Pertanyaan: 709. Apakah merasa tertindas oleh rasa dosa yang telah dimaafkan adalah bukti ketidakpemaafan?
Dengan cara apa pun. Anda sebaiknya menganggapnya sebagai bukti kurangnya iman. Anda harus ingat bahwa Anda tidak diampuni karena kesadaran Anda akan pengampunan, tetapi karena Allah karena kasih Kristus telah menghapus dosa-dosa Anda. Allah tidak melanggar janji-Nya. Mereka yang bertobat dan memohon pengampunan karena kasih Kristus, sambil menolak dosa-dosa mereka, pasti diampuni, apakah mereka menyadari fakta itu atau tidak. Jika Anda memiliki hutang yang tidak dapat Anda bayar, dan kreditor Anda membatalkan hutang tersebut, Anda tidak akan khawatir tentang kesadaran Anda sendiri, tetapi akan menerima jaminannya. Singkirkan pikiran-pikiran suram dari diri Anda, dan, bersukacita dalam janji Allah, maju, dengan hati-hati menghindari pengulangan dosa-dosa Anda. Keyakinan akan datang seiring waktu.
Question: 709. Is to Be Oppressed by a Sense of Sin for Which One Has Asked Pardon Proof of Non-forgiveness?
By no means. You should rather regard it as an evidence of a lack of faith. You must remember that you are not forgiven because of your consciousness of pardon, but because God for Christ's sake has blotted out your sins. God does not break his promises. Those who repent and plead to be forgiven for Christ's sake, at the same time renouncing their sins, are assuredly forgiven, whether they realize the fact or not. If you owed a debt which you could not pay, and your creditor canceled that debt, you would not worry about your own consciousness, but would accept his assurance. Put the gloomy thoughts away from you, and, rejoicing in God's promise, go forward, carefully avoiding a repetition of your sins. Assurance will come in time.
