21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
22 Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
“Our guilt was removed permanently through Jesus’ blood on the cross—never to dominate our lives again.” Michael Youssef
“We came into this world wretched, miserable, and undone creatures, in cruel bondage to sin and Satan, under guilt and under wrath, hostile toward God—the fountain of blessedness—and in a state of condemnation leading to everlasting destruction. But when a man is converted, he is brought out of that state of woe and misery into a sure title to glory, honor, and peace forever. When once a man is converted, all this blessedness that we have heard of is his; he has an absolute right to it. God’s work is accomplished for it; His faithful promise is given.” Jonathan Edwards
“God looked on Christ as if Christ had been sin; not as if He had taken up the sins of His people, or as if they were laid on Him, though that were true, but as if He Himself had positively been that noxious—that God-hating—that soul-damning thing, called sin. When the Judge of all the earth said, ‘Where is Sin?’ Christ presented himself...what a grim picture that is, to conceive of sin gathered up into one mass—murder, lust and stealing, and adultery...and the Father looked on Christ as if He were that mass of sin. He was not sin, but the Father looked on upon Him as made sin for us. Christ stands in our place, assumes our guilt, takes on our iniquity and God treats Him as if He had been sin...How can any punishment fall on that man who ceases to possess sin, because his sin was cast upon Christ and Christ has suffered in his place? Oh, glorious triumph of faith to be able to say, whenever I feel the guilt of sin, whenever conscience pricks me, ‘Yes, it is true but my Lord is answerable for it all, for He has taken it all upon Himself and suffered in my place.” Charles Spurgeon, The King’s Highway
“Christians are rapidly losing sight of sin as the root of all human woes. And many Christians are explicitly denying that their own sin can be the cause of personal anguish. More and more are attempting to explain the human dilemma in wholly unbiblical terms: temperament, addiction, dysfunctional families, the child within, codependency, and a host of other irresponsible escape mechanisms promoted by secular psychology. The potential impact of such a drift is frightening. Remove the reality of sin, and you take away the possibility of repentance. Abolish the doctrine of human depravity and you void the divine plan of salvation. Erase the notion of personal guilt and you eliminate the need for a Savior.” John MacArthur
“Sin is real rebellion against the good Creator of all things and the final judge of all people. In the end, we are all guilty of rebellion against God. Not just the pimp in northern Nepal, but you and me. All of us have turned from God, all of us are guilty before God, and all of us know it. We feel this guilt, and although we inevitable deny it, we instinctively experience it...Yet guilt remains. No matter how hard we try, we can’t successfully erase the sense of ‘ought’ that God has written on the human soul. One need only look in the eyes of a little girl being sold into sex slavery to know that this ‘ought’ not to be, for right and wrong do exist as objective standards for all people in all places at all times. We cannot remove the reality of guilt before God, and this is why we need Jesus.” David Platt
“Satan woos us with pleasantness to seek our bondage (as if self wasn’t enough) and then bites us with guilt and shame. Indeed, his desire is to entice us towards a conduct that would ruin us. He is our enemy not our friend. God, on the other hand, lovingly woos us from “the jaws of distress” - which is every form of sin and captivity holding us tightly, to seek our freedom. Christ came to set us free. We are not to be yoked again to slavery. Make no mistake about it – sin harm’s. Indeed, it is a death sentence. Satan wants us to believe that God is holding out on us, that He does not have our best interest at heart while all the while, through the blood of Jesus, all God seeks to hold out on us is death and destruction.” BHY
“Jesus trumps the devil’s guilt with words of GRACE.” Max Lucado
“There is a difference between brokenness over one’s sin and living in shame for the rest of our days. A broken and contrite heart the Lord will never despise. This means one agrees with the Lord that the sin was wrong and desires not to continue on in it. It is a turning from it into the ways of the Lord through His power, for His glory, for our good. This leads to peace with God which passes all understanding not continued shame over the transgression. Guilt is Satan’s trademark and often keeps the forgiven believer paralyzed in their walk with the Lord believing themselves to be unworthy to be used in kingdom work or even approach the throne of grace through prayer. If Satan can’t keep us from being saved, he desires to keep us from being used and from feeling the comfort of God’s love and forgiveness. Believers are accepted in the Beloved.” BHY