I had this piece sitting in my laptop since December, and
I should have shared much earlier. Nonetheless, there is a time for everything. This exposition has to do with a biblical view of guilt within the believer’s
life. There are times that a truth sips into the soul so profoundly, that one
sits bewildered, and amazed. I participated in a conference in December that
reminded me of some foundational truths for the Christian life and hope which resulted in a deepening joy and assurance in Christ. One of the issues I have struggled with over
the course of my Christian walk is the issue of sin in the believer's life. In
my analysis, based on Christian Scripture, two underlying issues are involved: i) a faulty understanding of
sin; ii) dealing with the guilt of sin.
For the first issue, I shall offer here a summarized
overview. A wrong misconception, I think, among some Christians is the idea
that once we trust in Jesus Christ, we become perfect. This idea of
"sinlessness" seems to have no basis in the Bible. In fact in the Scripture,
there seems to be an idea of gradual maturity and increase in holiness, and the
Christian is given several commands on how she can be able to achieve this (1
Pet. 1:13-16; Rom. 12:1-3). It seems as if the Christian lives between two
periods: the past moment when she received salvation, and the future moment
where she shall receive perfection, when she sees Jesus as he is. (1 Jn. 3:2)
So what do we do with verses like 2 Cor. 5:17? A hint happens to be in verse 19
of the same chapter where the continuous tense in the phrase "in Christ
God was reconciling the world to himself" shows that this new creation is
being made evident more and more, and that's why Paul elsewhere says "our
inner man is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16-18). The point is
clear, there is indwelling sin that remains in the believer which wars against
the new nature of the Christian (Rom. 7). However several ways are given by
which we can increase in sanctification and "kill" the old man:
- We ought
to set our minds on Christ (Col. 3:1-4)
- We ought
to stand firm and to be sober-minded and watchful (Gal. 5:1; Eph. 6:11-20)
- We ought
to put to death the old nature by the Spirit's help (Rom. 8:13, Gal.
5:16): Practical ways for doing this are "fleeing" from
situations that can compromise our faith based on our unique areas of
temptation (2 Tim. 2:22) and denying ourselves the pleasures we so much
desire yet which are not in line with the Christian life (Mt. 16:24-25).
- We ought
to seek pleasure in God and the things of God (Ps. 16:11). Like
psychologists oftentimes advise addicts to replace their former habits
with new ones, the same advice is proposed for the believer. For the one
who has tasted of the LORD knows that there is no other better way to
enjoy life for we were made in, through and for him (Col. 1:16-17). Some
of the means of growing in these graces include prayer (Col. 4:2), reading
God's Word (Ps. 119) and meeting and encouraging one another as believers
(Heb. 10:25)
In agreement, the old divines would answer this
question, “what is the chief end of man?” in the following
manner: "the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him
forever." (Westminster Shorter Catechism) In contemporary times, John
Piper has tweaked this to offer practical wisdom in these matters: "The end
of man is to glorify God for the joy of all nations." In our pleasure
seeking culture, it is of far-reaching results that if we find pleasure in the
things of God, then we automatically glorify God and hence we fulfill our
mandate wherever we may be placed in this world. Hence, the overarching lens to
combat sin is to glory in God. This is a more robust understanding of sin. Now
onto the meat of my second issue. Dealing with the guilt of sin . . .
Guilt can be one of the ways the Spirit of God uses our conscience
to draw us from ourselves towards God. Seen in this light then, this guilt is
from the Lord, and is useful in rebuking us and simultaneously restoring us.
Hence, God uses such guilt of sin in the believer's life for restorative
purposes (1 John 1:7-9, Ps. 33:4-5). Even in the face of stumbling, such guilt
leads one to confess to the Lord because he trusts in his saving work and in
his steadfast love (Ps. 33:18-22). Such guilt reminds the Christian who has
stumbled the greatness of God's love and his mercies (Ps. 103:3-4, 8-12). This
guilt is healthy and it always restores one to God. However, there is also an
unhealthy guilt which may stifle Christian growth and maturity. This is
centered upon a faulty view of "justification" for the believer.
I usually enjoy courtroom scenes in TV series. In the
detailed witness examinations amid the onlooking, intense glares of the jury,
there is usually a nail-biting suspense that causes one to start playing judge.
Okay, perhaps I exaggerate. Usually, there is evidence displayed and arguments
used to sway the ruling one way or another. In most cases, there is usually
some perceived wrong and similarly, one side that sits in the opposition.
Unfortunately, due to the partiality and injustice of human nature, many times
those in the wrongs have gone scot-free. It is sometimes evident to us that
there is definitely one in the wrong who deserves to be punished: Such a
universal truth for instance is the case of religious extremists or political
extremists who have wiped out entire towns in the name of their ideals. Social
media, in the face of the worldwide attacks by ISIS, threw its hands up in
admittance to the fact that such people are guilty! That such people have
trespassed specific laws and deserve punishment. The same wrongs are
extended by those who through their bigotry look down upon others different
from them in terms of color, religion or nationality.
Closer home, there is a guilt within the heart of an
unbeliever that is similar. It is a guilt that points man to the fact that, by
his way of life, he has failed his moral compass. Perhaps pointing to a higher
law of God, one is reminded of their sinful ways. One may try to numb their
minds and hearts by engaging in all manner of activities but such guilt will
not go away. No wonder, Scripture reminds man that he has transgressed the law,
that he has fallen short of God's standards and character: "for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). This is the bad
news to which the gospel offers good news. Sometimes even as believers, we forget the nature of Christ's work for us
on the cross and how this buttresses our pronunciation as "Not
guilty!" The unbeliever thinks that by doing good things she can placate
God's wrath. So she goes to church as a way of pleading her case, she lends her
money to charitable causes and sometimes she joins the church choir in a bid to
plead her case.
The doctrine of justification in its proper sense deals
with God's declaration of us (who believe in the compete work of Jesus
Christ on the Cross) that we are not guilty of our sin. It is in its
proper case, a court case. It is anchored upon God's character of being
both Just and Loving: In his justice, God has to punish evil and reward good.
He does not have any impartiality and unlike our faulty conception of morality,
God is objective and hence in a perfect sense, fair. If the said terrorist
illustrated above would be pronounced "not guilty" and yet he has
committed a clear injustice, we would say the judge is impartial - We would
even say, perhaps he has been the recipient of an mpesa transfer.
But unlike such judges and justice systems in this world, God has no
impartiality (Deut. 10:17, 2 Chron. 19:7, Prov. 21:3, Rom. 2:11, Col. 3:25). In
clearer terms: "Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent, the
LORD detests both" (Prov. 17:15 NIV). Despite our views to downplay God's
justice, Scripture in its entire canon draws a line: Punishment for evil and
reward for good.
Back to the main text in Romans 3, for there is no distinction
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified
by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This
was to show God's righteousness . . . It was to show his righteousness at the
present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has
faith in Jesus." (Rom. 3:23-36)
I] "for ALL have sinned." The word
"all" here is indicative of every human being that has walked this
earth. Rich or poor or religious or atheist, and all other categorizations of
people that we have made. It is a universal truth. There is no distinction.
II] and are justified BY his grace as a
gift, shows the very nature of God's declaring those who believe in
Jesus Christ's sufficient work on the cross as "not guilty": His
justification (i.e. his declaration of us that we are not guilty of our sin) of
us is via God's gracious gift. Christmas season has just passed and a good
number of people were on the receiving end of gifts. It is usually the
prerogative of the one giving the gift to know, in the first place whether she
will give you the gift, and in the second place, what nature of gift it is that
she will give. When a gift makes its way to you, the obligated response is to
receive it with gratitude. Hence, God's declaration of us as not guilty is by
God's grace, and by extension, as a gift. We cannot earn gifts.
III] through the redemption that is in Jesus
Christ. Redemption means
to free someone from bondage. But what are we in bondage to? Scripture is clear
that man is in bondage to sin (Jn. 8:31-37, Rom. 6:22, Gal. 5:13) and this
alludes to the fact that a price has to be paid for him to be released from his
master. In the case of a kidnapping, the involved family has to pay some amount
of money to the kidnappers in order that their loved one may be set free.
Sometimes, we take lightly or we are misinformed on the nature of this slavery
and humans employ different ways to redeem themselves but most times, their
efforts are futile. We learn here that man is under the slavery of sin. The only
sufficient way for this freedom "is in Jesus Christ." How is this so?
IV] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his
blood. Jesus's ministry is foretold by the prophet Isaiah in the Old
Testament as being one of "proclaiming freedom for the captives and
release from darkness for the prisoners" (Is. 61:1) and this is seen to
come to pass when Jesus proclaims the same words just after he is tested in the
wilderness and prior to his taking up his mandate (Luke 4:18). This is the
redemption that the previous point III alludes to, and shows that only Jesus
Christ can accomplish it. We shall look at this in a short while. In this
section we find this technical term "propitiation." The best way to
illustrate this is as follows: when a kid does something wrong, she runs back
to the father with those eyes that cause the father to look back upon her with
love. His anger is placated and can now look upon his daughter with friendship.
Despite the rather simplistic illustration,
propitiation describes the change of God's attitude from that of wrath to that
of friendship/love. We also learn that the means of this change in attitude is
"by his blood" that is, by Jesus Christ's shed blood on the cross.
Why so? Old Testament Law required shedding of blood for the forgiveness of
sins (Heb. 9:22), and to show the continuity and coherence of the Scriptures
between the two Testaments, Jesus's shed blood was the means by which God would
look on sinners with restored fellowship. Such an understanding shows us that
the Old Testament laws and sacrifices were archetypes (i.e.
perfect examples of something) of the person and work of Jesus Christ (Heb.
10:1, 12, 14). The book of Hebrews generally captures this reality of Christ's
relationship to the Hebraic Law. It encourages us that if the sacrificial
system purified the bodies of those under it, "how much more will the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish
to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God."
(Heb. 9:14) It is therefore only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that
God's wrath is placated and that he can look on us in friendship. Through
Christ's work on the cross, those of us who were once far off, have been
brought near and now have access to God (Eph. 2:13, Heb. 4:16)
V] to be received by faith. Here we see
that the instrument of justification (i.e. his declaration of us that we are
not guilty of our sin) is received by faith. Paul uses the example of Abraham
in Romans 4 to observe that Abraham was counted as righteous in the eyes of God
by his belief in God (Rom. 4:3-5). In other words, God declared Abraham as
righteous or not guilty based on his belief in faith. But
why does it rest on faith and not works? It is noted in Scripture:
"That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on
grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring - not only to the adherent of the
law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of
us all." (Rom. 4:16) It rests on faith so that God's entire work of
salvation to the elect of the world may rest on grace (Eph. 2:8-9) and not on
any work that we may do. The reminder here is that we are talking of God
declaring us as not guilty. There is nothing we can do to placate our guilt:
Going to church or Bible study is of no help. God's gift of grace is to be
received by faith. To be clear, this attitude of the heart that receives God’s
gracious gift by faith is a work that has to be effected by the Spirit of God.
VI] this was to show God's righteousness. The
other reason that it is received by faith is to show God's righteousness. The
Old Testament observes that even our best efforts to be declared righteous are
like filthy rugs. Why is this so? Having in view God's righteousness, it is
clear that he is perfect in righteousness and in him there is no impurity. This
is one of God's attributes that we may not be able to fully comprehend by our
own abilities but which requires God to reveal his righteousness to us. But to
give a short description:
God’s
righteousness (or justice) is the natural expression of His holiness. If He is
infinitely pure, then He must be opposed to all sin, and that opposition to sin
must be demonstrated in His treatment of His creatures. When we read that God
is righteous or just, we are being assured that His actions toward us are in
perfect agreement with His holy nature. (Richard L. Strauss, The Joy of Knowing God, (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux
Brothers, 1984), p. 140, accessed from Bible.org)
Therefore, since we now know that human beings cannot do
any good by their own means in line with God's perfect righteousness (Deut.
32:4), it is up to the prerogative of God to provide a way for us to be
"declared righteous." It can never be our prerogative to be justified
i.e. to declare ourselves righteous. Sure we can do some little good. Even
unbelievers can do good deeds, and this is in line with God's common grace to
humanity as imagers of himself. However, to be declared righteous in God's
sight is his prerogative.
But in Christ we see one who had
no sin in him (2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 4:15) and "because of him you are in Christ
Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and
redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30)
Implications
The implications of our justification as believers
resting on the grace of God through faith in Christ is as follows:
1. We have peace with
God "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1)
2.
There is no
condemnation for us who believe in Jesus Christ. (Rom. 8:1)
How is this of help to my guilt?
1. I am encouraged in
the assurance that God has declared me "not guilty."
(1 Cor. 6:11) It doesn't matter the quantity or quality of your sin. Christ's
work is sufficient. We sometimes carry heavy burdens from our past lives, which
only cause us to stagnate and not to experience the growth that is ours as believers
(Mt. 11: 28-30). Rest in this truth my brother and sister, that you have peace
with God and hence if you have believed in him, you are the most blessed
individual in this world who will not experience the wrath of God upon death
(Heb. 9:27).
2. I ought to be motivated
in my obedience. One extreme for the believer is to use the grace of God as
an excuse to sin or not to do any good works. James, the practical apostle,
notes that we should do good and illustrate our faith with works. The order
matters: Works proceed from faith (Jas. 2:14-26). Abraham's sacrificing of his
son is quoted as an example, but it is important to note that this happens
after he has already been justified and after he has believed. Many have
observed that a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit: A
tree is not good because it bears good fruit, rather, a tree bears good fruit
because it is good. Lack of showing the fruitfulness of faith is a sign that
one is not living a life of obedience or a life of repentance (Jn. 15:2; 1 Jn.
2:9. 28-29, 3:10). In fact, it may cause us to question one's faith.
In conclusion, we have seen that the believer may be
beset with remaining sin in his life. However, through God's spirit and
promise, the believer continues to grow as he continues to apply truth to his
life, by God's grace. We have seen also that there is healthy guilt that draws
the believer to God when he stumbles and in repentance, turns away from her sin
and towards God. This increasing life of repentance is a fruit of saving faith.
There is also unhealthy guilt which seeks to draw the believer away from the
sufficiency of Christ's work on the cross. I hope this (rather long) exposition
is of help to us all and to encourage us in our walk of faith. I remind us of
Peter's words:
His divine power has granted to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to
his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and
very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because
of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your
faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control,
and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and
godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if
these qualities are yours and increasing, they keep you from being ineffective
or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. . .
Therefore brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election
sure, for if you practise these qualities you will never fall. For in this way
there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 1:3-11)
May it be so, fellow struggler, by his help and grace.
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