How do Christian's let go of guilt from a "Biblical" perspective?

When we are born again as in John the 3rd chapter Jesus speaks about we receive the indwelling Holy Spirit. And make no mistake, we must be born again, this is our spiritual birth or awakening. Ok so assuming you have that, the next thing is not to just receive the Spirit but to live in the fulness of the Spirit. Because you now are a spiritual being living in both and old body that will die one day but also a fallen world. The more you recognize your spiritual side which is fed by the Spirit of God the more full you become of that Spirit, to the point you spill the Spirit out to those around you. Religion can't do this for you, it's you living in Christ according to His commands and purpose. Our old sin nature or what we call the first Adam as well as demonic influences will try to drag you down. But if you have Christ God sees Him when He sees you and your sins are forgotten, but we can beat ourselves up with the past. Start by handing that past over to the Lord where He can bury it in the deepest sea.

We must live for Jesus Christ. Your sins were forgiven at the cross. That means the past is gone, our breath tomorrow/ the future unsettled but we have today for there is no promise these bodies will see tomorrow. But our soul and spirit lives forever with Him. Romans 8:1 comes to mind. It says this: "for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live not according to the flesh but to the spirit". We live in the spirit, by the Spirit of God. And we want to gain the fullness of His Spirit not just have Him stagnant in us. There is a word we use in our zoom meetings ( bible studies, prayer times and devotional times) a lot, the word is activate. This mean to activate our spiritual side, our walk with God. When we do that He will keep it fresh and new every day.

Get to where when those old sins crop up in your mind you can say stop right there, you have no part in my new life, I've turn you over to Jesus Christ and it's in the pool of blood at the foot of the cross. Imagine on that cross stapled there is a ticket from the courts of heaven with a stamp on it in dripping red " forgiven by the blood of Christ to be found Not Guilty". That was in the past your document of condemnation now made void , in it's place in heaven is your name written into the Lambs book of life.

Ian T. said:

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to the site so I'll make this short.

I've been a Christian my whole life, but for pretty much all of it, I've never really felt like the guilt of my sin is lifted off my shoulders. Is there a way to fully understand and accept that God has given us a spirit of freedom through Christ. Also, what am I missing to access that spirit? I understand life is never really gonna be predictable, but I wish their was just some more truth in light of all that's happening in the world to make sense of who I am in Christ that's "Biblically" founded and sound, not just some pastor saying I'm special, but the truth.

If anyone feels like they deal with this or has anything they'd like to share, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts.

-Ian

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Hi Ian much of my younger years i searched as you do now. i knew God was true but where to find Him and how to get free from my sins, especially those i also loved doing.

The accuser used to have a field day in my life, i sinned so often and so deeply, just in thought, let alone in deed. Guilt, shame, and fear came my way by the bucket load.

Then one day i realised that forgiven means that we don't have to feel guilty all the time, and that me feeling guilty had never helped stopping my sins, for they were still bad, even after years trying to be a better Christian.

So i began to praise Jesus for grace when the accuser came with my sins. i would repent and thank Jesus for grace and i did not heed the accuser any more. (fiery trial that was.) It was then that i finally understood that fiery dragon in my life had brought me nothing but misery and sin, playing nasty games all the time.

Instead of guilt and shame, i grew thankfulness and love for Jesus giving me grace all the time, even as i was still struggling with my sin.

This was the turn around i needed in my life, instead of fearing Jesus a sinner i began to love Him a sinner, and then amazingly my sin began to stop. One after the other sin began to die in my heart. Where before i loved doing it wrong i now loved Jesus and doing it right instead.

For years now i have let Jesus work like this in my heart. i stopped fighting my sin in my own ability altogether, and let His growing love in my life set me free from the desires to have life in wrong. Jesus killed wilful sin completely out of me. i will always love Him for doing that.

Jesus is my all time Hero. He lives in my heart through the truths of Scripture and guides me all day long. i love what He has done in my life, He is the very best King one could find to lead the heart into all righteousness and away from sin.

Reading the word as a personal address to your inner world of being is the way to get into contact with the living word, it is Him you want to find your new life in. He is greatest.

Peace.

One thing I have come to appreciate in the Orthodox church, is the sacrament of confession. It is a time to let go and hear the words of forgiveness. This practice does exist in some Protestant churches such as Lutheran and Anglican. You could talk to your pastor if your church practices this in some form.

Ian T. said:

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to the site so I'll make this short.

I've been a Christian my whole life, but for pretty much all of it, I've never really felt like the guilt of my sin is lifted off my shoulders. Is there a way to fully understand and accept that God has given us a spirit of freedom through Christ. Also, what am I missing to access that spirit? I understand life is never really gonna be predictable, but I wish their was just some more truth in light of all that's happening in the world to make sense of who I am in Christ that's "Biblically" founded and sound, not just some pastor saying I'm special, but the truth.

If anyone feels like they deal with this or has anything they'd like to share, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts.

-Ian

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When I was 21 I smoked cigarettes. As long as I smoked I was guilty of the sin of smoking. It is a sin in as much as it slowly destroys the lungs and eventually makes breathing difficult. When I was 22 God delivered me from sin by encouraging me to stop smoking. I wished I could be delivered from more sin, yet have fallen short of perfection. I am not guilty of smoking cigarettes.

Ian T. said:

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to the site so I'll make this short.

I've been a Christian my whole life, but for pretty much all of it, I've never really felt like the guilt of my sin is lifted off my shoulders. Is there a way to fully understand and accept that God has given us a spirit of freedom through Christ. Also, what am I missing to access that spirit? I understand life is never really gonna be predictable, but I wish their was just some more truth in light of all that's happening in the world to make sense of who I am in Christ that's "Biblically" founded and sound, not just some pastor saying I'm special, but the truth.

If anyone feels like they deal with this or has anything they'd like to share, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts.

-Ian

Click to expand...

The Holy Spirit brings us into repentance. He does that by conviction, the guilt we feel when we disobey the Lord. If we never felt that guilt, we would never recognize it as a sin. Blessings.
John 16
5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Scriptural definition of conviction.
"The act of convincing, or compelling one to admit the truth of a charge; the act of convincing of sin or sinfulness; the sate of being convinced or convicted by conscience; the state of being sensible of guilt; as, the convictions of a sinner may be temporary, or lasting and efficacious. By conviction, a sinner is brought to repentance. Men often sin against the conviction of their own consciences." KJV Dictionary

Ian T. said:

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to the site so I'll make this short.

I've been a Christian my whole life, but for pretty much all of it, I've never really felt like the guilt of my sin is lifted off my shoulders. Is there a way to fully understand and accept that God has given us a spirit of freedom through Christ. Also, what am I missing to access that spirit? I understand life is never really gonna be predictable, but I wish their was just some more truth in light of all that's happening in the world to make sense of who I am in Christ that's "Biblically" founded and sound, not just some pastor saying I'm special, but the truth.

If anyone feels like they deal with this or has anything they'd like to share, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts.

-Ian

Click to expand...

Satan is the accuser .... not God.

God loves us unconditionally even tho we are sinners. Satan deceives us by placing doubt and thoughts of guilt in an attempt to distort the unconditional love of God.

This goes back to Genesis when Adam and Eve sinned and they hid in the garden .... ie (knew they were naked) ... ie .... experienced guilt. What did God say??? Who told you were naked.

Genesis 3:11

New King James Version
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

The picture of God in Genesis 3, we see God graciously seeking the guilty sinners and providing for their restoration. He promises them victory over the tempter. And even His expelling them from the garden was gracious, in that He protected them from living forever in their fallen condition. It is a chapter which gives us, as guilty sinners, great hope.

We see that:

God graciously seeks, confronts, and offers reconciliation to the guilty sinner.

We deal with our guilt, not by hiding from Him, but by coming to Him and acknowledging our sin. Jesus said, “The one who comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out” (John 6:37).

Jesus didn't just die for our sins he also died for the guilt attached to them. I have a lot of guilt and I have to hand it back to God almost daily. Picture a Father carrying a heavy suitcase and a child trying to constantly take it out of his hands.

Ian T. said:

Hey everyone, I'm fairly new to the site so I'll make this short.

I've been a Christian my whole life, but for pretty much all of it, I've never really felt like the guilt of my sin is lifted off my shoulders. Is there a way to fully understand and accept that God has given us a spirit of freedom through Christ. Also, what am I missing to access that spirit? I understand life is never really gonna be predictable, but I wish their was just some more truth in light of all that's happening in the world to make sense of who I am in Christ that's "Biblically" founded and sound, not just some pastor saying I'm special, but the truth.

If anyone feels like they deal with this or has anything they'd like to share, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts.

Click to expand...

Is there any restitution to be made, or practical "cleaning up" to do?

You let go of guilt by grabbing hold of Jesus.

Guilt and shame have uses. They can motivate us to repent, apologize,make restitution, and incentivize us to avoid repeating that which made us feel guilty.

However, after everything of value has been extracted, guilt and shame should fade into the background as they no longer can provide anything useful.

The Holy Spirit convicts Christians who have sinned through guilt. Which ought to bring us to Jesus for forgiveness and grace.

Once grace has been given by Jesus, because full confession of sins has been made, then guilt is not from the holy spirit any more but from the devil who is trying to make us feel guilty even after we been forgiven.

I believe we have to say thanks to Jesus after we have been forgiven not keep feeling guilty. If we have done a bad sin this can be difficult to do, but I found that helps understand the price Jesus paid for our salvation.