"This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." Hebrews 4:15-16 (NLT)

So often, we human beings have a difficult time understanding what it means to live life in grace, freely given to us by God through Jesus Christ.

It seems too simple.

Perhaps this is why so many Christians struggle with the idea of grace, creating rules to justify their salvation, God's provision, and faith. So many people find it hard to believe God could ever forgive them for the things they have done in their lives and become mired in guilt.

According to the dictionary, guilt is "the state of having committed an offense". And in human terms, most people believe a person who has done such a thing deserves punishment equal to whatever their offense might be. Sin can be defined as violating God's moral law, we are all guilty of this, but many people remain shackled to their mistakes even after they have been freed. Some people also take on false guilt for actions or circumstances they have no control over but some how feel responsible. 

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

Guilt can be a heavy burden to the one who is unjustly carrying it against themselves. In effect, when we as Christians hold onto this burden, even though God has freely forgiven us and set us free, we are in effect telling God that His grace isn't enough. We'd rather hold onto our guilt and personally mete out the punishment we believe we still deserve, whether emotionally or physically (depression, over-indulgence, self-inflicted pain, etc.)  In doing so, we stymie the potential for spiritual, emotional, or physical healing or growth in our lives and any potential we have for being salt/light to this world.

The enemy loves it!

There is nothing easier than throwing our own past sins in our face and leaving us to sink in the quicksand of our guilt, but that is not what God desires for us. HE wants us to live in grace, reaching out to others to show them the way to freedom in Christ.

I certainly understand the trap that guilt can lay for us because I wallowed in the sticky bog of my own regret for quite awhile. Having been a Christian who turned her back on God for a time, it can be so easy to look back on the eight years I spent in the occult and feel condemned. However, God doesn't want me or you to live in that kind of self-indulgent remorse because it can morph into disabling personal bitterness and even cut us off from the One who saved us in the first place! 

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Galatians 5:1 (NLT)

We are restored (redeemed, bought with a price) by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. He wants us to live in that grace day by day with love, forgiveness, and mercy to others as an example. Once we have yielded our lives to God through repentance (agreeing with God that we have sinned), guilt should no longer have a place in our lives.

We are free in Jesus. It's time we start living that way.