The Answer for Guilt
The answer for guilt is simple enough for a child to grasp. It has been proclaimed throughout the world since Eden and most profoundly, in our generation, by Billy Graham. It’s comprehended in a single promise. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The answer for guilt is forgiveness.
The qualification for that forgiveness is the acknowledgment of sin. Denial, in all its many forms, is terminal. It will cocoon you in condemnation. Confession of sin cures guilt and all its secondaries because it’s what releases God’s hand. God has the answer for guilt and He is the only one that does. As our maker, He is the singular expert on all the workings of guilt and what’s involved in liberating a person from it.
He clears the conscience completely with a two-part treatment.
First, He forgives by tearing up all IOU’s, deleting all record of wrong and restoring all privileges with a clean slate and a new beginning. The miracle of God’s forgiveness is that He not only forgives, but unlike us, He also forgets. We become “justified,” just as if we never sinned. No earthly therapy can ever do that.
Second is the equally miraculous “cleansing ” part of the promise. He removes all things related to guilt. “All unrighteousness,” means all of guilt’s shame, torment, introspection, timidity, fear, depression, anxiety, and self-consciousness. The emotions, the mind, and even the body chemistry are cleared.
Freedom from guilt is true health because it frees the spirit and a free spirit reaches the whole man. Potentially, it reaches the whole world. A free spirit is one of the most attractive of all human qualities. This liberation energizes love and service for God. “He that is forgiven much, loves much .” In contrast, it’s impossible to function at full capacity under a load of guilt and shame.
God’s answer for the question of guilt is simple, He takes it away. That’s the only answer, and He’s the only one that can do it, and It’s promised. “behold the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.”
Jn.1:9
Heb.8:12
Rom.3:24
Jn.1:29