Guarding against Guilt

Satan's primary weapon against humanity is guilt. Be careful about anyone or anything that makes you feel guilty; it does not come from God. The Holy Spirit "(convicts) the world of sin, and righteousness, and of judgment" (John 16:18) - but that is different from guilt.

When the Holy Spirit convicts of sin, He says, "You did this. It was wrong. You need to repent and make it right. This is how you do that." Once you have confessed and repented and done what is necessary to make restitution, the matter is closed. There are no afterthoughts, nothing further you could or should have done.

With guilt, however, you never quite know if you have done enough. Perhaps someone feels you did not treat him of her right and is feeling rejected, upset and hurt. Yet somehow it does not matter what you say or do to that person; it is never enough. That is not the Holy Spirit working; that is another, evil power, from a different source.

Be on your guard, then, against anything that makes you feel guilty. This is a denial of the work of the cross - very different from the specific conviction of the Holy Spirit. Guilt never ends; It goes on and on. Nothing you can do is sufficient. If Satan persists in his attempts to make you feel guilty, you can take your stand on God's promise in Isaiah 54:17:

"No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage (or inheritance) of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me," says the Lord.

What wonderful news! Nothing the devil devises as a weapon against you will succeed! So relax. He may continued to use the weapon of guilt against you, but he will ultimately fail.

(Derek Prince)

Is this from a book or sermon?

From a book, "Bought with Blood:The Exchange At The Cross." By Derek Prince. Chapter 5 - "Righteousness In Place of Sin."

Christ bore our sinfulness that we might receive His righteousness. If you are righteous in Christ you are NOT GUILTY!

A real eye-opener, thanks for sharing this, brother.

Thanks for posting that! :) I had on that day really a battle going on in my mind - kind of thinking of the things done before, sins and even simple mistakes (perhaps in attitude, or a word), thinking what effect that could have on the people that are watching or rather observing my life (cause I think most will agree that unbelievers, even if they do not tell it, observe our walk with Christ; who knows? perhaps for some we will be the only living Bible they will ever see...) "Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart." (2 Corinthians 3:3)

But then... I cannot change my past and there is no point remaining in the shame of the past. The word that came to my mind was: "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth." (Romans 38:33) I love that! And on top of that the blood of Jesus is of a higher value than our iniquities! For "he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)

And I must confess, as I spake with one person about the gospel, saying that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, he said "Wow!"

And when God says "It is finished!" - It is finished indeed! And when God forgives and forgets our sins, so shall we do as well. I mean not forget our past, cause we have to learn out of it, but forgive to ourselves and bury the past :) and live on by faith in Christ!

And if you do not repent, confess your sin, what do you call that sense?

While this writer makes some valid points I consider the basic premise flawed.

Guilt is to the mind, spirit what pain is to the body. When the body is wounded, ill, pain informs you there is a matter that needs careful attention. Without pain infection and greater problems can occur because it was not tended to.

Sin inflicts guilt to the mind and spirit. It will prompt you that here is a matter that needs tending to. When people ignore this hardening of the conscience will follow. It is a serious thing to ignore the convicting of the Holy Spirit. Guilt will prompt one to confession and repentance.

The devil can impose guilt that is rooted in unbelief and thereby cause a lot of confusion. If this happens one needs to get with the LORD and allow Him to reveal to you what is amiss and go in obedience to that leading.

My understanding....

Sandra

PS: if any take issue with me on this and post accordingly I may not be able to respond in proper time because I have limited access to the internet.

The author is mainly concerned with how the devil so many times can invisibly and subtly accuse believers in their mind and hearts when they are not guilty or condemned at all. If one does not repent of and confess their sins and put faith in Christ is a different matter entirely than the guilt and condemnation satan tries to put on believers after they are saved. True godly conviction from the Holy Spirit stands in direct contrast to guilt and condemnation. Today also, many are running through the land bashing the church with condemnation laden reminders of the church's failures and how God is soon to judge the church as if the true church is the same as the growing apostate church. In my opinion, these type of voices aflame with ungodly guilt and condemnation should be avoided. For the believer, guilt and condemnation were dealt with at the cross.

GRACE and PEACE be multiplied to you.