March 19, 2017: Guilt and Innocence – Michael Hidalgo

Some claim that the starting point for introducing people to the gospel is that we are guilty. The problem with that is we see guilt as something that will end up condemning us unless we get rid of it all together. We might say, “We must prove our innocence.” So we spend an enormous amount of energy is making ourselves acceptable to God by rendering ourselves not guilty.

 

But there is the possibility that the wrong starting point may well take you the wrong place. What if we began by saying, “You are not guilty.” What if that was our starting point? And what if the invitation was to believe that story? You see, most everyone recognizes their sin, shortcomings, faults and foibles … but the real struggle is believing that’s all been done and taken care of by Jesus on the cross. God got rid of our guilt – free of charge – and he did this for all people. God, in Jesus, has declared a blanket presumption of innocence over every one of us. A presumption based on the fact that he has gone ahead and made us innocent already in his beloved Son.

 

What a mystery.