“As long as I am stricken with the guilt of my sins, I will be captive to them, and will often find myself re-committing the very sins about which I feel most guilty. The Devil is well aware of this fact; he knows that if he can keep me tormented by sin’s guilt, he can dominate me with sin’s power.” (Milton Vincent)
Guilt is anti-Gospel. The scandal of the Christian message is that Christ takes into account all sin, past, present, and future and has rendered an innocent verdict. No longer is guilt even in the equation. It is from this freedom that the saint must learn to live even when it feels foreign to our understanding of justice. There has been a lie spread by many within the Church that in recognizing our insufficiency, puts the burden of becoming “better” solely on our shoulders. In this system, guilt is a god. The worse we feel, the closer we are to a petty and spiteful god. Yet the worst we feel, the more we run to sin for comfort which of course leads to more guilt.
So then we must choose where our focus belongs – on sin or grace. Two entirely different paths with two entirely different ends. Like Vincent reminds us, we are still under sin’s power when we are under it’s guilt. Not only this, but we attempt to nullify the soul work of Christ on the cross. We look at a Holy God and call Him insufficient. The Gospel is always counter to what we feel and this is a good thing. Our feelings are marred by sin and therefore to follow God means to become reprogramed in a different way of living and thought.
Today, may you find peace. May your mind be transformed by the intentional and revolutionary love of a God above guilt. Might we as a Church dwell on such grace that guilt is erased in our feeble thoughts. If you are in Christ, then you are free from sin. Meditate in that ridiculous truth today and may it overwhelm you.
Matt simon blog 