Dealing with Guilt

Jerry Bridges in The Discipline of Grace offers this helpful counsel on dealing with our guilt.

Justification is a completed work as far as God is concerned.  The penalty has been paid and His justice has been satisfied.  But it must be received through faith and must be continually renewed in our souls and applied to our consciences every day through faith.  There are two "courts" we must deal with: the court of God in Heaven and the court of conscience in our souls.  When we trust in Christ for salvation, God's court is forever satisfied.  Never again will a charge of guilt be brought against us in Heaven.  Our consciences, however, are continually pronouncing us guilty.  That is the function of conscience.  Therefore, we must by faith bring the verdict of conscience into line with the verdict of Heaven.  We do this by agreeing with our conscience about our guilt, but then reminding it that our guilt has already been borne by Christ. (The Discipline of Grace, 54)

The Gospel

In his book The Discipline of Grace, Jerry Bridges outlines seven truths that we need to clearly understand if we want to understand the gospel.  Bridges derives these truths from Romans 3:19-26.

1. No one is declared righteous before God by observing the law (19-21)
2. There is a righteousness from God that is apart from law (21)
3. This righteousness from God is received through faith in Jesus Christ (22)
4. This righteousness is available to everyone on the same basis, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (22-23)
5. All who put their faith in Jesus Christ are justified freely by God's grace (24)
6. This justification is "through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (24)
7. God presented Jesus as a Sacrifice of Atonement, through faith in His blood (25)

What a message! And what a Savior!