Guilty!

~ Guilt—Spiritual Pain ~

Universal Guilt  ~  C.S. Lewis once said, “no man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.” 

The Bad In Guilt  ~  Guilt causes us to feel defeated, left untreated (not dealt with) it can lead to depression and all kinds of problems—including physical, mental, and emotional ailments. 

The Good In Guilt  ~  Guilt unlocks the door to forgiveness—in other words guilt serves a great purpose.  We need guilt! 

We learn a lot about guilt in the first chapter of 1 John.

The Truth About Guilt  ~  “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).  “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:10).

Similar to pain guilt is a warning that something is wrong.  Guilt is like spiritual pain (as opposed to physical pain).  Guilt tells the truth about us, we feel guilty because we are guilty.  Guilt opens the door for obtaining forgiveness.  

The Solution To Guilt  ~  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). 

There has only been one Guiltless Individual on earth.  We know that He was “tempted in all points as we are yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). 

Additional Comment  ~  God does not “grade on a curve.”  How many bank robberies does it take to make one guilty?

We learn a lot about guilt and the solution for guilt from the Apostle Paul in the seventh chapter of the Book of Romans.

The Apostle Paul’s Problem  ~  Paul tells us he was well aware of his own personal guilt but he also tells us that he knew the solution, “What I am doing, I do not understand.  For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. …  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.  For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. …  For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.  But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:15-23). 

The Apostle Paul’s Solution  ~  “O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). 

The Apostle Paul knew Jesus Christ personally and he had learned the truth of The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up [on the Cross], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus Christ—The Messiah], that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:14-18).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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