Grace Over Guilt: Embracing God's Unconditional Love

We explore the concept of guilt-free faith and how embracing grace can liberate us from self-condemnation. Christ died not just to save us but to empower us, which can only happen when we fully accept grace without exceptions or caveats.

• Grace is unconditional love that covers us regardless of our actions, thoughts, or addictions
• God doesn't keep records of our wrongs—grace obliterates all record-keeping
• Humans naturally keep records of experiences for survival, making grace difficult to comprehend
• When we accept Christ, God no longer sees our broken humanity but Christ's righteousness
• Many religious leaders and others push back against fully embracing grace
• Walking around in guilt doesn't make you a better person
• The enemy tries to diminish grace by convincing us it's conditional
• Clinging to the affirmation that Jesus accepts you just as you are, no matter what

Hang in there, I'm in your corner.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have enough guilt, we have enough hardship.
This is guilt-free faith.
If you're looking for guilt,you're in the wrong spot,
because we don't get down likethat here.
That's not going to make us orshape us into better people.
That's not what's going to helpus seize upon all the things
that Christ died for.

(00:20):
I'm going to talk to you aboutwhat grace is, why some people
call grace a paradoxical concept, why you may feel that way
yourself, and then we're goingto get into how we can get you
out of that paradox and backonto the path to power with
Christ.
I want to eradicate theobsession with guilt,

(00:43):
consciousness, withself-condemnation, with
self-hate, because I don'tbelieve those things lead to God
.
I don't believe they lead toGod's blessings.
Grace is one of the keys tounlocking the power of your
prayer life, your ability toforgive others, to let bygones

(01:03):
be bygones, to get over pastslights.
It's the power to not seeyourself as a wretch but as a
precious soul that Christ hassaved and taken into his
protection and safekeeping.
Because I believe that Christcame not only to save us but to

(01:25):
empower us on earth as it is inheaven, and I don't see how that
can be done without fullyaccepting grace, without any
caveats or exceptions orexemptions like those we often
hear from religious leaders.
When you are forgiven, when youaccept Christ as your Savior,
when you unburden your sins tohim and he takes those on from

(01:48):
you, you are now covered by theunconditional love and grace of
God.
Regardless of what you do, whatyou say, how you treat people,
what you think, what addictionsyou have, what laws you
break—laws of man, laws of thechurch, laws of society you're
covered.
I don't believe that God isrewarding people for shrugging

(02:14):
off the forgiveness they'vealready been given in exchange
for continuing to pick up thisheavy sack of guilt and
self-recrimination.
God doesn't keep records.
Grace obliterates all of thatrecord-keeping.
And that's so contrary to ourhuman experience, because we all
keep records, all of us duringour interactions with people.

(02:38):
We have feelings, we havememories.
Like this isn't a bad thing.
This doesn't make you a badperson.
It doesn't mean that you'resomehow lacking in love or
forgiveness or anything likethat.
As a human being the way we'redesigned, with a nervous system
that feels and reacts to thingsfor our own survival we keep a

(02:58):
record of what's happening, whatthe consequences are and how we
want to move forward.
What the consequences are andhow we want to move forward.
So, for instance, if you knowsomeone that we have dealings
with pulls a gun on us, it's allvery well to forgive them, but
you'd be a fool to forget thatthey're dangerous.
So it could be hard to acceptand eternalize this idea of wow.

(03:19):
You're saying like God willjust not count like these sins
against me anymore, that he'lljust actually forgive me, that
he's not out to punish me like aparent, even a loving parent,
or a manager or a judge.
That's something big to take in.
That's one of the reasons whywe call the gospel the good news
.
Is that is really great news.

(03:40):
Like if you could latch ontothat, if you could hold onto
that, digest that and kind ofkeep that message in front of
your eyes, you will feel a greatdeal of liberation from that
which I believe is what Christwants you to feel.
Christ died for, among otherthings you to feel justified and
peaceful and forgiven and lovedin every single circumstance.

(04:03):
Forgiven and loved in everysingle circumstance, without
exception.
I believe that Christ's love isso overflowing, that it
contains so much empathy and somuch understanding that he wants
you to immediately and alwaysavail yourself of that love,
that kindness, that forgiveness,that generosity.
I'm not convinced that walkingaround in guilt makes you a good

(04:27):
person.
The only way to be a goodperson like, according to our
faith as Christians, is throughthe salvation of Christ, because
once we are saved by Christ,god no longer sees us, the
broken individual.
God now sees Christ'srighteousness, and this is all

(04:48):
biblical.
So in case you're wondering,like Jimmy, you just pulled a
bunch of stuff out of your hatto make me feel better.
No, I'm not doing that, butwhat I am doing is suggesting
that you need to take hold ofthis.
Much more probably than you are.
Most people are not fullyconvinced of the grace message
and when they try to activate it, when they try to call upon it,

(05:10):
when they try to affirm it,people push them back.
It could be a pastor or apriest, or friends or a
committee or whatever.
It doesn't matter who it is.
Generally, you're going to getthat pushback.
People are going to say hey,man, I don't want you forgiving
yourself that freely, I don'twant you accepting God, letting
you off the hook like that.

(05:32):
I want you to suffer a littlebit.
I want you to feel some guilt,I want you to feel the pain of
letting God down.
I want you to feel sad, I wantyou to feel a little bit of fear
.
And again, that's just thehuman spirit talking.
But you have to remember that'salso the enemy trying to tear
down the power that gracerepresents in your life.

(05:54):
The more the enemy can convinceyou that grace is yeah, I mean,
god's like pretty forgiving.
Convince you that grace is yeah, I mean God's like pretty
forgiving.
Or yeah, christ, he died for myforgiveness, but it's a little
bit shaky.
I messed up a little bit toomuch this week, or I committed

(06:16):
that indiscretion or thatinfidelity, or I lied to this
person, or Think of all the waysthat you've disappointed
yourself or disappointed peoplein your life.
Nobody is going to be as good asJesus at saying I understand, I
love you regardless and I'm notcounting that against you.
That's the affirmation I wantto leave you with today.
What I'm encouraging you to sayis I don't know what all the

(06:38):
worldly consequences will be forthis.
I don't know what God will orwon't let me go through as a
result of this or what I've done.
I don't know what friends I maylose or family that may like me
, or what parties I'm going toget disinvited from.
Who's going to break up with me, what that parole board's going

(06:59):
to say?
But you know what?
Jesus died for my salvation andhe loves me and accepts me just
how I am, no matter what.
You have to cling to that andthe harder people are coming at
you, the more dug in you'regoing to have to get into that
affirmation.
Hang in there, I'm in yourcorner.