In the first part of this post “Understanding Your Right Standing In Christ,” we explored the fact that because of righteousness (right standing with God) we can go before the Father without the sense of SIN, GUILT or INFERIORITY.  The sin problem has been taken care of, so now we do not have the fear of hell looming over our heads every time we do something wrong.  But God is so wonderful, He did not just take care of the sin problem.  That was just one part of His plan.

When we do something wrong and we ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us, the hardest part of that is to forgive ourselves.  I know we all can identify with this. Guess what?  Your Heavenly Father knew that too. Let us take a look at what He says about this.

In the last post, we looked at 1 John 1:9 which says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The beautiful thing about this scripture is that it is actually talking about two things here.  First it says (1) “if we confess….He is faithful and just to forgive…” and (2) …cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  What this is saying is that God knew that forgiving alone was not enough.  He made provision for both your heart and your conscience.  He says first I will forgive you but I know it is not going to be enough.  Satan is going to take that wrong and weigh you down with all that guilt.  So in taking care of your sin I have also taken care of your guilt. “Cleansing you from all unrighteousness.”  Remember we said this righteousness has nothing to do with who you are but your own sense of how you see yourself after sin.  It also goes a little further.

Romans 8: 1-2 King James Version (KJV)

⁸ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  The first part of this verse says there is “no condemnation” to those who belong to Christ.  Now we know that NO means NO.  So once I am in Christ I stand un-condemned.  What about the fact that I sin every day?  You stand un-condemned.  It means that even though I sin God still sees me guiltless before Him. This does not make it okay to sin. Sin still has its consequences. What do I mean? If I murder I will go to prison. If I commit adultery I can contract an STD. God requires us to walk holy before Him but this does not change the fact that we have right standing before Him. You still find it difficult to understand?  Let me explain further.

When Christ died there was a process that took place in every believer’s life. When a person receives Jesus as Lord and Saviour he first has to be justified. What is justification?  It is an act of God where He removes the guilt and penalty of sin.  Justification is (just as though you never sinned).  To break it down further, it means that you were declared guiltless before God and the world.  When God looks at you it is impossible for Him to see the penalty of sin which is eternal death.  Do you ever wonder why God does not address us as sinners anymore? Well this is the reason.  He always sees you through the blood of Christ.  Think of it this way.  You are accused of a crime which, of course you actually did.  You are put on trial to be sentenced for this crime and the jury finds you guilty.  The judge after hearing the evidence and the verdict, hits his gavel on his desk and declares you NOT GUILTY.  To the jury and everyone in the court room the evidence speaks for itself.  The thing is it does not matter what anyone else thinks.  Once the sentence is passed it stands.  Once the law finds you not guilty nothing else matters.  People may hate you because they think you should be punished but the judge’s declaration took that away from you.  This is what Christ did when He died on the cross.  He justified you (just as though you never sinned).  So now the world may see you guilty but God does not.  The world may think you deserve to go to hell but God does not.  YOU HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED.  Hallelujah!!!!!!!!

Here is something for you to think about. The world cannot condemn you.  Rom. 8:1 “……..no condemnation to them who are in Christ” God does not condemn you.  He says so in His word.  And here is the clincher. You cannot condemn you. He says in 1 John 3:20 King James Version (KJV)

²⁰ For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.  God is saying here that you do not have the right to condemn yourself.  I do not, He says and I am greater than your heart if it does condemn you. Here is where you should hallelujah!!!!!!

I mentioned the process that you go through when you receive Jesus Christ as Lord.  First you are justified.  Then God declares you righteous.  He then sanctifies you and declares you Holy before Him.  JUSTIFICATION, RIGHTEOUSNESS, SANCTIFICATION and HOLINESS are all positional truths.  They cannot be changed. They are simply who you are.

So now we know that guilt is something that our Heavenly Father dealt with so there is no reason for us to feel overwhelmed about anything.  Satan uses guilt to condemn us but God says once you confess I will take care of the rest.  That is your inheritance.  He knows it.  Don’t you think it’s time that you do.

I will leave this to meditate on this. Next we are going to talk about inferiority.

This is Pastor Karen Bruce. God bless.