Guilt or Sin - Which Is Our Real Enemy?

I recently read an article that claimed the church is responsible for some abortions because we make women feel guilty when they are unmarried and pregnant.

It's popular to claim that our problem is guilt, not sin. And this argument normally comes up with culturally acceptable sins like premarital sex, abortion, or LGBTQ lifestyles. But this is simply a sophisticated way to blame God for His loving, protective, purposeful commands.

Our sins should cause us guilt:

“Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:8-10

The church is commanded to call people to repentance and restore them to fellowship (1 Corinthians 5:12; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20). Helping someone avoid authentic guilt is ungodly and damaging.

If we feel sorry for ourselves instead of sorry for our sins, we're taking “the way of Cain” who was the Ultimate Pouter. If a woman kills her unborn child and blames the church for making her feel guilty, she's calling God a liar (1 John 1:8-10).

The church should lovingly care for unmarried women so they can give life to their unborn children, but that process must begin with the woman's confession and repentance. 

This is true for all sins. We must honestly face our sins without self-pity or blame-shifting.

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For more on the true meaning of guilt, see Shame, Guilt, Conviction.

To see how this false teaching is used by Boundaries, see No One Should Make You Feel Guilty...Really?

To identify elements of an insincere apology, see 5 Signs of a Fake Apology.  

For some insights into the beauty of repentance, see God is Faithful and Just to Forgive.

It's a great time to buy Wisdom for Life for gift-giving because of the great sales on on Lifeway, Amazon, and CBD.