If you find yourself convicted about your sin, then run to Christ and throw that sin at the foot of the cross. Don’t ignore the Spirit’s working through your convicting conscience, but heed the impulse that drives you to repent so that you can once again enjoy communion with your heavenly Father. As Martin Luther said, the whole of the Christian life is repentance.

This past week, I received an email from a member of our church asking about a Christian’s disposition toward past sins. This dear saint expressed concern about the struggle to feel forgiven through a handful of thoughtful questions. How long should we feel bad about our sin after we’ve repented? If we don’t feel bad, is that a sign that we aren’t forgiven? How can I feel rightly about past sins without turning that feeling into the basis for my forgiveness? What if I don’t feel forgiven?

I’ve copied my response below in the hopes that anyone else struggling with these same questions might be helped.

I will be praying for you – thanks for letting me know how I can direct those prayers. The bitterness and pain of our past sins can feel insurmountable. I know how hard that can be, and I grieve with you for it. Sin always leaves a trail of wreckage, and often in our own feelings about those sins.

It sounds like you are rightly perceiving the tension inherent in forgiveness: “I’m forgiven in Christ, but the sin still happened and I remember it.” So, what do you do with those conflicting feelings? I’m glad to hear that you’re already countering legalistic impulses, like the temptation to turn sorrow for sin into a kind of ticket to salvation, which it was never meant to be. Maybe I can offer you some language to frame how you think about forgiveness that can bring comfort to your heart as you walk in the freedom of Christ.

Forgiveness is God’s gracious promise to completely remove the guilt of our sin when we ask for it. God is eager to forgive undeserving sinners, and his forgiveness is total – as far as the East is from the West (Ps 103:10-12). And the New Testament teaches us that when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (1 John 1:9) because of the death of Christ to pay for those sins (2 Cor 5:21). So, if you have believed in Jesus and repented of your sin, asking God to forgive it, then the Bible tells us that there is no more condemnation (Rom 8:1). For the forgiven, the guilt of sin is really, truly gone. Forever.

To be forgiven, then, means that God, the one whom your sin chiefly offends, is no longer offended. He extinguished the guilt – the wrath your sin deserved – on Christ on the cross (Rom 3:25-26). In Jesus’ earth-shaking words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The right judgment has been rendered for your sin, and God will not exact that punishment again. The guilt of your sin is paid in full at the cross.

Therefore, for any Christian to feel as if they are still guilty before God is, in the most glorious way, incorrect. We sometimes use the language of feeling “guilty” for sin that has been forgiven. But in truth, we should not feel as though God is still angry with us if he is not angry with us! We should not feel like there is a barrier between us and God if he has removed it. If the stone of guilt is rolled away, then all you should see when you look to God is the open arms of your risen Savior. Forgiven, you can cry, “Abba Father!” (Gal 4:6). In that sense, Christians should never feel guilty about past sins for which they have repented.

Read More