Fighting Guilt with the Gospel
"The remedy against this [guilt, discouragement over personal sin] is to look upon all your sins as charged upon the account of Christ. All your sins were made to meet upon Christ, as that evangelical prophet put it: 'He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.' Saith the wife to the bill collector, 'If I ower you anything, go to my husband', so may a believer say to justice, 'If I owe you anything, go to my Christ, who has underwritten me fully.' I must not sit down discouraged, under the fear of those debts which Christ, to the utmost farthing, has full satisfied.
"The remedy against this...is, to solemnly consider, that believers must repent for their being discouraged by their sins...it springs from their refusal of the richness, freeness, fullness, and everlastingness of God's love, and from their refusal of the power, glory, sufficiency and efficacy of the death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ; and from their refusal of the worth, glory, fullness, largeness, and completeness of the righteousness of Jesus Christ...God did not give a believer a new heart for it to be rent and torn in pieces by discouragements" (Thomas Brooks).
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This statement is very true and a great encouragement. I find that I often struggle with wondering whether my rushing to the Gospel after I sin and quickly repent is to fight off the guilt or if I am running from being mournful over my sin.
Here's a question: Is it possible to be objectively mournful of sin or must one be subjectively mournful for there to be true repentence? How do you know if you are being either or?
This was both an encouragment and a rebuke to my heart. I appreciate all the messages I have read in your blog since last September and will continue to read them as a wonderful extension of my pusuit of a greater knowledge of Him. Thanks again, RC
i LIKE it - "If I owe you anything, go to my Christ, who has underwritten me fully." beyond that, i NEED it!
I believe this would go under the theological concepts of both imputation and redemption. My sins were imputed on Christ, just as His righteousness has been imputed to me. In redemption, Jesus Christ pays my debt so that I can be free from the bondage and slavery of my former master (sin) and now reckon myself to my new master (Christ). For more on this, you can check out http://metamorpho.blogsome.com/2005/03/07/#postcomment or see the book, "Changed Into His Image" by Jim Berg, chapter 5: "Mortifying the Flesh."
The basis for the acceptance of our repentance is objective and not subjective. God's accepting of our repentance is not grounded in our subjective experience of it. Rather it's grounded in the vicarious repentance of Christ in John's baptism. Also (and mainly), here are some helpful comments on repentance by Tim Keller:
"It is important to consider how the gospel affects and transforms the very act of repentance. In 'religion' the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers. This means that 'religious repentance' is a) selfish, b) selfrighteous, c) and bitter all the way to the bottom.
First, religious repentance is "selfish". In religion we only are sorry for sin mainly because ofits consequences to us. It will bring us punishment--and we want to avoid that. So we repent. The gospel tells us that sin can't ultimately bring us into condemnation (Rom 8:1.) Its heinousness is therefore what it does to God--it displeases, dishonors him. Thus in religion, repentance is self-centered; the gospel makes it God-centered. In religion we are mainly sorry for the consequences of sin, but in the gospel we are sorry for the sin itself.
Second, religious repentance is "self-righteous." The repentance easily becomes a form of 'atoning' for the sin. Religious repentance often becomes a form of self-flagellation in which we convince God (and ourselves) that we are so truly miserable and regretful that we deserve to be forgiven. In the gospel, however, we know that Jesus suffered and was miserable for our sin.
We do not make ourselves suffer in order to merit forgiveness. We simply receive the forgiveness earned by Christ. 1 John 1:8 says that God forgives us because he is 'just.' That is a remarkable statement. It would be unjust of God now to ever deny us forgiveness, because Jesus earned our acceptance! In religion we are earning our forgiveness with our repentance, but in the gospel we are just receiving it.
Third, religious repentance is "bitter all the way down." In religion our only hope is to live a good enough life for God to bless us. Therefore every instance of sin and repentance is traumatic, unnatural, and horribly threatening. Only under great duress does a religious person admit they have sinned--because their only hope is their moral goodness. But in the gospel the knowledge of our acceptance in Christ makes it easier to admit we are flawed (because we know we won't be cast off if we confess the true depths of our sinfulness.) Our hope is in Christ's righteousness, not our own--so it is not so traumatic to admit our weaknesses and lapses. In religion we repent less and less often. But the more accepted and loved in the gospel we feel the more and more often we will be repenting. And though of course there is always some bitterness in any repentance, in the gospel there is ultimately a sweetness. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. The more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God's grace appears to you.
But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God's grace and acceptance in Christ, the more you able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the character and true dimensions of your sin."