Guilt can be a merciless taskmaster that drives us far from God. Or, guilt can gently lead us back to a right relationship with Him, more fully convinced than ever of the Father's love. How we respond to guilt today can determine our success in life for years to come. It can even determine where we will spend eternity.
Listening to Our Guilt
The Bible says we are created in God's image and His glory. This wonderful privilege of bearing His image also holds out the requirement that we live righteous lives. When we do something that conflicts with our sense of right and wrong, an alarming thing happens: we feel guilty.
If you are feeling guilty, then this internal moral compass is sounding an alarm indicating that you may have sinned. And sin separates us from God.
That's why it is important to listen carefully to your guilt. Don't just try to ignore those nagging feelings of moral ill. Listen to your heart. Then determine to find out what's causing your guilty conscience.
Guilty as Charged
Even as you read these words, you may be coming to a realization of the source of your guilt. Perhaps you have offended someone. Or you have done something you know God did not want you to do.
Guilt can arise from things we say and do that directly violate God's law. Even if we are not familiar with a specific Bible passage, God has given us a law that is written on our hearts and helps us know when we have sinned (Romans 2:15
They demonstrate that God's law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.
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True guilt is God's way of warning us to repent and turn away from our sins so He can forgive us, cleanse us and make us entirely guilt-free. The fact is, the Bible says "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.
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). Another passage says "the Scripture has shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (Galatians 3:22
But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God's promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.
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Guilt is a fact of life because sin is a fact of life. And our sin has the consequences of death (Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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). But God does not leave you "shut up" under the emotional burden and deadly consequences of sin. He has made a way to break free from our sin and guilt.
God's Answer for Guilt
God works through everything that happens in our lives, including guilt, to draw us to Jesus (John 6:44-45
For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. As it is written in the Scriptures,* `They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.
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; John 14:6; Romans 8:28-29
And we know that God causes everything to work together* for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn* among many brothers and sisters.
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). No matter what you have done, God has made a way home - through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life, yet He was willing to die on the cross and receive the punishment we deserved. His death on the cross and triumphant resurrection secures for you all the blessings of God, including forgiveness. All you have to do is repent an turn your life over to Jesus (Acts 3:19
Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.
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This is what the Bible calls being "born again" of the Spirit of God (John 3:3-5
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,* you cannot see the Kingdom of God." "What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?" Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.*
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). We enter into the born-again experience by repenting of our sin, yielding our lives to Jesus as Savior and Lord, and trusting in faith that He will forgive and cleanse us from all sin (Romans 3:23
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.
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; Romans 10:13
For "Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved."*
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; 1 John 1:8-9
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
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; John 1:12
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
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Guilt-Free Living
God's answer for sin and guilt accomplishes what no amount of human effort could manage. Thanks to the blood of Christ, we can "draw near" to God "in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22
let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
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This cleansing is not just a one-time event. Every time the Holy Spirit prompts our spirit that we have sinned, we can return to His throne of grace to receive mercy (Hebrews 4:16
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
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). If we fail to respond to guilt in repentance, we can expect God to continue to work in our lives until we come to Him in humility. For God desires children who can serve Him with a "clear conscience" (1Tim. 3:9).
Having a clear conscience also requires that we walk in humility and repentance towards those around us. Be sure to seek forgiveness and to forgive.
Taking On the Accuser
At times, the enemy of our soul, Satan uses guilt to keep us from the Lord. The Bible describes Satan as the "accuser of the brethren" who appears before God day and night with accusations against believers (see Revelation 12:10
Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens,"It has come at last— salvation and powerand the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.*For the accuser of our brothers and sisters* has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
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These accusations leave us feeling as if God has not forgiven - or will not forgive - us. We respond in shame, anger, bitterness, and depression - which further drives us from God's presence.
This kind of guilt - a guilt that does not leave even after we repent and turn to Jesus for cleansing - is not from God. As we have seen, the blood of Christ fully satisfies God's righteousness. Thus, "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
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If you have repented of your sins but still feel the accuser lurking in the shadows, confront the accusations with God's Word. As Jesus said, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
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). Walk in that freedom.
As You Pray
God wants to free you from anything that would hinder your full life and liberty in Him. If you are dealing with guilt, choose the path that leads to life; repentance. Then stay on that path by fully accepting God's forgiveness and cleansing:
"Father, I confess my sins to You. Thank You for forgiving me of every sin I have ever committed. And thank You for releasing me from the burden of guilt. Help me to continue living every day for You. Amen."
God's Word on Guilt
"Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh, ... let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:19-22
And so, dear brothers and sisters,* we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death,* Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
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Scriptures For Study
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
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-- Wages of sin; gift of God
1 Timothy 4:2
These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.*
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-- Effect of lying on our conscience
1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
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-- God's faithfulness to forgive
Jeremiah 31:34
And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, `You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."
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-- No remembrance of sin
John 1:12
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
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; John 5:24
"And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it's here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.
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; John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
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-- Belief in Christ delivers from sin
Romans 6:18-22
Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living. Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
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; Romans 8:1
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
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-- Freedom from sin and guilt
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible.
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