Wednesday, August 24, 2022 Some material taken from The Bondage of False Guilt
Therefore, having been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in
which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 NASB
When God looks at us, He does not see
our sin, guilt, and shame. He sees our redemption, our righteousness in Him,
and our immeasurable value to Him as His child. We don’t see this when we look
in the mirror. We usually only see all the flaws - physical, spiritual,
emotional, and mental. We can find ourselves in a perpetual cycle of shame and
false guilt. This is not what God had intended for His children who are made
new in Him, who get a whole new identity when we become His. He sacrificed His
Son on the cross so that we could live free – no bondage and no chains.
If we are to break the chain of false guilt, then we must
embrace Christ's
atonement rather than our own. – Van Houser
But God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 Our overactive consciences and false guilt keeps us from truly
embracing this and believing it is for us, not someone else. The Bible clearly teaches that Christ's atonement was for our
sins, while we were in our most despicable state. His atonement was not only
given to those who got their act together. It is for all of us who don’t! God knew
then and He still knows today that we will never be perfect because perfect does
not happen this side of heaven. Perfect is reserved for God, Jesus, and eternity.
When we get to heaven we will be made whole but not before.
Even though we hear that Salvation and
atonement are gifts and there is nothing we can do to earn it, we still strive
and feel relentless shame and guilt, instead of His relentless love that He
intended for us. We are seeking self-atonement or striving to measure us in our
own eyes.
When we strive for self-atonement, we
are basically saying that Christ’s atonement for us was not enough, and we
believe we need to do more to “qualify” for His love, salvation, and eternal
life.
Some beliefs that are typical of
seeking self-atonement are:
A belief that God
will love me even more when I do enough to earn it…
My performance
matters regarding my salvation…
His grace is not
free, I must earn it…
My works are just
as important as His finished work in me…
Isaiah 64:6 confirms that we are not capable of our own righteousness. Only
someone with clean hands and a sinless life can cleanse us, redeem us, and He
gives us His righteousness as His child. It is only because of Him that we are
made righteous.
We have all become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade
like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Isaiah 64:6
Only God can break the chains of
false guilt, shame, and every other sin. Only Christ’s atonement and what He
did on the cross will give us the acceptance, love, mercy, righteousness, freedom
from guilt and sin, and the inheritance we so desperately seek to earn. As with
every other circumstance in life, He is the only true source of hope to be
found. So hope in Him. Trust in Him. Release yourself from having to prove your
worth, value, and goodness to yourself, and to a world who does not look
through the lens of our Heavenly Father. You are already righteous and have
unfathomable worth in His eyes.
