Entertaining guilt over
confessed sin is equally sinful... equally wrong, for we are, in effect,
questioning the efficacy of the blood of our Lord. His blood either cleanses us
from all unrighteousness... all, not some, or it doesn’t. Why do we allow guilt
to take our mind captive? The short answer is “works”! Self is punishing itself
with guilt in order to feel worthy of God’s forgiveness, attempting to earn
forgiveness. Guilt over confessed sin is a slap in the face of God,
demonstrating our unbelief, ignorance or both. God repeatedly tells us our sins
are completely... instantaneously, forgiven and forgotten when we boldly
confess them before His Throne of Grace. Guilt over confessed sin must likewise
be confessed! We must be absolutely clear on this; we either believe God or we
don’t...
And, to those saints who are so
righteous they never sin: “If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Anyone who walks in the light
that God has revealed to them cannot fail to recognize their own sinfulness. We
can easily fool others but we can’t fool God who knows what is in the heart of
man. Although we walk in the Light... Christ, we will occasionally stumble over
our carnal fleshly nature. God’s provision is two-fold for restoring sin
tainted saints: Jesus is our Advocate pleading our case before the judicial bar
of God, clothed in His own righteousness, assuring our pardon. Jesus is also
the Propitiation for our sins... all sins before and after the Cross. This word
“propitiation” means in the Greek that Christ not only propitiates but offers
Himself as the propitiatory sacrifice: He is both the sacrifice and the
officiating High Priest. By becoming our substitute and assuming our guilt He
reconciles us to God with His own blood, covering and atoning for our sin by
the vicarious sacrifice He made on the Cross – the only sacrifice appeasing
God’s wrath against sin. God is truly a just God in that He never forgives any
sin without full payment of the penalty for that sin. So we come boldly before
the Throne of Grace where Jesus, our Advocate and Propitiation awaits, ever
ready to plead our case and apply His blood afresh to our life. Herein we see
the scandal... the disGrace of allowing guilt over sin confessed...
“IN THIS IS LOVE, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, BUT THAT HE
LOVED US AND SENT HIS SON TO BE
THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS”
(Jn. 1:9; Heb. 4:16; 1 Jn. 1:8; Jn. 2:24-25; Rom. 3:25;
1 Jn. 4:10)
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