1) The passage discusses how all people sin and feel guilt for their sins, but Christians can have their sins washed away through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. 2) It encourages turning away from sins, turning to God, and trusting that God will wipe away sins as promised in the Bible. 3) Even after sins are forgiven, memories can still cause feelings of guilt, but Christians are urged to remember God's promise of complete forgiveness and focus on their new life in Christ.

1. The guilt of past sins? – 8th
October 2016
“
So turnaway fromyour sins.Turnto God. Thenyour sinswill be wipedaway. The time will come when
the Lord will make everythingnew”( Acts3:19).
Althoughall of usdo not wantto accept,everybodysins inone wayor the other.The type and degree of
sinand sinfulnessinapersoniswhatdefersone fromanother.All typesof Sinhasitsresidual
unpleasantresultis whichis the feelingof guilt.Onone hand, forthe Christianthe feelingsof guiltare a
blessing,becauseone isremindedof one’sfailure inresponse toourChristianupbringingandthusit
pushus towardsGod. Justlike physical paindrivesustofindout what'swrong,the spiritual painof guilt
causesus to repentand seekforgiveness.
God has promisedtoforgive anyone,nomatterwhatthe sin,whenthe sinnerturnsto JesusChristin
faith.Because the bible teachesusthatthose whodowrong(sin) will notinheritGodskingdom. We can
readthis clearly from1 Corinthians6:9-11, ‘Don’t you knowthat people who dowrong will not receive
God’skingdom?Don’tbe fooled.Those who commitsexual sinswill not receive the kingdom.Neither
will those who worshipstatues of godsor commitadultery.Neither will men whosleep with other
men. 10
Neither will thievesor thosewho alwayswant more and more. Neither will those who are
often drunkor tell liesor cheat. People who livelike that will not receive God’skingdom. 11
Someof
you usedto dothose things.But yoursins were washedaway. Youwere made holy.Youwere made
right withGod.All of thiswas done inthe nameof the Lord JesusChrist. It was alsodone by the Spirit
of our God’.
Thispassage alsotellsusthat throughour faithinJesusChristoursinscan be washedaway.Butto reach
thiswe needtosteadfastly “Repentance”forthe ‘wrongs’we intentionallydone inourlifetime.
Repentance is one’sconfession toGodthat we are sinful andthe desire tosee andbe withHim one our
life here onearthisover.Whenwe repentforour sins, God change our heartsas a resultof that faith.
We can learnthisfromwhat Jesussaidin Matthew 3:2, He said,“Turn away fromyour sins!The
kingdomofheaven has come near.” We can learnagain from Acts 3:19, “
Soturn away from your sins.
Turn to God.Then your sinswill be wiped away.The time will come when the Lord will make
everything new”.
As Christianswe knowthatwhenwe have faithinChrist,repentandreceivesalvation, God'sforgiveness
iswonderfullyliberating. The bibletells usthatwe shouldavoidsin,butif anyone doessin,JesusChrist
isour advocate and will speaktothe Fatherfor usin our defense.JesusappliesHisownrighteousnessto
us byHis deathon the cross. Now,inChrist,we cannotbe condemned aswe can learnfrom Romans
8:1, “Thosewho belongto Christ Jesusare no longerunder God’sjudgment”.
Unfortunately,the realityof ourfreedomfromsindoesnotalwaysbringfreedomfromguiltyfeelings.
Aftersinsare forgiven,the memoryof them canremain. AndSatan,the doesnot missan opportunityto
remindusof ourfaultsand failures tokeepusinuncertainty.We canlearnfrom Revelation 12:10,
“Then I heard a loudvoice inheaven. It said, Now the salvationandthe power and the kingdomof our
Godhave come. The authorityofhis Messiahhascome. Satan, whobrings chargesagainstour
brothers andsisters, has been thrown down. He bringscharges againstthemin front ofour God day
and night”.

2. Whenwe feel guilty due ourpastsins,there are a few things thatwe can do as Christians: Firstwe need
to ConfesstoGod,in prayer,anysin thatis on yourconscience.Sometimeswhenwe feel guilty,itis
simplybecause we areguilty,andwe needtoconfessoursinandbe relievedbyareminderof God's
forgiveness.We canlearnfrom Psalm32:3-5, “WhenI kept silentabout my sin, my bodybecame
weak because I groaned all day long. Dayandnightyou punishedme. I became weaker andweaker as
I do in the heat of summer. Then I admittedmy sin to you.I didn’tcover up the wrong I had done.I
said,“I will admitmy lawlessacts to the Lord.”Andyou forgavethe guiltof my sin”.
Secondwe needtoask God to helpyousee anythinginyourlife thatneedstobe confessedand
changed.Be totallyhonestwithHim afterall He knowseverythingaboutyouanyway!.Praythe wordsof
Psalm139:23-24, "Searchme, O God,and know my heart! Try me andknow my thoughts!Andsee if
there be any grievousway inme, andlead me in the way everlasting!" Thirdwe mustrememberthat
God has promisedtoforgive yoursinandtake away yourguiltbyway of the bloodof Christ. We needto
learnto trust thatpromise as we readfrom 1 John 1:9, “ButGod is faithful andfair.If we confessour
sins,he will forgive our sins.He will forgiveevery wrongthingwe have done.He will make us pure”.
Forth:When guiltstill plaguesyou,evenafteryou've confessedandforsakenyoursins,thenthose
feelingsare false guilt.RememberthatGodhas beentrue to Hispromise andhas forgivenyou.Youare
justifiedinHiseyes. Youneedto Meditate onBible passagesthatreiterate God'spromise toforgive,like
saidin Psalm103:8-10, “The Lord istenderand kind.He isgracious. He isslow to getangry. He is full of
love. He won’tkeepbringingchargesagainstus. He won’tstayangry withus forever. He doesn’tpunish
us forour sinsas much as we shouldbe punished.He doesn’tpayusback inkeepingwiththe evil things
we’ve done…” Fifth:We needtolearnto Pray that God wouldmake youdeaf toSatan's accusations.
AskHim to restore yourjoyinsalvationandgive youfreedomfromguilt aswe read from Psalm51:12,
“Giveme back the joy that comes from beingsaved by you.Give me a spiritthat obeys you sothat I
will keep going”.
Afterwe've dealtwiththe sin,we mustmove on as God has somuch more in store forus. Yeswe failed
Him butHe Forgive usand now we belongtoHim. We neednotdwell inguiltof pastsins. We must
focuson whatis true and noble andgoodand resistthe temptationtodwell onourwrongactionsor
past failures.Believershave beenmade "newcreatures"inChrist.“Therefore,ifanyoneis inChrist,the
new creation hascome: The old hasgone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians5:17).
Whenthe Lord forgivesus,those oldsinsare as far fromus as the east isfromthe west as we can read
fromPsalm103:10 - 12, “…hedoes not treat us as our sinsdeserve or repay us accordingto our
iniquities.11 For as highas the heavens are above the earth, so great is his lovefor those who fear
him; asfar as the east isfrom the west, so far has he removed our transgressionsfromus”.Therefore
as Christianswhenwe have anassurance that God forgivesus,we shouldnot allow ourselvestobe held
downby the evenone through the guiltof pastsins.In additionasChristianswe shouldalsobear in
mindthat inreturnwe shouldalsoNEVERREFUCE TO FORGIVEothersfor hurtingus.