How to Overcome Sin, Guilt, and Condemnation—Part 1

 

As human beings we struggle.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).

Some of us slough this off or deny it. But we can never be healed of a sickness we refuse to admit we have. We all need a Savior, and happily, we have a masterful, all-merciful loving One! Romans 3:24 (The Passion Translation 2020) is God’s response to our fallenness:

Yet through his powerful declaration of acquittal, God freely gives away his righteousness. His gift of love and favor now cascades over us, all because Jesus, the Anointed One, has liberated us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin!

(emphasis added)

Oh my, let’s savor with gratitude the truth here!

When we are acquitted, that means we do not “pay the price” for a crime we have actually committed. And who is acquitting us? God Himself!

Indeed, there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1)!

 Let’s pause for a moment. I want you to think of your most shame-bringing moment. I know it feels gross; there are many things that I am not proud of myself! It is a level playing ground for all of us.

Now, let’s look at it in clear-eyed fashion.

There are two ditches we can go into:

We can rationalize and tell ourselves, “It’s not that bad—others have done worse.”

OR

We can beat ourselves up and let ourselves become riddled with guilt and condemnation.

The Pride of Self-exaltation

 With the first ditch, the grain of truth is that we all do indeed mess up. It is comforting to know we are not alone. But comparing ourselves to others who have messed up more can cause us to sink into self-righteousness, self-justification, and pride. Yuck!

 When we self-justify, we end up prideful. Pride is something God will relentlessly convict us of in order to heal it. That never feels good. But it is good because God is a good Daddy, Who will not let us get away with less than who we are (Heb. 12:11). All narcissistic, “I am God” egos stem from a false self, and that will go. The independent self, operating apart from Him in self-willfulness, will go. This is a holy humbling, not humiliation. Papa will have humble, dependent, and lovely children Who look just like Jesus! It is there so He can safely exalt us (1 Pet. 5:6), but He insists on being the One to do so!

The False Humility of Self-Denigration

 The second ditch we tend to fall into is that of self-denigration. The grain of truth here is that we ARE guilty of whatever sinful behavior we have done, and it is good that we are not trying to justify ourselves. However, when we diminish ourselves, we are missing the truth that we are already justified and justified by God Himself! It is prideful in the flavor of false humility to think that, somehow, we are such a special case in our sin, that we are beyond the reach of a merciful, lovely, and sweeping God to justify.

 This is the sin of overestimating the power for our sinful behavior to define and control us, and underestimating God’s sole right to define, forgive, justify, heal, and glorify us. Mercy will always ultimately triumph over judgment (James 2:13). This is because God has judged His kids as righteous, holy, and lovely just like He is. He will ultimately have His way in conforming us into His image (1 John 4:17 and Rom. 8:17‒19 and 29‒30).

We cannot “sin our way out” of being His beloved, holy, and chosen children (Eph. 1:4 and 2 Tim. 1:9‒10). We do not have the power to make Him hate, reject, leave, or separate from us (Rom. 8:15‒16 and 38-39, Eph. 1:4‒13, and Heb. 13:5).

• God is lovelier than our ugly ways of being.
• God is holier than our brokenness.
• God is more merciful than our depraved ways of being.
• God’s ability to redeem and restore is greater than our ability to defile and destroy.

 Uncondemnable

 Let’s see what God says about condemnation. Romans 8:1‒3 (TPT 2020) says:

So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. For the “law” of the Spirit of life flowing through the anointing of Jesus has liberated us from the “law” of sin and death. For God achieved what the law was unable to accomplish, because the law was limited by the weakness of human nature. 

(emphasis added)

According to this verse, there is no argument. Being “in Christ” means no condemnation. So, if there is a condemning voice and the feeling of being condemned, it is not coming from God. Being “in Christ” or “in union or one with Christ” is not based on feelings or good behavior. It’s the truth that God chose us first and we experience what that means as we “choose Him back” (Eph. 1:4, 2 Tim. 1:9‒10, John 15:16, Rom. 8:15–16 and 29‒36, and Luke 15:3‒5 and 11‒32). 

Simply put, you don’t fall “out of Christ” when you sin. He never turns away from you, even if you turn away from Him (2 Tim. 2:13). Condemnation may come from yourself, others, or the enemy of your soul (however you define that), but it does not come from God.

I love the indignation that radiates toward the voice of the accuser (a name for the satan) towards God’s children. Romans 8:31‒34 (New King James Version) rings out:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 

(emphasis added)

If God has justified us, WHO can possibly condemn us?

NO ONE is bigger or holier that God, Who has justified His kids:

• Not the devil (whatever we understand that to be!)
• Not other people!
• Not ourselves!

 What is at stake here?

Romans 8:34 proclaims it.

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 

(emphasis added)

 Your uncondemnable status is based on:

• Christ’s death
• Christ’s resurrection
• His position at the right hand of God
• His intercession for us

Which part of these eternal truths can we undo by our bad behaviors?

We and our bad behaviors didn’t make the list!

 Moreover, 1 John 4:17 (TPT 2020) says:

 By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world.

(emphasis added)

 Who we are as sons and daughters of God is just like Jesus—in our flavor, right now! Our problem is that we don’t know it and/or don’t believe it. We are blind and unbelieving believers. This is where we need healing and help. And that is what God has done and is doing “saving us.”

His salvation is utterly complete and being worked out in us as we yield and partner with God bit by bit, from glory to glory (Phil. 2:12, 2 Cor. 3:17–18, Rom. 8:15–16 and 29‒36, and Romans 12:2).

 To help cement this, Colossians 2:13‒15 (TPT 2020) says:

This “realm of death” describes our former state, for we were held in sin’s grasp. But now, we’ve been resurrected out of that “realm of death” never to return, for we are forever alive and forgiven of all our sins! He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained soul—he deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto his cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation. Then Jesus made a public spectacle of all the powers and principalities of darkness, stripping away from them every weapon and all their spiritual authority and power to accuse us. And by the power of the cross, Jesus led them around as prisoners in a procession of triumph. He was not their prisoner; they were his! 

(emphasis added)

Note, this is ALL mystically past tense! Saying there is no condemnation in Christ means that God did such a sweeping job on the cross—not just forgiving sinfulness, but of obliterating it as an entity in Himself, where all truth and light is.

We are no longer in Adam; we are in Christ—the second Adam. That means we have NO sin nature—it’s been nailed to the cross. We are new creations without sin—as righteous as Christ is (2 Cor. 5:17 and 21 and 1 John 4:17–18). We do sinful things because we either have never known who we are or have forgotten who we are in Christ.

We operate as if we are apart from Him and this manifests in fallen ways of being. In the delusion of separation from God, people can experience condemnation. But it does not come from God—the only One Whose opinion trumps all others.

Spend some time meditating on these glorious truths and let them minister to you. I’d love to hear your thoughts as you do!

Make sure to join me for part 2 of this series where I will minister practical help for those of you who are still struggling with guilt and condemnation.

 

Standing with you for more glorious freedom,

 

Catherine