CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS When Christ established his kingdom on earth, he set forth certain conditions that disciples must live by if they want to stay in good standing with him and receive the heavenly reward. Confession of our sins is one of those conditions! John wrote, If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:6-9). When we were baptized, the blood of Jesus washed away all our past sins (Acts 22:16). But our humanity keeps us from being perfect in our walk with Christ. To enjoy ongoing forgiveness and cleansing, we must be faithful in confessing our sins unto God. There are five levels of offense when we sin. First and most importantly we sin against heaven and our Savior (Luke 15:21). It is before God that we must repent of our sins, confess them and implore his forgiveness. Like the convicted publican we must plead, God, be thou merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13). When we sin, we harm ourselves. We tarnish our heart and soul in the sight of God. We impose guilt and shame upon our conscience. Our joy is blighted. We diminish our self-worth and self-respect. We damage our character in the eyes of our loved ones and neighbors. We place our salvation in jeopardy. Our testimony for Christ is discredited. Only by repentance and genuine confession can we know the spiritual cleansing and renewal we desperately need. All of this is clearly seen in David’s 51st psalm. At first he tried to hide his sin with Bathsheba, but it ate at his soul like a cancer. Then he finally confessed his sin to God saying, I know my transgressions: And my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned (51:3-4). He prayed, Create in me a clean heart, O God...take not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation (51:10-12). Forgiveness came only after he offered the true trespass offering; The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart... (51:17). In many cases our sins can be painful to our loved ones. Our children who admire and adore us are crushed when they learn of our shameful conduct. Our mates are heartbroken and their faith is shattered when they discover wickedness in our lives. Our mother and father, especially those who are Christians, who devoted themselves to teaching us to walk in the path of righteousness, are devastated when we allow ourselves to succumb to sin. When we sin against our family we must be willing to confess that sin and ask for their forgiveness...if we expect to be forgiven. The Master said, If ..thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Matt. 5:23-24). It may be that you have sinned against someone with whom you work, someone with whom you have association outside of your church. If you have sinned against them, they, no less than your fellow-Christians, deserve to know that you are sorry for your mis-conduct toward them. Last I mention our responsibility to the church when our conduct has been a reflection against the family of God. Jesus described a conflict between two brothers in Christ, Our first duty is attempt to resolve our problem privately. If other efforts fail, we are to take it to the church (Matt. 18:15-18). If our misconduct is publicly known, if our fellow-Christians have been embarrassed by it, we owe it to them to publicly express our repentance and sorrow and confess the wrong we have done. Only then will God forgive us. This makes it possible for our brethren to also forgive us and keep for us a place within the local family of God. A frequently asked question is, must I tell the church every time I sin? We must confess our sins to those against whom we have sinned. If I have sinned within my heart, by hating, scheming, lusting, coveting, no one but me and God know this. I confess it to God and ask his forgiveness. If there has been a conflict within my marriage or family, I should do my best to resolve it privately within my family. Properly corrected, no one else needs to know except God. The same would be true of any other personal conflict that has been privately corrected. If however my sin has been public in nature, if it is known in the church and the community, I need to make my confession to the church. Must every sordid detail of my sin be publicly announced? Our brethren generally hold that only that which is publicly known must be publicly revealed to the assembled church. God already knows; you have already confessed that to Him. A congregation consists of little children and young people. There may be visiting Christians and non-members present. They do not need to hear such information. A person would do well to discuss the details of their sin with his preacher or elders. As his spiritual leaders they could help him in overcoming the mistakes he has made. Some of our brethren argue that there can be no forgiveness unless the offender has stood before the congregation and told them the whole story. I have seen this done. It is my judgment that this approach can be counterproductive. Knowing that was their only way of finding forgiveness from the church, some would be tempted to hide their sin and never acknowledge it. If the details of some shameful deed were publicly revealed, think of the harmful impact it would have on the immediate family of the offender, Think how many innocent people would have to share the shame of the person’s sin! There is a kind of person who loves to feed on the lurid details of other people’s sins. Very often they can’t wait to pass them on to others in sordid gossip. Paul mentions things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of (Eph. 5:12). Keep in mind that the purpose of confession is to help the offender wipe clean the slate of his life and be restored to God. It is not to so humiliate him that he will never be able to face the church afterwards. That would defeat one of the purposes of the confession. John Waddey ____________________ BOOKS TO ENRICH YOUR STUDY: * War of the Ages Between Christ and Satan...on spiritual warfare ($10.50) * Jehovah: ruler of Men and Nations, an extensive study of divine providence ($10.50) * The God We Worship and Serve Father Son & Holy Spirit...studies in the trinity $10.50 **To order, please send your check to Church of Christ Foundation, c/o John Waddey, 12630 W. Foxfire Dr. Sun City West, AZ 85375 ** Order all three books and save. All for $26.00. *****Note the editor apologizes for being off-line for the past few weeks. Betwee trouble with our Yahoo.group and computer problems we were disabled. Hopefully we are now back in business. If you receive this email lesson, I would appreciate a note confirming it. Write me at johnwaddey@aol. Thanks
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 08:46:40 +0000
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