"We live in a day with such a horrendously inflated view of human potential and such a miserably tiny view of God's holiness that we can scarcely understand what the real problem of guilt is. The real problem is not, "How can God be loving and yet condemn people with such little sins?" The real problem is, "How can God be righteous if he acquits such miserable sinners as we?" There can be no lasting remedy for guilt which does not deal with God's righteous indignation against sin.
That's why there had to be a sacrifice. And not just any sacrifice, but the sacrifice of the Son of God! No one else, and no other act, could repair the defamation done to the glory of God by our sins. But when Jesus died for the glory of the Father, satisfaction was made. The glory was restored. Righteousness was demonstrated. Henceforth it is clear that when God, by grace, freely justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5), he is not indifferent to the demands of justice. It is all based on the grand transaction between the Father and the Son on the morning of Good Friday at Calvary.
No other gospel can take away our guilt because no other gospel corresponds to the cosmic proportions of our sin in relation to God." - from DesiringGod.org - John Piper. Read More... HERE.
There are two kinds of people:
Those who are guilty and those whose guilt has been removed.
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that THE WORLD MIGHT BE SAVED THROUGH HIM. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." - John 3:17-19
See? God did not send His Son into the world to make us feel guilty! God sent Jesus to rescue us, FREE us from our sin and guilt.
"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Col. 1:13-14
"As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:12
***
What is the effective cure for guilt?Christ alone. Trusting in Him is the only way to peace with God and freedom from guilt.
Great post. I find myself thinking about how some people no longer see God as the God of judgment. They think that God is only love but he is BOTH. Because he loves us he gives us a choice to escape judgement through the sacrifice of his son.
ReplyDeleteDisturbs me when people condone sinful behavior (according to the Bible, not me) when they say God is love and we should not judge. Ah, no, but we should weigh things against scripture and know that God will hold us all accountable.
Sorry for the long comment... Just thinking while typing.
AMEN !!
ReplyDeleteVery beautifully expressed. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAmen - and while that is the answer - I think I have to work every day to study and pray about that. sandie
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful post for all of us this Sunday morning. Thank you :):)xoxo,Susie
ReplyDeleteHi Judy AMEN and thanks you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLove most everything Piper writes.
ReplyDeleteAnd the mystery of God. Can you imagine how it would be if we understood everything God is doing or has in mind? It wouldn't work at all nor would He be God.
Beautiful Judy ...
ReplyDeleteWhen I feel guilt I ask God for forgiveness and I ask the person I hurt for forgiveness.... though God does cover our sins with his son's blood he expects us to do what's right. He expects us to do our part in receiving his forgiveness....by truly accepting and receiving!
Much love to you... you're amazing!
Tammy
Beautiful Judy ...
ReplyDeleteWhen I feel guilt I ask God for forgiveness and I ask the person I hurt for forgiveness.... though God does cover our sins with his son's blood he expects us to do what's right. He expects us to do our part in receiving his forgiveness....by truly accepting and receiving!
Much love to you... you're amazing!
Tammy
Yes!
ReplyDeleteJudy-That is the exact message we heard in church this morning- great post- xo Diana
ReplyDeleteAmen!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Judy, for the wonderful post today. I was at a meeting with the president of DTS yesterday, and he gave a grave statistic: America is now the 4th largest unreached people group in the world. How can that be? He said that 1 1/2% of Americans live their faith. God help us!
ReplyDeleteSuch joy in those words!!
ReplyDeleteAmen, so very true.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful beautiful post! :)
ReplyDelete