TODAYS JOURNEY ... Guilt can be like a poison working insidiously on the inside to create havoc in our thoughts and emotions. The antidote is to understand why we feel guilty and to know how to apply scriptural teachings on the subject. Misunderstanding grace results in guilty feelings, which make us think that in order to be a “good” Christian, we must clean up our act ourselves. In contrast, the message of grace is this: At the cross, Jesus paid our sin debt in full and declared us righteous in His sight. We do not have to measure up; through Christ, we have been made acceptable exactly as we are. Another thing that can make us feel guilty is confusion about confession and forgiveness. Some believers are concerned about hidden sins that they haven’t yet identified; others worry about whether they’ve confessed enough to be forgiven. It is true that 1 John 1:9 tells us to confess our wrongdoing, but doing so is not what makes us forgiven. It is what Jesus did at Calvary that provides forgiveness of all our sins. Refusing to let go of the past can also produce guilty emotions, because some of us feel undeserving of forgiveness ... knowing what sins we have committed can lead to an ongoing sense of shame. Jesus Christ died on the cross so that all our sins past, present, and future could be forgiven. This is part of the miracle of grace. Ephesians 2:1-10 NKJV By Grace Through Faith 2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:15:28 +0000