The judicial system of our great land proclaims that one is innocent until proven guilty. Our courts are the arena where one is tried, convicted or acquitted, based on the evidence presented. According to Webster, “guilt” can be defined as a conscience awareness of having committed a breach of conduct, especially violating law and involving penalty – which is the result of one being chargeable, or found “guilty”, deserving of the penalty.
In Genesis 2:16-17 we find God’s commandment to Adam, and the penalty ascribed for breaking God’s commandment,
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
In Genesis 3:1-7 we find that Adam – through willful disobedience – broke God’s commandment,
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”
In Genesis 3:7-11 we also find that Adam [including Eve – because she also ate of the forbidden fruit] became fully conscience of his guilt before God. The “guilt of their sin” drove them to be ashamed, afraid, and they sought to hide themselves from the presence of God. And lest we forget, the penalty ascribed by God was “death” [that is, physical death of the flesh; eternal spiritual separation from God (spiritual death)].
Adam’s sin resulted in God’s decree that all of mankind is guilty and worthy of its penalty [death].
Romans 5:12 states,
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
In Romans 3:10, 23 we read,
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
And in Romans 6:23a we find the eternal penalty for our sin,
“For the wages of sin is death”.
There is no evidence, no plea, that we can bring before God on behalf of ourselves that would cause God to vacate His sentence of death.
However, we do find in Romans 5:8 that God Himself, Jesus Christ, paid our sin debt,
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
But there is one condition. We must become fully aware in the depths of our spiritual conscience that we are guilty and worthy of death before God. Then, through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, trusting and receiving His payment for our sin – the gift of God vacates God’s judgment against us.
Romans 3:24-26 states,
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation [atonement] through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”
The question must now be asked, “Are you still guilty before God – because of your sin of unbelief and the rejection of God’s gift of salvation? Or, have you been justified by God through your faith in Jesus Christ?” If you have never trusted in Jesus [who paid your sin debt] for salvation, we pray that you will do so today.
