02/10/2026
We are professed Christians, and yet are we still nervous about entering into the presence of God? Do all the sins in our lives come flooding back, and beads of sweat pop out on our foreheads at just the thought of meeting with the Creator of the Universe? This was the kind of concern the Jews who served in the temple had, and so much so that the priests who were tasked with going into the Holy of Holies would have a rope tied around them... just in case they were struck dead and their body had to be recovered. Yet we are told not to fear because we are cleansed in the blood of Christ; the perfect sacrifice... the Lamb of God. So why are we so nervous?
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:19-23 ESV
One of the most diabolical devices that Satan uses to separate us from God has nothing to do with our current state of sin... it has everything to do with the wake that the forgiven sins in our past lives have left behind. By utilizing our conscience, he uses the memory of our forgiven sins against us and attempts to make them real again. In this way he takes what God has set aside, and through our own doubt in the Word of God, he convicts us with it once more.
Do we go into our places of prayer and ask forgiveness for our sins only to exit and pick that guilt right back up again as if we have never sought forgiveness at all? Do we bring this upon ourselves because we haven’t truly joined God in our forgiveness? Maybe we doubt that He would ever really forgive us for something so embarrassing, or horrible? In doing this we are exhibiting a lack of faith in who Jesus is and we are questioning whether He has actually defeated sin for us. Are we doubting the promise of God... are we going even further and calling Him a liar?
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Psalms 103:11-12 ESV
Our conscience is good when God uses it to convict us of sins we have not repented of, and as it calls us to penitence where we ask for His forgiveness. Yet Hebrews 10:22 calls our conscience evil; why is that? In fact it is only evil when Satan uses it against us, when he uses it to convict us once again for the sins that God has already separated us from. When he uses it to instill this belief in us which is a total fabrication... a complete lie... our conscience turns against us and becomes our enemy.
Jesus is our great priest, our high priest, but He is also the perfect sacrifice... the Lamb of God... the offering that removes the need for any future sacrifice. The cross is the altar on which He was offered up, and by His blood we are forgiven once and for all for our sins. This is the promise of God, this is the cleansing in which we must have an unshakeable faith, and this is the belief we must hold to with all our might. This is also the truth regarding our relationship with God... the truth that Jesus Himself speaks of regarding how we should worship Him.
“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."”
John 4:23-24 ESV
Yet we are often tempted to be nervous when we enter into the presence of God, and in those dark moments of doubt we are wooed by Satan who wishes to convict us of phantom sins.
When my children were toddlers they would occasionally write on the wall in their room. Scrub as we might, we could not remove the crayon, pencil, or ink marks. When this happened Ann and I would scold them, and they would say they were sorry, but then we had to do something more... we had to hug and forgive them and then we had to cover up those marks.
The wall was repainted, the marks were gone, but every so often our children would point to where they had written, remember the wrong they had done, and say they were sorry again. They were feeling convicted by the memory of something that we had already forgiven and erased. This is what Satan would like to do in our lives. He wants to resurrect our past sins and convict us over and over again for those things that God has already forgiven us, and that the blood of Christ has covered. These are phantom sins that now exist solely in our memories. They are shadows of something that is no longer there.
We don’t want our children to be nervous when they come to us. We don’t want old discretions to come up time and time again. We want those things that have been forgiven to remain in the past, to be forgotten completely, and not to taint the relationships we now share. We want hugs, forgiveness, and the paint to remove those things, and we especially want the once unfettered love of God to return to our relationship.
So, let’s resist the temptation of Satan, let’s keep our consciences in check regarding those things that have been forgiven and let the blood of Jesus cover them, and the love, and grace, of our Holy Father triumph. Let’s remain steadfast in our faith by believing without reservation in His promise.
“as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
Psalm 103:12 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your grace and forgiveness. Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who lived, suffered, died, and was resurrected that I might find your perfect forgiveness of my sins. I thank you Merciful Father for removing those sins completely from me. I thank you for your love and desire for me to come before you without trepidation just as I desire my children to come to me. Father, protect me from the dark one who attempts to subvert my conscience, and use it in an unnatural way as he seeks to separate us from one another. Hear my footsteps Father as I walk towards you in Spirit and Truth and smell the sweet fragrance of my prayers as they mix with the incense rising before your throne. Give me confidence and assure me as I come. Let your love meet me on the way as I praise you with every step I take. Remove all doubt father and increase my faith in your Word, and promise, as I enter into your presence... comforted me with your Holy Spirit, and wash me in the blood of your Son Jesus Christ. Holy, Holy, Holy are you, and perfect is your Word in the sacrifice that has freed me of my sins and brought me spotless in Christ before your throne and into eternity in your presence.
“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
Hebrews 10:14-18 ESV
Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes