For the past few years, a sense of sin and shame has welled up in my psyche.
I began to seriously question these sentiments, since I understand the full payment of all that Jesus did for me at the Cross.
I am upset with many churches and religious groups in our world today.
They do not preach the fullness of the New Covenant, they do not inform people of the Gospel of Grace, and they go out of their way to level people with rules and commands, when man's greatest needs is life, which we find in One Person: Jesus!
Bob George defined my struggle perfectly in his work Classic Christianity:
I have since learned that many Christians share the same bondage. They have committed some sin which seems ever to be a part of their present, even as the years roll by. It is constantly on their minds, like an ever-present black cloud hanging over them. After a while, guilt becomes an accepted part of their lives; to lose it would be almost like parting with a precious family heirloom. (56)
I could not agree more with what George talks about on this page.
And now I add something else, in the context of AA: that sense of sin and shame does not go away for people who diligently follow those twelve steps.
Even when people pay back money or something else to make up for the bad things which they had done in the past, the facts remain that a sense of shame and frustration do not go away without the perfect blood of Jesus Christ!
Religion at its core ties people down again to rules and regulations which no one can keep, and that is exactly what AA does, telling its members that they must keep going to meeting, maintain short accounts with other people regarding their resentments and other bad feelings.
All of that talk makes a mockery of what Jesus did at the Cross.
"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;" (Hebrews 10: 12)
To this day, all too many Christians simply do not believe this. They do not believe that all sins have been put away, nor do they recognize that Jesus today serves as our propitiation, or our mercy seat, forever justifying us before God the Father, or now Our Father!
Do you still have a sense of sin in your life today? Then you are basically declareding that what Jesus did at the Cross was not enough, and all too many people, especially in our churches, feed that sense of guilt and shame.
We need to recognize and believe what the Bible says:
"There is therefore now no condemnation in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8: 1, NIV)
A sense of sin is therefore nonsense for those of us who believe and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Keep receiving the gift of righteousness today, and reject any counsel or teaching which would seek to bring you back into bondage:
"1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. 3For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. 5For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." (Galatians 5: 1-6)
In this passage, Paul references circumcision to speak of the entire Law of Moses, from which we have been justified in every way (Acts 13: 38-39)
Not just the ceremonial elements, but everything, including the Ten Commandments, the ministry of condemnation written on stones (2 Corinthians 3: 7-12)
We are a new creation, we are made new, and all things are made new because of Jesus and all that He did at the Cross for us.
Hallelujah!
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