Freedom from Guilt and Shame
“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced,
But you will forget the shame of your youth…
For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is call the God of all the earth.”
Isaiah 54:4-5
Guilt and shame – let me rephrase that – false guilt and false shame are a powerful weapon of Satan’s. In Isaiah 53:11, we see that God will look upon the anguish of Christ’s soul at the crucifixion and will be satisfied. Jesus’ sacrifice satisfied the debt of death for our guilt. When we come to the cross in humility and confess our sins, they are already covered by the blood of Jesus. God will not ask other atonement for our sins. His debt is paid; it is satisfied. And yet, Satan will come to us again and again and throw our sins back into our faces. That dear friend is false guilt. I God, my husband, my Maker, my Redeemer, the Holy One, the god of all the earth, says that I am without guilt, then only vanity and pride would declare it otherwise. Catch these lies and replace them with God’s truth of His great love and forgiveness for your sins.
That brings us to shame. I know so many Christians that have laid the guilt of their sins at the cross, but hold onto the shame associated with them. Sin and shame are connected. Shame is the result of sin. If Jesus forgave the sin, the shame should also be laid at the cross and not picked back up! But Satan will use it to keep you from moving forward in your Christian walk if you allow him to continue to imprison you with false shame. Only when we fully receive the truth of God’s word and understand the depth of the sacrifice of Jesus and the greatness of His love, can we truly conquer shame.
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it (the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings) yet; but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to whatever lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14. If we strive to understand the power of the resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, we are moving away from a life of fleshly desires and towards a life of putting the flesh to death. Only when we crucify the flesh can we truly stand before the Holy God. Guilt and shame are as much a part of the flesh as are our fleshly desires and self-preservation. By faith, we can grow closer to our God and be released from guilt and shame.
