The Christian and overwhelming guilt

Lu 2:14  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men.

God’s desire for earthlings is that they should have peace however, when one take a look at mankind throughout the ages they seldom enjoyed extended periods of peace. There were thousands of wars many of them over trivial matters and millions have perished over five thousand years because of the impact of all those wars. Even Christians washed in Jesus blood and trying hard to live Godly lives, often have needless turmoil in their lives because they listen to the devil instead of standing on God’s word. These precious people are often overwhelmed by guilt and a sense of unworthiness because they simply do not seem to be able to live the perfect lives that God expect them to live. However, God does not want His people to live in guilt and condemnation.

Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Let’s find a way to explain this verse so that everyone will understand how far God will go to extend His grace to Christians.  When the Israelites where camping in the wilderness, God gave very specific instructions on how they should set up camp. People can read more about these camping arrangements in Numbers chapter 2. What it comes down to was that the tribes who were camping in the North was the smallest, those camping in the south were the most with those east and west in between. The question now is, what did God see out of heaven when He looked down on the Israeli camp and the answer is that He saw a cross.

This is undoubtedly one of the primary reasons why God was able to endure the stubbornness of those Israelites. God knew that at the determined time His Own Son would perish on a cross to pay the debt of the entire human race. We can see this same Godly nature revealed very clearly in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve deserved to die for their rebellion, but God after he told them the consequences of their actions, proceeded to kill an animal and He gave the skins of that animal to Adam and Eve as a covering.

Gen3:21 ¶  For Adam also and for his wife the LORD God made coats of skins, and clothed them.

Even though God would have been justified to let Adam and Eve perish, this is not the Godly way of doing things. This can be seen in Genesis 5 which on the surface looks like just another boring genealogy, but Dr. Chuck Missler maintains in his series Cosmic Codes that there is more to Genesis 5 than people would assume. Apparently if you translate the 10 names in Genesis 5 with a Hebrew root dictionary those names tell the Gospel story. It says that man was appointed mortal sorrow but the blessed God will descend from above, teaching that His death will bring the mourning comfort.

We who live after the cross is in a better position spiritually than those who lived before the cross. Today the Holy Spirit live inside Christians, while in Old Testament Times the Holy Spirit could only cover them. Today we have complete redemption while the old saints only had atonement. Atonement could only cover the stain caused by sin while redemption through the blood of the Lamb completely removes the stain. That is why it can be assumed that if God exercised extreme patience as far as the Israelites was concerned how much more would He not do for us who have been cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb.

John 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

38  And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

40  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

It is faith in God’s word which makes the difference. Without intimate knowledge of the scriptures our lives are a mess.

Ho 4:6  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

People do not enjoy the benefits procured on the cross because they do not know God’s word. This is why Christians wallow in guilt and condemnation and they continue to believe the lies of the Devil that they are worthless and therefore they do not deserve God’s blessings.

1 John 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. {assure: Gr. persuade }

20 ¶  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

21  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

22  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

You see, if you are guilty and under constant condemnation, you will never receive anything from God because guilt is just a form of unbelieve. It means we are putting more faith in our feelings than we are placing in God’s Word.

He 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

God wants us to approach Him boldly for whatever we may need and when we do we will obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. But we need to exercise our faith because faith pleases God.

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

James 1:6  But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7  For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Once you have taken a stand you must stand firm no matter what you may hear or experience because when you do, God will honor His word and He will provide whatever you may need. You will sometimes mess up and when it happens return to this scripture.

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.

Every saint has sinned at one point or another but the secret is not to remain in that unprofitable situation but to acknowledge your sin and to be instantly cleansed from unrighteousness.

Pr 28:1  The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

When you stand in righteousness before God knowing that your sins have been forgiven, there no longer any fear or feelings of unworthiness and then you are ready to receive from God.

Pr 24:16  For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

This does not mean that you will not fail again but when you do immediately confess your sin and accept your forgiveness unconditionally. Failure to do so means that the guilt and the unworthiness will remain and when you are in that condition you are in guilt, in unbelieve and in defeat. You have no boldness, no confidence and no fellowship with God. Your prayers will not be answered because you are no longer acting on God’s Word.

Ro 5:1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

9  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

All God ever wanted was to live in peace with His creation and He sacrificed His Own Son to acquire that peace.

2 Cor 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. {he is: or, let him be }

18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. {committed … : Gr. put in us }

20  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

The fact is that God have reconciled the whole world unto Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus even those who rejected Jesus. He no longer holds the sins of unbelievers against them but He still expects them to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is why the world is in such a mess right now because we are still in the dispensation of grace. God when He looks at this world before He takes action against sinners he first has to confer with His Son sitting at His right hand. Jesus is our mediator and God cannot act without the consent of His Son because legally Jesus has complied with all of the requirements of the law when He died on that cross. This is why we as Christians should not be living in guilt and condemnation. Doing so after all that Jesus has suffered is an insult. Accept God’s forgiveness and live life fully every day.

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Thank you very much. May God bless you. Amen.