All human beings are guilty in the sight of God, and all require forgiveness and expiation of their sin. Guilt can arise through failing to know what is right, through failing to do what is right and through giving in to temptation to do wrong.
Guilt as the objective condition of sinners
Guilt results from intentional sin
Leviticus 6:1–7; James 2:10 See also Numbers 5:5–7; Deuteronomy 24:14–15; Ezra 9:13–15; Ezekiel 22:1–4; John 16:7–8
And the LORD said to Moses, “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit— once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, or anything else about which he has sworn falsely. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value, and pay it to the owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt. Then he must bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”
Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
Guilt results from unintentional sin
Leviticus 4:13 See also Leviticus 4:22, Leviticus 4:27; Acts 3:17–20
Now if the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally and the matter escapes the notice of the assembly so that they violate any of the LORD’s commandments and incur guilt by doing what is forbidden,
Guilt as an accumulation of sin
Hosea 13:12 See also Ezra 9:6; Isaiah 1:4, Isaiah 24:20
The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up; his sin is stored up.
God's knowledge of human guilt
Psalm 69:5 See also Genesis 4:8–10; Joshua 7:1–26; Jeremiah 2:22; 1 Corinthians 4:4–5
You know my folly, O God, and my guilt is not hidden from You.
God's anger at human guilt
2 Chronicles 24:18 See also Numbers 32:10–13; 2 Kings 22:11–13; Hosea 12:13–14; Romans 1:18, Romans 2:5–8; Ephesians 5:6–7
They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.
God's determination to punish the guilty
God himself punishes the guilty
Numbers 14:18 See also Exodus 20:5; Jeremiah 25:12; Nahum 1:2–3
‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
Human judges are to punish the guilty
Deuteronomy 25:1–3 See also Proverbs 17:15, Proverbs 24:23–25; Romans 13:1–5; 1 Peter 2:13–14
If there is a dispute between men, they are to go to court to be judged, so that the innocent may be acquitted and the guilty condemned. If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall have him lie down and be flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime warrants. He may receive no more than forty lashes, lest your brother be beaten any more than that and be degraded in your sight.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.