November 29, 2022
The Cure For A Guilty Conscience
During Vacation Bible Scholl (VBS) this past summer we had a family that was the son, daughter-in-law, and children of one of our church members who come from out of town to the VBS. During the VBS two of the children got saved as well as the mom and dad. We baptized all four and there was great rejoicing with this family and our church family.
The family tried to attend our church but it was quite a distance to drive and the mom is pregnant so it made it difficult for them to come every Sunday. With their permission, I contacted a Nazarene church close to their home and asked the pastor to pay them a visit in order to hopefully plug them into a church closer to their home. The pastor assured me that he would visit them.
The dad told me that on Saturday afternoon he saw a black SUV pull up into his driveway. The man who stepped out of the SUV had on khaki pants and a black polo shirt. He could see a round emblem on the shirt and it resembled the type that law enforcement wears.
As the visitor approached the house the dad told me that everything that he had ever done wrong came flooding through his mind as he wondered why a law officer would be visiting his home on a Saturday. The dad had never been in trouble with the law and had been a quiet family man most of his adult life. Yet the sight of what he thought was law enforcement made him nervous.
As the visitor got to the door the dad could see that it was a Church of the Nazarene emblem with the name of the church on it and not a badge. The pastor had come to visit them and it just happened that he was driving a black SUV like law enforcement use and his shirt looked like a badge. It caused the dad to panic as all of his past deeds came to mind. They had a great visit and the family will be giving this church a try.
I thought about this event and how when we have a guilty conscience our past sins and bad deeds weigh heavy on our minds. It doesn’t matter that we have confessed our sins if there is still an outstanding warrant or investigation into the bad things that we have done. God forgives and forgets but that doesn’t mean that we may have to deal with the legal and moral consequences of our previous deeds.
As for our spiritual transgressions, the Bible tells us in Romans 8:1, “There is, therefore, NO condemnation, guilt, or shame for those who are IN Christ Jesus” When we confess our sins to Jesus “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness” (I John 1:9) So God never remembers our sins again once they are coved by the blood of Jesus.
So Christians live in the joy of knowing that they have been forgiven by God and do everything that they can to straighten out what happened before they were saved. It may mean confessing to authorities what you have already confessed to God. It may mean making restitution to someone that you wronged before Jesus became the Lord of your life.
The Bible promises a “peace that passes all understanding” and “perfect peace” when our sins are confessed and we have repented from our sins. So know that you can live your life without looking over your shoulder with fear and dread when you make things right with God and with man. In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs