The year was 2005. The hallways of the attractive suburban nursing home normally tended to be fairly quiet, but on that day there was something tragic to behold: An aged gentleman, sitting in his wheelchair, hunched over and sobbing loudly. In some ways, it was a bit surprising to see this male individual so much more distraught than the other residents—most of them women, who by nature might have been more likely to express some kind of emotional distress or grief. The man did not seem to show any outward signs of physical pain—and so many other residents were lonely, having few or no visits from family or friends. Yet this man’s daughter came to see him almost daily. Life seemed better for him than for many of the other patients there.

What was the problem? Why was he weeping? Pulling up a chair to sit beside him, I gently approached him to find out what was on his mind.

“I was a soldier in World War II —and I killed many men there,” he explained in horror as he shook his head almost in disbelief. “And I feel so bad—so guilty.”

Here it was 60 years after the war, yet the heart of this Catholic gentleman was wrenching with remorse over actions carried out in the distant past. I then spent some moments sharing with him about the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ—the comforting news about the sin-pardoning Saviour who is willing and able to forgive even the darkest chapters of our experience. The gentleman seemed to appreciate the words of faith and reassurance, and we had prayer together, claiming the promises of a merciful, compassionate God.

The next day, upon my return to see how the man was doing, once again he was crying. When I inquired to know what was on his mind, he again said woefully: “I was a soldier in World War II—and I killed many men there . . . and I feel so bad—so guilty.”

What had happened? God was certainly willing to forgive this poor soul, but—perhaps due to short-term memory loss often characteristic of aging—his long-term memory did not allow him to forget the evil and/or forgive himself.

What about us? Although most of us are not as old as he (and therefore not as weakened physically and mentally), do we sometimes do the same to ourselves?

The psalmist David describes his suffering from the agony of guilt and unconfessed sin with the following words: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer” (Psalm 32:3, 4).

Sin is indeed a plague that crushes. It’s amazing—the burden of guilt is so heavy, yet before we committed the evil deed, the enemy of souls made us think it was such a light matter—just a little thing. It is afterwards that we see how badly we were fooled! This is the lot of fallen humanity. As part of their job, psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors seek to help people with this perpetual problem. Some try to obliterate the sin by telling the patients that their deficiencies are all the fault of someone else. Often there is partial truth in their claim—sadly, the world has plenty of genuine victims. But it is also true that each of us carries some guilt in life, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Yes, sin indeed brings remorse—and remorse eats away the life forces.

Even “good” people suffer from this problem. Ellen G. White makes an observation based on her own experience in early youth:

“When I reflected that the Creator of the universe would plunge the wicked into hell, there to burn through the ceaseless rounds of eternity, my heart sank with fear, and I despaired that so cruel and tyrannical a being would ever condescend to save me from the doom of sin.

“I thought that the fate of the condemned sinner would be mine, to endure the flames of hell forever, even as long as God Himself existed. This impression deepened upon my mind until I feared that I would lose my reason. I would look upon the dumb beasts with envy, because they had no soul to be punished after death. Many times the wish arose that I had never been born.

“Total darkness settled upon me and there seemed no way out of the shadows. Could the truth have been presented to me as I now understand it, much perplexity and sorrow would have been spared me. If the love of God had been dwelt upon more, and His stern justice less, the beauty and glory of His character would have inspired me with a deep and earnest love for my Creator.

“I have since thought that many inmates of insane asylums were brought there by experiences similar to my own. Their tender consciences were stricken with a sense of sin, and their trembling faith dared not claim the promised pardon of God.”1

Yes, we really need to be “saved” from sin. That’s why Jesus came to this earth. Prophecy foretold that He would “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). And indeed He does! He saves from the penalty, the guilt, and ultimately even the taste for it. There are wonderful passages of Scripture that describe how Jesus cures this horrible problem:

“Behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose, and departed to his house. But when the multitude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men” (Matthew 9:2–8).

“The paralytic found in Christ healing for both the soul and the body. The spiritual healing was followed by physical restoration. This lesson should not be overlooked. There are today thousands suffering from physical disease, who, like the paralytic, are longing for the message, ‘Thy sins are forgiven.’ The burden of sin, with its unrest and unsatisfied desires, is the foundation of their maladies. They can find no relief until they come to the Healer of the soul. The peace which He alone can give would impart vigor to the mind and health to the body.”2

“We should not try to lessen our guilt by excusing sin. We must accept God’s estimate of sin, and that is heavy indeed. Calvary alone can reveal the terrible enormity of sin. If we had to bear our own guilt, it would crush us. But the sinless One has taken our place; though undeserving, He has borne our iniquity. ‘If we confess our sins,’ God ‘is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9).”3

“Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging their guilt have not yet fulfilled the first condition of acceptance. If we have not experienced that repentance which is not to be repented of and have not confessed our sin with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit, abhorring our iniquity, we have never sought truly for the forgiveness of sin; and if we have never sought, we have never found the peace of God. The only reason why we may not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our proud hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth.”4

What is the problem here? Too often the enemy manages to deceive us into thinking that the particular sin of which we are guilty is just a minor matter. Then we don’t bother to see it as anything wrong, and therefore we don’t bother to confess it. That’s a big mistake! Instead, it is safer to go ahead and paint that sin before God in its darkest hue—not try to whitewash it. The danger is not in the size of the sin, for nothing is too big or too dark for Christ to forgive. The danger is in our refusal to admit that it was a sin! If we’re either too proud or too ashamed to face that reality, then we won’t confess it. And if we don’t confess it, the sin remains on record and we go around with a dirty conscience. As a result, our connection with Christ dwindles and we don’t even realize it. That’s no way to live!

1. Prayer for forgiveness is answered instantly!

“In some instances of healing, Jesus did not at once grant the blessing sought. But in the case of leprosy, no sooner was the appeal made than it was granted. When we pray for earthly blessings, the answer to our prayer may be delayed, or God may give us something other than we ask, but not so when we ask for deliverance from sin. It is His will to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children, and to enable us to live a holy life.”5

2. Even if you’re not sure whether something was sin or not, confess it to God just in case it might be!

It may be that the Holy Spirit is trying to bring you to a higher standard in your experience. In your earlier years (or perhaps even last week or yesterday), something may not have appeared to be wrong, but now you’re starting to have a clearer picture of what it means to become truly Christlike in character. The closer we come to Christ, the more things that we thought were harmless we will now recognize as wrong. As sin becomes more hateful to us, we will find ourselves feeling guilty about more things. But again, this new guilt is not for the purpose of making us feel bad just to leave us feeling bad, but rather for us to take the issue to our Saviour so that He can clean us and make us new. This is evidence of the working of the Holy Spirit, or Comforter. Jesus explains that “when [the Comforter] is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). The comforting Holy Ghost reproves/convicts/convinces us that we have done something wrong. Then He also encourages us when we are doing right. He reminds us of the judgment—our ultimate accountability to our Creator. To be at peace with our Creator, we then admit/confess our sin/wrong/defect of character, and He impresses us that by so doing we are now on the right path, properly preparing for judgment through the merits of His mercy.

It’s not enough just to say, “O Lord, forgive our sins,” in a superficial, general way. We need to go to our closet and get to the real point: What did I actually do wrong?

“True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges particular sins. They may be of such a nature as to be brought before God only; they may be wrongs that should be confessed to individuals who have suffered injury through them; or they may be of a public character, and should then be as publicly confessed. But all confession should be definite and to the point, acknowledging the very sins of which you are guilty.”6

We often thank our heavenly Father and think of our Elder Brother, Christ, as our Best Friend, which of course He is. But we do not always thank God for the Holy Spirit as a Friend as well. This Friend pricks our conscience when we do wrong—yes, because He is our Friend. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6).

“The Lord requires us to obey the voice of duty, when there are other voices all around us urging us to pursue an opposite course. It requires earnest attention from us to distinguish the voice which speaks from God. We must resist and conquer inclination, and obey the voice of conscience without parleying or compromise, lest its promptings cease, and will and impulse control. The word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted His Spirit by determining not to hear and obey. This voice is heard in warnings, in counsels, in reproof. It is the Lord’s message of light to His people. If we wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn, and we left in darkness.”7

“One says, ‘My conscience does not condemn me in not keeping the commandments of God.’ But in the Word of God we read that there are good and bad consciences, and the fact that your conscience does not condemn you in not keeping the law of God does not prove that you are uncondemned in His sight.

“Take your conscience to the Word of God and see if your life and character are in accordance with the standard of righteousness which God has there revealed. You can then determine whether or not you have an intelligent faith and what manner of conscience is yours. The conscience of man cannot be trusted unless it is under the influence of divine grace.”8

The apostle explained to the repentant believers at Corinth: “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:9, 10).

Sorrow that works repentance consists of appropriate confession followed by watchful vigilance, lest our frailty should betray us again in the future. In contrast, sorrow that works death is a plague of endless guilt that actually has the audacity to question the ability of the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive.

“The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

“Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life-forces and to invite decay and death.”9

“[The] feeling of guiltiness must be laid at the foot of the cross of Calvary. The sense of sinfulness has poisoned the springs of life and true happiness. Now Jesus says, Lay it all on Me; I will take your sin, I will give you peace. Destroy no longer your self-respect, for I have bought you with the price of My own blood. You are Mine; your weakened will I will strengthen; your remorse for sin I will remove.

“Then turn your grateful heart, trembling with uncertainty, and lay hold upon the hope set before you. God accepts your broken, contrite heart. He offers you free pardon. He offers to adopt you into His family, with His grace to help your weakness, and the dear Jesus will lead you on step by step if you will only put your hand in His and let Him guide you.

“Satan seeks to draw our minds away from the mighty Helper, to lead us to ponder over our degeneration of soul. But though Jesus sees the guilt of the past, He speaks pardon; and we should not dishonor Him by doubting His love.”10

“We have the precious promise that every sin, if sincerely repented of, will be forgiven. To turn to God with contrition of soul, claiming the merits of the blood of Christ, will bring to us light, pardon, and peace. But we must turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, with a decision to be doers of the words of Christ. Our past sins will sometimes come to mind, and cast a shadow over our faith, so that we can see nothing but merited punishment in store for us. But at such times, while we feel sorrow for sin, we should look to Jesus, and believe that He has pardoned our transgressions. [Romans 3:24, 25 quoted.] To those who, though they have repented, are troubled over their past sins, who are tempted to think that perhaps they are not forgiven, Christ says, ‘Go, and sin no more’ (John 8:11). You have found peace with God; through His grace you have entered upon a new life; ‘by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8). Then allow no unbelief to come in. Commit the keeping of your souls unto God as to a faithful Creator; He will keep that which is committed to His trust against that day. Instead of looking inward with regret and despair, look outward and upward in faith. Unless you are constantly fighting the fight of faith, the past will press its shadow over the present.

“Every Christian will have a hard battle to fight with wrong habits. He must overcome his unbelief, his deformity of character, his inclination to self-indulgence. His long resistance of light, warnings, and appeals has left its mark upon his life; and although God has forgiven him, he feels that he cannot forgive himself. He often thinks of what he might have been in physical and moral strength if it were not for that sinful past. But to him I say, ‘Look and live.’ The Lord declares, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.’ ‘As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.’ His promise is, ‘I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more’ (Isaiah 55:9; Psalm 103:11; Jeremiah 31:34).”11 What a marvelous assurance!