There is enough radical theology in these two verses to completely destroy the power of guilt and condemnation in the life of every Christian. It is part of Paul’s testimony about his first personal encounter with Jesus.

Among other things, Paul (Saul) was a murderer. If anyone should have been suffering with guilty feelings, Paul was a prime candidate. And yet earlier in the chapter he had declared that he was happy. And he said this while he was in prison!

Many Christians are operating in the prison of their sinful lifestyle. And they can’t testify that they are happy. Instead they feel guilty and inadequate to receive God’s love.

Christians everywhere are out there struggling with guilt and repeatedly going to God to get forgiveness (again and again) for their failures. Their prayer life is full of constantly begging God for forgiveness and begging God for help to live a better life.

I know I’m not making this up because I used to do the same thing!!

But Paul did NOT suffer from these same guilty feelings. And yet he was no better than you or me.

What was it that set him free from guilty feelings? It was remembering what Jesus had said to him when they had first met!

And what had Jesus said?

He painted a picture of how our relationship with God works. And it absolutely doesn’t match the popular narrative of modern religion that ends up being the cause of so much of our guilt today.

You ONLY struggle with guilty feelings IF you don’t understand what Jesus said to Paul. But get what He said here and guilt won’t have a foothold in your life any longer.

The verbs of OPENING eyes, TURNING from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and RECEIVING forgiveness of sins and an inheritance are all one-time actions. They are NOT ongoing or repeatable actions.

Most Christians are stuck in a vicious cycle of constantly opening, turning, and receiving forgiveness. This is completely misunderstanding what God has done for you in Jesus!

You received forgiveness one time, at the very second you accepted Jesus as your Savior. This is not repeated because the forgiveness you received covered ALL of your sin: Past, present, and future!

That sin you will commit later today was already forgiven and applied to you when you first met Jesus and responded to Him in faith. Radical?

Even more radical, the verb SANCTIFIED is in a tense that shows it was 100 percent completed in the past and never needs to be repeated again! Why not?

Because Jesus already completed all of the work for your sanctification (your status of being holy and righteous in God’s sight) at the cross. Your personal performance has absolutely NOTHING to do with your sanctification!

What Jesus told Paul probably doesn’t match what you are being taught. But that’s why you feel guilty and condemned all the time and Paul never did.

Paul was happy. Understand what Jesus told him and you’ll be happy too.

No more guilt! And that’s what I call GOOD NEWS!