John 8:31-32
“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

How wonderful that God gave us His Word, the Bible, so that we can know the truth and be set free! God loves us and desires a personal relationship with us. He created us to have quiet, still, and peaceful hearts and minds. This allows us to focus and hold onto God’s Word (Proverbs 4:20-23). It enables us to hear when He speaks to us with a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12).

Our enemy, Satan, is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). He actively works to get us to accept wrong beliefs and attitudes that would keep us from having a close relationship with God.

Satan is also called the devil, which mean “slanderer”. He continually accuses us of past and present sins. He wants us to focus on these accusations so our minds will be paralyzed with guilt, regret, and condemnation.

How can we avoid falling into Satan’s “guilt trap”? How can we be set free if we’re already in the trap? God has one answer: know the truth, and act on it. His Word reveals the steps we need to take to be free from the power of sin and condemnation.

1. Believe the Word of God.
The first step is to believe what the Bible says about our human sin problem and God’s solution. We have all sinned. Sin is choosing to rebel against God. It separates us from Him. God’s holiness requires that sin must be punished. The wages of sin is death! God loves us. He provided the remedy for our sin problem. Out of love for us, God sent His own Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for our sins through His death on the cross. Then He raised Him from the dead so that we might be free from sin and death.

When we turn from sin and trust in Christ, God forgives us and brings us into a personal relationship with Him. Read Psalm 103:11-13 here or in your own Bible. It is a beautiful picture of God’s love.

2. Receive.
Receive Christ. Have you accepted what Christ has done for you? Have you turned from sin and trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior? You can find out more about how to receive Christ by reading “How Can I Know God?”

3. Understand.
Understand what God does for you when you turn to Christ. He puts an end to your old, sinful life and gives you a new, righteous life in Christ. He gives you a new identity and a new position in Christ.

God washes away all your past sins (1 Corinthians 6:11). He removes them far from you, “as far as the east is from the west”, and He remembers them “no more” (Psalm 103:12; Hebrews 10:17).

God justifies you. He declares you “not guilty”, just as if you had never sinned (Colossians 2:13,14).

God gives you His Holy Spirit. The Holy Sprit does a miraculous, regenerating work in your heart (Titus 3:5). He helps you learn to live a holy life that pleases God (Romans 8:13).

God unites you with Christ in His death on the cross and His burial, so that you die to sin (Romans 6:6,7). He unites you with Christ in His resurrection, so that you are risen to a new life “in Christ” (Romans 6:5-11). When God looks at you, He sees you as righteous because you are united with Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21
“[God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

You cannot earn this righteousness, and you don’t deserve it. God does this work because He loves you. Your position in Christ never changes. God always accepts you because you are “in Christ”.

4. Forgive.
Accept God’s forgiveness. Forgive yourself of past sins. If you have accepted Christ, God has washed away all your past sins and removed them from you. He has forgiven you, and He wants you to forgive yourself. If you refuse to forgive yourself, that is not humility. It is pride, thinking that you know better than God. God wants you to be free. Your enemy Satan wants to keep you in bondage with guilt, regret, and condemnation.

Romans 8:1
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

5. Pray and confess.
Confess your sins to God. The Bible makes it clear that those who willfully continue to sin, those who practice it as a lifestyle, do not know God and are not born of Him. Yet, while you are on the earth, you are subject to temptation and may sometimes yield. Continue in God’s Word, and obey it by the power of the Holy Spirit. This will help you live free from sin.

Your peace will increase if you daily ask God to search your heart and show you any sin in your life (Psalm 139:23,24). When you sin, follow God’s instructions in 1 John 1:9.

1 John 1:9
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Through faith in Christ, you are set free from sin. You don’t have to live with guilt, regret, and condemnation. You can have a quiet, still, and peaceful mind that allows you to memorize and keep God’s Word in your heart. Your relationship with God will deepen and you will learn to live a life that pleases Him.

Read a short testimony here of how a minister was set free from paralyzing guilt.

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