02-01-15 FORGIVEN! Why do I still feel guilty?

Scripture                                                    1 John 1:5-2:2

VIDEO – Iodine shows Christ’s blood forgives.

          FORGIVEN! Why do I still feel guilty?  Does guilt affect you? When flashing lights are coming up behind you on the freeway, do you get anxious, does your breathing get heavy, do you feel guilt, even though you may be doing the speed limit? When the phone rings are you afraid to answer it? Do you hesitate to open the mail? Are you robbed of sleep due to guilt over something? Guilt affects our body, mind, emotions and heart.  I repent – turn away from my sin; I pray for forgiveness, I know Christ forgives me, but I still feel guilty. 

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

          2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

SIN:  GREEK hamartia (ham-ar-tee'-ah); offence, sin (Miss the mark!)

CONFESS:  Acknowledge

FORGIVE:  GREEK aphiemi (af-ee'-ay-mee); to send forth, in various applications KJV -  lay aside, leave, omit, put (send) away.

CLEANSE:  Purge

Christ forgets our sin

In A Forgiving God in an Unforgiving World, Ron Lee Davis retells the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much-loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented but still had no peace, no sense of God's forgiveness.

In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and he with her. The priest, however, was skeptical. To test her he said, "The next time you speak with Christ, I want you to ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary." The woman agreed. A few days later the priest asked, "Well, did Christ visit you in your dreams?" "Yes, he did," she replied. "And did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?" "Yes." "Well, what did he say?" "He said, 'I don't remember'"

The problem was not Christ’s ability to forgive but the priest’s ability to receive it – in essence to also forgive himself.  When Jesus has forgiven us and wants us to move on in life, we are held by chains of our own imposition. We bind ourselves to past mistakes, failures, SINS.  The middle letter of sin is “I” and I give more power to my sin than I give to the power in Jesus blood!  He has forgiven me and my hanging onto the guilt denies His power for my life. 

Scripture reports again and again how we betray God - and how the endings are so different:
Cain killed his brother Abel, but David also murdered Uriah whose wife he had an affair with.
Cain came out of this story as a despicable sinner, and David as a saint.  Cain fell into despair due to his sin; he thought his sin was too great for it to be forgiven. David trusted in God’s mercy and called on His forgiveness.

The same story repeats itself over and over - all the way to Golgotha: two thieves are being crucified together with Jesus. One of them curses and despairs. The other one asks forgiveness: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Lk 23:42). And he receives the most beautiful promise that a man can ever receive: “Amen, I say to you: Today you will be with me in paradise.”

It is one thing for God to give forgiveness and redemption, and it is another for us to accept His forgiveness and redemption.