Thinking Out Loud

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure, who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve. (King James, New King James, Message)

In today’s culture you probably have become accustomed to the words “I believe”, or “In my opinion…” We too, as Christians, at times begin sentences with these same words. The question we need to ask ourselves is, “On what do I base my opinion and/or belief?” The quick answer would hopefully be on scripture, but is this always the case? We hear it said in conversation today to “follow your heart”, and sometimes people ask, “what does your heart tell you?” People will many times hide behind so-called convictions and determine that God will tell them what is right or wrong by the way they feel, rather than what God says. Can we trust instinct? Can we trust our heart?

We do have today, the benefit of the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us to counter-balance this tendency that our heart has to be deceitful. Romans 2:15 makes mention of the fact that the law is “written on our hearts” and the thoughts of those without the law are “accusing, now even defending them”. So we must “test the spirits to see whether they are from God”(1 John 4). We must continually seek to find answers in God’s word, which is “living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). God’s word tells us plainly what is right and what is wrong. All scripture is God breathed and neither He, nor His word changes like “shifting shadows” (James 1).

It is interesting that in this age of technology, the answers in the Bible have never been so accessible and at the same time, so neglected. The word Philosophy appears 3 times in scripture in Acts17:18, I Corinthians 1:20, and Colossians 2:8. All of these passages seem to mock man’s philosophy and point us to the necessity of relying on God’s wisdom, which should be the source of our philisophical thinking and which is attained through the word of God. Standing on God’s word gives us a sense of confidence that can never be attained through “going on our instincts”.

Have you ever found yourself reliving the past though your have accepted Christ and began a new life with him? Many find it hard to believe that God has truly forgiven them, and begin to believe that their sin is unforgivable. Guilt takes over making it difficult to grow, and sadly many fall away because of the inability to accept forgiveness. I see this problem with guilt to be one of the more prominent threats to our faith. Most people testify that when they first accepted Christ into their lives that they did so after an awareness of their own sins. Standing before God, we see our need for mercy. When we confess we are agreeing with God that our sin is bad. God sees our remorse, forgives us, and tells us that we no longer need to worry about the sins we committed. 1st John 1:9 says that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and purify us of all unrighteousness.” So why do we allow our past sins to continue tormenting us? What does the Bible say about this?

Sin as mentioned in 1st John 1:9, is a “willful disobedience of a known law of God”. These are individual acts one recognizes and confesses before God, agreeing with him, that for these acts, you need forgiveness. Once we have accepted Jesus and his forgiveness by faith, He then, incredibly, chooses to forget about our sin. It is an amazing thing that God, who knows all that there is to know, makes the choice to forget our sin. God says it in Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and I will not remember your sins”. This is a wonderful truth that brings joy to the believer. Why is it then, can we not to do the same. God’s word tells us that our guilt comes from the accuser. The “accuser of the brethren” is satan, whose name actually translates to “accuser”. The accuser’s goal is to steal, kill and destroy. He will take every occasion to use our past sins to deceive us with questions and statements like, “Are you really a Christian? You are a hypocrite. Look at these things you have done. You are not a new person, you are still the same person who committed these sins - the same person you have always been.” It may even be so-called friends who say these kinds of things to you. Scripture implies that this also happened with Judas Iscariot. The passage says that he was “seized with remorse” and went on to hang himself. The passage in Matthew implies that he regretted his betrayal of Jesus, just as we regret sinning. But response to his remorse resulted in his sinking into guilt, rather than turning to God for repentance, and his guilt made him feel that he was not worthy of Jesus or his forgiveness, and ultimately resulted in a tragedy. But we are, in fact, worthy. Created in God’s image, we have worth and value that is not based on our works, but based on God’s love for us. David gives us a beautiful answer to the accuser’s scheme. Psalms 31:19-20: “How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you. In the shelter of your presence you hide them from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep them safe from accusing tongues.” So our response to “accusing tongues” should be to take refuge in God, and the confidence that comes from standing on his promises. Like the promise in Isaiah 43:25: “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and I will not remember your sins”. God will never bring past sins back up. They are thrown into the sea of his forgetfullness. We should remember that God is never the source of our guilt or shame, but rather, He is a loving Father who runs to the repentant sinner with open arms, and offers the provision of his word to help us withstand satan’s attacks.

Consider offering this passage as a prayer to God, and stand firm on its truth, claiming it, victoriously, every day!
Micah 7:18-20 (The Message)

18Where is the god who can compare with you–

wiping the slate clean of guilt,

Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,

to the past sins of your purged and precious people?

You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,

for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most.

19And compassion is on its way to us.

You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing.

You’ll sink our sins

to the bottom of the ocean.