Where is guilt in the Bible?

[Nelka]

We believe that when we sin guilt attaches to us, after confession the sins are absolved but the guilt remains.

My Protestant colleague (OSAS) wants to know where this guilt remaining after sins forgiven is in the Bible.

Thanks.

 

[hymin]

“And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.” (Mt 12:32) Pope Saint Gregory the Great cited this verse to give evidence to purgatory.

“know you not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Cor 6:3) According to the Angelic Doctor, this refers to “judgment of comparison” (STh Sup. q. 89, a. 8, Rep. 1) that in which some souls of the saints will merit more than a segment of angels. This scenario is an effect of how the elect chooses to deal with the remaining consequences of sin. The agent of this effect would be the knowledge of the moral act, that in which the bible alone fails to satisfy.

 

[hymin]

“Thou hast no part nor lot in this matter. For thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Do penance therefore for this thy wickedness; and pray to God, that perhaps this thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee. For I see thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bonds of iniquity. Then Simon answering, said: Pray you for me to the Lord, that none of these things which you have spoken may come upon me.” (Acts 8: 21-24) These words from the Prince of Apostles presents to the reader, that a contrite heart in the face of the power of the keys (power to forgive sins) is not sufficient at the moment of admission, rather satisfaction has to be made.

 

[1neophyte]

We believe that when we sin guilt attaches to us, after confession the sins are absolved but the guilt remains.

My Protestant colleague (OSAS) wants to know where this guilt remaining after sins forgiven is in the Bible.

Thanks.

Really?

 

[Wesrock]

In 2 Samuel we see that God has forgiven David. Even so, God still administered temporal punishment to him. The sin was removed, the punishment remained.

2 Samuel 12: 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die.”

And Judas Maccabees believed that his soldiers who fell in sin had hope in the resurrection and so made atonement for their sins which they still had guilt for.

2 Maccabees 12: 41 So they all blessed the ways of the Lord, the righteous Judge, who reveals the things that are hidden; 42 and they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out. And the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. 43 He also took up a collection, man by man, to the amount of two thousand drachmas of silver, and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. In doing this he acted very well and honorably, taking account of the resurrection. 44 For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead. 45 But if he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.

 

[Wesrock]

This scriptural exegesis by Pope St. Gregory the Great (who was pope from 590 to 604 AD) provides some early Church understanding to certain scriptural passages:

Our Lord saith in the Gospel: Walk whiles you have the light: and by his Prophet he saith: In time accepted have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I holpen thee: which the Apostle St. Paul expounding, saith: Behold, now is the time acceptable; behold, now the day of salvation. Solomon, likewise, saith: Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, work it instantly: for neither work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom shall be in hell, whither thou dost hasten. David also saith: Because his mercy is for ever. By which sayings it is plain, that in such state as a man departeth out of this life, in the same he is presented in judgment before God. But yet we must believe that before the day of judgment there is a Purgatory fire for certain small sins: because our Saviour saith, that he which speaketh blasphemy against the holy Ghost, that it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. Out of which sentence we learn, that some sins are forgiven in this world, and some other may be pardoned in the next: for that which is denied concerning one sin, is consequently understood to be granted touching some other. But yet this, as I said, we have not to believe but only concerning little and very small sins, as, for example, daily idle talk, immoderate laughter, negligence in the care of our family (which kind of offences scarce can they avoid, that know in what sort sin is to be shunned), ignorant errors in matters of no great weight: all which sins be punished after death, if men procured not pardon and remission for them in their lifetime: for when St. Paul saith, that Christ is the foundation: and by and by addeth: And if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: the work of every one, of what kind it is, the fire shall try. If any man’s work abide which he built thereupon, he shall receive reward; if any mans work burn, he shall suffer detriment, but himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. For although these words may be understood of the fire of tribulation, which men suffer in this world: yet if any will interpret them of the fire of Purgatory, which shall be in the next life: then must he carefully consider, that the Apostle said not that he may be saved by fire, that buildeth upon this foundation iron, brass, or lead, that is, the greater sort of sins, and therefore more hard, and consequently not remissible in that place: but wood, hay, stubble, that is, little and very light sins, which the fire doth easily consume. Yet we have here further to consider, that none can be there purged, no, not for the least sins that be, unless in his lifetime he deserved by virtuous works to find such favour in that place. (Dialogues IV.39.)

 

[Wesrock]

Saint Augustine alludes to the burning from 1 Corinthians 3:15 also:

Accordingly, if any Christian man loves a harlot, and, attaching himself to her, becomes one body, he has not now Christ for a foundation. But if any one loves his own wife, and loves her as Christ would have him love her, who can doubt that he has Christ for a foundation? But if he loves her in the world’s fashion, carnally, as the disease of lust prompts him, and as the Gentiles love who know not God, even this the apostle, or rather Christ by the apostle, allows as a venial fault. And therefore even such a man may have Christ for a foundation. For so long as he does not prefer such an affection or pleasure to Christ, Christ is his foundation, though on it he builds wood, hay, stubble; and therefore he shall be saved as by fire. For the fire of affliction shall burn such luxurious pleasures and earthly loves, though they be not damnable, because enjoyed in lawful wedlock. And of this fire the fuel is bereavement, and all those calamities which consume these joys. Consequently the superstructure will be loss to him who has built it, for he shall not retain it, but shall be agonized by the loss of those things in the enjoyment of which he found pleasure. But by this fire he shall be saved through virtue of the foundation, because even if a persecutor demanded whether he would retain Christ or these things, he would prefer Christ. (City of God, XI.26)

And other Catholic thoughts he had:

I do not tell you that you will live here without sin; but they are venial, without which this life is not. For the sake of all sins was Baptism provided; for the sake of light sins, without which we cannot be, was prayer provided. What has the Prayer? “Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” Once for all we have washing in Baptism, every day we have washing in prayer. Only, do not commit those things for which you must needs be separated from Christ’s body: which be far from you! For those whom you have seen doing penance, have committed heinous things, either adulteries or some enormous crimes: for these they do penance. Because if theirs had been light sins, to blot out these daily prayer would suffice. In three ways then are sins remitted in the Church; by Baptism, by prayer, by the greater humility of penance; yet God does not remit sins but to the baptized. The very sins which He remits first, He remits not but to the baptized. When? When they are baptized. The sins which are after remitted upon prayer, upon penance, to whom He remits, it is to the baptized that He remits. (Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed)

He, however, is not unreasonably said to walk blamelessly, not who has already reached the end of his journey, but who is pressing on towards the end in a blameless manner, free from damnable sins, and at the same time not neglecting to cleanse by almsgiving such sins as are venial. For the way in which we walk, that is, the road by which we reach perfection, is cleansed by clean prayer. That, however, is a clean prayer in which we say in truth, “Forgive us, as we ourselves forgive.” (Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness, IX)

 

[Pug]

the sins are absolved but the guilt remains

To be clear, the guilt has been forgiven in confession. No guilt remains. Rather, your colleague is asking about temporal punishment/consequences. Eternal punishment is gone. Temporal might remain.

An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven…

 

[De_Maria]

Hello Nelka,

We believe that when we sin guilt attaches to us, after confession the sins are absolved but the guilt remains.

My Protestant colleague (OSAS) wants to know where this guilt remaining after sins forgiven is in the Bible.

Thanks.

The answer is in how guilt is defined. Let’s look at a dictionary:

guilt
ɡilt/Submit
noun

1. the fact of having committed a specified or implied offense or crime.
   “it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner’s guilt”
   synonyms: culpability, guiltiness, blameworthiness; More
   verbinformal

So, let’s take an example from natural life. Say that a person robs a bank, gets caught, is found guilty of the crime and goes to jail. Many years later, he has paid for his crime and is released from jail.

Does the record show that he never committed the crime? Or does the record show that he committed the crime and paid for it?

In the same way, when God forgives us of our sins, except for one exception, there is no indication that the record is expunged.

So, what is the one exception? Baptism. When we turn to God and are Baptized, we are washed of our sins and made into new creatures. Therefore, our sins are expunged and guilt does not remain. That is why, if we commit any sins after Baptism, we must pay for them in this life or be cleansed of them in the next.

Oh, you also asked:

My Protestant colleague (OSAS) wants to know where this guilt remaining after sins forgiven is in the Bible.

In the OT, we find it in the occasion when King David committed adultery with Bathsheba. Note that after he was forgiven, he still had to pay for his sin in this life.

a. His child turned against him.
b. One of his children raped his daughter.
c. His own child had sex with King David’s wives in plain sight of all Israel.
d. A man came out of nowhere and cursed David in front of his army.

David knew that these things had happened because of his guilt:

2 Samuel 12: 9 Why have you despised the Lord and done what is evil in his sight? …10 Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11 Thus says the Lord: I will bring evil upon you out of your own house. I will take your wives before your very eyes, and will give them to your neighbor: he shall lie with your wives in broad daylight.

If you read the rest of 2 Sam, you’ll find that all these things happened to King David.

Of course, your OSAS friend might deny this because it isn’t in the New Testament.

Galatians 6:7 Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, 8 because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit.

Every man will pay for their sins and be rewarded for their good deeds.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.

I hope that helps.