I. 'Condemnories' - memories of past and secret shame/sin; tormenting guilt; maybe prayed repeatedly for forgiveness, but never feel forgiven; conscience still condemns, bearing silent witness against us, contrasting with image we desperately want to project to others and even ourselves
II. Unresolved Guilt
a. Makes you feel like a hypocrite, a phony, a fake
i. A disconnect between how you imagine others to perceive you and how you really are
b. Hinders your relationship with God and with others
i. You know God loves you… but you also feel He cannot forgive you
ii. You also may feel that if others knew the truth about you, they would also reject you
iii. The flow of forgiveness is broken - ("If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." Matthew 6:14-15; "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." Colossians 3:13)
iv. Your prayers sometimes feel empty and flat; it is hard to "trust" God's mercy when we are all too aware of our own history and ongoing/recurring weight of guilt
c. Robs us of our joy of life & joy of our salvation
i. David & Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 & 12)
ii. Psalm 51 - repeated prayer? Or one-time?
iii. External consequences may follow our actions, but Jesus came to set us free from internal and eternal consequences -- to set us free from our guilt in the eyes of God
III. Guilt (conviction) is meant to lead us to action (repentance, reconciliation, & restoration)
a. "For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation." (2 Corinthians 7:10)
b. We were never meant to live our lives under the weight of guilt's condemnation
i. Lightsaber story
c. What does God say?
i. 1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
ii. Romans 4:7-8 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.
iii. Psalm 103:12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
iv. Isaiah 43:25 "I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again."
v. Micah 7:19 Where is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant, overlooking the sins of his special people? You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing unfailing love. Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
vi. Hebrews 9:13-14 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
vii. Hebrews 10:21-22 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
viii. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
d. "Yes, but…" Who are we going to believe? God or our flesh?
i. 1 John 3:20 Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
IV. Trust in His love
a. 1 John 4:16-18 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
b. 1 Corinthians 13:5b (Love) keeps no record of being wronged.
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