WHEN YOU DON'T "FEEL" FORGIVEN!

When God forgives our sin by means of the sacrificial death of his Son, He no longer holds those sins against us, but two possible dynamics may still be slow to die.

First, we may still hold those sins against ourselves, especially if they were committed after our conversion, even though our head knows that God no longer does. The more shameful we see a sin (even a forgiven one) to have been, our incurably humanistic, "religious" flesh feeds on it, often causing continued inner turmoil and spiritual paralysis. It will not acknowledge the completeness and fullness of our forgiveness, since it has only been bestowed by God (to whom it won't submit).

The second dynamic comes from Satan, the enemy of our souls. In Rev. 12, we see him cast out of heaven. What does that mean? Apart from the death of Christ, Satan could successfully accuse us to God. But, since the death and exaltation of Christ, he no longer has any unpardoned sins of a child of God to legally accuse them of to God. His case against us was thrown out of court. The only accusations against us he can lodge now are to us. We'll listen! They have no legal basis, of course, but when we listen, we afflict ourselves with the feelings of a non-existent (except in our imaginations) guilt or shame.These enemies must be fought daily with faith. Hear God! Believe God! Pray that God might strengthen your faith in his promise to not only forgive your sin, but to cleanse you from your unrighteousness - especially your conscience.

I'm not trying to scare anyone with this paragraph. I have no desire to burden the soul of a born-again Christian. But, perhaps the reason you just can't believe God is because he has never given your soul true life. Hence, saving faith is impossible for you. Your guilt is there because you don't possess genuine faith in Christ, so God has not yet taken your guilt away. Your conscience still bothers you because you have never received God's cleansing from the stain with which sin has soiled your heart.

Is there any hope for you? Yes! If you are not a Christian, but guilt and shame are "alive and well" in your life, there is, yet, hope. Your conscience is still doing its job. By it, you care about the fact that your own conscience would condemn you, if God were to accuse you.

Faith is still the answer! The horror of your sin is not that you are being tortured by it, but that you know you have no way to answer God for it. I say to you, bow your knee to Christ, the Lord of the universe, the one who new that you could not stand on the Day of Judgment, the one whose blood was shed to save sinners such as yourself. He is a beautiful Savior and a bountiful Master.