~ 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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