Brian Ceccarelli wrote (that's me):  > Kent, I am not accusing you of evil things.  Jesus is accusing you. > And it is not only you that He is accusing.  He is accusing everyone. > Me, you and everyone in the world is guilty.  Whether one > sees the light or does not seen the light has nothing to do with  > whether we do evil things.  We do them regardless.    Kent Sandvik responds:  > Hmm, it seems that this is the core of Christianity then, you  > have to feel guilty . . .   I think I see where you are coming from Kent.  Jesus doesn't view guilt like our modern venacular colors it.     "Feelings" have nothing to do with guilt.  Feelings arise from the state of  being guilty.  Feeling and guilt are mutally exclusive.  Feelings are a  reaction from guilt.  Jesus is talking about the guilt state, not the  reaction.   Let me give you an example:  Have you ever made a mistake?  Have you ever lied to someone?  Even a little white lie?   Have you ever claimed to know something that you really  didn't know?  Have you ever hated someone?  Have you ever been selfish? Are you guilty of any one of these?   The answer is of course, YES.  You are guilty.  Period.  That is it what Jesus is getting at.  No big surprise.   Feelings do not even enter the picture.   Consider Jesus's use of the word "guilt" as how a court uses it.  Jesus is concerned that everyone should admit that they are guilty of being imperfect.  The Bible calls it the state that we are all sinners.  We all do bad things.  Even the most insignficant thing that we do wrong is proof of our  guilt that we are all sinners.     It is it in our nature to do bad things.  We are sinners, therefore we do bad things.  Being a sinner is fact.  It is not a pleasant fact.  But it is just a fact.  We are not perfect.   Calling us sinners should have no more emotional charge to you than calling you a human being.  Guilty as charged.  > and then there's this single personality that will save you from this > universal guilt feeling.  You can handle your guilt in one of two ways:  Acknowledge you made a mistake, learn from it, and try to not do it again--in the meantime, not punishing yourself for it:  which is the way Jesus wants you to handle or it.  This is the healthy way.  Or two, the destructive way:  put yourself down, slap yourself and feel like crap, never forgive yourself, force yourself to say a thousand Hail Marys . . . even to suicide.  This the way  Jesus does NOT want us to deal with it.   All people fall into this  category to some extent in their lives.  Jesus is not in the business of saving us from this guilt feeling.  Jesus is in the business of showing us how much he loves us despite our guilt.  Jesus knows we are guilty.  That isn't new to him.  It is no big deal to him. He just wants you to realize  that this sinful nature destroys the relationship between you and him. That is what he wants you to know.  Why, because he wants to  have your company.  You are immensely valuable to him. Jesus wants a relationship with you, however, in our present sinful nature, we are incapable of having this relationship.    God is perfect.  We are not.  You cannot fit a square peg into a round hole.  However, God has provided a way for us to change our nature so that we can have a relationship with him. God has provided Jesus, so that whosoever just believes in Jesus, will have their nature changed.  The Holy Spirit will move it.  And now divine nature is now within lives our very being--and us and God communicate with each through his unifying Holy Spirit.  The benefits of this are endless.  For with the divine nature living within us, we can now see our imperfections better.  We can now head them off at the pass.  With the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, we now have his power to help us overcome our shortcomings.   Because the divine nature lives  within us, we can now understand profound Bible passages that never before we could understand.  Because the divine nature now lives within us, we now  have authority over demonic forces.  And lastly, because the divine  nature now lives within us, we have eternal life--for the Holy Spirit is eternal.  The relationship with Jesus is of the utmost importance.  Because it is not what you do in life that qualifies you to belong to heavenly kingdom, it is your relationship to the living God. Remember what Jesus said at the tail end of Matthew when he separated the "goats from the sheep".   Many people in the last day will ask him, "Didn't I prophesy in your name and do miracles, and do good things in your name?"   And what did Jesus say? "Depart from me, for I never *knew* you."  That is the cornerstone of  Christianity, Kent.  Jesus must know you as his friend.  It is your  relationship to Jesus.  If he is your friend and you are his, you will be counted among those who will share in his inheritance in heaven.    > Brian, I will tell you a secret, I don't feel guilty at all, > I do mistakes, and I regret them, however I've never had this > huge guilt feeling hanging over my shoulder.  Good.  It shows that you have a strong self-image--that you love yourself.  That is the second greatest commandment Jesus taught.  If only more people could do as you do.   As I said before,  in the common english venacular, "feeling guilty" has a different meaning than the state of guilt.  > This all is a very clear indication that you need a certain > personality type in order to believe and adjust to certain > religious doctrines. And if your personality type is  > opposite, then you are not that easily attached to a certain > world view system.  I believe what we all need in our personalities is a lot less ego, a lot less self-centeredness, and a lot more unconditional love.  > There are humans that subscribe to the same notion. The nice > thing is that when you finally shake off this huge burden, > the shoulders feel far more relaxed!