Guilt and Grace

 

In a book written to help the Christian overcome anxiety the author (whom I will leave unnamed) describes anxious feelings and guilty feelings very well. He adds that it is often guilt that leads to anxiety and he jumps right to the need for us to trust in the grace of God for(which is true). He does not mention confession or repentance.

When there is guilt we have to understand grace. But, in order to experience grace there has to be confession from whatever causes the guilt.

It seems that within the Christian faith we are slowly but surely losing the understanding of the necessity of confession and repentance in order to know the grace of God. Part of that grace is the conviction of sin, a.k.a., feeling guilty.

David starts Psalm 32 by declaring that he whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sin is covered is blessed. He then says, (verse 5), “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.´

First David acknowledged that there was sin to be dealt with. Then he confessed it to God so he knew that they were forgiven. This brings him back to a righteous state before God.

This necessity for confession is very clear in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If we fail to do the confessing we will not get to the cleansing.

Many Christians seem to think that “sin” is a dirty word that will turn away unbelievers from considering the faith (almost as if God were not involved in their understanding). We would rather call our sin “a failure,” “a mistake,” or a “bad decision.” Everyone knows that these things are truly common to man. The sooner  they learn that it is directly related to their sin nature and seek the only solution to that problem – which is faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ – the sooner they will be relieved of the guilt of their sin.

The “cleansing from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9) is also an important principle. Many people, even many Christians, still live in the guilt of having done something they deem as so bad that even if God forgives them, cleansing is not possible for them. Their lives are spent more in guilt than in the grace of God that brings healing and freedom.

With the confession of our sin we also have to apply the faith that the LORD gives us to trust that He is faithful and true. His Word is trustworthy so we know that if He says He will cleanse us then He will cleanse us. It is our choice if we live in guilt as though we have no value because of past sin.

The one who is born again, having sincerely repented of sin and turned to Christ’s death to pay the debt for that sin can live in the freedom of the knowledge that the work of the Lord is accomplished. There is no further debt any Christian owes for her/his sin. (For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23)

Ultimately, it is through a continmutesd confession and repentance of our sin  that we enjoy the blessings of the grace of God.

So, do you truly believe that the death of Christ atoned for your sin  — you personally? If so, you are free indeed to do the work of the Lord as He calls you to do in His Word.

This may involve your confession to others, much like the Apostle Paul’s, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”  1 Timothy 1:15