Yesterday I shared the account of Peter denying Christ while our Lord was on trial. I think he is an accurate example of most followers of Jesus. We all assume we will never deny Christ, and that was the claim Peter has made.

However, the mere threat of something bad happening causes him to deny knowing Jesus and call down curses on himself (Matt 26). Instead of standing up for his friend, his Rabbi, his Lord, he says “I don’t’ know him. Never met the guy.” That denial makes him guilty. A look from Jesus confronts him with his guilt, and the extreme emotion takes over. It kept Peter from providing a positive witness in that courtyard. It led him to experience anguish and remorse.

This is an important point: When you are guilty, when you are struggling with your feelings of guilt, you won’t be giving a positive witness for Jesus. Peter’s guilt, both the act and the emotion, kept him from being a witness for Jesus.

The best way to be a positive witness for Jesus is to never do anything wrong. Live a perfect life and you will nothing to feel guilty about. Unfortunately, that is not who we are. We are all a bunch of sinners, fallen people who readily identify with Peter. Peer pressure at school or on the job leads to denying Jesus and giving in to unholy emotions. Satan gets hold of your guilt and plays on those feelings. So how should you deal with those feelings of guilt?

First of all, remember that your forgiveness is not based upon how you feel, but on God’s absolute promise. When you put your faith in Jesus, when you believe His death was for you and that His resurrection gives you victory, when you believe that promise, forgiveness is yours. Instead of thinking of it as a sin you committed, you can think of it as a sin forgiven. That enables you to deal with guilt and move on. That is how Peter was able to go on to be a powerful witness for Jesus in the early church.

The problem is that Satan won’t let go. He’ll bring up those unholy emotions, those guilty feelings when you least expect it. Like all of you, I’ve got things I have done in my life that come back to haunt me. I’ve got guilty feelings from things I did thirty and forty years ago that Satan throws in my face from time to time. That is in addition to my sins and failings this week. I’m no good. I can say along with Paul,

“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful flesh.” (Romans 7:18)

What I have to do is remind myself that I’ve been forgiven by God. When those guilty feelings come to the surface, instead of crippling me and keeping me from being a witness, they serve as reminders of just how great God’s grace is. He has set me free.