Isaiah 6:6-7 ESV  Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Dear Fellowship of the Burning Heart:

There are some things that we know about sin:

1.  Sin’s consequences don’t simply disappear just because we ignore them.

Experience has taught us that this is true. King David was still struggling with the consequences of his unconfessed sins of adultery and murder a year later. The undercurrent of restlessness, shame, and guilt causes turmoil in relationships, outbursts of anger and rage, physical illness, emotional instability, and mental anguish. Until dealt with, the guilt and shame of sin eat away at our internal lives and can ultimately destroy us. Like a volcano, the bubbling cauldron of these internal feelings lie waiting to erupt with violent force unexpectedly.

2.  True guilt is the result of sin and it lingers until sin is dealt with.

God has created us with an internal alarm called the “conscience.” It goes off inside us when we sin and continues to sound until a satisfactory solution is provided. The only way to remove the guilt of sin is to deal with it properly. It can’t be ignored or dismissed. It must be removed. God offers pardon that is genuine, sufficient, and readily available to the repentant sinner.

3.  False guilt lingers when we are unsure that the remedy for sin is sufficient.

False guilt is the kind of guilt that holds us back, even after we have applied the remedy for sin, because we do not trust that the remedy is sufficient. We doubt that the apology is genuine, we wonder about ulterior motives, we cannot believe that forgiveness is possible, we even doubt that God desires to forgive or has provided for our forgiveness. We may feel that we deserve to be convicted or haven’t been punished enough.

4.  Forgiveness that doesn’t deal with the satisfaction of sin’s penalty is hollow and discomforting.

We intuitively know that an “I’m sorry” isn’t enough to satisfy sin’s consequences or our guilt. We struggle to find ways to “repay” the one we have wronged because we feel that we haven’t “atoned” for our sins. We know that there is a price for sin and, until we are convinced it has been paid, we will not be satisfied with less.

5.  The Bible lays the foundation of the satisfaction of sin’s penalty through substitutionary sacrifice.

The consistent message of both Testaments in the Bible portray sin as the problem and sacrifice as the solution. The author of Hebrews reveals the connection most clearly. The continual offering of sacrifices in the Old Testament established both the need for sacrifice and the insufficiency of the blood of bulls and goats to deal sufficiently with sin.

6.  God has provided the sacrifice himself: Jesus Christ his one and only Son is our sacrificial lamb.

This is also the consistent message of the Bible. Abraham experienced in a vivid illustration what God has done for all of us. His son was spared and God himself provided the sacrifice for the altar on Mount Moriah. No wonder John 3:16 is a favorite verse. It describes the gift of God as his Son for our sin.

7.  The release and relief of true forgiveness is a blessed experience.

Psalms 32:1-2 ESV Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Romans 4:7-8 ESV  “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

The solution to Isaiah’s need is provided through the purging of his sin by divine fire from the altar. This is a wonderful comfort for anyone who has seen the Lord and confronted the gravity of sin. Sin must be dealt with and we are not capable of dealing with it ourselves. Thankfully, God has dealt with it for us and is willing to apply the solution to our need, even as Isaiah experienced the purification of his lips with the burning coal administered by God’s angelic servant. The only condition is repentance: a willingness to turn from our sin and receive God’s forgiveness.