Exodus 20:13-16

Today I would like to continue to share with you some of the other examples of true guilt.

* An evangelist, too often away from home and unhappily married, gave his altar call when a very attractive young woman came forward. This evangelist volunteered to give her time of follow-up and counselling. The eventual result was they had an affair. He divorced his wife and married this woman. According to the law in Deuteronomy 24:1-5 one could divorce his wife for any reason under the sun. But according to Jesus, this evangelist and new wife are living in sin(Matthew 5:31-32). Neither person in this marriage apparently felt any guilt for what they did. This is often the case when one ought to feel true guilt, but doesn't - the person feels nothing. But unless there is an unfeigned repentance, the approval of God will be withheld from this couple. Were they to acknowledge their sin and truly repent, God would forgive them - and they should be able to forgive themselves. They don't need to go back to the past; they can have a future. Divorce as described in this case is truly sin, but God forgives sin. Sadly, this couple felt no conviction of sin whatsoever. It is a case of true guilt; no awareness of sin seems evident. Sometimes people refuse to admit the grossest of sins but dig their heels in instead.

* A pastor's wife became attracted to the worship leader in their church. She began to let him know how she felt. The result was he reciprocated and expressed his feelings for her. They never had any physical involvement with each other, however. It was all in conversations - whenever they could meet or talk on the phone. But in the meantime neither was attracted to their own spouse. Their own marriages were 'dead'. What is more, neither felt the slightest guilt over what was going on; after all, they did not touch each other, much less sleep with each other. But according to Jesus they committed adultery in their hearts because of their lust. What is more, the pastor's wife who initiated the 'affair', actually caused the worship leader to lust after her. This went on for a good while. Eventually they did sleep together. The result was that two marriages and two ministries were destroyed. And as far as we know, there never was a feeling of true guilt!

Extracted from 'Totally Forgiving Ourselves' by R T Kendall