Study – Grow – Know

False Guilt

February 17, 2022 at 7:39 PM 5 comments

Audio for this article here: SermonAudio.com/StudyGrowKnow

Research Links:

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• Reuters/AP misled public about mRNA vaccines
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• Dr. David Martin news update
• Triple vaccinated deaths skyrocketed 495% in January; 80% of all new covid cases are fully jabbed

Reading through the book of Numbers is a bit daunting. It’s not because it’s difficult reading, but because as far as God is concerned, sin is exceedingly sinful to Him and one of the points of Numbers. The entirety of the Mosaic Law is designed by God to point out the fact that humanity’s sin is terrible. For the Israelite, there was no forgiveness for sin that was intentionally committed. There was only forgiveness for unintentional sin. Even at that, this forgiveness was not the wiping out of that sin either but was more accurately, a covering for sin, which is why the sacrifices needed to occur so often. It was a never-ending cycle of sin, offering, sin, offering, sin, and more offering.

The rules in approaching God were very strict for Israel. If you’ve ever talked with an orthodox Jew, you might hear them say that following the Mosaic Law is not that difficult. One thing that makes it easier is the complete lack of the sacrificial system today.

The other thing to consider is that most Jews do not consider what Jesus says in His Sermon on the Mount, where He clearly goes to the root of the sin problem; our desires. So when the Law says that it is against the law to have an adulterous affair with someone, the orthodox Jew might rightly say, “Well, I’ve never done that, therefore I have not broken that part of the Mosaic Law.” They could say the same for other aspects of the Law, like stealing, lying, etc., so that they might conclude that they are absolute keepers of the Law.

However, Jesus said, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” (Matthew 5:28). While this is not outwardly stated in the Mosaic Law, it is certainly implied and undergirds the Law. Therefore, Jesus was not going beyond the Law or adding to it. He was, in essence, going to the heart of the problem. Lust is the driving force that causes a man to look at a woman and want to commit adultery with her. Whether he does or not is not the point as far as God is concerned. In God’s eyes, the very fact that a man is thinking about a woman in an adulterous situation is considered sin.

Jesus states that the act of sin begins with our desires. Once we give attention to it there, it can quickly bloom into the physical act and as James says, ultimately gives birth to death; “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death,” (James 1:15). Desire or lust conceives, then gives birth to sin, which brings death. It causes spiritual death immediately, by breaking fellowship with God and if continually practiced, sin will also often cause physical death simply because of the way sin works against our body and mind. In the end, sin kills.

When I was in seminary, one of the New Testament professors stated, “Sin is brokenness.” When I first heard that, I thought, “Hmm, interesting.” Then I realized that his statement deliberately obscured the truth about sin. Sin is not “brokenness.” Sin creates brokenness because it destroys fellowship with our Creator and creates a hard heart or seared conscience if left to itself. But by stating that sin is brokenness, it reduces the extremely offensive nature of sin in a person’s mind, making it “softer.” The Bible is very clear that sin is emphatically wrong and I am fully responsible for all of my sin. When I sin, I break off fellowship with God, siding with the enemy of my soul.

For too many people today, doing the right things outwardly leads people to believe they are approved and accepted by God. Many people throughout society, regardless of their culture, language, and ideological outlook tend to believe that if they try to “be” good (by doing good deeds), they are a good person. But we know what God says about that don’t we? “There is none righteous, no, not one…” (Romans 3:10). Not one of us is truly good (righteous), but many believe they are that.

This is referencing Poon India.

Though I am a Christian, having received salvation from God in Christ, I sometimes am fully ready to condemn myself because my sin at times seems so apparent and obvious to me. My mind seems to enjoy reliving episodes in my past that were sinful and are very cringe worthy. The enemy loves to attack, accuse and devour, reveling in it.

Zechariah 3 brings this to the fore.

Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.

We see Joshua, the high priest of Israel (at the time), standing before the angel of the Lord. Satan is also there, standing at Joshua’s right hand for one purpose – to accuse Joshua. This is Satan’s main job where the elect are concerned and Satan persists at this. But for each Christian, overcoming the temptation to collapse under the weight of Satan’s accusations can be overwhelming at times.

The truth is that all humans are guilty before our holy God and that the entire world lies under His judgment (Romans 3:19). That judgment is certainly on its way, but God draws people to Him by using guilt to help them see their need to repent so that they can and will exercise faith in Christ’s finished work. He doesn’t use guilt to just make people feel bad, but to motivate people to seek Him so that, through faith, they will receive life eternal. When people sin, they normally feel bad about it, unless they’ve been practicing sin for so long that their consciences are literally seared, unable to feel a sense of guilt or remorse anymore.

Satan also uses guilt against us but incorrectly.

False guilt has at least two possible points of origin: ourselves and the devil. One of the names of the devil in Scripture is “the accuser” (Revelation 12:10). It is a fitting name, as he can and does accuse us to our own minds and consciences. Satan will bring to mind our most horrible sins and cause us to focus on them rather than on God’s forgiveness.[1]

If we continue to look at and worry over past sins that God has truly forgiven, we have a problem. We are focusing on our feelings about something we’ve done in our past. This is what creates the repeating problem of “woe is me,” “I’m no good,” or “God hates me.” These are false notions that many of us have difficulty overcoming. We need a new outlook and that outlook can only occur when we first see the problem.

The cure for false guilt is the gospel. If you’re a Christian, start by confessing any known sin. The promise of God in 1 John 1:9 is for believers: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Remember that, once a sin has been forgiven, it’s forgiven for good. God separates our sin from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

Also, focus on the grace of God. God’s grace is free, it’s based on Christ’s work on your behalf, and it’s greater than your sin (Romans 5:20). Meditate on Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Preach the gospel to yourself every day, spending time in passages such as Romans 3:19-26 (especially verse 24); Psalm 103:8-13; Romans 4:7-8; Ephesians 1:3-11; and Romans 5:6-11. Meditate on the cross and all it means to you; never think of your sin without also remembering the cross and the grace of God displayed in it. [2]

This is often a difficult nut to crack for many Christians, myself included. It is easier for me to condemn myself, second guess myself, or simply think that I’m doing something wrong and God is upset with me. The pastor of the church where we just became members likes to stress that God is not mad at us Christians. He doesn’t hate us and He’s not angry at us. While He will certainly disapprove of some of the things we do, think, or say, in order to help us press on in Christ, He doesn’t close the door to us and wait until He’s “cooled” off. His arms are always open and I often forget this.

Sometimes, Satan will bring up a memory of some stupid deed in my life to cause me to squirm. The more I focus on it, the greater the squirming becomes. God doesn’t want us to waste our time because those things are forgiven and should be forgotten. Now, if it’s something that I’ve never confessed to Him before and something that I recently did, then I need to adopt an honest attitude of repentance. But then once I repent of it, then I need to go on my way understanding that God has forgiven me. There’s no need to continue to beat myself up over something that I cannot go back and change.

In today’s world, it seems fairly easy to go to one of two extremes. Either we tend to focus strongly on our past deeds even though God has forgiven them or we don’t recognize things in our past at all that need to be confessed to Him. The tragedy is that either situation can provoke wrong feelings within us, causing us to focus inordinately on those things instead of moving ahead in Christ.

Paul tells us in Philippians 3:13, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead…” and it should encourage us because Paul obviously dealt with the same type of things we deal with, but successfully. I think Paul is telling us not to be defeated by yesterday’s failures. Recognize them and even confess them, certainly. But do not allow them to come from the past into the present so that we become paralyzed with a fear that keeps us from pressing on.

[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/false-guilt.html

[2] Ibid

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