gifts are free. We could do wonderful things for wonderful people and still not be. . . Wonderful.

Satan says, "You're not worthy."

Jesus says, "So what? I AM."

Satan looks back and sees our mistakes. God looks back and sees the cross. He doesn't calculate what you did in 2001. It's not even on the record.

Sure. There are lots of reasons why God shouldn't want us. But if we are supernaturally in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He'll use us in spite of who we are, where we've been, or what we look like.

Step out of your limitations into the unlimitable nature of God's grace.

Freedom from Guilt

If you are a Christian, then believe it or not, understand it or not, accept it or not, you are absolutely virtuous in the sight of God . . . as a PERSON.

Believe it or not, like it or not, accept it or not, your PERFORMANCE will never be virtuous this side of heaven.

The problem: Having been saved, we have not really been led to act on the basis of all we have become . . . and we have not realized and believed what we are!

The Cross Leaves No Room for Guilt