6. Suggest finding a Bible-teaching church and identifying with it. Here he or she can fellowship regularly with God's forgiven people, and hear and study God's Word.
7. Pray with the inquirer personally for deliverance and heartfelt peace: "He Himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14).
8. If your inquirer seems unable to respond immediately to your sharing Christ, and if he or she continues to struggle with guilt, encourage finding the pastor of a Bible-teaching church for further help. It may be that in time he or she will be able to respond. Stress that he or she should take the initiative in finding such a pastor. For the Christian:
For the Christian who admits to recurring problems with guilt, proceed as follows:
1. Reassure him or her of God's love and forgiveness. God can cleanse all our guilt! If God has forgiven the inquirer, he or she must practice selfforgiveness. A Christian has the right to claim with confidence the truth of 1 John 1:9. Christ, our Savior, removes all our sins—past, present, and future—through His finished work on the cross.
2. Encourage getting into the Bible, reading, studying, and reflecting at length on such passages as Psalm 103:1–6; Psalm 51; Isaiah 53; and John 18–19. Suggest writing down the references of these passages so that he or she can find them in the Bible. Relief from guilt will surely come as he or she appropriates Christ's sacrifice and promised forgiveness and cleansing.
3. Suggest that the caller pray specifically and faithfully for a "conscience without offense toward God and men" (Acts 24:16). He or she should continue praying until peace comes.
4. Recommend that he or she get in touch with a pastor for further help.
Scripture
"I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you" (Isaiah 44:22).
"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).
"I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can't make myself do right. I want to but I can't. . . . So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a