A believer thinks he is saved by Christ but still feels guilty about his sins so he asks Billy Graham about it. And boy does Billy give a terrible answer this week...
Guilt can be a good thing. I feel that the fact that MM feels guilty about that wrongs he's committed shows that he's human, but also that he has a conscience.DEAR BILLY GRAHAM: I believe Jesus has forgiven me, but I still feel guilty. I haven’t committed any crimes or done anything seriously wrong, but I still feel burdened by this nagging feeling that I don’t measure up. What’s wrong? — M.M.
DEAR M.M.: Let me ask you a question: What has God done with your sins? Does he still hold them against you? Does he still look on you as a guilty, sinful person?So? He already said that he believes that Jesus has saved him. What's the point in reiterating that?
I suspect you know the answer (at least in your mind, if not in your emotions). The answer is simple: God has forgiven all your sins, if you have truly come to Christ and trusted him alone for your salvation.
Look at that sentence again; God has forgiven all your sins, not just some of them!
To put it another way, when Christ died on the cross, all your sins were placed on him, and he took upon himself the judgment that you deserved. The Bible says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
Why, then, do we still feel guilty? One reason may be because we still cling to a particular sin, and we need to repent of it and seek God’s forgiveness and help.What!? Maybe it's because he still did the thing that Jesus supposedly forgave him for. Something that probably hurt another to at least some degree. MM seems to be a moral person with a working conscience. Is Billy seriously suggesting that there's no need to feel bad about your wrongs if Jesus has forgiven you? If so, that's monstrous!
Or some people feel guilty because as children they were told they didn’t measure up to their parents’ expectations, and they have a hard time overcoming those feelings of failure.You mean like a God that Billy Graham says weekly will only accept perfection? A god that says that all are born dirty, broken and deserving of eternal hellfire. Someone like that?
But often we feel guilty simply because we refuse to believe what Christ has already done for us.
Seriously? He's going to come right out and blame the 'victim'?But if God has forgiven us, why should we still feel guilty? Fill your mind and heart with God’s promises of forgiveness. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).Yup, it turns out that Billy was saying there is no reason to feel guilt about past wrongs if you are saved by Christ. How monstrous and immoral! You still hurt people, you still did wrong, yet Billy wants you to simply discard your conscience. Did you run a school bus full of kids into a ravine? No worries! Jesus forgives you, so why feel bad for those suffering families and all the tender young lives you cut short? How horrible of a person would you have to be in order to say that is something you shouldn't feel guilty about? That sounds like the behavior of a deranged sociopath to me!
-Brain Hulk
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