Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite Christian writers. I found this quote from him not too long ago in one of his books and felt compelled to share it. It is very Spurgeon-esque in that it is profoundly true and beautifully written:
“You might as well hope to see with your ears or taste with your eyes or hear with your nose as to believe by feeling: it is the wrong organ. After you have believed, you can enjoy salvation by feeling its heavenly influences, but to dream of getting a grasp of it by your own feelings is as foolish as to attempt to carry the sunlight in the palm of your hand or the breath of heaven between the lashes of your eyes. There is an essential absurdity in the whole affair.”
-Charles Spurgeon
He goes on to say “Mature men come to think less and less of their present emotions as they reflect upon the little reliance that can be safely placed in them.” And a few sentences later: “Feelings are a set of cloudy, windy phenomena that cannot be trusted in reference to the eternal truths of God.”
There’s a wealth of application that can be drawn from the truth of these words. Feelings, as he said, are the wrong organ for belief. There’s one specific application that I’ve come to grips with over the past year, and that refers to confessed sin and guilt. When we sin, there is often a tremendous guilt on our conscience. We pray and confess our sins to God, but sometimes we arise in as much despair as caused us to drop to our knees in the first place. Our joy will return after a day or two, or a few days, however long it takes to feel like our sins have been washed off. But in this is an inherent sin. We are trusting time to be our savior, and not Jesus Christ.
There’s a powerful principle I’ve learned over the past year: Rely on what the Bible SAYS, not on what you FEEL. For example, with confession it looks like this. I sin. I confess that sin to God and ask for forgiveness. I still feel like crap. I don’t feel forgiven. But God’s word says
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:9
It says,
“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” -Psalm 32:5
God has promised that if we confess our sins, he forgives. Right then. Right there. Upon confession, regret of the sin may remain (and should always), but any remaining guilt is to be discarded. Post-confession guilt is satanic. You may not FEEL forgiven, but God’s word SAYS that you are forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness. To wallow in guilt any more is to deny the Word of God. I’ve begun to train myself to bank on what the Bible says about me and not on what I feel. So now when I sin, I strive to acknowledge it, confess it, ask for forgiveness, thank God for Jesus’ atonement for my sins, get up, walk away, and dwell on it no more. That’s it. It’s done. The demon Screwtape said it well:
“Even of his sins the Enemy does not want him to think too much: once they are repented, the sooner the man turns his attention outward, the better the enemy is pleased.”*
Post-confession guilt hampers spiritual service. Discard it. Confess your sins and trust in what God’s word says. Make the Bible your trust, not fickle emotions. And echo the words of Micah when Satan tempts you with guilt:
“Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.”
-Micah 7:8
*”The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis. Letter 14.
