Guilt and Repentance

One area I believe that many Christians struggle is the area of guilt and repentance. It is one of the most difficult things for us is to forgive ourselves when we sin. Sometimes it is because some sins have great consequences and in our eyes are worse than others. Other times, we do not really understand what repentance is and falsely assume we have repented when we have not.

Guilt can be a good thing that helps lead us to change our behavior and do the right thing. This is what happened on the day of Pentecost. Once the crowd became aware that they crucified the promised Messiah, they were "cut to the heart". (Acts 2:37) Their guilt caused them to realize there was something they should do to obtain forgiveness from God.

Guilt can also be destructive. The only other time I believe the phrase "cut to the heart" or "picked in the heart" is used in the New Testament is found in Acts chapter 7. I want to look more closely at this passage.

Acts 7:54-58
Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Notice that in this instance, their guilt caused them to become angry. They even became childlike at one point by crying out with a loud voice and stopping their ears. Have you ever been confronted with a trespass and reacted like this? I know you have not ever stoned anyone, but you probably got angry and didn't want to hear it. I know that I have responded like this at one time or another. We don't like it when someone points out our errors or sins. Unfortunately, the truth does hurt sometimes.

Satan can use this newly discovered sense of guilt to destructively work against the new Christian's life and his/her freedom in forgiveness. Unless this new Christian grows and develops in his/her understanding of what God did and is doing for him/her in Jesus Christ's death, guilt can potentially be a destructive factor.

The conscience does not come to life in a Christian to destroy the Christian! It is a protective device, not a destruction device. Its purpose is to guard the Christian against evil and to declare the need for the Christian to repent [acknowledge his sin and redirect his life] when the need for repentance exists. Consider this passage from the book of Hebrews:

Hebrews 9:13,14
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

This whole book's main goal is to point out the superiority of the New Covenant and Christ's sacrifice over the Old Covenant system. This shows the superiority of Christ's cleansing blood compared to the blood of bulls and goats. We must remember that Christ's blood cleanses our consciences "from dead works to serve the living God." We have this cleansing as long as we continue to do our best to serve the living God. Our redemption should be all the motivation we need to keep living our lives for God.

The writer of Hebrews knew the peace of a cleansed conscience. Consider Hebrews 13:18. The focus of the message of Hebrews is not on "what a good man the author is." The focus of the message is on what a good, wonderful, and absolutely complete Savior God provided us in Jesus Christ. The author is a man of good conscience because he understood what God did and does in Jesus Christ.

I look at Paul as a prime example of someone who understood just how much he was forgiven and how it motivated him to dedicate the rest of his life to spreading the gospel. He endured many difficult situations and never lost his faith and drive to serve God. He wrote the majority of the New Testament as well. He called himself the chief of sinners. Does this mean that he never forgave himself for persecuting the church prior to his conversion? No, but he pointed it out to make people aware that if God forgave him, He would forgive them as well.

I know some people that are not Christian think that they can never be forgiven because their sins are so great. They know they need forgiveness, but they just can't imagine a God who can and will forgive them and accept them into His family.

The goal of being a Christian IS NOT to "earn" or "deserve" salvation. Romans 7:18-25 reveals the futility of that approach. This is not an affirmation that Christians do not need to be obedient to God. It is the affirmation that obedience must be based on the proper motive. The motive is not the self-deception produced by the false conviction that "I" earn or deserve "my" salvation because of "my" obedient acts. The motive is a declaration of appreciation for what God did and does for "me" through the death of Jesus Christ. The hopeless despair of Romans 7:18-24 suddenly became the hope of assurance of Romans 7:25 and 8:1!

I do not trust "my" accomplishments of obedience for "my" salvation. "I" trust God's accomplishments in Jesus Christ's death! Trusting "me" is the magnification of personal guilt! Trusting God is the peace of forgiveness based on His love for "me." "My" faith must never be in "me" but always be in God. Faith in God produces peace because a cleansed conscience rests. Faith in "me" produces the unending guilt of a distressed conscience agonizing over the person's unworthiness and failures.

So here is another problem to forgiving ourselves. Sometimes we think that we are earning our salvation. We begin to constantly do an internal check list. Okay, I have done this and that and I do not do this and that, so I am a good Christian today. But when we dwell on our actions or lack of actions, this can cause us to feel guilt. Have I prayed enough? Have I read my Bible enough? Did I lust in my heart? Did I gossip?

God's grace is not dependent on us being perfect in every way. We can only be MADE perfect IN Christ. His blood perfects us continually. John tells us that if we confess our sins, God will cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He said just prior to that, some other things important for us to remember regarding cleansing.

Just prior to verse 9, John wrote some other important factors regarding the cleansing of Christ's blood.

1 John 1:6-8
If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

We must WALK in the light and NOT in the dark. Can we walk that walk
perfectly? No. Yet if our hearts are focused on pleasing God and doing our best to walk in the light, Christ will make us perfect and complete. Our confidence is not in ourselves, but in the promises of God. Jesus' blood will continue to cleanse us from ALL sin. There are many times when we might not even be aware of some sins we commit. We cannot ask forgiveness or confess a sin that we are not aware of, but Christ will cleanse us of them as long as we are walking in the light. We need not worry about whether or not we are going to go to heaven when we die. Our confidence MUST be in Christ and not ourselves.

So now I want to ask, what do you think is involved in repentance? Is repentance just feeling sorry for a sin and asking God's forgiveness? It is much more than just being sorry and asking for forgiveness.

Acts 3:19
Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;

In the above verse, it is clear that repentance involves a turning FROM something and TOWARD something. We are to turn from a sin and toward God. If you lied to someone, you need to change your mindset and seek to stop lying and live by Christian standards. If you slandered, or were involved in gossip, or envy, or any sin, your goal is to turn from the practice of that sin and back to Christian standards. If you are struggling with a guilty conscience and never feel "saved" or "forgiven" it is most likely because you have not yet truly repented of the practice of a sin. It is either that, or you do
not truly understand God's grace and trust more in yourself than in God.

Here is another excellent verse on repentance.

Acts 26:20
but declared both to them of Damascus first and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

This was Paul's testimony of his first efforts to preach the gospel message after he was converted in Damascus. He told those to whom he preached, to turn to God and do works "worthy of repentance." So when you have repented, your focus should be to do works worthy of repentance. Does this mean we must earn our forgiveness? Not at all. If our heart's desire is to truly repent, we must show that we want to stop doing evil and do things that please God. It shows our love for Him and the forgiveness that comes from God's grace. I pray this helps many and to God be the glory!

Immersed Into Christ, Joe Norman