“Repent [guilt], then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out [grace], that times of refreshing [growth] may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19, NIV 1984).
My Musings – Been listening to a book on Creeds, Councils and Catechisms. Not a familiar topic in the evangelical community I was raised in, but quite interesting. Today it was the Heidelberg Catechism. The author summarized it with three words — guilt, grace and growth.
- Guilt – The guilt over our sin should lead us to repentance. Not a very popular topic these days.
- Grace – This Godly sorrow paves the way for receiving Christ as our personal Savior, available only through God’s grace. It cannot be earned by living a “good” life or doing “good deeds,” which seems to be the prevailing opinion. That and multiple “paths.”
- Growth – A genuine conversion experience cannot help but result in a transformed life through spiritual growth, becoming increasingly like our Savior. Lack of growth and lack of a transformed life is likely an indication that the so-called conversion experience was not genuine.
My Advice – The only way to deal with guilt is repentance. The only way to come to God is through His grace. The only possible result is a transformed life. These may be “only,” but they are available to all.
