Leviticus 5:5-6 And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing: And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid from the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.
When a person is guilty of a particular sin, which he is aware of and feels the guilt for, his response is to confess the sin he is guilty of and bring his trespass offering to the Lord. The priest makes the sacrifice, makes atonement, forgives the sin, and takes away the guilt. God makes provision for known sin, to remove the guilty feeling and restore a right relationship. No Israelite (or Christian for that matter) ever needs to continue living with guilt.
Guilt can be a good thing, inasmuch as it prompts us to respond to the gospel by confessing our sin and bringing a trespass offering. Whenever we have a sense of guilt for a known sin we confess it specifically before God, or to one another. With the confession of the sin we, by faith, bring the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ to mind and plead the blood for forgiveness and removal of guilt. This trespass offering becomes real and alive to us daily and weekly.
Because of the trespass offering of Christ for us, we are encouraged and emboldened to “go into your room and shut the door and pray [Matthew 6:6].” We pray the Lord’s Prayer, specifically, “Forgive us our trespasses.” The word trespass is chosen, as it signifies going into a place you don’t belong and to trample on the possessions, rights, reputation, wellbeing and happiness of another. It involves going beyond the limits God has set for our good. Get rid of guilt: Confess sin and confess Christ.