“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ^Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”

- 1 John 3:1-2

This is what awaits those who can put their guilt down and pick up the grace of God.  Several people commented Sunday, “How do you leave guilt behind?”  I replied, the same way you put off any sin – daily.  Everyday we must wake up and choose to leave our guilt behind.  It will be there waiting for you, but instead of clothing your self with guilt, clothe yourself with grace.  We will be just like the recovering addict who commits to remaining sober for just one more day.  Every day we make the commitment to leave our guilt behind.  In order to do this we will learn new ways of living, new ways of thinking, new ways of being.  No longer will our guilt shield us or drive us, we will be exposed and confused.  Leaving behind our guilt is not an easy task, but a necessary one.  Therefore be encouraged that if you are in Christ, God no longer calls you guilty, but child.  This means that you’re not being called to be someone you’re not, but recognize who you really are in Christ.

• Purgatory states that there are some sins which we must go through purgation for, because Christ did not pay for all my sins.
• This is my problem with the doctrine of purgatory: if Christ didn’t pay for all of my sins and bridge the infinite gap between God and us then there still is an infinite gap between us, because one step from the infinite is an infinite step.
• While we may not have the doctrine of purgatory in evangelical Christendom, we have guilt. Somewhere subconsciously we believe that if we feel guilty enough, if we say we’re sorry enough then we earn forgiveness.

2. Penance – Guilt is our attempt to ensure that we’re still spiritual by feeling guilty, when it’s a faulty license to sin. (5-8)

• You think, because you feel guilty everything’s alright in the midst of sin and that somehow you’re connected to God because you feel guilty.
• Guilt draws you back to the old but you are transformed for newness. It reminds you of the old ways and in your defeated state you succumb to sin.
• Romans tells us that we can not have the flesh and the spirit co-exist. There is a struggle yes, but guilt confuses us into thinking that so long as we feel bad we must be doing something right.

3. Prevention – Guilt is our attempt to avoid the wrong we did in the past we did by missing out on the future. (9-11)

• Christ died not only to set us free from sin, not only from death, but the fear of death. That’s exactly what guilt is, a fear that we aren’t enough. Hebrews 2:15, “And free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.”
• Guilt convinces you that you’re dead but you are alive in Christ. The same spirit that brought Christ back from three days dead is making you alive every moment.

4. Problem – Guilt is our attempt and that’s what got us here! (12-17)

“So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us-an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! ”

- Romans 8:12-14, The Message