There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-4 ESV).
Yesterday I wrote about the destructive practice of self-denigration, or shame. I thought it might be good for a short follow-up to that devotional with one dealing with the truth of guilt. All of us want the answer to the question of “What if I’m really guilty?” We should begin by understanding there is a difference between shame and guilt. Shame always comes from our enemy, while guilt is rooted in the work of the Holy Spirit convicting us of our need to come to Jesus.
Guilt can rob us of our peace of mind and take the joy out of our lives. In Psalm 32 King David outlines what guilt did to him—and what it can do to any of us. David writes, “When I kept silent [in the guilt of my sin], my bones wasted away … Day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped … ”
But because of Jesus’ resurrection, we can get rid of our guilt. We don’t have to go through life looking over our shoulders, afraid that our past will catch up with us. We don’t have to live with guilt; we can get rid of it by confessing whatever we have done. The apostle John affirms, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins” (1 John 1:9). The apostle Paul says virtually the same thing: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and come to the Savior, confess, and ask for forgiveness. If you don’t know how to pray, ask someone to pray for you. There’s forgiveness for all who come to him. Get rid of the shame; learn from the guilt; go forward in freedom.