Thursday, March 09, 2006
Godly guilt?
Is there such a thing as godly guilt? Hummm. I often hear from my non-Christian friends that guilt is merely an illusion placed upon us by teachers, parents, or the church. I don't buy it. I think that teachers, parents, and the church can magnify a possible fault (if they present it properly and you don't immediately rebel against it), however I think guilt is internally generated. Or does it come from God? David writes in Psalm 32 that "I confessed my transgressions to the Lord- and you forgave the guilt of my sin". Does he mean that God forgave both his sin, and the guilt of his sin (another sin in itself?)? David later writes in Psalm 38 that his guilt is like a burden too heavy to bear. Does this imply that guilt is itself a sin, or a byproduct of sin? In Leviticus 5, there is mention of a "guilt sacrifice". Does this mean that God wants us to feel guilt so that we come to him for forgiveness? I know that when I mess up, the Holy Spirit gives me a sensation of conviction, but does the devil take that sensation of conviction and expand it into guilt? Or is that guilt feeling an intense form of Godly conviction? So many questions. I don't know the answers but if anyone does, feel free to shed some light on the subject.
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4 comments:
This is a good question for one of the two Bible scholar Bens. But I'll throw my two cents in anyway. I would argue that guilt is not an illusion that we learn from authority figures. Even if one had no regard for authority, I would bet that such a person would feel some sense of guilt if he or she walked up behind an old lady and smacked her in the back of the head with a crowbar. In my own life, before I became a Christian, I was doing awful things to Shelly and I was filled with immense feelings of guilt. In my opinion, that guilt was placed upon my heart by the Holy Spirit, but I chose to ignore it until it almost destroyed me. I think that guilt can come out of a healty fear of God, but it's not a control device used by God to keep us in line. I think if we sin and we fear the Lord, we will feel guilt, not out of obligation, but because we genuinely feel bad for disappointing God. Right before Isaiah tells of his commission in Chapter 6, he said his guilt was taken away and his sins atoned for. I think this means that guilt is not a seperate sin, but rather a by-product of another sin.
Dude, ya feeling some guilt man?
Dude, ya feeling some guilt?
Yea, at times I feel guilty for messing up, but nothing ou tof the normal. Just asking questions.
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