So many Christians live their lives racked with guilt and shame. They think back to the things they did, the sins they committed, whether two days ago or two decades, and they live under a cloud of shame. This shame hurts, it burns, it incapacitates. It raises this question: What is the place of guilt, what is the place of shame, in the life of the Christian? I want to take a shot at answering that question today.

We need to begin by distinguishing between guilt and shame. Here is how I differentiate between them: Guilt is the objective reality that I have committed an offense or a crime; shame is the subjective experience of feeling humiliation or distress because of what I have done. God has made us in such a way that sin incurs guilt and guilt generates shame. But there is a catch and a caution: Guilt and shame come in helpful forms and in paralyzingly unhelpful forms. Guilt and shame can be a good gift of God or a curse of Satan.

When I sin against God I may find that my conscience accuses me, that it convicts me that I have done wrong. My guilt, the realization that I have sinned, brings a feeling of shame. This guilt and shame is a good gift of God when it motivates me to repent of my sin, to look again to the cross of Christ.

When I repent of sin, I am assured by God that Christ himself has already dealt with the guilt of it. At the cross the guilt of that offense was transferred to Christ. He took that sin--the full, objective, legal guilt of it--upon himself to such an extent that my sin became his sin. Jesus Christ took every hateful thought and adulterous glance and spiteful word and every other sin upon himself. He took that sin to the cross and suffered God's wrath against it to the point that justice was satisfied. This means that the offense has been truly and fully paid for. It is gone. I am no longer guilty before God!

But Christ did more than that. Not only did he take away my guilt, but he also gave me his righteousness. This is the great exchange of the gospel, that my sin was transferred to him and his righteousness was transferred to me. I am not only not sinful, but I am actually righteous. Because the guilt of the offense is gone, the shame is gone as well. Because that sin is no longer my own, the shame is no longer my own.

Here is another prayer drawn from The Valley of Vision. It is a prayer of penitence. What particularly appealed to me in this prayer was the first section which sets much of a days’ sin in the neglect of private prayers. “My first sin of the day leads into others…” I think every Christian can identify with this and pray with this old Puritan, “O quicken my conscience to feel this folly, to bewail this ingratitude.”

O Lord of grace,
I have been hasty and short in private prayer,
    O quicken my conscience to feel this folly,
    to bewail this ingratitude;
My first sin of the day leads into others,
    and it is just that thou shouldst withdraw
    thy presence
    from one who waited carelessly on thee.
Keep me at all times from robbing thee,
    and from depriving my soul of thy due worship;
Let me never forget
    that I have an eternal duty to love, honour
    and obey thee,
    that thou art infinitely worthy of such;
    that if I fail to glorify thee
I am guilty of infinite evil that merits infinite punishment,
    for sin is the violation of an infinite obligation.
O forgive me if I have dishonoured thee,
Melt my heart, heal my backslidings,
    and open an intercourse of love.
When the fire of thy compassion warms my
    inward man,
and the outpourings of thy Spirit fill my soul,
    then I feelingly wonder at my own depravity,
    and deeply abhor myself;
    then thy grace is a powerful incentive
    to repentance,
    and an irresistible motive to inward holiness.
May I never forget that thou hast my heart
    in thy hands.
Apply to it the merits of Christ’s atoning blood
    whenever I sin.
Let thy mercies draw me to thyself.
Wean me from all evil, mortify me to the world,
    and make me ready for my departure hence
    animated by the humiliations of penitential love.
My soul is often a chariot without wheels,
    clogged and hindered in sin’s miry clay;
Mount it on eagle’s wings
    and cause it to soar upward to thyself.

Last Sunday, at Mars Hill Church, Mark Driscoll preached a sermon on the Regulative Principle. For a few minutes, just at the end of the sermon, he discussed some “behind-the-scenes” time he has spent with both C.J. Mahaney and John Piper. In this brief audio excerpt, posted below, he explains to his congregation some of the ways he has failed to serve them and how he hopes to grow in and by God’s grace. This is in light of some private brotherly correction and feedback he received from John Piper and C.J. Mahaney at the recent Resurgence conference.

When I hear things like this, I am filled with gratitude for this incredible, unique body called the church. I love to see Christians serving, challenging, exhorting and blessing other Christians in this way. I thank God for Piper and Mahaney and their ministry to Mark Driscoll and, through him, to the church at large. Listen and be encouraged.

(click here to listen)

Some time ago I promised an article on the subject of conditional versus unconditional forgiveness. I've had many false starts and have been largely unsatisfied with anything I've written on the subject. So I decided to simplify and to provide only an outline of my thoughts on the subject. I am, perhaps, a little less than perfectly confident in my beliefs on this subject which is why I do not wish to be too dogmatic. Instead, take this article this as my understanding of why forgiveness is to be conditional, not unconditional. I'll just trace the progression of my position as I've looked to Scripture to seek to understand forgiveness. Much of my recent thought has been influenced by Chris Braun and his forthcoming volume Unpacking Forgiveness.

We are nearing the end of our project to read through John Owen's classic book Overcoming Sin and Temptation. After this morning we will have just one chapter remaining. If you'd like to know more about this reading project, you can read about it right here: Reading Classics Together. If you are interested in participating in reading the next classic together, stay tuned to this site and we’ll choose a new book in just a week or two.

As we draw near to the end of this book, we are looking at specific instructions on how to put sin to death. We’re in the book's second section--a section that focuses on "the nature of mortification." Owen takes this approach:

1. Show what it is to mortify any sin, and that both negatively and positively, that we be not mistaken in the foundation.
2. Give general directions for such things as without which it will be utterly impossible for anyone to get any sin truly and spiritually mortified.
3. Draw out the particulars whereby this is to be done.

He has already shown both negatively and positively what it is to mortify a sin and has given the general directions. He is now providing a list of instructions about how to actually do the business of mortifying sin.

Summary

This week Owen challenges the reader with several exhortations under this heading: “Do not speak peace to yourself before God speaks it, but hearken to what God says to your soul.”

1. God reserves the privilege to speak peace to whom, and in what degree, he pleases
2. It is the prerogative of Christ to speak peace to the conscience
   1. Men speak peace to themselves without the detestation of sin and the abhorrence of themselves for it
   2. Men speak false peace to themselves when they rely upon convictions and rational principles to carry them
3. We speak peace to ourselves when we do it slightly
4. If one speaks peace to himself upon any one account of sin, and at the same time has another evil of no less importance lying upon his spirit, without dealing with God, that man cries "Peace" when there is none
5. When men of themselves speak peace to their consciences, it is seldom that God speaks humiliation to their souls

Discussion

I sat down to write about this week’s chapter and quickly found my time interrupted by the need for some high priority toilet repairs. I thought maybe I could use that as a metaphor for something, but nothing came to mind. So I proceed, but about an hour later than I would have liked! I will now have to keep my thoughts brief (for which I apologize).

This is a chapter that has intrigued me since I first skimmed through the book to get a sense of its flow. I guess the idea of peace appealed to me, and especially a peace of soul. There is a definite appeal to that. But Owen warns against speaking peace to our souls before God speaks that peace. So I have been wondering, what is this peace and how would God communicate it to us?

I thought Owen covered the subject well and without the long and parenthetical questions and answers that interrupted the last chapter a little bit. It is the prerogative to God to speak peace and the task of Christ to speak it home to the soul. We are prone to wanting to speak peace to ourselves and to salve our consciences when we have violated God’s will. But in so doing we speak a peace that is a false peace. We make a treaty with our consciences even while we have not experienced true repentance. We go on our way feeling better, but not being better. There may have been outward change, but nothing inward and lasting and real.

I saw myself as Owen described our tendency to speak peace to ourselves without hating the sin and abhorring our ourselves for committing it. Too often I allow myself off the hook, so to speak, acting as if my soul is at peace when the reality is that I have merely repented of the symptoms of sin or of my distaste for its consequences. In reality I have not repented of the sin and have not abhorred the nature that compels me to sin. God has not granted my peace. Instead, I’ve manufactured peace within my soul, but this without allowing God to speak His peace to me. How much better it is to wait for God to speak words of forgiveness and words of peace through His Word. This is the true source of peace and the true source of healing.

Next Week

Next Thursday we will continue by reading the book’s final chapter. And then we’ll have to discuss where we go next!

Your Turn

As always, I would like to know what you gained from this chapter. Please post your comments below or to write about this on your own blog (and then post a comment linking us to your thoughts). Do not feel that you need to say something exceedingly clever or profound. Simply share what stirred your heart or what gave you pause. You can also post any questions that came up. Let's be certain that we are reading this book together. The comments on previous chapters have been very helpful and have aided my enjoyment of the book. I have every reason to believe that this week will prove the same.