There are many weights that can beset us, some obvious and others deep within the subconscious, which are often the most weighty. There are enough burdens to bear in life without carrying weights around every day. God would have us to be a liberated people, whose burdens are lifted by His grace, due to being justified by faith. Mary is an example of how we are delivered by Divine pronouncements.
Mary was espoused to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Humanly speaking, she could think about Joseph having a wrong conclusion as to how she became with child. She felt responsible, as she would imagine his hurt and anger. All this would tend to arouse a guilt complex within her, even though she knew she had done nothing wrong.
How could she deal with this? By clinging to the Divine pronouncement that she was pure and had no guilt, that everything was justified in light of the Divine decree and power. By faith in God’s Word, she knew she was eternally vindicated of any and all guilt concerning this matter in God’s eyes. She could face whatever accusations came against her, with a free spirit of hope, knowing that just as God had performed the miracle of incarnating His Son into her womb by His power, He would also protect and vindicate her by His power. God’s pronouncement left her free of all guilt. She had nothing to be ashamed about. She was free to face Joseph with the confidence and warmth of tender love that only purity can provide.
One of the deep-seated weights that greatly affect God’s children is guilt. Some carry deep within them the guilt of things that happened many years ago, even before they were saved. It is not that God can’t forgive us or hasn’t forgiven us, but it is due to a failure to put our full faith in God’s pronouncement that He has forgiven and cleansed us.
Retaining guilt will plague us in our hearts and minds. We do not feel right toward others that love us. Our own guilt may drive us to find fault with others, hoping to make ourselves feel better if we can make others guilty also. Deep-seated guilt is usually what is behind a censorious, critical, suspicious spirit, being an attempt to deal with one’s own feelings of inadequacy.
To deal with guilt, we must let Divine pronouncements free us from it: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 Faith in God’s pronouncements leaves us free to have confidence and warmth of tender love that only innocence can provide. Claim it by faith and rejoice in it! “Be not faithless, but believing” and “Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice!”
SHARING
