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Feeling Guilty and Being Guilty Are Different
According to the Bible, guilt is objective. Just because you feel guilty does not mean you have actually experienced guilt. On the other hand, just because you don’t feel guilty does not mean you have no guilt! Guilt is not an emotion, it is an objective status. You have probably heard people say things like, “Don’t you feel guilty?” Or, “I don’t feel guilty about that.” What they are actually talking about is what the Bible describes as the conscience. The conscience and guilt are related, but they are two separate concepts. The conscience is supposed to tell you when you have guilt, but sometimes feeling guilty can be confused with actual guilt. This is why it is important for the Bible to form our definitions. The Essence of Guilt According to the Bible The main word used to describe guilt in the Old Testament is asham (אשׁם). Within the…
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You Shall Not Bear False Witness
The ninth commandment prohibits bearing false witness (Exod 20:16). In many Christian circles this prohibition ends up simply being summarized as, “Don’t lie.” But there is a depth behind the ninth commandment that goes beyond just how we speak. The ninth commandment is intended to promote an entire lifestyle. Most people understand the prohibition against bearing false witness as a simple prohibition against speaking falsehood, yet this commandment is centered in a very specific context. The language which is used in this commandment centers around the legal setting in a court case. In Israel, as with the rest of the ancient Near East, a witness was essential to ensuring justice was carried out. In fact, the penalties for many ancient Near Eastern civilizations were harsh for any witness that construed the facts wrongly. Death was even a possible consequence for a false witness. On the other hand, some civilizations prized…
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The Illegal Trial of Jesus
One of the things that has always fascinated me is the rule of law and how trials operate to either convict or acquit the accused. Jewish law in particular had specific guidelines for how trials should be conducted. Violation of these guidelines was to be viewed as an illegal practice and a miscarriage of justice. But that didn’t stop the Jewish leadership from conducting an illegal trial against the Son of God. The illegal trial of Jesus, as reported by the Gospels is evidenced in many ways. Since I’ve been reading through Will Varner’s Passionate about the Passion Week (see the podcast interview here), I thought I would post a few of his observations about the illegal nature of Jesus’ trial. Although Varner notes there were many illegal aspects of the trial of Jesus, here are a few of the more prominent illegalities. The trial of Jesus was illegal because…