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True Conviction or False Guilt?

2/20/2014

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Ok. Who here has felt guilty for something they have done since becoming a follower of Jesus? Every (virtual) hand should be raised. If not, you may need to do some examining to see if you really are a follower of Jesus. But assuming you are a believer and that you have experienced guilt: who here has also wondered whether you were under genuine conviction from the Holy Spirit OR under attack from Satan the adversary trying to drag you down and defeat you? Perhaps I am alone in having wondered this, but I suspect not.
As I was reading Ed Welch's Running Scared (which I have not finished, but highly recommend, nonetheless), I ran across something helpful in dealing with this very question.  He's writing about the fear of death and judgment and I thought it worth passing along to you. 
When you belong to the King, how can you discern the difference between the Devil's condemnation and the Spirit's conviction?  How can you determine if you are in the bogus courtroom or the real one?
In the real courtroom:
     you know your good deeds are not enough
     your hope is in Christ alone for your deliverance
     when convicted of sins, you are pointed past your sins and on to Christ
     the last word is always hope.
In the Devil's counterfeit:
     the attention is all on your sins
     you stand and fall on your own behavior
     you are alone without an advocate
     questions are raised about the extent of God's forgiveness.

(Welch, p. 220-221 or location 2410-2416 in kindle.)
Or as Charitie Bancroft so beautifully put it:
When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
May God give us grace to take our sin seriously under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and to live in awareness of the sweet reality of sins forgiven through the work of Christ.
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    When I quote Scripture In this blog, unless otherwise indicated, the quotations are usually from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission.

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