I’ve been reading much about guilt to prepare for Wednesday’s class. There are so many ways we try to ease our guilty consciences when we finally come face to face with our sins. But all those ways, except One, just don’t do it. They may temporarily make us feel better, but they don’t get to the root of the problem, which is to get right with God again.I love one way that John Piper describes the justification process from a lesson he gave on February 21, 1982, entitled “Jesus Is Precious Because He Removes Our Guilt”:
So the teaching of God's Word is plain, and this is the gospel: anyone who trusts in Jesus for justification will have it freely.
This is at once the hardest and easiest thing for a human to do. It is hard because it means acknowledging in your heart that you are so guilty before God that there is nothing you can do to solve the problem. Human beings don't like to think of themselves that way. ...Saving faith in Jesus Christ is hard because it is born in desperation, and apart from God's grace, humans hate to admit that they are desperate.
But on the other hand, what could be easier than faith? It doesn't require extraordinary strength, or beauty, or intelligence.
No one will have an excuse on the judgment day that the way of salvation was too hard. God will simply say, "All you had to do was become like a little child (Matthew 18:3), and trust me to take care of you. Was that hard? Was it too hard to lean on me, to rest in my promises, to rely on the finished work of Christ? Was it too hard to accept a free gift? To cherish the pearl of forgiveness? To love the Savior who died for you?"
It is free! It is free! It is free! Own up to your need and rest in him!
