Hebrews 10:22
… let us draw near to God with a sincere
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us
from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
It
was time for music in Mr. Welsh’s 5th grade class. Mr. Welsh
announced that we were going to sing as a class. There had been an issue with
boys in the class not participating during music time. Mr. Welsh announced that
he would be closely watching on this day, and if a person didn’t sing, they
would have to stand in front of the entire class and sing the song again. Being
the compliant child that I was, I sang with all of the gusto of a 5th
grader. Once the song was finished, Mr. Welsh began his slow walk up and down
the aisles of the classroom. One by one he tagged certain boys and sent them to
the front of the room. When he got to me, I looked up at him and blurted out, “I
was singing.” “A guilty conscience needs no accuser. Go to the front of the
room.” I was devastated as I trudged to the front of the room to join the group
of sullen boys.
I
have been plagued all of my life with an overactive sense of guilt. In school,
when someone acted up in class, I felt guilty, like somehow it was my fault. It
is not that I haven’t done things for which I should genuinely feel guilty. It
is that at times I feel guilty for things that I had nothing to do with or had
no control over. Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend about a sensitive
social issue, and I went away with a nagging sense of guilt.
Guilt
is a consequence of sin in our world. Before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden,
guilt was not an issue. When they lived in harmony with God, they were free
from guilt. But, as soon as they disobeyed God’s command, they were overwhelmed
by guilt. Their sense of guilt separated them from fellowship with God and from
one another. They became self-conscious and hid. When they were confronted with
their sin, they responded with excuses.
We
tend to respond to guilt in similar ways. When we feel guilty, we tend to hide
from others. We try to cover ourselves, so as not to expose our guilt. When we
are confronted, we tend to make excuses, rather than take responsibility for
our actions.
Some
in our world today would have us believe that guilt is unhealthy and should be
eliminated. Instead of feeling guilty for our actions, we rationalize them. We
no longer sin; we make bad choices. We are no longer responsible for our actions;
we are the product of our environment. We find ways to ignore or diminish our
feelings of guilt.
Guilt
is a natural consequence to sin in our lives. But not all guilt is the same.
There is a positive and a negative side to guilt. Guilt can be used by the Holy
Spirit to draw us back to God. Guilt can be used by Satan to push us away from
God.
Guilt
is always a call for us to examine our lives. Guilt is a symptom that something
is wrong. Guilt is a byproduct not the end product. If we focus on eliminating
our guilt but do not address the core issue, then we are just masking the
problem. Guilt is like having a high fever or a pain in the shoulder. We can
try to eliminate the fever or the pain, but if we don’t deal with its cause, it
will be back.
God
wants to use guilt as a guard rail to keep us on track. The Bible tells us that
this is one of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit.
When he (the
Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and
righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;
in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see
me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now
stands condemned. (John 16:8-11)
The
Holy Spirit uses guilt to inform, instruct, and correct. He never uses it to
demean or destroy. His goal is to awaken us to the reality that we have strayed
from God’s path and to guide us back. Holy guilt will always lead us back to
Christ. As David said in Psalm 51, against you, you only, have I sinned and
done what is evil in your sight. All sin is ultimately an offense against
God. But by His grace and mercy, He offers us forgiveness and restoration. Holy
guilt is always an invitation to come back to God.
Satan
uses guilt to degrade and destroy us. He isolates us in our guilt by convincing
us that we are unique and that no one else would understand. He twists our
thinking by telling us that what we did was not so bad. He often gets us to
compare our actions with others and so excuse ourselves. He also tells us that
God doesn’t love us anymore. We have crossed the line of no return, so there is
no point in going back. Unholy guilt makes us calloused to sin. Over time, we
stop feeling guilty and move farther away from God. Satan keeps us off balance
by magnifying our guilt and then excusing it. Satan wants to use our guilt to
drive a wedge between us and God.
We
should not ignore our guilt. It is there to serve a purpose. When we feel
guilty, the first thing we should do is examine our hearts and look for the
cause. Once we have identified the cause, then we need to respond in an
appropriate way. We need to take our guilt to God and ask for His forgiveness
and cleansing. If we have done this and the guilt persists, we need to examine
where the guilt is coming from. Is there still something else we need to address
in order to draw near to God? Or is Satan leveraging our guilt to push us away
from God? If are guilt is from Satan, instead of dwelling on it, we need to
rebuke him and claim the forgiveness that we have in Christ.
Throughout
my life, Satan has used guilt to draw me into myself. At times, my sense of
guilt has made me fearful and isolated. But praise God that I have been set
free from guilt and shame. Through Christ I have received forgiveness and
cleansing. I still struggle with guilt, often justified, sometimes nebulous and
undefined. But I know where to take my guilt; to the throne of God. Jesus took
my sin and guilt to the cross. There He paid the penalty on my behalf. Because
of what He has done for me, I have been set free from unholy guilt and shame.
Hebrews 10:19-23
Therefore,
brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of
Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his
body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed
with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who
promised is faithful.
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