What Can I Do with My Guilt?

What Can I Do with My Guilt? is a booklet by Dr. R.C. Sproul that examines the nature of guilt and the forgiveness God provides through Jesus Christ.

Part of the Crucial Questions series, this booklet addresses a question that touches every human life. Sproul begins by drawing a careful distinction between objective guilt—incurred when a person violates a law—and the subjective feelings of guilt that may or may not accompany it. He explains that guilt is not merely a psychological state but a real condition before God, the supreme Lawgiver, who holds all people accountable to His perfect standard.

Sproul then considers common but inadequate responses to guilt, including denial, rationalization, and attempts at self-atonement. He also addresses the problem of false guilt, showing how extra-biblical teachings can burden the conscience where no actual transgression has occurred. Throughout, he maintains that neither the absence of guilt feelings nor the presence of false guilt changes a person’s objective standing before God.

The booklet concludes by presenting God’s provision of forgiveness in Christ as the only sufficient remedy for real guilt. Sproul explains how believers can distinguish the Holy Spirit’s redemptive conviction from Satan’s destructive accusation, and he encourages readers to rest in the objective truth of God’s Word rather than in subjective feelings.

Key Themes

• The distinction between objective guilt before God and subjective guilt feelings
• The insufficiency of human efforts to resolve guilt through denial or self-atonement
• God’s provision of real forgiveness through the work of Christ
• Discerning the Spirit’s conviction from Satan’s accusation through Scripture

Featured Quotes

“We are objectively guilty in God’s sight—and we must deal with that guilt.”

“The way to silence the Accuser is to confess our sins before God and believe the Word of God.”