What Happens to the Guilt?

An interesting discussion erupts in my mind (thanks to a group discussion with others last night) about guilt and possibility that it can be taken away. It all started with a quote from The Living Bible (anytime someone quotes TLB, my skeptical ears perk up. I will not base theological concepts on the TLB alone!). They read Psalm 32: 1-2:
“What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven. What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.”

The discussion focused on how God removes our guilt. Is this true? My sin is on the bottom of the ocean’s floor, as far as the east is from the west (Micah 7, Ps 103). But has he removed my guilt as well?

To understand this passage in Psalms, I need to remind myself of an important fact: Hebrew poetry is based on parallelism. In other words, say something one way, and then say it again in a different way (The clouds are pretty. The sky is beautiful to look at today.) In this poetic sense, the poet uses three terms for sin. You can see this in the NAS and NLT translations (The NLT -New Living Translation- is always preferable over the TLB, because a team of experts actually reviewed Dr. Taylor’s work against the actual texts, and were much more faithful to word choice than Taylor’s previous solo effort). The three terms are basically transgressions, sin, and iniquity. The NAS renders the passage well:

“How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity…”

The first word, transgression, is the same term used in Ps 51.1 (“blot out my transgressions”). It is when we rebel against God. This term is used of sin that is directly against God. Okay, you can argue that all sin is against God. But at times it seems that some sin we purposely commit as a rebellious act. Go ahead and fill in your blanks here.

The second word, sin, is the more common Hebrew word for sin. It means that we’ve missed the mark. This is the definition you’ve heard again and again. I bet you’ve got something to fill in this blank too!

The third word, iniquity, means basically “crookedness.” It comes from the root word that means to bend, or twist. It is a good description of how many of us take something good and bend it into something bad. It’s misusing God’s gift of (go ahead and fill in: sex, food, sports, whatever) for selfish purposes. We twisted it.

BTW, all three terms are also used in the first 2 verses of the classic Psalm 51.

So what about the translation (okay, technically, The Living Bible is not a translation, it is a paraphrase. Even Taylor himself admits that) that says God forgives our guilt. Well, I hate to argue with Ken Taylor, but guilt can’t be forgiven. Your transgression (the real word used) can be forgiven. We sinned/transgressed against God and so he forgives us. However, guilt is the consequence here on earth of that sin. If you murder your grandmother, God will forgive you. But you are still guilty. Even if your parents, your aunts and uncles, and the state in which you live all forgive you, you are still guilty. You will always be guilty. Forgiveness will never change your guilty status of being a murderer.

Does God see you as a murderer? I think when he forgives/covers our sin, he is removing the eternal consequences of that sin. We can still spend eternity with him regardless of how many grandmothers we murder (chew on that thought for a moment). However, our guilt remains with us. Even after you become a Christian, complete a study course, lead a church, and become a upstanding pillar of the community, you are still guilty of murder. Forgiven, yes. Redeemed, yes. Rehabilitated, yes. Useful to the Kingdom, yes. But you are still guilty. God and you both still know it.

So enjoy the fact that your intentional transgressions, missing the mark sins, and crooked iniquity can all be forgiven and removed. However, the quilt that lingers is what reminds us of why we need forgiveness is the first place. My awareness of my guilt keeps me humble and dependent on God’s grace.