Christ defeats the pain of a guilty conscience

Leviticus 18; Psalm 22; Ecclesiastes 1; 1 Timothy 3

The topic headline in my Bible for Leviticus 18 is “Unlawful Sexual Relations” and the list, mostly about incest, covers everything else humanity comes up with. My devotional guide has this to say: “Just because this is the first time that some prohibitions have been articulated in the Bible does not necessarily mean that this is the first time anyone thought of them or condemned the practices in question. Before murder is actually prohibited as such, Cain commits it, is condemned for it, and is punished. The same is true for many actions treated in the Law of Moses. Much of the Law of God is written on the human conscience, so that societies without Scripture erect moral structures which, however different from the values of Scripture, overlap with Scripture in important and revealing ways.”

Having God’s laws written on our conscience no doubt keeps much of the world from total chaos. Without a general sense of right and wrong, anarchy would take over. I shudder thinking about what the world would be like. I also shudder to think about the weight of guilt that is on the lot of us. I know my own sins, both deeds and evil thoughts. I watch the news and see depravity in its headlines. Just hours after Easter celebrations, I’m thinking of the horror of the cross where Jesus bore the sin of the world, all of it, every person’s sin from the beginning to the end of time. I shudder and cannot imagine how awful His pain.

On the cross, Jesus spoke the first few words of Psalm 22. He died before saying all this psalm where David describes His death in vivid prophetic poetry:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? . . . . But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” . . . . I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. . . . For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots . . . . You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him . . . . All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you . . . . For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. (Psalm 22:1–31, in part)

In the beginning of His horrors, He felt forsaken and as the psalm goes on to describe the rejection of man it also describes the assurance — God has not hidden His face but has heard His cries and turned this horror into the greatest of all victories. He would soon rise from the grave declaring His righteousness and proclaiming salvation for all who put their faith in Him. Jesus shouted, “It is finished” and Jesus wins!

APPLY: And because He defeated all that guilt and shame can do to us, we who believe in Him are also winners. Nothing can change the victory of Jesus over death. Today I’m filled with gratitude and worship for the One who gives me freedom from guilt and shame and life everlasting. Even as I still battle my selfish and sinful self, I have His assurance that one day, that battle will end and I will be with Him forever.

The Power of Forgiveness

I try to imagine being in jail wrongly accused. I try to imagine time spent with another inmate who is there for good reason. I try to imagine leading that prisoner to faith in Christ only to find out that this person was an employee of a dear friend, one who is now upset that this person’s crime was committed against him. What would I do?

I might side with my friend and come down on that prisoner. I might be frustrated with the justice system. I might even be upset that my Christian friend must deal with this matter. Does the friend forgive the jailbird or does the friend have every right to stay angry?

Paul writes to Philemon from prison, a letter not to a church but to another Christian. He does not tell his friend what to do but his letter takes the form of asking a favor. His reason is that both he and his friend have a good relationship with Christ and with each other. Even though the prisoner, a man named Onesimus, was once a slave working for Philemon who was worthy of punishment, Paul asked his friend to forgive him. He wanted this former slave received, “not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved,” indicating this slave was now a believer in Christ.

I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. (Philemon 10–16)

Paul shows the heart of God and the reality of sins forgiven. When God Almighty forgives, how can any of us hang on to unforgiveness or retaliation? Sadly, we do. Paul didn’t want that.

Paul not only forgave and requested that Philemon forgives, he was willing to cover whatever Onesimus had done. He had confidence that his friend would do the same so wrote this also:

If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. (Philemon 18–21)

Last night I had a vivid dream of a wrong committed against me. In my dream, my anger was extreme and murderous. I took action to get even. The dream was just a dream, but it depicted actual and hurtful events — except the retaliation part. Yet isn’t holding a grudge or being angry or not talking to that person just one way of getting even?

God is not like that. When He forgives, He loves the person forgiven. There is no grudge, no anger, no retaliation. He justifies sinners — acts toward us ‘just as if’ we had never sinned. We are taken into His home and His family without any regard at all to the sins we have committed. Repentance happens, but only because God is so gracious!

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Jesus, this is a good thought for today. You have wiped clean my life. All is forgiven because You took all my sin and gave me Your righteousness. I am so blessed. Today, I am going to worship You because You love me and have taken me out of the bondage of sin and guilt into the glorious freedom of being Your child, Your servant.

Today’s thankful list . . .

God does not retaliate.

Knowing I am forgiven.

Being loved and included in God’s family.

My hubby who takes me to fabric shops and even comes in and tells me what he likes.

Supper and a good visit with friends.

BBQed salmon on a plank.

Sunshine and looking forward to going home.

The cure for guilt

A friend has been asked to do a reading at a non-Christian funeral. She asked for suggestions and my husband thought a good topic would be something about forgiveness.

Do people carry around a load of guilt? Some might admit it. Some struggle to erase it by doing good, by striving, by constantly apologizing. Others excuse their errors and sins by blame-shifting or long explanations. A few people grieve and continually beat themselves up for even the small mistakes.

What works? The Bible says (and my experiences verifies) that there is nothing better than forgiveness. King David of Israel knew it long before God showed it to me. His struggles with guilt gave him great physical discomfort, never mind mental anguish. But he knew the way to blessing . . . 

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.” (Psalm 32:1–6)

In David’s day, forgiveness involved faith in the sacrificial system given to His people. It was bloody and many lambs had to die, but by faith and God’s grace, sinners were set free from their sin — until the next time and the next sacrifice. Yet by faith, they believed God’s promise of a Messiah and waited for a better way . . .

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,’ then he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:11–18)

Fortner gives a good description of God’s forgiveness. He says it is complete and absolute. God will never charge any believer with any sin. We might sin a thousand times a day yet God will not charge us with sin. Even David committed adultery and murder, yet God did not lay that to his account. Even Peter denied Christ with an oath, God did not charge Peter with sin. I might commit hideous offenses, but God will not charge me with sin. Along with all those who are in Christ, God will not charge my sin against me because my standing and acceptance with God is not about my goodness or anything about me; it is in Christ my Substitute who took all sin and the penalty for sin upon Himself. All my sin is covered, washed in His blood.

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Jesus, You forgave it all. I still feel guilt over current sin, yet can come to You confessing it (as David did) and know the freedom and grace of forgiveness. I don’t need to excuse it, blame others, or beat myself up. I just need to agree with You about the wrong that I do, confess it, and enjoy the blessing of knowing You do not count it against me. Hallelujah, You are the Lamb of God who takes away my sin!