Temptation Serie6

Temptation Series

Part 5

“Dealing With Sin and Guilt”

1 John 2: 1

In the last few weeks we have dealt with temptation from several angles:

The certainty of temptation—we will all be tempted,

The source of temptation—where it comes from,

The purpose of temptation—how God works it for our good,

The escape from temptation—God is faithful to provide a way out, and

The Cues to flee temptation—how to know when it’s time to go.

And now in the final message today I want to talk about how to handle the sin and the resulting guilt.

Knowing how to handle it—because we will all sin—is crucial to being able to go on with God in a positive, joyful, and productive future.

I want to talk today about something to remember, something to recognize, and something to keep…

First, something to remember. We must…

Remember that we have an Advocate.

“If anybody sins, we have an Advocate—one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1

ADVOCATE: somebody such as a lawyer, who pleads our case in a court of law.

When we sin, the Accuser of the Brethren, Satan, immediately brings accusations against us in God's heavenly court.

He went before God and accused Job.

John the Revelator described him as:

“…the accuser of our brethren, who accused the church before our God day and night, has been cast down.”—Rev. 12:9-10

When this happens, we have an Advocate in Jesus Christ who comes to stand beside us and defend us.

As soon as you repent of the sin, there is no more place for condemning accusation.

The sin is covered and you are defended before God by Christ Jesus.

Jesus simply opens his portfolio and lays the exhibits of Good Friday on the bench before the Judge.

Photographs of the crown of thorns, the lashing, the mocking soldiers, the agonies of the cross, and the final cry of victory: It is finished!

When the portfolio of Good Friday is presented, God says “Forgiven, redeemed, justified, righteous.”

After remembering our Advocate and repenting, we must learn to:

Recognize the difference between destructive guilt and godly conviction.

Paul describes the difference when writing to the Corinthian church that had just repented from sin in their ranks:

2 Cor. 7: 9-10 “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

There you have two kinds of sorrow described: Godly sorrow, and the sorrow of the world.

One produces repentance, the other death.

One is beneficial, the other is destructive.

Godly sorrow comes from the conviction of the Holy Spirit and is designed to lead us to repentance.

But the sorrow of the world (which is unresolved guilt) is comprised of relentless condemnation designed to destroy our hope, drive us away from God, and push us even further into sin.

Then Paul spells out the difference between destructive guilt and healthy conviction by describing what true repentance looks like:

“Now I'm glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss.

He continues:

“Distress that drives us to God…turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain.”

And then he lays out what godly sorrow and repentance produced in the Corinthians:

“And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart.”—2 Cor. 7:9-13

So in order to handle sin Biblically we must let it drive us in repentance to God for our restoration and forgiveness, not away from God in despair and hopelessness.

Once we remember our Advocate, and recognize the difference between worldly and godly sorrow, me must learn to:

Keep short accounts with God

The Bible is clear that unconfessed sin should not be left to simmer any more than you would leave a cancer in your body.

Let me give you a couple of good reasons to keep short accounts with God.

First, because:

Unconfessed sin gives the devil an opportunity to establish a stronghold in your life.

Paul warned the church, “…don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger (left to simmer) gives a foothold to the devil.”—Eph. 4:27

Satan is able to build strongholds of rebellion and deception in our minds when sin remains unconfessed.

A 2nd good reason to keep short accounts with God is:

Unconfessed sin hardens our heart and sears our conscience.

CONSCIENCE: Is that inner voice that warns us when we do wrong, and congratulates us when we do what is right.

The conscience produces either a restful or a restless life, depending on our lifestyle.

VERY IMPORTANT: the conscience is also like a watch. It’s only accurate if it’s set right. A clock set to the wrong time is always wrong.

Thus, our conscience is dependable only if it has been set accurately by the Word of God, which clarifies and crystallizes to our consciences those things that are truly right or wrong.

Paul spoke a lot about the conscience. He said it can be seared like cauterized skin:

1 Tim 4:2 “…speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…”

“The Interpreter’s Bible describes the seared conscience as “burned into insensitivity” and “conscience which does not function” and is “dulled.”

Abingdon Bible Commentary says of those with a seared conscience that “they no longer realize that they are hypocrites and liars.”

So the conscience is dulled by unconfessed sin.

It works like this: Following a sin, God’s voice at first is clear—repent and turn to me!

But if sin remains unconfessed the heart begins to crust over. The eyes and ears of the conscience grow dull.

God’s voice grows more distant.

Consequently, the next sin is that much easier.

Over time, Unconfessed sin blinds and deafens our conscience.

This is why Paul’s rule of life was:

Acts 24:16 “I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.”

He instructed Timothy:

1 Tim 1:18 “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. This will help you fight well in the Lord’s battles.”

And then he mentioned some folks that hadn’t done this:

“Some have rejected faith and a good conscience and have shipwrecked their faith.”—vs. 19

Unconfessed sin brings robs your happiness and paralyzes your boldness:

Listen to David’s autobiographical description in Psalms 32:3-5 of what condition his unconfessed sin left him in…

3 “When I refused to confess my sin,      my body wasted away,      and I groaned all day long. 4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.      My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. 5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you      and stopped trying to hide my guilt.   I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”      And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.”

In Ps 51, the Psalm describing his repentance, David prays:

  8 Oh, give me back my joy again;      you have broken me—      now let me rejoice.”

We must remember our Advocate, recognize the difference between godly and worldly sorrow, and Keep short accounts with God…