Unresolved guilt will turn you into a miserable, weary, angry, stressed-out, fretful mess. In a psalm David probably wrote after his affair with Bathsheba, the king said:
When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
—Psalm 32:3–4 NLT
Guilt sucks the life out of our souls.
Grace restores it.
GUILT SUCKS THE LIFE OUT OF OUR SOULS. GRACE RESTORES IT.
The apostle Paul clung to this grace.
No one had more reason to feel the burden of guilt than Paul did. He was an ancient version of a terrorist, taking believers into custody and then spilling their blood. “Paul was like a wild man, going everywhere to devastate the believers, even entering private homes and dragging out men and women alike and jailing them” (Acts 8:3 TLB).
In addition, he was a legalist to the core. Before he knew Christ, Paul had spent a lifetime trying to save himself. His salvation depended on his perfection, on his performance.
If anyone ever had reason to hope that he could save himself, it would be I. If others could be saved by what they are, certainly I could! For I went through the Jewish initiation ceremony when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish home that was a branch of the old original Benjamin family. So I was a real Jew if there ever was one! What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to every Jewish law and custom. And sincere? Yes, so much so that I greatly persecuted the Church; and I tried to obey every Jewish rule and regulation right down to the very last point. (Philippians 3:4–6 TLB)
Paul had blood on his hands and religious diplomas on his wall.
But then came the Damascus road moment. Jesus appeared. Once Paul saw Jesus, he couldn’t see anymore. He couldn’t see value in his résumé anymore. He couldn’t see merit in his merits or worth in his good works anymore. He couldn’t see reasons to boast about anything he had done anymore. And he couldn’t see any option except to spend the rest of his life talking less about himself and more about Jesus.
He became the great poet of grace. “But all these things that I once thought very worthwhile—now I’ve thrown them all away so that I can put my trust and hope in Christ alone” (Philippians 3:7 TLB).
In exchange for self-salvation, God gave Paul righteousness. “Now I am right with God, not because I followed the law, but because I believed in Christ” (Philippians 3:9 NCV).
Paul gave his guilt to Jesus. Period. He didn’t numb it, hide it, deny it, offset it, or punish it. He simply surrendered it to Jesus.
As a result, Paul would later write, “I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us” (Philippians 3:13–14 TLB).
What would the apostle say to the guilt-laden? Simply this: “Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy. Trust in his ability to forgive. Abandon any attempt at self-salvation or justification. No more hiding behind fig leaves. Cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone.”
A HAPPY SAINT IS ONE WHO IS AT THE SAME TIME AWARE OF THE SEVERITY OF SIN AND THE IMMENSITY OF GRACE.
A happy saint is one who is at the same time aware of the severity of sin and the immensity of grace. Sin is not diminished, nor is God’s ability to forgive it. The saint dwells in grace, not guilt. This is the tranquil soul.