Guilt - Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. If I remain in guilt, I'm mocking what Jesus Christ did on the cross. I reduce what he did on the cross. You say, yeah, yeah, no, he died for my sins, but I still stand condemned. No, he died so there's no condemnation. So why are you mocking him and condemning yourself? Why are you going to condemn yourself? Jesus died for that.

That's a very important thing to do without question. So Christ is our sacrifice. He's the sin bear. He's my high priest who intercedes for me. And this means when I came to Christ, I transfer all my sin and guilt onto him. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt.

Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again, he shows us how God's word meets our world. Christians, if there's one chapter in Romans, most Christians I know, finally, when they read it enough, want to hold on to, it's Romans 7. You see, because Romans 7, Paul talks about his sin and how disappointing he is. And we all identify with that, you know, and you'll use it to someone. Well, look, look, you may say what I did was sinful and hurtful, but Paul said all the time, says right there in Romans 7, he's a sinner.

Well, yes, but maybe not in the way you think. Look what Paul says in verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm of the flesh, sold in bondage to sin.

I know that. He said, for what I am doing, I do not understand, for what I am not practicing, what I would like to do, but I'm doing the very thing I hate. For if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil was present in me, the one who wants to do good. I joyfully concur with the law of God and my inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members.

Conclusion. Wretched man that I am. Who's going to set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, he said, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but, he said, on the other with my flesh the law of sin. Paul says here what all of us know. Even though you became a Christian and your sins were forgiven, how many?

All of them. Everything in the past, everything in the present, everything in the future. But Paul said, but sin remains in me. My sins are forgiven, but sin remains. And he said, and by the way, when Paul's talking about this, he's talking about something a little different than you might think. Paul was saying that I have moments that I don't do what I know I should be doing and I end up doing things I shouldn't.

Now, let me rest your mind. I don't think he's committing adultery, murdering people, robbing banks. I don't believe that. I don't think that's what Paul's talking about at all. He's talking about what he knows to be sin. So, I've heard people want to use Paul's sin all the time. In one sense, but not in a way you want to use it, it's different. I can illustrate this.

I've done it many times in the past. Many years ago here, we brought a man named Alden Gannett, who was the president of Southeastern Bible College, and he preached on 1 John 1-9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He preached that verse. So, he's standing up here at the pulpit and he said, and this very morning, he was staying at a house of a couple in Lakeview, he said, this very morning while I was in my debate, I sinned and I had to use 1 John 1-9. Now, all the people are like, hmm?

You know, they go, hey, hey, hey, hey, this is something. And I was sitting right over there with my wife and he said, as I was reading the Bible, my mind wondered and I immediately confessed that it was sin to God. And everyone over here went and looked at me like, that's sin? That's sin? Yeah, for him it is.

He was a godly man. That's sin. That's what Paul's talking about.

He's not usually talking about the stuff we're talking about when we talk about sin in our lives. He said, and I know I shouldn't be doing that. And he says, oh wretched man that I am.

How am I going to be delivered from this? And then he gives us the answer. He says, thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's why I'm delivered.

But then he says something even better. Chapter 8, verse 1. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Not only are my sins forgiven, but there's no condemnation.

Let me put it this way. There's no guilt. You see, what does guilt do to you? Condemns you.

That's what guilt does. You see, guilt, I'm guilty. I've been condemned. He said, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

I mean, I think that's just an amazing thing when you think about it. Christ died not only for your sins, he died for your guilt. There's no condemnation. You have to be condemned, he says. And it's an interesting thing when you think about it because often in the context here, there's a lot of accusing. Whenever you sin or disappoint, you accuse yourself. We have an enemy, he's called Lucifer, and he is also called the accuser. And so you can end up finding yourself in a battle all the time when he keeps saying, you're not worthy, you're guilty, you're not really a follower, you're guilty. Who you really are is a person who's guilty.

He says, I don't have to worry about that. There's no condemnation for me. And remember, the book of Hebrews spells it all out. Not only did Christ die as the sacrifice, but he's our high priest. And it says that he intercedes for us. So every time Satan, the accuser, accuses you before the throne of God, what does Jesus do? Shows God the Father in his hands and said, paid for.

Well, this is what they're like, paid for. He intercedes for us. In other words, every single sin you could be accused of has already been paid for. So there's no condemnation that goes along with your sin or there shouldn't be.

God goes out of his way to try to explain this to us. These are just a few of the verses that God says how he thinks about your sin. First, your sin is out of his sight. You have put all my sins behind your back, Isaiah 38, 17. It's where he says, you have put all my sins behind your back. Now, here's one thing you know for sure, you can't see what's behind your back. God says, I'm taking your sins, I'm going to put them behind my back. I'm not going to look at those.

That's interesting. Not only out of sight, out of mind. Here's what is said in Jeremiah 31. For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.

Wow. Now, please understand, when God says I'll remember your sins no more, because I've had people tell me this, you see, God says he can forget about your sin, but he's God. I can't forget. God didn't forget. He knows everything.

Always has. He doesn't forget things. This is a choice of God's. He knows the hairs on your head. That's changing daily. You could go to heaven, talk to God, and just name someone and ask them, how many hairs will give you the answer?

That's how intricately he evolved in life. And so the point is, he doesn't, you see, when he says, I choose not to remember. And so when someone has sinned against you, that's the choice you have to make, not part of forgiveness. I choose not to remember.

Not that I can't. I can't possibly forgive because I can't possibly forget. Well, if you're waiting till you totally forget before you forgive, you're never forgiven anyone.

That'll never happen. Because you remember painful things, don't you? You can remember painful things probably preschool. You remember those. That's not what he says. God says, I'll remember them no more.

They're out of reach. Verse 19, you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. That's interesting.

For them, once it sunk in the Mediterranean, it was gone forever. That's why they use that expression. He said, yeah, I'll do that with you.

I'll tread it underfoot and then I'll just throw it overboard. And the last one, even out of existence, why even I, he said, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. Here he says he blots them out. They don't exist anymore. Erased.

That's interesting. So you can see the depth that God goes to reassure us about his forgiveness. But what I want to keep thinking about here is it's not just that my sins are gone and removed from existence and I can start with a clean slate, that the condemnation is gone as well. That's important to God.

And it's hard for us sometimes. I was trying to think in the Bible, who would be the character that would have the most good reasons to have guilt control his life? And I came to the conclusion Paul solved Tarsus.

Can you imagine what it would be like to be him? He clearly orchestrated the murder of Stephen in the book of Acts. And then he just dedicated his life to arresting, putting in jail, likely torturing, and even executing followers of Jesus Christ. He did it with such zeal that he was on his way to Damascus and a long way for a Jew to go to get the Christian church there.

And he comes to Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. How much guilt do you think he feels? Probably more than all of us combined.

It's an interesting thing. You could say all this guilt that he felt and it surely looks like it and even think of his ministry. He probably met the children of people that he put in jail or even executed in his ministry. He met their parents.

He met siblings, friends of. He probably could remember before he slept at night the cries and tears of people that he had persecuted because they're followers of Christ, which he is. And yet he writes these words. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

That includes me. That's an amazing thing. And you've got to think, how does he do it? How does he do that? How does he be able to deal with his guilt? Go with me to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. This is a chapter in Philippians that Paul talks about your goals as a Christian. He said, my goal is to grow in Christ. My goal is to be spiritually mature. My goal is to finish the race. My goal is to continue to grow. That's my goal. And then he says down in verse 13, Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet.

And I don't think any Christian while on earth would ever say they have. But one thing I do, this is what he does, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Notice what he's chose to do. I forget what lies behind.

That would be good advice for all of us. I forget that. See, if Paul wanted to remember the terrible stuff he did to the church of Jesus Christ, he could have become totally identified with that memory. He could have made himself basically useless to God.

He could have constantly victimized himself by look at what I've done. God would never want me to do anything for him. I actually persecuted his church. What kind of job did God give him? He is the New Testament. He is the Epistles. He's the one who explains our faith. He is the perfect poster boy for one who was taken out of religion into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And so God used him in a magnificent way. And the only reason Paul let God use him was he forgot what lies behind. So if you find yourself feeling guilty of something that happened years ago and you use it to find you, it's a terrible idea.

It's a terrible idea. It will destroy your relationship that you have with God. Secondly, if I remain in guilt, I'm mocking what Jesus Christ did on the cross. I reduce what he did on the cross. You say, yeah, yeah, no, he died for my sins. But I still stand condemned. No, he died so there's no condemnation. So why are you mocking him and condemning yourself? Why are you going to condemn yourself? Jesus died for that.

That's a very important thing to do without question. So Christ is our sacrifice. He's the sin bearer.

He's my high priest who intercedes for me. And this means when I came to Christ, I transfer all my sin and guilt onto him. That's what God says in the Word of God. That's what happened to your guilt. So I want to conclude with just a few implications so I'm not misunderstood here.

First one is this. One requirement I have is that when I sin, I acknowledge it to God. I acknowledge my sin to God. That's what 1 John 1-9 is. Remember, if we confess, confess homo legao, one homo legao, say the same thing.

I agree with God. That's what confession is. It's not penance. That's not confession.

That's not homo legao. I agree, I acknowledge with God this is sin. He said if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to do what? Forgive, he already forgave him at the cross.

He means relationally. Forgive our sins and cleanse us from all the unrighteousness in us, which part of that unrighteousness is what? Our guilt. He says you're not condemned. You see, you're not condemned. You're forgiven and not condemned.

That's what God does. But I have to have the responsibility to be able to confess it. Now, one guide I might use, because sometimes when I teach on confession, it gets a little bit easily misunderstood because we know ourselves, don't we? Does anyone in there know how many sins you've committed yesterday? Now remember, Jesus said any thoughts of sin that's sinful. How many did you do yesterday?

How about last week? So sometimes when you hear that verse, you think, oh my goodness, I'm going to spend my whole life just confessing my sin. I'll never get back to doing anything. That's not what he means, I don't think. What he means is whenever I sin and my conscience makes me aware of this sin, I acknowledge it to God. You see, every little thing your conscience won't make you aware of.

You say you won't. I mean, let's just say that someone walked into a church and was dressed as a complete and utter street person, what we used to call in the old days, bum. And they walked down the aisle. Any of you have a thought about him walking down the aisle? Did a thought ever cross your head?

Could have it been sinful? Did you know it was? No. I mean, so many things about us. Do you think that you convey or say things that are proudful in your life to anybody?

You want to see a picture of my kids? I mean, you see how this works. If I was worried about that, it'd be ridiculous. But there are certain things that I know when I do. The Scripture says it is sin to the person who does it. When I know and I'm aware, I acknowledge it.

That's the point. I don't want anything between me and God. And so I know when those occasions occur in my life and I think you would as well. Secondly, I forfeit the right to condemn myself. Why? Well, listen to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6. You are not your own. You've been bought with a price. How can I condemn me? I don't belong to me and neither do you. I belong to my Lord Jesus Christ. So do you. He paid for you. You see, he bought you.

That's the point. So how am I going to condemn myself through my guilt when I'm not even my own? I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ and he's already told me he will not condemn me. There's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And so I don't have a right to condemn myself.

Lastly, when I sin against a brother or sister in Christ, what do I do? Just like with God, I acknowledge it. I acknowledge it. And I apologize.

That's the next step. Then I make restitution if I can. Sometimes that's not possible.

And then when I do that, I leave it behind me. We don't do very well at this. I see this all the time in counseling, especially in marriage. We don't acknowledge our sin with each other. We usually defend it. We try to defend our sin, our attitudes, our behavior.

And I think it's pride that stops us from doing this. That was wrong. That was simple. I apologize. Now, will the person forgive you? I don't know. That's not up to you. That's up to them. That's their issue before God.

Because they should if they're a brother and sister in Christ because we're told or commanded in the word of God to forgive each other just as Christ has forgiven us. See, that's a pretty tough thing because you and I know how many times has he forgiven you since you've come to him? Hundreds? Thousands?

Tens of thousands? He said, yeah, that's what you need to do. That part's a little bit hard. Because, see, I've known people and they've actually heard him say it, look, God forgave all my sins so they're all forgiven so I don't have to acknowledge it to him or her.

That's just tough for them. I'm already forgiven by God. That's not Christianity.

It's just not. We're to love each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. We're to confess our sins to one another.

All those things are commands in Scripture. So you do need to acknowledge it. You do need to apologize.

And you do need to make restitution if you can. But what you don't want to do is feel guilty. Say, look, I feel so guilty I'm just going to carry this guilt around.

Because if you do, you're never going to be free in Christ. You're going to allow that guilt to become the defining moment of who you are. You know, your past is designed to remind you of who you were.

But it's not designed to define you as to who you are. Don't let that guilt have an effect on your life. Let's pray. Father, on the one hand, we know we're all guilty. But for some of us, Father, we're so inadequate in dealing with it that we carry it in our life. We use it, Father, to give us our own identity. We feel like a terrible disappointment to you and to others because of our guilt. And by doing so, Father, we find ourselves spiritually almost useless because we keep thinking we're not qualified.

But if there's anything in the Word of God, it's clear. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. New every morning, that's our faith. No matter what happened yesterday or what I confess today, tomorrow's a new day. And I don't have to carry the condemnation and the guilt to tomorrow.

I am free, free to love myself, free to love you, and free to love others. May we be encouraged by the magnitude of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross who died for our sin and for our guilt. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.

That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word. .