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About Jesus - Steve (Stephen) Sweetman Freedom
From Guilt As I have often said,
the first eighteen years of my life was a struggle with so-called guilty
feelings. I have long since
learned that guilt is not a feeling and neither is condemnation.
As this applies to our relationship with God, guilt and
condemnation refer to the position in which one stands before God.
If God declares you to be guilty and condemned, you are guilty and
condemned whether you feel guilty and condemned or not.
If He declares you to be innocent, you are innocent whether you
feel innocent or not. Such
feelings, although needing our attention, are irrelevant when it comes to
our standing before God, the Universal Judge.
When it comes to guilt
and condemnation, read Jeremiah 17:9.
"The heart is
deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who
can understand it." From my study of the
Bible, Jeremiah 17:9 states how God views our human condition.
He declares us to be so sinful that it's beyond any human cure.
We have no clue to know how sinful we are.
We are, thus, guilty and condemned until such time He declares us
innocent. Just in case you think
this is an Old Testament concept, read Romans 7:24 that is preceded by
Paul's remarks on our sinfulness that sound like Jeremiah 17:9.
"What a wretched
man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to
death?" Knowing the above, I get
why we might have feelings of guilt and condemnation, but look at what
Paul wrote a couple of verses later in Romans 8:1 and 2.
"Therefore, there
is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from
the law of sin and death."
Much could be said about
Romans 8:1 and 2 but knowing that if you are a Christian, having God's
Spirit within you, He no longer declares you to be guilty and condemned.
He declares you to be righteous, that is, in right standing before
Him. You are innocent of all
charges, and that despite the fact you still sin, as we read in Colossians
2:13 and 14 in the Christian Standard Bible.
"And when you were
dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he [Jesus]
made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He
erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us
and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
" As a Christian, you have
been resurrected from spiritual death to spiritual life.
Your record of sins, certificate of debt, was erased.
It was nailed to the cross along with Jesus.
Jesus rose from the dead but your record of sin remains dead.
God now declares you to be innocent, in right legal standing before
Him. You are free from guilt
and condemnation, whether you feel free or not.
When this truth gets into your head and sinks into your soul where
it becomes your life's conviction, false feelings associated with guilt
and condemnation flee. This
has been my experience for fifty five years now, and I am sure it can be
yours.
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