The difference between Biblical Christianity and world religion (which even includes mainstream Christian denominations) is how sin is paid for, and the Bible makes it clear that someone who is right with God is not guilty and therefore has no reason to feel guilty.

Unfortunately, this doctrine is not expedient for religious pundits. One reason why mainstream Christian denominations and other world religions must dislike people like me, whom they sometimes call "Bible Christians", is the fact that Bible Christians take power away from the clergy and put it in the hands of the individual believer.

Where then, does guilt come from?

First let's look at where it doesn't come from. Satanism teaches what many promoters of sinful behavior in the guise of liberation think--that Christians are like "psychic vampires" and that their behavior and teaching is what makes everyone else feel guilty. This is an irrational viewpoint. The great majority of professors in modern academia (not to mention Richard Dawkins) attempt to guilt or condemn Christians as being backward or insane for believing the creationism instead of Evolution and the Big Bang. However, it doesn't bother me. Why? Because, being and independent thinker and having looked at the issues myself instead of believing dogma, I know that human knowledge is always and has always been imperfect and does not overrule supernatural revelation. In the same way, if all of the Bible's standards were mere human dogma, then Satanists and other unbelievers would have no reason to feel guilty. The reason they are convicted of sin is not that Christians are "psychically" manipulating them--that is an irrational conclusion. The Bible offers an explanation for this sense of guilt (not merely for sins in general, but specifically for unbelief itself): the Spirit of Jesus is working in the mind of unbelievers to encourage them to turn away from sin and turn to Jesus Christ so that they can have a restored relationship with him and live with him in heaven. Jesus says calls this spirit a "helper", and explains that having this helper is even more effective evidence than if Jesus continued to live on earth and was standing right in front of you:

Notice that Jesus is speaking to people directly, and that he is standing right in front of them--the belief that God asks for is not "blind faith", but it is a matter of accepting Jesus' identity--with the evidence of the hundreds specific prophetic qualifications for the historical Jesus being the one true Messiah. Also notice that this work is toward people who don't believe in Jesus not some arbitrary elect group. Even though during Jesus physical ministry on earth he says that noone comes to him except the Father draws the person [John 6:44], Jesus later explains, "When I have been lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people toward me." [John 12:32] so now that he has, there is no limit to who is given the opportunity to accept Jesus, which indicates that God will bring the message of Christianity to anyone from any nation or religion who sincerely wants to have a relationship with God. And because "He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2), the only thing that God will condemn you for is for this form of unbelief, which could also be called intentional ignorance--rejecting the payment itself will condemn you even if you are trying to pay for your own sins.

So is the work of God to force a person into belief, and then wield forced guilt over the person for the purpose of sadistic control? In no way--the Bible makes it clear that if someone that truly has God's presence in their life feels guilty, their feeling is not caused by God:

Therefore if you feel condemned by your conscience, your emotion is either confirms that you have not been reconciled to God or is based on faulty theology. Faulty theology that can be condemning and hinder your walk with God can include an overinflated idea of what God expects from us in daily habits (i.e. music, movies, or quantity v.s. quality time in prayer or Bible study) or "I am a worm" theology (teachings that promote poor self image, as opposed to the Bible's teaching that a true believer is a saint).

Even if your faith is truly in Jesus and not in man-made religious systems of good deeds (even if they are "biblical" good deeds like baptism or a prayer), you can make the mistake of thinking that these deeds are what ultimately gets you into heaven or even that they bring you closer to God. When I explain this to people, I have been asked this: "Well if doing good doesn't make you a 'better Christian' why do good?". I respond, "Because you love God! If you love God, you keep his commandments, and if you don't love God, then don't! Why pretend?"! We don't need even more phony religious people giving Christians a bad name than we already do. Check out of the system of control, and check in to a relationship with God instead.

This doesn't mean a true believer will never fail to do the right thing of course, because Christ's apostle Paul makes it clear that when we sin, the problem is in "the flesh", or in other words, the body (not "sinful nature" as some Bibles translations poorly translate the word--the Greek word is "sarx" and is even the same word used for meat). This means that though the physical body (which includes the physical brain) has addictions and abberations, the true believer's spirit remains perfect and always agrees with God. Otherwise, you would have to say that God didn't quite succeed in delivering your spirit when you were born again! So if, in your case, the problem is that you want to sin but try to hide or avoid it because of guilt, that is a good sign that you are not born again (not born of the spirit) and not on your way to heaven--but if the problem is that you don't want to sin (even when there is no external reason for consequence or guilt) but sometimes fail, then that might be a good sign that God has changed your heart and you are born again.

So the remaining question for someone who goes to a mainstream denominational church would be this: Does your church teach you that when you fail to live up to their standards (i.e. confessing sins to a religious authority figure instead of your peers [James 5:16], not working on Saturday, not working on Sunday, stringent personal rules "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!" [Colossians 2:21 NASB translation--even if they claim to be biblical, this shows they are clearly not], paying for your own sins, compulsory missionary work), that the guilt you feel is from God? If so, you may be in a false religion even if it claims to be Christian. Though you may not like what I'm saying, all I'm doing is showing what the Bible says--neither your nor my opinion can change the facts. If you continue to trust that you can pay for your own sins, you will indeed pay for them--but not in the way you expect (it won't get you into Heaven):

If you are cowardly and allow your religion to shame and control you, get out of it! The way of Jesus is not guilt and control--the only people who are actually "guilty" (regardless of how guilty they feel) are those who are not yet born again. If God is working in your heart and convicting you of sin, now might be your only chance before your heart hardens again--be humble, and ask Jesus to free you from sin and renew your spirit, and he will. I did that, personal experience has also confirmed the Spirit of Jesus literally exists and is in oneness with my renewed spirit, because I can vouch for the apostle Paul when he says in the quote above, "I take pleasure in God's standards in my inner being", and I hate when I sin--it is not just that I hate the consequences or revealing it to other people. Religion can't save you, only Jesus can. I am writing this because I hope that you give up your religious or personal standards and start a relationship with God.




Final thoughts:
Hopefully, if you are of either Calvinist or Arminian persuasions, this discussion has shattered your preconceived notions about the Bible. I hope that you'll consider following God by his standards instead of that of a Church or theologian of the past, because "There is one God. There is also one mediator between God and humans--a human, Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5).

The verses above are from the "God's Word^® Translation" of the Bible unless otherwise noted.