While for most of us, guilt was exactly that which caused us to receive our salvation, it can also and many times,  be one of our greatest  enemies. Here at Shiloh this is one of the many things we strive to teach the men.  Unless you rid yourself of guilt you will never be able to continue and grow in the Kingdom of God under Christ Jesus.  Of course we cannot rid ourselves of this root of sin.  It must be taken away by the Holy Spirit and given to our Lord.  This is part of releasing our independence to a Sovereign God.  We must realize that we can do nothing on our own and that it is He who is our enabler. This is all part of our belief system that must be built and strengthened by our relinquishing of that independence.

  

Guilt is the leftover rotten fruit of our past sin. Before the cross no one was able to feel the complete peace of God’s forgiveness because they could not be rid of guilt (Hebrews 10: 2).  But now, since the Cross, we have the privilege, right, grace and power to not only walk away from our sin but not feel guilty about it.  In fact, if we hold on to our guilt we are making the statement that what Jesus did on the Cross was not good enough.  That is a carnal belief system.  That’s a belief system that believes that because of our past sin we are not good enough to do the Kingdom work of Christ. In Colossians 2:13-15 the Apostle Paul writes  “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

 

About two months ago, while in a church service listening to the Pastors sermon intently, the Holy Spirit interrupted and told me to “Look at the people”.  As it were that morning I was in a place in the church that I could see a vast majority of the congregation.  I looked as the Holy Spirit told me and I saw a people who looked in despair, full of worry, who had no peace and most of all were in poverty.  This saddened me and I asked Him what was wrong with them.  His answer was “They do not have revelation of the Cross of Christ. Everything was accomplished and finished by Me at the Cross. Everyone must receive the Atonement by faith so the Holy Spirit can administrate My Grace to the believer”. Immediately I understood. You see, we are given the great privilege of living the resurrected life now, because we are placed in Christ (read Romans 6:1-14). We must begin living the resurrected life by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.  One cannot experience this until they receive what was purchased by Christ at the Cross. All the things I saw on those people are the fruit of the guilt of their past sins. They just won’t give it up.  You see it becomes an excuse for them, they believe it is normal to be what they are and find others who do the same. They will try everything in the world to make themselves feel better about their past instead of receiving all that Jesus Christ has done for them. “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

 

Recently I heard a Christian woman make the statement that if a person makes over 40,000 dollars a year that they should give the rest of what they make to hurting people. That is nonsense! For one thing that’s not of God unless He tells you to do so.  Secondly you can give away everything you have and not get rid of the guilt you had for having it.  The lady had seen a film on getting rid of stuff one acquires in this life. When one has received salvation they no longer have any need for their earthly wealth.  This giving away is seen as a guilt offering, but it cannot rid one of the guilt of sin.  Only Jesus can do that.  The less independent we are on ourselves the more dependent we will be on Him; the more of our past we give to Him the more peace we will have. Getting rid of all you own won’t do it.  You must rid yourself of wrong thinking. For we are justified by His sacrifice, Romans 4:25 “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” If your justified you  have  no guilt.  Justification is a legal term meaning to be declared innocent.  If God declares you are innocent and God cannot lie, then you are innocent and not guilty!  You can live the resurrected life now and nothing can hold you back except your unbelief. So decide today, that you are going to live as the Word of God declares, “I’m a new creation in Christ Jesus! 2 Corinthians 5:17.  All we have to do is live in total dependence in Him and guilt will no longer hold us back from being the “righteousness of God in Christ Jesus” (2 Corinthians 5:21).       

 

          

(David E. Walls, Sr.)