Guilt
by Ellen White
They cannot understand how our sins can be removed by the Substitute, and Christ's
righteousness imputed to sinners deserving of wrath. The mind faints in its effort to
define it, to comprehend it. But has not God said it? Has He not plainly stated in His
Word that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ does expiate human guilt? [Rom. 3:24-26 quoted.]
[282.9] Is not this a true declaration of God? We must take it as such.... [283.0] We can
see it no better and can do no better than to believe God is true. He says it and it must
be so. Take the gracious gift in the promises of God, believe all the Scripture tells us,
although you cannot explain it and no one can explain it to you. Herein is faith put to
the stretch. Christ died for the ungodly [Rom. 5:6].... [283.4] Souls [at Chicago, April
89] are depending on the promises of the gracious power of Jesus Christ to combine with
human effort. They move by faith, not by feeling. Such efforts God owns [acknowledges].
1888 280FF (4-7-89)
I have since thought that many inmates of insane asylums were brought there by
experiences similar to my own. Their consciences were stricken with a sense of sin, and
their trembling faith dared not claim the promised pardon of God. They listened to
descriptions of the orthodox hell until it seemed to curdle the very blood in their veins,
and burned an impression upon the tablets of their memory. Waking or sleeping, the
frightful picture was ever before them until reality became lost in imagination, and they
saw only the wreathing flames of a fabulous hell and heard only the shrieking of the
doomed. Reason became dethroned, and the brain was filled with the wild fantasy of a
terrible dream. Those who teach the doctrine of an eternal hell would do well to look more
closely after their authority for so cruel a belief. 1T 25
Some are indulging lustful appetite which wars against the soul and is a constant
hindrance to their spiritual advancement. They constantly bear an accusing conscience, and
if straight truths are talked they are prepared to be offended. They are self-condemned
and feel that subjects have been purposely selected to touch their case. They feel grieved
and injured, and withdraw themselves from the assemblies of the saints. They forsake the
assembling of themselves together, for then their consciences are not so disturbed. They
soon lose their interest in the meetings and their love for the truth, and, unless they
entirely reform, will go back and take their position with the rebel host who stand under
the black banner of Satan. If these will crucify fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
they will get out of the way, where the arrows of truth will pass harmlessly by them. But
while they indulge lustful appetite, and thus cherish their idols, they make themselves a
mark for the arrows of truth to hit, and if truth is spoken at all, they must be wounded.
Some think that they cannot reform, that health would be sacrificed should they attempt to
leave the use of tea, tobacco, and flesh meats. This is the suggestion of Satan. It is
these hurtful stimulants that are surely undermining the constitution and preparing the
system for acute diseases by impairing Nature's fine machinery and battering down her
fortifications erected against disease and premature decay. 1T 548
Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging their guilt have not
yet fulfilled the first condition of acceptance. If we have not experienced that
repentance which is not to be repented of and have not confessed our sin with true
humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit, abhorring our iniquity, we have never sought
truly for the forgiveness of sin; and if we have never sought, we have never found the
peace of God. The only reason why we may not have remission of sins that are past is that
we are not willing to humble our proud hearts and comply with the conditions of the word
of truth. There is explicit instruction given concerning this matter. Confession of sin,
whether public or private, should be heartfelt and freely expressed. It is not to be urged
from the sinner. It is not to be made in a flippant and careless way or forced from those
who have no realising sense of the abhorrent character of sin. The confession that is
mingled with tears and sorrow, that is the outpouring of the inmost soul, finds its way to
the God of infinite pity. Says the psalmist: "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of
a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." 5T 636
The people of God are here [Zechariah, chapter 3] represented as a criminal on trial.
Joshua, as high priest, is seeking for a blessing for his people, who are in great
affliction. While he is pleading before God, Satan is standing at his right hand as his
adversary. He is accusing the children of God and making their case appear as desperate as
possible. He presents before the Lord their evil doings and their defects. He shows their
faults and failures, hoping they will appear of such a character in the eyes of Christ
that He will render them no help in their great need. Joshua, as the representative of
God's people, stands under condemnation, clothed with filthy garments. Aware of the sins
of his people, he is weighed down with discouragement. Satan is pressing upon his soul a
sense of guiltiness that makes him feel almost hopeless. Yet there he stands as a
suppliant, with Satan arrayed against him. COL 166
The paralytic found in Christ healing for both the soul and the body. The spiritual
healing was followed by physical restoration. This lesson should not be overlooked. There
are today thousands suffering from physical disease, who, like the paralytic, are longing
for the message, "Thy sins are forgiven." The burden of sin, with its unrest and
unsatisfied desires, is the foundation of their maladies. They can find no relief until
they come to the Healer of the soul. The peace which He alone can give would impart vigour
to the mind, and health to the body. DA 270
Had they known that they were putting to torture One who had come to save the sinful
race from eternal ruin, they would have been seized with remorse and horror. But their
ignorance did not remove their guilt, for it was their privilege to know and accept Jesus
as their Saviour. DA 744
We should not try to lessen our guilt by excusing sin. We must accept God's estimate of
sin, and that is heavy indeed. Calvary alone can reveal the terrible enormity of sin. If
we had to bear our own guilt, it would crush us. But the sinless One has taken our place;
though undeserving, He has borne our iniquity. "If we confess our sins," God
"is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). MB 116
The love which Christ diffuses through the whole being is a vitalising power. Every
vital part--the brain, the heart, the nerves--it touches with healing. By it the highest
energies of the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt and sorrow,
the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces. With it come serenity and composure. It
implants in the soul, joy that nothing earthly can destroy--joy in the Holy
Spirit--health-giving, life-giving joy. MH 115
Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the
life-forces and to invite decay and death. MH 241
None need abandon themselves to discouragement and despair. Satan may come to you with
the cruel suggestion, "Yours is a hopeless case. You are irredeemable." But
there is hope for you in Christ. God does not bid us overcome in our own strength. He asks
us to come close to His side. Whatever difficulties we labour under, which weight down
soul and body, He waits to make us free. MH 249
He has borne the burden of our guilt. He will take the load from our weary shoulders.
He will give us rest. The burden of care and sorrow also He will bear. He invites us to
cast all our care upon Him, for He carries us upon His heart. MH 71
God justly condemns all who do not make Christ their personal Saviour; but He pardons
every soul who comes to Him in faith and enables him to work the works of God, and through
faith to be one with Christ. . . . The Lord has made every provision whereby man may have
full and free salvation and be complete in Him. God designs that His children shall have
the bright beams of the Sun of righteousness, that all may have the light of truth. God
has provided salvation for the world at infinite cost, even through the gift of His
only-begotten Son. The apostle asks, "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?" (Romans
8:32). Then if we are not saved, the fault will not be on the part of God, but on our
part, that we have failed to co-operate with the divine agencies. Our will has not
coincided with God's will. RH NOV 1, 1892
God does not regard all sins as of equal magnitude; there are degrees of guilt in His
estimation, as well as in that of man; but however trifling this or that wrong act may
seem in the eyes of men, no sin is small in the sight of God. Man's judgement is partial,
imperfect, but God estimates all things as they really are. The drunkard is despised and
is told that his sin will exclude him from heaven; while pride, selfishness, and
covetousness too often go unrebuked. But these are sins that are especially offensive to
God, for they are contrary to the benevolence of His character, to that unselfish love
which is the very atmosphere of the unfallen universe. He who falls into some of the
grosser sins may feel a sense of his shame and poverty and his need of the grace of
Christ; but pride feels no need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the
infinite blessings He came to give. SC 30
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