Nov 24, 2018
“Guilty as charged.” We’re all familiar with this statement. It’s typically spoken by a judge to an accused criminal, who stands in the courtroom awaiting the official declaration of his fate. And when those words are heard, the matter is settled. The accused becomes the condemned. The assumed innocence of the accused has been replaced with a sentence of guilt, and the guilt demands justice be served. A crime has been committed and restitution must be made. In the book of Leviticus, there are countless references to man’s guilt before God. Mankind has been marred by sin and each and every human being carries a predisposition towards sin that causes them to disobey God’s commands and leaves him standing before God guilty as charged. And while we can choose to deny our sin and ignore our guilt. God cannot and will not. Which is why He gave the people of Israel the sacrificial system. He provided a means by which their sins could be atoned. He made forgiveness possible. But first, guilt must be acknowledged and sins must be confessed.