Grace Thoughts
Teaching Notes: On Guilt (Part 2)
Teaching Notes are Bible studies we taught before GraceLife Ministries began publishing articles online in 1995. Some were presented as sermons, others as group studies.
Our hope is that these older studies will be a blessing to you in your life and ministry. Please use them in any way God leads you.
These teaching notes are from a series of broadcast studies about guilt.
[These notes are from a radio broadcast study taught more than 40 years ago.]
Last week I began sharing with you a series on “guilt.” Hundreds of thousands of Christians are suffering from guilt – in one degree or another. We looked into the Word of God and saw that everyone from birth is guilty before God. However, a person who has trusted Christ for eternal life is no longer under condemnation. Why then do so many Christians allow themselves to be physically, emotionally, socially or spiritually paralyzed by guilt?
Let’s look again into the Word of God at “the law that is higher than the law.”
A Higher Law
Romans 8:2 reads – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Notice that two laws are mentioned here. First, the law of the Spirit of life .. second, the law of sin and death. Earlier in Romans we have seen the devastation of the law of sin and death, but what of this law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus?
State laws are higher than city laws and federal laws are higher than state laws. It doesn’t mean that the city and state laws are not effective or real, but it does mean that federal laws have preeminence over them. So, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ is higher than the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death is real. In fact, every person in the world today is under that law .. unless they are in Christ .. then they are under the law of the Spirit of life.
Sin and death is a law that will hold up in any court in the universe, but there is a Supreme Court and there is an Advocate with God the Father. Jesus Christ is our Champion. He is our Friend close by our side. He is the Lamb slain for our iniquities, our sins. He has paid the penalty for our sins, death. If you and I were under the law of sin and death, we would have good reason to feel guilty. But we’ve been freed from that law. We’ve been extradited from the penalty of the law to the freedom of the Spirit. We’re under a different jurisdiction. We live in Christ under the law of the Spirit of life.
Hallelujah! Praise God! We’re not going to die forever. We’re not headed for hell. We’re not going to perish. We’re not going to suffer the tortures of eternal fire. We’re saved! We’re made freemen. We’re children of the most high God. Glory!
If that doesn’t get you excited, brothers and sisters, then we’d better check our religion. Jesus set us free! We are no longer a slave to sin. We are conquerors through Christ. We are liberated souls. Praise God! We no longer have to listen to Satan. We now listen to the sweet, still voice of our gentle Shepherd, the Lord Jesus. We no longer have to do the devil’s will. We can now obey the will of our Heavenly Father. Praise God! We are justified, sanctified, glorified .. in the sight of God.
Where do we go from here?
First, we want to be sure we totally understand that we are NOT GUILTY before God. We are no longer under the condemnation of God. God foreordained us, predestined us, called us, justified us, glorified us (Romans 8:29). Let’s get this idea of guilt out of our minds and our mental vocabulary We are not guilty before God. We do not have to go back in our past and pay for sins we committed 30 years ago. We don’t have to bewail something we did before we were saved. We have been totally forgiven for everything we ever did, are doing and will ever do. We stand justified before God!
[Thank you for reading these teaching notes from more than 40 years ago. My prayer is they will be a blessing to you and your ministry.]
Published by gracelifethoughts
Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts
