Guilt, true guilt, acknowledges sins (all people are in the clutches of sin). Sins are those things that, ultimately, are against God. Sins may be intentional and willful or without knowledge about what God says! Or a sin may even be something you and I fail to do in keeping with God’s word.
When anyone comes to the realization that they have sinned, there may be tears and gut-wrenching cries. Some may try to wash their hands, again and again but none of these things takes away the guilt. Seeking counsel which offers no hope but relies on human wisdom does not relieve the guilt or the guilty.
Guilty! Declares the judge. Guilty! Declares God. Where can anyone go? To whom can anyone turn?
Anyone who turns to God and His grace – His unmerited favor – will receive forgiveness and a new life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Amplified) Psalm 94:17-18 “Unless the Lord had been my help, I would soon have dwelt in [the land where there is] silence.
18 When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up.”
Israel’s redemption from Egyptian slavery was God’s unmerited favor for them and a picture for people today.
(Amplified) Deuteronomy 7:6 “For you are a holy and set-apart people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a special people to himself out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.”
(NIV) Hebrews 10:10 “…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Grace is all of God…through the Lord Jesus Christ. Even as the Israelites were chosen to be a special people, you and I also can receive God’s unmerited favor.
(Amplified) Deuteronomy 7:7 “The Lord did not set His love upon you and choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the fewest of all people.”
***God’s unmerited favor, His grace, set His love on the people He chose. They had done nothing to deserve God’s love and neither do you or I do anything to deserve God’s love. That’s the grace of God, His unmerited favor.
(Amplified) Deuteronomy 7:8 “But because the Lord loves you and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bondage…”
***Why can a follower of Christ know that God’s love has brought us out of the bondage of sin? Israel was brought out from Egyptian slavery by God’s unmerited favor. This is a picture for you and me today. He has redeemed us from our sins, He paid the price through Jesus Christ’s blood on the cross…it is our choice to receive His favor, His gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
God has brought followers of Christ out
from the enslavement of sin.
We are declared Not Guilty!
How shall you pray for yourself, how shall you pray for another?
