People can’t live with the guilt. God did not design us to live with guilt, and yet it is imposed upon us all of the time.

The origin of this is, of course, Satan, who wants us to feel guilty all of the time. He knows that if we feel guilty, we will not approach God in faith, but rather we will stay away from him out of fear.

The classic example would be Adam and Eve when they sinned; they wanted to hide from God because they felt guilty. That’s exactly what Satan wanted to happen; he didn’t want the man to enjoy fellowship with God.

Sin was the one thing that then stood in the way of us enjoying intimate daily fellowship with Father God.

Under the Old Covenant, sacrifices were made to “cover” that sin. Although sin was covered by sacrifice, that didn’t solve the sense of guilt that came with sin.

Those folks went home from giving their sacrifices feeling guiltier than when they went there. The Law had heightened their sense of guilt.

Isn’t it interesting how many folks come out of a church service these days feeling the same way?

We now have the “new plan”. We are now “complete.” Sin has been dealt with once and for all.

Unfortunately, there are many today who still live like we are under that old “law plan.” They still have a “heightened awareness” of sin and “guilt.” They are more conscious of sin than they are of righteousness.

Have you ever seen a dog when he knows he’s in your bad books? He’ll crawl up to you on his stomach with his tail between his legs, his eyes down, and whimpering.

That’s how many approach God. Like guilty dogs! They spend most of their prayer time telling God what useless old dogs they are, and then they drag out this long list of past sins. Like that verse just said, they are “dragged down by their sins.”

Constant teaching that tries to deal with sin through behavioral modification causes some of this. Jesus didn’t modify our behavior; He saved us to make us new creations.

You hear it said, “If people would just live right, then sin would not be a problem.” But it has nothing to do with our behavior, it has to do with us thinking that we are just old sinners, and so the behavior follows that kind of thinking.

If you tell someone they are bad long enough, they will behave that way. You tell a child that they are bad, and they’ll act badly. You tell a person they are a sinner and will keep sinning.

God is not holding you guilty of any sins!

We need to become aware of the fact that sin has been dealt with. God does not have a list of your sins written on his wall, waiting for you to hand him an eraser. Sin is all over with!

We are set free from sin forever!

“Think of it! All sins are forgiven!”

If you are thinking that way, you will not be thinking about being guilty!

You and I come to God, and begging Him to forgive us is a form of “sacrifice.” We are pleading our case based on our sorrow, which our sense of guilt has spurred on. This scripture shows us that there is no more sacrifice to make. Jesus paid it all. He was the FINAL sacrifice!

A Guilty Conscience

God does not make us feel guilty! Guilt is condemnation. For us as believers who are “in Christ Jesus”, there is no condemnation – no guilt.

“no adjudging guilty of wrong.”

As those of us who are “in Christ Jesus,” we are walking after the dictates of the Spirit, and we are not walking after the dictates of our old flesh. Because of our position “in Christ Jesus,” all of our sin, past present, and future, have been dealt with, and there is now no condemnation or guilt for us.

Debt Guilt

Let’s say you borrowed some money from a friend. You received it with the promise that you would pay it all back by a certain date. Then that day came, and you didn’t have the money you thought you would have by then. So you didn’t pay your friend.

As time starts to go by, you still can’t pay it back, and so what do you do? Perhaps you may start to avoid your friend? You don’t call or drop by. Why? It’s because you feel so guilty.

Instead of confronting your friend, who might have been just as happy to forgive the loan, you wind up offending your friend by not speaking to him.

That’s what Satan wants us to do, to avoid talking to our Heavenly Father. He wants to load on guilt.

In order that you don’t have to go home from church feeling guilty or avoiding praying to your Father, He sent Jesus to forgive all of your debts.

All of your debts are paid!

So don’t accept guilt from Satan. He just wants you to hide from God. Satan wants to get you to stop talking to your loving heavenly Father. Don’t fall for that. Don’t behave like a “bad dog.” Come boldly, with confidence, to fellowship with your Father God.  He wants your fellowship, and He paid a high price to have it – forever.

Hebrews 10:19-22 (MSG)