How to Live a Sustained and Guilt-Free Life

In this week’s podcast, the subject of guilt steps forward as we march through the first chapter of First Corinthians. Paul writes to this church informing them of a particular thing God will do for all Jesus’ followers. He will sustain them to the end, holding them guiltless on the day of Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as we get into today’s lesson, we will read these set of words again, but we will do it in context. So, here’s the question we’re going to look at today. If God holds us guiltless, why are so many feeling guilt? That this struggle with guilt exists is clear in the following illustration. Gayle Roper wrote an article in Discipleship Journal entitled “I Can’t Forgive Myself What You Need to Know If You Still Feel Guilty.” It’s a good article and you will find it in Discipleship Journal. In the article, Gayle gives the following stories: • Story number one: The note slid under my door and skittered across the floor of my room at the retreat center where I was the weekend speaker. “I had an abortion seven years ago,” it read. “I can’t forgive myself. Can you give me some hope?” • Story number two: A large gentleman wore a Jesus T-shirt and cap and carried a huge Bible, the very image of the eager Christian. “I look good on the outside,” he said. “But inside, there’s all this ugliness. I can’t forgive myself.” • Story number three: A young couple, picture-perfect Christian newlyweds, stared at the floor. “We may have been virgins technically when we married,” he said. “But only by the strictest definition.” “We feel so guilty about the fooling around as we did,” she added. “We can’t forgive ourselves.“¹ People in the church house are struggling with guilt. The good news is the struggle is over. How to Live a Sustained and Guilt-Free Life, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.

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Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.
This week’s call is:

You might need to forgive yourself. The Word is the final judge and the Word says you are not guilty. So, lighten up!

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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.
This week’s question is:

Question: Share a testimony of how you have grown in your understanding of being guilt-free. How did that truth change your life? Share your story in the comments section below.

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 42 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.

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Prayer

Podcast Notes

Well again welcome!
Let’s pray.

Father God, in the precious Name of Jesus, thank you we can live a life from the condemning sins of our past. Thank you, that the struggle concerning guilt is over because of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. It’s a glorious thing indeed. Grant unto us a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of your Word in this area and we thank you for it all, once again, in Jesus Name, Amen.

Guilt-Free: Opening Matters

So we’re headed out today examining God’s Word in First Corinthians chapter one.
Let’s pick this up in verse four.

1 Corinthians 1:4–9 (ESV) — 4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you — 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ

Guilt Free: God Will Sustain You

So, there are two thoughts here that leap off of the pages of our New Testament in verse eight.
First, God promised to sustain us to the very end.
Is that exciting or what?
Second, He holds us guiltless in the day of Jesus.
That has to be good news.
What do these two things mean for our lives?
Well, let’s inspect these two elements closer.
It’s always wise to know what words mean and with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word ‘sustain’ means to make a person firm in commitment.
It means to establish or to strengthen.
So what you have here is God’s promise to every single born-again child of God on Planet Earth.
God will establish every single solitary child of His to the end.
This word ‘sustain’ is the same word found in Second Corinthians one, verse twenty-one.

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 (ESV) — 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Did you hear the word ‘establish’ when we read verse 21?
It’s the same Greek word ‘sustain’ in our key text.
Now think about ‘established in Christ.’
What will God do for your life?
It’s almost sacrilegious to ask this question this but I’m doing so for effect – Jesus is the established one, is He not?
He will sustain you — He will establish you in Jesus — that’s a Bible promise from His heart.
Now, add to that the fact that He will anoint you — that’s every child of God and there are no exceptions.
Add yet again to that He will seal you.
The pile is growing and yet there’s more — He will give you the Spirit as a guarantee that you belong to Him.
Is that marvelous or what?
He will sustain you right to the end — your end.
Your time on Planet Earth.
God is in this life with you.
He will not abandon you — He will not forsake you.
Now, who is ‘you’ in this passage? — He will sustain you. — who is ‘the you?’
‘You’ is the least child of God on the Planet.
‘You’ is the person who may have messed up the most.
‘You’ is the believer carrying guilt like a backpack filled with stones.
But listen now.
God wrote this ‘sustaining’ piece to the church at Corinth.
We already saw the shape that some of the members of this church was in.
They were fighting, quarreling, suing one another, sinning in different ways, and on and on.
That’s the bunch God is saying that He would establish them to the end.
Aren’t you glad to be reading this in your New Testament?
You should because when God wrote this letter to the Corinthians, he also wrote it to you.
That means God will sustain not just a few believers here in this city but all of us?
Not just one of us — all of us.
You may be down on yourself — you may be overly critical of yourself, but God is not in agreement with you. He is not down on you.
He knows your end. God predicted your end.
The Lord already has plans for your life and He knows what He is going to do. What’s that?
He will establish you and sustain you.
And, if anyone knows how to get this done it’s God.
Here are a few more verses on sustaining to help open a window so you see what this is.

Colossians 2:6–7 (ESV) — 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

There’s more good news in that verse — write it down and think on it.

Hebrews 13:9 (ESV) — 9 Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

The word ‘strengthen’ here is the same Greek word for sustain that we’ve been looking at.
Here is God’s message to you — it’s good for your heart, your spirit, to be established by grace and not by foods.
Paul is discussing the foods that the Law forbade the Israelites to eat.
You find those restrictions in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14:3–20 listed as “unclean” foods²

Guilt Free: Sustained Right to the End

Now, the God who sustains you to the end is in you via the Holy Spirit in an active sense.
He will not wait cram everything into at the end of your life.
God is all-knowing.
And, because He is, He declares the end from the beginning.

Isaiah 46:9–10 (ESV) — 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

Man, I love this verse!
God knows your end. He declares it from the beginning because He was there in the beginning in the first place.
Your end is predicted — It is prophesied — sustained and established when Jesus comes.
Glory be to God!
That means when you stand before Jesus on Judgement Day, things will go better than you think!
And why is that?

Guilt Free in the Day of Jesus

It’s because of this second part of First Corinthians 1:8.
Let’s read it again.

who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Greek word guiltless means to be blameless, or irreproachable.³
That means you.
Did you know this is your current state and your ending state?
You’re completely guiltless.

Guilt Free: The Romans Connection

Let’s look at this further in Romans eight.

Romans 8:34 (ESV) — 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Paul wraps up Romans chapter eight with six concluding questions.
Back up to verse 31.

Guilt Free: Six Questions

Romans 8:31–33 (ESV) — 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Question one: What shall we then say to these things? — vs. 31
Two: If God is for us, who can be against us? — vs. 31
Question three: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? — vs. 32
Four: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? – vs. 33
Question five: Who is he that condemns? – vs. 34
And six: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? –- vs. 35.

Guilt Free: Who Can Say You’re Guilty?

Let’s go back to question four in Romans 8:33: ‘Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?’
The Greek word ‘charge’ means accusation or blame.
In a legal sense, the word means to prosecute or take proceedings against.
Listen to this from the Good News Translation.

Romans 8:33–34 (GW) — 33 Who will accuse those whom God has chosen? God has approved of them. Who will condemn them? Christ has died, and more importantly, he was brought back to life.

Who can accuse whom God has approved?
That’s a powerful ‘in your face’ question full of penetrating punch.
Who in this universe can blame or accuse any child of God of wrong-doing when Jesus cleansed them with His precious Blood?
Asking the same thing with different words: Who can say you’re guilty if God says you’re innocent?
That’s a great question.
You know people can say it but they can’t make that accusation stick.
So of course, the answer is no one — no being in the universe can accuse a forgiven child of God — that means no human spirit— that means no evil spirit.
To think that anyone would even dare cast a negative reflection on anyone whom God has justified is amazing.
It can’t be done successfully.
The courts of heaven have declared that a Jesus follower has achieved a standard of righteousness because they are ‘in Jesus.’
You and I are inside of the finished work of Christ.
‘It is all God’s doing — He is the justifier,’ Paul goes on to say.
So, if God says that we are acceptable to Him, it’s impossible for it to be any other way.
Now get this: your guilty conscience can’t even say that you’re not acceptable to Him.

1 John 3:19–20 (ESV) — 19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.

So, what is the feeling that I have?
It’s just that, a feeling.
And, a feeling is not reality.
Now don’t take issue with me here — I didn’t write this.
God established the standard.
He is the presiding judge who has dropped the gavel in the courts of the universe and declared us free of guilt.
So, when the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul asks the question ‘who would lay anything to the charge of God’s elect’, you know what the answer is.
No one can say — nada, zip can utter those words.
Don’t you let anybody put guilt on you.
Jesus is your redeemer — He is your righteousness.
Before your own Master, you stand or fall.
This is what Jesus did for you — this is what God did for you in Christ.
Hallelujah!
God declared us righteous.
Get used to it.
Put on righteousness — wear it like the skin garment that it is.
You are not subject to the wishy-washy courts of human opinion — one day they like you — another day they don’t like you.
Now, this is not audacious talk — it’s Bible talk and a Bible fact.
You are guilt free, my brother and sister.
God’s evidence of this is Jesus own Blood.
God did not justify us on a whim because He just got into the mood one bright sunny day.
Everything was planned from the beginning to the end.

Guilt Free: From Beginning to End

God did not get up one morning from the sleep that He never has because you know that’s what the scripture says — He never slumbers or sleeps…
He didn’t just get up on the spur of the moment or sometimes people call this a whim — and justify us because He was in a good mood that day.
All of this guilt free state was planned before you were ever even thought by your Mom of your Dad.
You know if the devil could have tampered with all of this, you know he would have.
He would have tampered with the jury.
You know, I said this was all a legal thing.
And, it was brilliantly planned to such a high degree — you talk about cloak and dagger stuff!
This whole guilt free thing was totally hidden from the spirit world.
The devils that inspired the crucifixion of Jesus had no clue that as they lowered Jesus into the ground that they were finished.
Read the back of the book.
Three days later God raised Jesus up and you with Him!
Glory! That means the coast is clear!
The legal books of the universe are balanced — we got our get out of jail free card.

Guilt Free: The Fifth Question: Who Is He that Condemns

Now we go to verse 34.

Romans 8:34 (ESV) — 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

The word ‘condemn’ is the same word translated ‘condemnation’ in Romans 8:1.

Romans 8:1 (ESV) — 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

What does the word ‘no’ mean?
Is it possible that God’s ‘no’ could mean any other thing than ‘no?’
No condemnation means just that — no condemnation.
Now, all we need to do is find out what the word ‘condemnation’ means and we are there with something significant.
If someone has condemnation or is condemned that means they’ve received a legal decision of guilt in a criminal case.
That decision comes with the corresponding penalty for the said guilty decision.
Now, if you have ‘no condemnation’ then there’s no legal decision of guilt and consequently no penalty.
So then Paul’s logical question is ‘who is it that condemns?’
That’s Paul’s fifth question.
Who is it that can pronounce a legally guilty verdict against a child of God that God said is not guilty?
The fifth question mirrors the fourth.
Question four: Who can say you’re guilty?
Question five: Who can condemn?
Same question just said a different way — Paul’s driving the point home.
Why the repetition?
Repetition is significant in scripture.
It means importance.
No one can declare you guilty.
So if you are legally guilty free, act like it.
It is Christ that died.
It is Christ who is risen again.
Remember this: to sentence another man as eternally guilty sentencing, one must have the proper credentials for it.
Jesus is the one has died for man’s sin.
The Son of God is the one who spent three days and nights in the heart of the earth.
You would think that with all that — if anyone could declare someone guilty, it would be Jesus.
Jesus Himself did not come as a sent one into the world to bring condemnation.

John 3:17 (ESV) — 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

God, the Father has turned all judging over to this man, Jesus.

John 5:22–23 (ESV) — 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Now look at verse 27.

John 5:26–27 (ESV) — For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

So, no one but the Son of God has the right to condemn and He won’t do it.

Guilt Free: The No Condemnation Life

In fact, believers are instructed in the Word of God never to be the source of heaping on someone personal condemnation.
We’re always to keep ourselves in position to forgive others so as to ourselves qualify for forgiveness.

Luke 6:37 (ESV) — 37 Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Are you obeying this Word of God or are one of a number of illegal judges on Planet Earth?
Many are those who render quick and unsubstantiated verdicts.
Many are those who like to make themselves look good by making you look bad.
Run to Jesus — He will never ever do this.

John 12:47–48 (ESV)— 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

The Word is the final judge and the Word says you are not guilty.
So, lighten up!
Many people deal with guilt by drowning it in drugs and alcohol.

Per the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 29.5 million people ages 12 and older (10.5% in this age group) had AUD — alcoholic use disorder in the past year (that’s 10 percent of the population).⁴

Let’s talk about drug use part.

Among Americans aged 12 years and older, 37.3 million were current illegal drug users (used within the last 30 days) as of 2020.⁵

Of course, I’m not saying that all drug abusers and alcoholics are trying to drown guilt but there is certainly a segment that’s trying to drown something.

Marlon Brando was once young, trim, and handsome. A million girls dreamed of having him. But [at one point in his life] he weighed over four hundred pounds, and he told someone, “I’m sorry for all the harm I’ve done and for all the troubles I’ve brought to others in my life. I’ve never been a good parent or a good husband. I’ve been too busy with my own life to have time for others. Now I’m a guilty old man who’s ashamed of the kind of life I’ve led. There’s nothing left for me except eating.”

Brando was trying to drown guilt with food.
Some try to shift the sense of guilt they have by playing the blame game.
You remember Adam and Eve in the Garden?
What did Adam say to God?
He said, ‘The woman you gave me was the reason for my sin.’
Who are you blaming today for the sense of guilt you have from your failures?
Are you laying blame at the feet of your parents, your spouse or some other significant family member?

Jeremiah 2:22 (ESV) — 22 Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord God.

The ‘there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’ does not work here because this is the Old Testament which is prior to Jesus.
The Lord uses the analogy of using soap to wash away guilt.
Soap won’t get the job done then or now — but the Precious Blood Of Jesus will.
And with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.

Guilt Free: Concluding Illustration

Here’s an illustration to wrap all this up.
One individual wrote…

I have a memory with which I struggled for a long time. Regret mingled with guilt, and any time the memory came to mind, I was spiritually paralyzed, even though I had not fallen into that particular sin in many years. I felt like David when he cried, “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear” (Ps. 38:4). “Oh, God, I’m so sorry!” I’d cry time after time. Then in one of those wonderful moments of God-granted insight, I realized I had no need to ask forgiveness for that particular sin. It had been forgiven years ago, and I had forsaken it. Every time I cried anew for release from guilt, I was denying the effectiveness of Jesus’ death. How dare I demean forgiveness bought at so great a price! This insight was the first step in claiming what was already mine as a child of God. What freedom there is when we accept God’s forgiveness as sufficient, when we act on what we say we believe.

Now Father God, thank you for Jesus —- thank you that we can live the guilt free life. It’s all because of you Father God — it’s all because of you.

How to Live a Sustained and Guilt Free Life
You guys have a great God day and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.

How to Say No Without Feeling Guilty

__________
References:

Discipleship Journal, Issue 99 (May/June 1997). NavPress, 1997. ↩
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 665. ↩
Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. ↩
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohol-topics/alcohol-facts-and-statistics/alcohol-use-disorder-aud-united-states-age-groups-and-demographic-characteristics ↩
https://drugabusestatistics.org ↩

emeryhorvath.com

Equipping people to pursue God's glory

How to Live a Sustained and Guilt-Free Life

Podcast: Light on Life Season Eleven Episode Nine

by Emery Horvath

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Guilt-Free: Opening Matters

Guilt Free: God Will Sustain You

Guilt Free: Sustained Right to the End

Guilt Free in the Day of Jesus

Guilt Free: The Romans Connection

Guilt Free: Six Questions

Guilt Free: Who Can Say You’re Guilty?

Guilt Free: From Beginning to End

Guilt Free: The Fifth Question: Who Is He that Condemns

Guilt Free: The No Condemnation Life

Guilt Free: Concluding Illustration

Listen to the Audio

Click to Listen | Right Click to Download |Subscribe to PlayerFM

Read the Notes

Accept the Challenge

Join the Conversation

Episode Resources:

If you would like to know more about growing in faith, see the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

We are currently teaching in the book of First Corinthians. You can click on the links below to listen to some of these podcasts.

About Emery

Subscribe to the Podcast

Share the Love

Prayer

Podcast Notes

Guilt-Free: Opening Matters

Guilt Free: God Will Sustain You

Guilt Free: Sustained Right to the End

Guilt Free in the Day of Jesus

Guilt Free: The Romans Connection

Guilt Free: Six Questions

Guilt Free: Who Can Say You’re Guilty?

Guilt Free: From Beginning to End

Guilt Free: The Fifth Question: Who Is He that Condemns

Guilt Free: The No Condemnation Life

Guilt Free: Concluding Illustration

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