Redeemed and Made Righteous
JESUS CHRIST GAVE His life that we might have righteousness—or as I like to write it, RIGHTeousness. Righteousness is meant for all who believe “with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ (the Messiah)” (Romans 3:22).
Speaking of Jesus, Peter wrote, “He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
We were created by God to feel right and good about ourselves. But the devil wants all of us to feel wrong about ourselves; he wants us to feel shame, guilt, and condemnation. Because of the presence of sin in the world, and the sin nature that came upon us through the fall of mankind, we cannot do everything right.
To resist the devil’s temptation to live in constant regret instead of continual victory, we must know and understand the truth of God’s Word. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He imparts or gives to us the gift of righteousness, and by faith, we are made right with God. We are not made right with God because of our own perfection or good works; we are considered righteous because of our trust in Jesus Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 5:21 the apostle Paul tells us what God did for us: “For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].”
God sent Jesus to redeem us (that is, to buy us back from the devil to whom we had sold ourselves as slaves to sin), to restore us (to make us as we were supposed to be in the beginning). We were created and redeemed by God for righteousness, not shame, guilt, and condemnation.
NO CONDEMNATION IN CHRIST
If we read and understand the Word of God, we can be set free from wrong thinking about ourselves. Paul wrote in Romans 8:1: “THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.”
Of course, if we would follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we would never do anything wrong, so guilt would have no place to take root in us. However, since we are human, none of us is incapable of making a mistake. As our Lord pointed out, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41 KJV).
We cannot perform perfectly, even though we would like to, but we can live free from guilt by walking in the Spirit. The Lord promises to lead us through life, if we listen to Him and obey Him: “Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God and you will be My people; and walk in the whole way that I command you, that it may be well with you” (Jeremiah 7:23, emphasis mine).
We sin when we stop doing what the Holy Spirit guides us to do. Condemnation and guilt feelings come as a result of that sin, because the devil sees an opening and immediately moves to rob us of our confidence in God’s grace. If we ever hope to live without guilt, we must deal with the temptation to sin as soon as we are aware of it.
If you do give into temptation or fall into sin, instead of trying to restore yourself through good works, which is walking after the flesh (your human nature), ask God to forgive you and choose to turn back to the Spirit. You sin because you stop following the leading of the Holy Spirit. If you keep following the flesh, you will only get deeper and deeper into trouble and turmoil. Instead, turn back quickly to following the Spirit, allowing Him to lead and guide you in correcting your situation.
The Spirit always has the correct answer for every problem—and He will not condemn you when you return to Him. It is written: “For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)” (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
For example, the Spirit will lead us to repentance, which produces forgiveness from God: “If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]” (1 John 1:9).
Following the flesh will lead to works that supposedly win the right to receive God’s favor. But the flesh always attempts to repay for mistakes rather than simply receive God’s gift of pardon and restoration.
DEALING WITH GUILT
The Lord once gave me a great revelation about guilt. I had felt guilty as long as I could remember. Guilt was my constant companion. We went everywhere together! This sin-consciousness began early in my childhood when I was being sexually abused. Even though my father told me that what he was doing to me was not wrong, it made me feel dirty and guilty. Of course, as I got older and became aware that it was wrong, but had no way to make it stop, the guilt continued and increased.
I learned firsthand that guilt is an unbearable burden, a heaviness that depresses the spirit. Guilt makes everything seem dark and makes us feel tired and weary. Actually it drains our energy and saps the strength we need to resist sin and Satan. So the result is that guilt and condemnation actually increase sin.
I believe that I was addicted to guilt. Before I learned about God’s grace, I can never remember being guilt-free! Even if I was not doing anything particularly bad or sinful, I found something to feel wrong about.
Satan wants to press us down. He is the accuser of those who believe in Christ; he continues to bring charges against us before God (see Revelation 12:10). But David, the psalmist, wrote, “You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head” (Psalm 3:3).
For example, I was shopping one day, and my ever-present companion of guilt was with me. I do not recall what I had done wrong this time; it does not even matter, it was always something. I was about to get out of my car and go into a store when the Holy Spirit said to me, “Joyce, how do you plan to get forgiveness for this sin?”
I knew the right answer. I said, “I’ll accept the sacrifice Jesus made for me when He died at Calvary.” We can know the right answer (have head knowledge), and still not apply it to our own situation.
Then the Holy Spirit continued: “I see, Joyce, and when do you plan to accept Jesus’ sacrifice?”
A major revelation began to shine forth in me! At that moment I knew that I could wait two or three days until I felt guilty long enough and then accept God’s forgiveness, or I could receive that pardon right then.
I always asked for forgiveness for my sins right away, but I never accepted it until I felt that I had suffered enough to pay for it. God revealed to me what I was doing, how much unnecessary pain I was causing myself. He even showed me that what I was doing was insulting to Jesus, that in essence I was saying, “Lord, the sacrifice of Your life and blood was good, but not good enough. I must add my work of feeling guilty before I can be forgiven.”
That very day I began getting free from guilt and condemnation. I encourage you to do the same. Remember: Guilt does no good at all! It accomplishes nothing, except the following:
• Guilt drains your energy and can even make you physically or mentally ill.
• Guilt blocks your fellowship with God. Hebrews 4:15-16 says, “For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning. Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].”
• Guilt, as a work of the flesh, demands that you try to pay for your sin.
• Guilt drains your spiritual energy. It leaves you weak and unable to resist new attacks from the enemy. Successful spiritual warfare requires wearing of the “breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14 KJV, emphasis mine). Guilt causes you to sin more.
• Guilt exerts such tremendous pressure on you, suggesting that getting along with others is difficult. It is nearly impossible to live under a burden of guilt and still operate in the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22, 23).
Surely you can see from this list that guilt is a good thing to give up. Let it go! It is from the devil and is intended to prevent you from ever enjoying your life or your relationship with the Lord.
If you have a serious problem in this area of guilt, you may need to ask someone to pray for you. If your faith is strong enough, pray for yourself. However, guilt steals faith; if you have lived for a long time buried under a load of guilt and condemnation, your faith may need to be strengthened. Get the help you need. Refuse to live any longer pressed down under a burden of guilt and condemnation.6
WHAT ABOUT SHAME?
Now that we have a better understanding of guilt, let’s turn our attention to the subject of shame.
There is a shame that is normal and healthy. If I lose or break something that belongs to someone else, I feel ashamed of my mistake. I wish I had not been so careless or negligent. I am sorry, but I can ask for forgiveness, receive it, and then go on with my life. Healthy shame reminds us that we are human beings with weaknesses and limitations.
In Genesis 2:25 we read that Adam and Eve were naked in the Garden of Eden, and they were not ashamed. Besides the fact that they were not wearing any clothes, I believe this verse means that they were totally open and honest with each other, hiding behind no masks, playing no games. They were completely free to be themselves because they had no sense of shame. Once they had sinned, however, they went and hid themselves (see Genesis 3:6-8).
People should be able to enjoy perfect freedom with each other and with God, but very few are able to do so. Most people pretend. They produce false personalities and hide behind them. They act as if they are not hurt when they are, or they pretend that they do not need anyone when they do.
There is a poisonous shame that can drastically affect the quality of a person’s life. This occurs when an individual who is being abused or mistreated in some way begins to internalize the shame he feels. He is no longer just ashamed of what is being done to him, but he becomes ashamed of himself because of what he is being subjected to.
Such an individual takes the shame into himself where it actually becomes the core of his being. Everything in his life becomes poisoned by his emotions so that he develops into a shame-based person.
At one time I was shame-based, but I did not know I was ashamed of myself. I was seeing the results of shame in my life, but was unsuccessfully trying to deal with the fruit of it rather than the root.
The implied definition of the word translated ashamed in the King James Version of Genesis 2:25 is: to be disappointed, or delayed . . . confounded.”7
This word confounded simply means to be frustrated or confused. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines the verb confound as: “confuse”; “bewilder”; “damn.”8 Webster defines the verb damn as: “to condemn to an unhappy fate”; “doom”; “to criticize adversely”; “to cause the ruin of”; “make fail.”9
If you will take the time to really study these definitions, you may discover that the root of your problem is shame.
DEALING WITH SHAME
My life was filled with confusion because I was trying desperately to do right (so I could “feel right”), but no matter how hard I tried, I always failed. It seemed as if I were doomed to failure. I did not fail at everything, however. I was successful in the corporate world, and in a few other areas, but I was a failure at godly behavior. I always felt defeated because no matter what I accomplished on the outside, I still felt bad about myself on the inside.
I was ashamed of me!
I did not like who I was. I did not like my basic personality. I was continually rejecting my real self and trying to be someone or something I was not and never could be. (I will discuss this topic more fully in another chapter.)
Multiplied thousands of Christians spend their entire lives in this pitiful condition—living far, far below their rightful position as heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. I know, because I was one of them.
Paul wrote that the suffering we endure now will one day be worth the glory of the inheritance due to us:
And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory.
[But what of that?] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us! (Romans 8:17-18)
It was a great day when the Holy Spirit led me to understand that shame was the source of many of my problems! There are promises in the Word of God that assure us that we can be delivered from a sense of shame. For example, it is written in Isaiah 61:7: “Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs.”
Let’s examine more closely this passage, which offers “a twofold recompense.” A recompense is a reward or compensation for injury. In other words, if you trust God and do things His way, He will see to it that you are repaid for every injustice ever done to you. You will receive double what you have forfeited or lost, and everlasting joy will be yours! That is a wonderful promise, and I can vouch for the reality of it. God has done that very thing for me, and He will do it for you too.
Another promise from the Lord is found in Isaiah 54:4: “Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed; neither be confounded and depressed, for you shall not be put to shame. For you shall forget the shame of your youth, and you shall not [seriously] remember the reproach of your widowhood any more.”
How inspiring and encouraging it is to know that you will forget the harm of your past and will never have to seriously remember those hard, hard times! This is even a promise that you can stand on if you are still being abused or mistreated.
Perhaps you feel that the Lord has told you to endure for a season some verbal or emotional abuse while He is doing a work in the person who is hurting you. How can you protect yourself from developing a shame-based nature? The prayer of the psalmist can be yours also: “O keep me, Lord, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed or disappointed, for my trust and my refuge are in You” (Psalm 25:20).
God can keep you from shame. I suggest that every time you suffer from verbal or emotional abuse, simply pray and ask God to keep you from the shame that tries to build up within you. Use this word in Psalm 25:20 as a double-edged sword against the enemy (which in this case is shame).
Following is an example of how this approach will work for your benefit. I know a pastor’s wife who has no problems at all in her sexual relations with her husband, even though relatives sexually abused her for many years. On the other hand, as a result of my sexual abuse, I had many, many problems to confront and overcome in my sexual relations with my husband.
What made the difference? While questioning my friend, I discovered that throughout her childhood she had maintained a strong faith in God. The abuse began when she was about fourteen years of age. By that time she had already enjoyed many years of good Christian fellowship and an active prayer life. She prayed each time her abusers molested her, asking God to cover her so it would not affect her sexual relationship with her future husband. She knew that one day she was going to marry a pastor because the Lord had already revealed it to her. Her prayers protected her from shame and bondage in that area.
In my case, I did not know enough about God to activate my faith through prayer. Therefore I did suffer from shame—until I discovered that I was shame-based and learned about God’s promise to deliver me.
You can also be delivered from shame, which is the source of many complex inner problems, such as:
• Alienation
• Compulsive behaviors (drug/alcohol/substance abuse; eating disorders; addiction to money, work, or other objects or activities; sexual perversions; excessive need to be in control; lack of self-control or self-discipline; gossiping; judgmental spirit; etc.)
• Depression
• Deep sense of inferiority (“There-is-something-wrong-with-me” thinking)
• Failure syndrome
• Isolating loneliness
• Lack of confidence
• Neurotic behavior (A neurotic person assumes too much responsibility; in times of conflict he automatically presumes that he is at fault.)
• Perfectionism
• Timidity (fear of all types)
• Inability to develop and maintain healthy relationships
DEPRESSION
What we believe in our heart about ourselves deeply influences how we act: “For as he [a person] thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, paraphrased). If we think poorly of ourselves, we will be depressed.
Extreme numbers of people suffer from this terrible condition of depression, which has many complex causes, one of which is shame. If you are prone to depression, it may be a sign of a deeper problem—a root of shame.
Those who are shame-based think and speak negatively about themselves. Such wrong thinking and speaking places a heavy weight on the spirit. This is a major problem because God created human beings for righteousness, love, and acceptance. God is always pouring forth these virtues upon His children, but many of His children do not know how to receive them.
You cannot receive love and acceptance from God if you are against yourself. If you have a problem in this area, do not just sit by and allow the devil to destroy you. Confront your spiritual enemy with spiritual action. Change your thinking and your speaking. Begin purposely to think and say only good things about yourself. Make a list of your best qualities and what the Word says about you, and confess it several times a day.
Meditate on truths from God’s Word such as: “For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Then say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”
Say out loud “God loves me” when you read, “For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life” (John 3:16).
Read Romans 12:6-8: “Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith; [he whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching; he who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives aid and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness.” Then confess, “I have gifts and abilities given to me by the Lord.”
Ponder in your heart the words of the Lord when He said, “Because you are precious in My sight and honored, and because I love you, I will give men in return for you and peoples in exchange for your life” (Isaiah 43:4). Rejoice as you admit, “I am precious and valuable to God.”
Search the Word of God for other positive confessions about yourself.
Another wise practice is to get a thorough medical examination to rule out the possibility of any physical condition that may be affecting your mental and emotional outlook. Unless your depression is caused by some health problem, it can usually be traced to negative thinking and speaking. Even when the depression is caused by some physical condition (hormonal or chemical imbalance, etc.), the devil will take advantage of the situation. He will offer many negative thoughts, which, if received and meditated upon, will only make the problem seem many times worse than it actually is.
I repeat: When you feel depressed, check your thinking. It is not God’s will for you to be depressed. Align your thoughts with the Word of God. Isaiah 61:3 says that the Lord has given us “the garment [expressive] of praise instead of a heavy, burdened, and failing spirit.” Nehemiah said, “The joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold” (8:10). Believe what the Word says you are, and that is what you will become. Believe what the devil says you are, and you will become that. The choice is yours: “therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).