GUILTY
BUT FREE

Topics: Confession; Forgiveness; Freedom; Grace; Guilt

References: Romans 10:9–10; 1 John 1:9

“Guilty Plea Sets Inmate Free” was the headline of a story in the Chicago Tribune about a man who was imprisoned eight years before cutting a deal with the state’s attorney so that the time he served satisfied his sentence.

What struck me was that headline. My first reaction was, “Another criminal gets off with a plea bargain.” Then I realized that I, too, was guilty and set free.

Freedom is not in a plea of innocence but in the admission of guilt. My story is different, but the headline “Guilty Plea Sets Inmate Free” fits perfectly.

—Lee Eclov, Lake Forest, Illinois