Excerpts from The Myth of Christian Leadership by Frank Viola

See Full Post Here:  The Myth of Christian Leadership

• There’s no hint of the clergy/laity or minister/layman schema in the history, teaching, or vocabulary of the New Testament. This schema is a religious artifact that stems from the postapostolic disjunction of secular and spiritual.
• In the secular/spiritual dichotomy, faith, prayer, and ministry are deemed the exclusive properties of an inner, sacrosanct world. A world that is detached from the whole fabric of life. But this disjunction is completely foreign to the New Testament ethos where all things are to bring glory to God—even the stuff of everyday life (1 Cor. 10:31).

• Leadership contains these elements:
• Persuasion & Influence
  
• Leadership is really nothing more than influence.
• Giving direction
• Leadership is showing others “the next step,” which goes along with persuasion and influence.
• Leadership “leads” or “points” to something/someone
• For the Christian, it always points to Christ. Either in faith or action. As Christians we lead/point/guide/direct people (both Christian and non-Christian) to the ultimate Leader, Jesus.

• All aspects of leadership are accomplished by teaching and/or example.
• If you’ve ever given direction to someone and they’ve heeded it, you were leading.
• If you’ve ever corrected someone, and they received it, you were leading.
• If you’ve ever led (brought) someone to Jesus Christ, you were leading.
• If you’ve ever written a blog post, article, or book, and you influenced someone to take an action or adopt a viewpoint, then you were leading them.
• If you’ve ever persuaded another human being to do anything, be it your spouse, child, parent, friend, co-worker, employee, etc., then you were leading them.
• We all lead in various and miscellaneous ways and arenas. We just differ in the kinds of things into which we lead others.
• Some people influence more people than others based on the size of their “platform.” “Great leaders” are people who by virtue of their lifestyle and wisdom have many followers who safely trust their guidance. But the fact that they have large followings doesn’t entitle them to wield the special title of “leader” at the exclusion of everyone else. Unfortunately, many Christians obsess over being a “leader” today. Some to the point of frenzy. Some will give their souls for the title of “leader.” 
• Is it possible that much of Christianity today is focused on being a leader when it should rather be focused on how to follow an indwelling Christ?
• Focus on following Jesus and you will be leading others naturally by your example, let alone by the things you say.

10 Things to Consider
Here are 10 things to consider about “leadership” and why the common idea that some Christians are leaders and others aren’t is a myth in my view:

1. The New Testament never uses the term “leader.” In some translations, you’ll find the word “leader” only in a few texts. Hebrews 13:17, 14 and Romans 12:8, namely. But these are questionable translations of the Greek words. Those words are better translated as “guard,” “give care,” or “guide.” It’s the verb, not the noun. These texts almost certainly have in view the more spiritually mature overseers and elders. Overseers/elders are not “the” leaders of a local assembly. They simply lead in a specific capacity that’s different from the other members of the assembly.
2. Overseers (also called elders and shepherds/pastors in the New Testament) are part of the DNA of the assembly, but we have misunderstood these functions as “offices” that have inherent authority over other Christians. Overseers/elders/shepherds certainly lead, but so do prophets, apostles, evangelists, teachers, exhorters, those who have gifts of mercy, helps, and every other function in the body of Christ. Christians have authority only in so far as they are revealing the mind of Christ is the authority. Again, all Christians lead according to their specific gifting. That’s the argument of 1 Corinthians 12.
3. Jesus Christ turned the common idea of leadership on its head. He did this in two ways.
1. He took dead aim at the positional/titular view of leadership that was common among the Jews (Matt. 23:8-13).
2. He took dead aim at the hierarchical/top-down view of leadership that was common among the Gentiles (Matt. 20:25-28; Luke 22:25-26).
4. Many Christians and assemblies have adopted the business model of leadership over/against the New Testament vision of leadership. Properly conceived and functioning, the ekklesia is a spiritual organism whose source is divine life. It’s not a human-constructed institution. Once this is fully understood, our understanding of leadership changes dramatically.
5. The New Testament doesn’t emphasize leadership. It emphasizes following Jesus (who is now in the Spirit) and living as a servant of Christ and a servant to others. According to the New Testament, all are gifted, all are servants (“ministers”), all are priests, and all have ministry as members of the body. In addition, all are called to be examples of Jesus.
6. None of the many words used for “office” in the Greek language are ever employed to describe a function or role in the assembly. New Testament scholar Robert Banks makes an indisputable case for this in his seminal book, Paul’s Idea of Community.
7. The doctrine of “covering” was invented in the post-apostolic period, and it has no biblical merit. See Reimagining Church, Chapters 11-13 (entitled “Who is Your Covering?”) for details.
8. The modern obsession over leadership isn’t helpful. If Christians spent their time focusing on following Jesus Christ and sharing whatever He has given them with others (= functioning as a member of the body), opposed to obsessing over how to be a “leader,” the Kingdom of God would be better off. So it seems to me anyway.
9. Hebrews 13:17 confirms the idea that leadership is linked to persuasion. In that text, some translations have, “Obey them that are over you.” The Greek word for “obey” in this passage is not hupakuo, the garden-variety word for obedience used elsewhere in Scripture. It’s peitho (middle-passive form), which means to yield to persuasion. The author of Hebrews was simply saying, “Allow yourselves to be persuaded by those who are more mature in Christ than you are.” The word “over” and “rule” in some translations is a horrible reflection of the Greek. And according to Peter and Luke, elders/overseers aren’t over the flock, they are among it (1 Pet. 5:1, NIV; Acts 20:28, NASB). See Reimagining Church, the lengthy Appendix for details.
10. Throughout the New Testament, only Jesus Christ is said to be the “head” of the assembly, which implies both source and rule. All leadership flows from His headship organically when a member of His body reveals His mind and will in a given situation. Christ has the power of speech, and He speaks through His body (this is the argument of 1 Corinthians 12:1ff.). And we all share the mind of Christ. His mind is not the exclusive property of a few.

From the Comments Section

• Spiritual authority was exercised *when* and only when the mind of Jesus Christ was being revealed. The authority was spiritual/organic, rooted in the life of Christ which was seasoned in some (like Paul). But it wasn’t official, i.e., invested in a certain office irrespective of what the person did or said. That’s why the writer of Hebrews says “allow yourselves to be persuaded.”
  
• The few times when Paul “commanded,” he did so “in the Lord Jesus Christ” or he referred to something the Lord Himself said. Most of the time, he pleads, beseeches, admonishes, exhorts, encourages, and even requests. Paul did not have a hierarchical top/down relationship with the assemblies he cared for. In fact, in some of his letters, he submits to the assembly itself. Even saying that if he preaches or teaches anything contrary to Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Paul’s relationship to the assemblies is summed up in his words in 2 Corinthians 1:24, “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy.”
• We are called to minister to one another . . . and to the world. We are called to lead/guide one another (as well as the world) to Christ.
  
• There is one HEAD. But all who share His life lead under the one HEAD pointing to and expressing the Head in different ways. All lead in different ways … in different capacities … and through different giftings and functions. Re-read 1 Cor. 12 in this light and you’ll see leadership in a new way.
• What do you say about Paul telling Timothy and Titus to appoint elders in the assemblies. Doesn’t that mean they were offices that had authority?
• There is no question that certain people were endorsed for certain tasks in the NT. Take Acts 6 for instance. The seven men selected in Acts 6 weren’t given some kind of unilateral authority over everyone else, nor where they installed into a social construct (“office”) that had intrinsic authority regardless of the persons who populated it.
  
  Rather, the seven were selected for a task based upon their spiritual maturity and wisdom. The same is true for those places where Paul endorsed elders (which wasn’t in all the assemblies, by the way). In the OT, Moses publicly acknowledged elders who were *already functioning* as elders, the Scripture says. Moses just made it public.
  
  In the same way, when someone endorses a book of mine publicly they aren’t giving the book authority. They’re simply acknowledging an authority that they perceive the book already possesses. The problem with us viewing the endorsement of elders in South Galatia, Crete, and Ephesus as “installment into office” is that we are imposing the Western idea of “office” as having an authority irrespective of the individuals who populate those offices.
  
  In the NT, rather, the idea is that spiritual authority is based on spiritual maturity and wisdom — a la, expressing the mind of God. And in some cases, that’s endorsed publicly and in other cases, such individuals are given certain tasks. If a person … be it elder or apostle … is teaching something that goes against the will and mind of the Head (Christ), they have no authority in what they’re saying. All authority comes from Christ. 
• I don’t view elders/overseers/shepherds as a *modern office* — by that I mean a sociological construct that has authority independent from the people who populate it, like the “office” of President. Doesn’t matter if you have a buzzard or a noble man in the white house, he still wields the authority of the Presidency. The authority is inherent in the office. In the NT, we don’t see elders working in that same way.
  
• The many Greek words for “office” are never used of them or any other function in the assembly.
• The spiritual authority they express is by virtue of their wisdom and spiritual insight which comes from growth in Christ’s life (hence elders can be translated “seniors” — they were the older, aged ones in the OT).
  

Commentary on Romans 7 by Andrew Wommack

In Romans 7 Paul was expounding the impossibility of serving God in our own power, whether lost or saved. The flesh is unwilling and unable to fulfill the Law of God, and if we as Christians try to fulfill the righteousness of the Law through our own will power, we will fail just the same as unregenerate people would. Paul was describing the futility of trying to obtain favor with God through our own goodness whether Christian or non-Christian.

Paul only used the term "spirit" once in Ro 7 (Ro 7:6), a chapter that described the hopelessness of people to ever keep the righteousness of the Law in their own strength. In contrast, the word "spirit" (or "Spirit") is used twenty-one times in Ro 8, a chapter that gives the answer to the hopelessness of Ro 7.

In these verses of Ro 7, Paul was not describing warfare that wages between the new man and the old man. He was contrasting the complete inability of people to save themselves because of their corrupted flesh versus the life-transforming power of Christ described in Ro 8.

The Apostle Paul was not living a life of constant failure where the good that he wanted to do, he was unable to accomplish, but the evil that he didn't want to do, he did. He wasn't living that kind of life because it was no longer him living, but Christ living in him (Ga 2:20). Christ in Paul was manifesting holiness in Paul's life that was second to none.

However, if Paul had abandoned his dependency upon Christ and had started trying to live the Christian life out of his own resources, then the condition described in Ro 7:15-24 would have been his experience.

Our flesh has been corrupted through sin, and though we can renew our minds through God's Word (Ro 12:2), we can never elevate our flesh to a place where it can fulfill the Law of God. Hence, the good news of Ro 8 that what the Law couldn't do, because of the weakness of our flesh (Ro 8:3), God did for us, and all we have to do is receive by faith.

"I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing" (Romans 7:18)
When Paul used this parenthetical phrase, "that is, in my flesh," he was specifying the natural (physical) part of his person. He was stating that in himself, apart from his born-again spirit, there was no good thing. He had to include this explanation, or his statement would not have been accurate, because in his spirit there was a good thing (Christ). Many times scripture speaks of "Christ in us." Paul clearly separates the flesh & the spirit in this scripture.

Paul says that "with the flesh he serves THE LAW OF SIN" in Romans 7:25 but in Romans 8:2 he says, "Christ Jesus MADE US FREE (past tense) FROM THE LAW OF SIN." To summarize all this, We are free to walk by the spirit but if we try to walk by the law we will be walking by the flesh. You can choose to serve the law of sin with your flesh (offer your members to the flesh) or you can choose to serve the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (offer your members to righteousness & put to death the deeds of the flesh).

Our old self WAS (past tense) crucified with Him (Ro 6:6)
The old self is dead and gone, but it left behind a body with attitudes and emotions that still influence us until we renew our minds. We are not dealing directly with the "old sin nature" but with its influence that is still being exerted through our unregenerate flesh. So the Christian life is a renewal of our minds to who we HAVE BECOME in Christ, not a hatred for who we are in our "old self."

Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Romans 7:24)
Paul didn't say, "Who shall deliver me from this death?" for the Christian has already been delivered from the death that is the wages of sin. He made special mention of the body of this death. The terminology "the body of this death" corresponds to what Paul called "the body of sin" in Ro 6:6, "Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our BODY of sin might be done away with". He was not speaking of the sin nature itself, for a Christian no longer has a sin nature, but he was rather speaking of the lingering influence of the sin nature that still exerts itself through the un-renewed mind. So death, or the "old man/self," is gone, but the body that it left behind (i.e., the thoughts, attitudes, and emotions) still poses a problem to us as Christians. How do we overcome this flesh? The answer is stated in Ro 7:25 (God through Jesus Christ our Lord) and then explained in Ro 8.

Taken from http://www.awmi.net/bible/rom_07. Some words are my own.

Bible Q & A

Answer the following questions with what first comes to your mind. Please refer your Bible after answering it. It will be fun.


Psalm 130:4 (NKJV)
But there is .............................. with You (God), That You (God) may be feared.
    1) wrath and punishment
    2) forgiveness

Romans 5:20 (NKJV)
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace ....................
    1) lessened
    2) abounded much more

Romans 5:17 (NKJV)
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who .......................................................... will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
    1) fast, pray and show more zeal for God
    2) receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness

Romans 1:16,17 (NKJV)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the ....................................... is revealed from faith to ...............................; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
    1) sinfulness of men, works
    2) righteousness of God, faith

Romans 2:4 (NKJV)
Do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the ................................. of God leads you to repentance?
    1) wrath and punishment
    2) goodness

1 Corinthians 11:24,25 (KJV)
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of ............................
After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of ...........................................
    1) your past week's sins
    2) me (Jesus)

Ephesians 1:7 (KJV)
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the .....................
    1) faithfulness in confessing your sins
    2) riches of his grace

Romans 4:5 (KJV)
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ..............................., his faith is counted for righteousness.
    1) godly
    2) ungodly

Romans 6:14 (KJV)
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the ........................., but under ..........................
    1) grace, law
    2) law, grace

Romans 8:1 (NASB)
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who ........................................
    1) don’t sin
    2) are in Christ Jesus.

1 John 4:17 (KJV)
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because ......................
    1) we don't sin and we do all the good works
    2) as he is, so are we in this world.

1 Corinthians 15:56 (KJV)
The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is ........................
    1) grace and freedom.
    2) the law.

Hosea 4:6 (KJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of ...................................
    1) holiness, prayer, and fasting
    2) knowledge

Hebrews 10:10 (KJV)
We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ .............................
    1) until the next sin
    2) once for all.

Hebrews 8:12 (KJV)
I (God) will be ............................. to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember ...........................
    1) angry, until they confess
    2) merciful, no more.

John 16:8,9 (KJV)
When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of ........................., because .............................................
    1) sins (plural), they always sin.
    2) sin (singular), they believe not on me.

Taken from Alfred Scott via Marc Allan, thanks brothers!

Sin Offerings were Made to Sin Not to God by Darin Hufford

Excerpted from Who Killed Christ?

A “sin offering” is not made to God, but to sin. Sin is a beast who wants to devour you. Imagine camping with your family and you come across a grizzly bear out in the wild. First off, let me tell you that if this happens; you had better come baring gifts! You had better have an offering for that bear, or it’s you he will devour. Christ basically threw himself in front of the beast of sin and allowed it to devour him instead of us. He saves us from sin. 

Most think that the old covenant sin offering was to God so that He would overlook their sins and refrain from killing them one more day. If you really think about that theology, it doesn’t follow through very nicely. What we’re saying is that God set up a system where people could pay Him off when they sinned. It’s like God was selling indulgences. This is silly on several levels. First off, it implies that there is a price in God’s mind that would make sin worth it for Him. If that price was paid to God, He would be satisfied and the sin wouldn’t matter anymore. Could you imagine there being ANY price where sin would be okay from a fathers standpoint??

Know this; to God there is nothing in this world that would ever make sin worth it. Sin takes from people. It depletes them and leaves them hollow and empty. It strips people of their identity and basically devours their bodies. God would NEVER put a price on that because there is no price that would make it okay for Him. It would be like me agreeing tome allow a man to molest one of my children for the right price. There is NO price that I would accept for that. 

Yes, it appears that the people in the Old Testament brought their “sin offerings” "to" God, but it wasn’t an offering that was “for” God. The sin offering was “for” sin. In other words, God didn’t accept the offering and overlook sin because the price was right. He took the “sin offering” and gave it to sin.

It's interesting to note the amount of times in the Old Testament where it says to take the sin offering outside the camp and burn it. It’s almost as though God were saying, “I don’t even want it mixed in with my stuff, take it away and burn it.”

The real answer as to whether a sin offering is for God or for sin, is answered when the truth is revealed in the New Testament. When we read that “when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death” we begin to see that it was sin itself that kills and therefore the slaying of the animal in the Old Testament was to the one who required your life; sin. If scripture said, “when sin is full grown, God will give the sinner the death penalty,” we would know for sure that the Old Testament “sin offering” was meant to appease God. It wasn’t that way though. 

The issue wasn’t how to put God’s inevitable wrath on the sinner off another day. It was, how to keep sins inevitable devouring nature satisfied until the time of Christ in order to save the life of the person. This is almost the complete opposite of what most of us have been taught.

So who was it that killed Christ? Was it God or was it sin? The bible says, “The wages of sin is death,” not “The wages of God is death if you sin.” The wages are paid to SIN; not to God.

The rest of Scripture points this way as well. If we look at the James 1:14-15 verses it clearly shows the progression of it. “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then , after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” It is SIN that gives birth to death. It was SIN that killed Christ; NOT GOD. 

Romans 6:10 puts it so simply and beautifully:  “When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But the life he lives, he lives to God.”

Truth That Sets Us Free!

1. God desires that I live in His unconditional love and affection everyday!
I was created to enjoy friendship with God.
God loves me as I am, not as I think I should be.  He is very fond of me!
God desires an ongoing honest dialog with me.
The more I know that God loves me unconditionally the more I will trust Him.
I struggle with shame and destructive behavior when I live unaware of God’s love.
The cross (not my circumstances) proves how much God loves me.

Jesus said, "Know the Father himself loves you." (John 16:27)
Jesus said, "Father you have loved my followers just as much as you have loved me." (John 17:23)
Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." (John 15:9)
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:38-39)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in sin—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
God is love. God showed his love among us by sending his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:8-9)
We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16)
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." (Jeremiah 31:3)
The Lord your God is with you. He takes great delight in you. He will calm you with his love. In his love he will no longer rebuke you. He rejoices over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

2. My biggest obstacle to experiencing God’s love is my flawed thinking.
Much of what I think and believe is not true.
Believing a lie leads to bondage; believing the truth sets me free.
The truth of Jesus the bible exposes me to benefits me in countless ways.
God transforms me by renewing my mind.
Setting my thoughts on the God produces life and peace.

As a man thinks within himself so he is. (Proverbs 23:7)
To the Jews who had trusted him, Jesus said, “If you continue following me you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
We all, who contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)

3. Christ gave His life for me so He could give His life to me.
The cross is God’s cure for sin and shame.
Jesus died for me to make relationship with God available to me.
All my sins (past, present and future) have been forgiven.
Sin was defeated at the cross and it can never separate me from God again.
Eternal Life is Jesus living in me now!
Salvation is not about me getting into heaven, but getting God into me.

Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in sin—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
God is love. God showed his love among us by sending his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:8-9)
Jesus said, "Father, I have given my followers the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me." (John 17:22-23)

4. I must know and believe who I am, in Christ, to change what I do.
I am no longer a sinner who is merely saved by grace.
God has made me a new person on the inside.
I don’t have two natures. My old self died with Christ.
I am now dead to sin and alive to God.
God gave me a new heart and spirit and put His Spirit within me.
Because I have a new nature, I have a new identity: God’s child.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through his glory and goodness he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. (Romans 6:6)
Consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.(Romans 6:11)
If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7)
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:6-7)
Put on the new self, it has been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)

5. Father God is much better than I could ever imagine!
God the Father is just like Jesus; the kind of Papa I’ve always wanted.
Father loves me the same as He loves His Son, Jesus.
I can do nothing to cause Papa (Abba) to love me more or less than He does.
Only Father can meet all my needs and satisfy my heart.
I can only trust God to the degree that I trust He loves me
The more I know and relate to Father, the more I become like Him

Jesus prayed to the Father, "This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3)
Jesus said, "I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me. The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Trust me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." (John 14:10-11)
“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters," says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:18)
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
God loves us perfectly. There is nothing to fear from Him. His perfect love removes fear. Fear involves punishment. He will not punish us. If we fear punishment from God we do not know how perfectly He truly loves us. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19)
Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:6-7)

6. Christ placed His Spirit in me so He could live through me.
Living the Christian life is not just difficult; it is impossible.
God did not design us to rely on our own human abilities.
I was created to contain and live by the life of another.
Through my spirit union with Christ, I am now complete and acceptable.
There is a battle between the flesh and my spirit. I am not the flesh.
Dependence on Holy Spirit empowers me with supernatural life.
Only as I trust in Christ, can His life and love flow from me to others.

Jesus says, "The Father gives you another one just like me, a comforter, to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. You know him, for he lives with you and is in you. You are not left as orphans; I come to you as the life giving Spirit of truth." (John 14:16-18)
Jesus said, "The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sends in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63)
Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the trust as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7)
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)
Reside in me, as I also reside in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must reside in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you reside in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you reside in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
They said, "We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?" Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you: Trust in the one he has sent." (John 6:28-29)

7. I can overcome sin by understanding the battle within.
Satan counterfeits the Holy Spirit with an entity called sin.
Sin still lives in my body but it is not me.
Sin seeks to deceive and control me through my thoughts.
It impersonates my old self using 1st person singular pronouns (I, me).
Setting my thoughts on the truth leads to life and peace.
Temptations are opportunities to exercise trust in Christ (as life).

Jesus was saying to those Jews who had trusted Him, “ If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who resides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)
If I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me is doing it. (Romans 7:20)
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:2)
You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9-11)
Don't judge by outward appearances. All who are in Christ are equally in Him. (2 Corinthians 10:7)
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints (Ephesians 6:10-18)
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the  faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the Law. (Galatians 5:16-18)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but all that matters is the new creation. (Galatians 6:14-15)
We put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3)
I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but dung so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:8-10)
Let no one say when he is tempted, “ I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. (James 1:13-15)

8. I can’t believe everything I feel.  I was designed to live by trust in God.
My emotions reveal what is taking place in my soul.
My beliefs produce perceptions and perceptions fuel my emotions.
The Holy Spirit wants to change how I think about God, not just how I feel.
I need to acknowledge my feelings and express them to God.
Joy and peace result from relating to God and trusting what He says.

We live by trusting not by seeing. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
I am deeply discouraged. My heart is so sad. But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love and kindness upon me (Psalm 42:5,8)
Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:20)
Our hearts are at rest and assured in God's presence because even if our heart condemn us, even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our heart, He is greater than our feelings and knows He all things. (1 John 3:19-20)

9. Living by rules and “shoulds” is the surest way to live defeated.
Knowledge of right and wrong does not empower me to do right.
Legalism is trying to make spiritual progress based on what I do.
Trusting, not trying, leads to abundant life.
God’s commands are His invitation to depend on Christ.
Living in God’s love, not fear and guilt, transforms me to be obey God.
My weaknesses and failures remind me to rely on Christ’s life within.
The more I believe and trust God’s love for me, the less I will be unloving towards others.

You were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:4-6)
Sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me & produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. (Romans 7:8,11)
Through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Galatians 2:19-21)
If a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. (Galatians 3:21)
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery of the law. (Galatians 5:1)
If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (Galatians 5:18)
We are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the assembly; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but dung so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:3-10)
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our sins, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:8-17)

10. Jesus empowers me to respond to wrongs done with love and forgiveness.
Jesus desires to displace unforgiveness and bitterness in my life.
Bitterness is like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die.
Holding on to anger and bitterness hurts me more than others.
Living in the awareness of God’s forgiveness frees me to forgive others.
Forgiveness is letting go of my "right" to judge and punish.
Offenses are my opportunity to experience Christ living through me.

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you forgive one another. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)
Let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)

11. God uses my problems, failures and trials to set me free!
God doesn’t cause suffering, He redeems it!
Problems can be used to bring me to the end of my self-sufficiency.
God uses adversity to free me from dependence on external things.
God brings incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies.
Rejoicing in my trials reveals my trust in God’s love and goodness.

I reveal myself to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have troubles, but take courage; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Who or what will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, because in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your trust produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:2-5)
We are protected by the power of God through trust. In this we greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while we have been distressed by various trials. (1 Peter 1:5-6)
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory in this circumstance you may rejoice with exultation. (1 Peter 4:12-13)
We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

12. Life is a journey of learning to trust God, live in His love, live by His life, and loving others out of His love!
Father desires the free affection of sons and daughters living in the celebration of His love and life.
Community is sharing our journey with God honestly as we encourage one another to live in His love and affection.
God’s desire is that I love those whom He places in my path.
Christ is setting me free to live graciously and generously in this world.
Living in Father’s love and affection is the most exciting and satisfying way to live!

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
To us God has willed to make known the riches of glory, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. (1 John 4:11-13)
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 19:21)


Jesus Christ is the truth about God. He is the way to have a relationship with God. He is the life of God, within us (John 14:6).  To truly know God is our ultimate purpose (John 17:3). The more we perceive God as He truly is, the more we will be transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18). Destructive actions and attitudes are the result of not personally knowing and trusting the One who is perfect love. As you renew your mind with these foundational truths, you will begin to recognize and reject the lies you have believed about God, yourself, and life. As you trust and rely on God, you will know the truth and it will set you free; free to be and live as God intended! (John 8:31-32)


This was Edited to fit my experience and understanding of God. Originally Posted Here:  Grace...Grace...Grace...: Truth That Sets Us Free!

One John One Nine by Joel Brueseke

Part One
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Under the Old Covenant, the very best the people could hope for was for their sins to be temporarily covered.  Through various rituals and animal sacrifices, they could be ceremonially cleansed but yet even with the blood of bulls and goats their sin could never be taken away.  In fact, through those sacrifices there was really only a reminder of sins (Heb 10:3-4).  Contrast this with "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).  It's interesting to me that the same Greek word used in Hebrews 10:3, in which it's said that the blood of bulls and goats only provided a reminder ("anamnesis") of sins is the very same Greek word used by Jesus in the account of the Last Supper in Luke 22:19 and that Paul also spoke when he repeated Jesus' words, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me" and "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

See the contrast?  The blood of bulls and goats only provided a reminder of sins, but through the broken body and shed blood of Jesus, our sins were taken away, and this is now what we are to remember and be reminded of often.  Our sins were taken away.  They no longer exist.  They were not simply "covered," as was the case under the Old Covenant, but they have been taken away.  To bring them up again is to deny the finished work of Jesus.  To do so is to not remember His broken body and shed blood through which our sins have been taken away.

When, then, about 1 John 1:9?  Aren't we to bring up our sins again, by "confessing" them in order to be cleansed and forgiven?  There are several problems with building a doctrine of confession-for-Christians from this lone verse.  First off, nowhere else in the New Testament is there instruction for Christians to confess their sins in order to be cleansed and forgiven.  Even in all of Paul's writings and in all of his dealings with sinful behavior in the church (and he dealt with a lot of it), not once does he give any instructions for confessing sins.  In fact, time and time again he reminds the church of the finished work of Jesus and that they are already holy, righteous, cleansed, forgiven, sanctified, justified, and so on and so on.  For example, in 1 Cor 6:9-11 he exhorts them to not live as those who have not yet been washed, sanctified and justified --- because they themselves have been washed, sanctified and justified.  That's already who they are, so go ahead and live like it!

Paul goes on to say that "all things are lawful." There's no condemnation and we remain cleansed even when we don't live like who we are.  "But," he says, "not all things are helpful... not all things edify... I won't be brought under the power of any."  The issue isn't one of losing our righteousness, sanctification or justification, or of no longer being clean. The issue is living out who we truly are because that's who God literally made us to be.  The issue isn't a matter of being cleansed and forgiven over and over again, each time we sin!  We have been cleansed once and for all and we have been forgiven once and for all.  "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Col 2:13-14).

With all of the rest of the truth of the New Covenant, it should be plain to see that John was not addressing Christians in the first chapter of his first epistle.  Since Christians are already forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness, there would have been no reason for John to instruct them on how to become forgiven and clean!  But the church that he was writing to was a mixed church, as many churches are, made up of not only believers but of unbelievers too.  And among those in the church were some Gnostics, who, among other things, didn't believe that Jesus had come in the flesh.  John addressed them, and I'll get into that in Part Two.

Part Two
When reading different parts of the Bible, it's always important to keep various things in mind, such as:

- To whom are the words spoken or directed?
- Which Covenant is represented in the teaching?
- What is the overall point being made?
- Context, including surrounding sentences, the entire book, etc.

It's also important to note that the various books of the Bible, not the least of which include the New Testament epistles, were not written in a void. That is, when a writer wrote an epistle, he didn't simply sit down and say to himself, "hmm, which topics and doctrines of the Christian life should I write about today?"  Most often the epistles were, in fact, responses to questions from the church, and to events that were happening within the church.  John's first epistle was no exception.  The first part of this epistle was directed toward a certain group of people within the church he was writing to.  Gnostics had come into the church with some erroneous beliefs and false teachings about Jesus, and John addressed these head-on.

Unfortunately, a "face value" reading of this epistle, without a knowledge of this first century Gnostic infiltration of the church, has (not surprisingly) led to a misunderstanding of the first ten verses that make up Chapter One.  Study aids are very helpful in understanding these things.  In the introduction to 1 John, the Nelson's Study Bible says:

    "Gnosticism was a teaching that blended Eastern mysticism with Greek dualism (which claimed that the spirit is completely good, but matter is completely evil)... Based on the concept that matter is evil and spirit is good, some Gnostics concluded that if God was truly good He could not have created the material universe.  Therefore, some lesser god had to have created it... The dualistic views of Gnosticism were also reflected  in the prevalent belief that Jesus did not have a physical body." 

In addition, since the Gnostics believed all matter to be evil, then "sin" wasn't an issue, as it didn't matter what a person did with their body.  To address all of this heresy, John writes:

    "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us — that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:1-3)

He is telling the Gnostics that indeed they had seen and touched Jesus - He had truly come in the flesh - and then he said he was declaring this to them so that "you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ." He then went on in the last few verses to tell the unbelievers/Gnostics how it is that they could come into the light and be forgiven and cleansed of all unrighteousness.

It's not until the second chapter that John redirects his thoughts and begins talking to the believers. "My little children..."  And he even tells them quite directly, "I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake." (1 John 2:12). How does he know whether or not they've individually done their continued confessions? :) He doesn't, nor does it matter in the least.  The point is moot. What he does know is that those who believe (those who he is speaking to) have already been forgiven once and for all, and he assures them of that.

Then later, in chapter 4, he reminds them to beware of the false prophets/Antichrist spirit, and it seems he's speaking in large part about the Gnostics:

    "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world." (1 John 4:1-3)

Regarding all this, Paul Anderson-Walsh, in his book Safe and Sound, writes:

    "It is clear to me, at least, that the Apostle John's concern was not to instruct the church in the way of asking God for daily forgiveness but rather, to bring the Gnostic anti-Christs to heel and to salvation and the reception of their forgiveness.

    The Apostle John's purpose here in the fourth chapter was not to show the naïve young saints how to get forgiven but now to protect themselves from interlopers."

Regarding the "new and living way" by which we have "boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus," the writer of Hebrews writes, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering..."  He doesn't say "Let us hold fast the confession of our sins."  He has spent several chapters talking about the finished work of Jesus and how we have been perfected and made eternally clean by the blood of Jesus.

Part Three
Throughout the entire book of Hebrews we see the superiority and complete sufficiency of the finished work of Christ, and specifically in chapters 9 and 10 we read about all that was accomplished through the blood of Christ.  With His own blood, Jesus "obtained eternal redemption" (Heb 9:12).  The blood of Christ cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb 9:14).  Heb 9:22 says "almost all things are purified with blood and without shedding of blood there is no remission.  In the Old Covenant, the blood of animals had to be offered often and yet never took away sin, but through one offering Jesus has "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (Heb 9:26).  In those Old Covenant sacrifices, "there is a reminder of sins every year, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" (Heb 10:3-4).  But our sin has been taken away, once and for all, with the blood of Jesus.  Through the one sacrifice we have been perfected forever (Heb 10:14).

The point in all of this is that our redemption, our cleansing, our purification was all accomplished through nothing but the blood of Jesus.  Through the blood, our sins have been taken away and we have been perfected forever.  Before we were saved by grace through faith, as sinners we could do absolutely nothing to clean ourselves up or to make ourselves righteous or forgiven.  Even if we behaved 'righteously' 99% of the time, it did absolutely nothing to make us clean and righteous, and to receive the forgiveness provided for us through the cross of Jesus Christ.  The only thing that made it possible for us to be cleansed and forgiven was the blood of Jesus.

Now, as saints who have received all of this freely, all of these things are factually true about us.  Even when we don't behave like who we truly, factually are, our unrighteous behavior does not negate what the blood of Jesus has accomplished.  We are not made unrighteous through our unrighteous behavior.  We don't become unclean. We don't lose the fact that all of our sins have already been dealt with and taken away.  We don't become 'unforgiven.'  We are in the light.  We do have fellowship with one another and with God.  Our actions don't cause us to lose fellowship with God.  It's all based, not upon our behavior, but upon the blood of Jesus.

To say that that's an important truth is to greatly under-exaggerate it!  In our lives in Christ, the economy that we live in is not based upon our behavior, but upon the finished work of Christ.  His blood has accomplished what our behavior never could, and so to say that our behavior can negate what His blood did is to "trample the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which we've been sanctified as a common thing, and to insult the Spirit of grace" (see Heb 10:29).

What John writes in the first chapter of his first epistle does not fit into the Christian life.  It does fit the truth that can be told an unbeliever to show him how he may come into the light, have fellowship with God, practice the truth and to receive the forgiveness provided for him at the cross and be cleansed of all sin.

The believer is already in the light.  "You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness" (1 Thess 5:5).  "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord" (Eph 5:8).  The believer already has fellowship with God.  "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor 1:9).  "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him" (1 Cor 6:17).  "Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another — to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God" (Rom 7:4).

The believer is already forgiven and cleansed of all sins:

    "But you were washed, but you were purified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor 6:11).

    "And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins'" (Matthew 26:27-28).

    "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:7-8).

    "I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name" (1 John 2:12).

    "...then He adds, 'Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.' Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin" (Heb 10:17-18)

    "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32).

    "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you" (Colossians 3:13).

Look especially at those last two verses.  They both essentially say, "forgive others because God has already forgiven you."  It's no longer, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt 6:14-15).  That was before the cross.  Now, after all that has been accomplished through the blood of Jesus, we're exhorted to forgive others because in Christ, God has forgiven us.  We don't forgive to get forgiven.  We forgive because we've been forgiven.

As a saint, you are pure, holy, righteous, clean, forgiven.  That's who you are.  So what do we do when we don't behave as who we are?  If confession of sins is not the answer, then how do we respond when we miss the mark?  I'll get into that in the fourth and final part of this series.

In the meantime, I love linking to this blog post from Bino Manjasseril: Dismantle the Confession Booths.  He posted this almost three years ago and I still go back and refer to it often.  It's a scripture-only post that shows how we've already been completely forgiven, redeemed, cleansed, made complete, made alive with Christ, made righteous, etc.

Part Four
My main purpose for writing this series of posts was to expose how a huge and deceptive doctrine has been built in the church based upon one lone Bible verse, and it's a doctrine that is simply not supported in the rest of the New Covenant scriptures and in fact stands in opposition to them.  If we're honest with ourselves, where did we Christians get the idea that we need to confess our sins again and again in order to be cleansed and forgiven again and again?  Is it not from this solitary verse?  But if we've missed the point of this verse (and surrounding passage), then we're doing something that God never intended for us to do.

One might say, "What's the big deal with confessing our sins, even if we don't 'have' to?" Well, wouldn't it be a big deal if a man asked his wife every day if she would marry him?  I don't mean a romantic gesture in which he lets her know in a playful way that loves being married to her.  I mean, what if a man seriously asked his wife to marry him every day, as if somehow they became 'unmarried' every day.  The whole idea of that is an insult to the union that became a reality once and for all on their wedding day.  The point of Part Three of this series was to show how we never become 'unclean' or 'unforgiven' before God, and we always remain in union with Him. Our attempts at trying to get Him to make us clean and forgiven again and again show that we don't understand the reality of what is already true of us, and is an insult to the Spirit of grace.

In reality, we have been separated from sin.  Our sin has been taken away.  A one-time event took place in which all our sins were dealt with once and for all.  What a wonderful thing that has been accomplished through the blood of Jesus!  Just think, if our daily sinful behavior negated the effects of that one time sacrifice, and made us unclean and unforgiven again and again, then Jesus would have to come back and die for our sins over and over again!  Our behavior didn't make us clean in the first place, and cannot make us unclean.  Only the blood of Jesus made us clean and has, in fact, cleansed us forever.  God does not see any sin in us.

So what do we do when we don't live according to the clean, righteous, forgiven people that we truly are?  Well, after several chapters of showing all that the one-time blood sacrifice of Jesus accomplished, the writer of Hebrews says this: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" (Heb 10:23).  He continues on with another highly decontextualized  and misunderstood passage that begins with "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins..." (Heb 10:26-31).  The whole point of that passage is that there is no other sacrifice for sins other than the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus.  So when we do sin, let us hold fast the confession of our HOPE (not of our sins) that we have in the ever-cleansing blood of Jesus.

What if I don't feel cleansed and forgiven?  What if I'm carrying around the weight of my sinful behavior?  Some might say that confessing their sins makes them feel better or lifts that heavy burden. I do understand the idea of confessing sins making a person feel clean and forgiven, but I while I understand it, I want to strongly challenge that notion.  We're not meant to bear the weight of our sin.  Again, we have been cleansed and forgiven solely by the blood of Jesus - not by how we feel. I would say that if we truly want to feel forgiven and cleansed, then we must accept the truth, by faith, that even though our actions are sometimes contrary to our righteous, perfect, holy state, we are in reality always forgiven and cleansed.  Our feelings come and go.  The fact is that everything has been accomplished solely and sufficiently through the blood of Jesus and nothing less than that!  (Including, and even especially, our feelings).  The truth trumps feelings every time.

Back to the marriage illustration.  I've heard it said that in any relationship, it's good and healthy to confess to one another and to ask for forgiveness and to apologize when we've messed up.  And so it's said that in our relationship with God, it's good and healthy for the relationship if we confess and ask for forgiveness and apologize when we've sinned.  Well, human-to-human relationships are one thing, and sometimes those things may be good, healthy or necessary.  That's a whole 'nother discussion.  But based upon all that I've shared in this series about our union with God and with how He has taken away our sin and has perfected us forever, and on how our actions don't separate us from Him or cause Him to put us back into the 'unforgiven and unclean' category, it's my conviction (I'm convinced) that there is nothing to confess or to ask forgiveness for.

I see nothing wrong with acknowledging that what we've done does not line up with who we truly are, as long as we're not putting ourselves under condemnation and shame.  Self-pity, self-condemnation and a sense of guilt and shame are all contrary to what God wants from us!  Do we really 'get' this?  He has gone to great lengths to take our sin and guilt away!!!  His Blood... remember???  Have you ever heard people say that guilt is a good motivator?  They say that guilt helps drive a person to "do the right thing."  Please don't fall for that lie!  That is not the way of Christ!

But if we acknowledge our sinful behavior with a sense of something like, "I don't want to live like that; I want to live out of the life of Christ in me," and if we continue to hold fast the confession of our HOPE in the finished work of Jesus, then we're walking in grace. If we continue to trust in the fact that He never leaves us nor forsakes us and that even our fleshly thoughts and behavior never change who we truly are in Him, then we're walking in truth that will truly set us free. Instead of going around with a sin-consciousness all the time, we can go around with a righteousness-consciousness, because that is the 100% reality of who we are. That freedom will bring us to a place where we live from that place of righteousness and holiness, rather than trying to attain it.

Originally Posted Here

Do Christians Sin (1 John 1:8 vs. 1 John 3:9)? by Owen Weber

1 John 1:8 says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
However, 1 John 3:9 says, "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."

At first glance, this appears to present a glaring contradiction. Do Christians sin, or not? In one verse, John tells his Christian audience that we all sin. Then, in the very same letter, he says that if we're really Christians, we can't continue to sin.

Inadequate Explanations
I've heard many inadequate explanations for this passage. The best of these weak arguments says that the key to the interpretation is the tense of the verb used in 1 John 3:9. It says we can't "continue" to sin. In other words, this argument continues, when we sin and confess it, we won't be repeating that same sin again regularly. However, this proves of little comfort to many Christians who find they're confessing some of the same sins almost every day. In fact, this argument seems to serve only to make some true believers question their salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:17
To unravel this dilemma, we must start with 2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

Newness of Life
This is a profound verse which is often quoted but rarely thoroughly understood. It's not just saying that when I became a Christian, I underwent a great change. It's actually saying that I went away (died, Romans 6:4-11) and was replaced by a brand new creation. Romans 5:14-15 explains that when we are born physically, we are born into lives of flesh and sin, and we have Adam as our federal headship. Then when we are spiritually born again, we are born into a life in the spirit with Jesus as our federal headship. Romans 7:6 calls this the newness of the spirit. This in not unlike what happened to Saul when he was being chosen as Israel's first king. In 1 Samuel 10:6,9, when the Spirit came upon Saul, "he changed into a different person." God changed his heart. The only difference for us is that while the Spirit eventually left Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14, we Christians are indwelt with the Spirit forever. We are new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and what God sees when He looks at us is that new creation in His Son, rather than our old self.
   
Romans 7:15 - 8:1
Even Paul struggled with sin in his everyday life. In Romans 7:15, he says, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Verse 18 goes on to say, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out." Here is our first clue to the puzzle. Obviously, Paul was a Christian, and he sinned as a Christian. In fact, verse 19 says, "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing." Not only did Paul sin, but he kept on sinning. He continued to sin, which 1 John 3:9 says that Christians can't do.

However, verse 17 says, "As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me." Although this sounds like an excuse, it's a reality. Verse 20 says, "Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it."

The Answer
In other words, when Paul was an unbeliever, and God looked at Paul, He saw Paul's soul. Paul was constituted by his soul. He was just a soul, and his body was only a tent (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). However, once Paul became a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) in Jesus Christ, when God looked at him, He saw Paul's new spirit. Paul was no longer constituted by his soul. Now "Paul" was a spirit. Unfortunately, in his earthly life, he continued to drag along his old soul and body (the flesh). Romans 7:21 says, "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me." Although the spirit has power over the flesh, this flesh can still sin. Furthermore, Romans 7:22-23 says, "For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." Paul's spirit wants to do good, but he sees his body sin.

Romans 7:24 says, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" So what's the answer? The answer is found in Romans 7:25 and 8:1, "Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the flesh a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Remember, Paul is his spirit (and mentality), which is a slave to God's law, although his flesh (but not he, himself) is a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, since Paul is his spirit, and he is no longer his flesh,
he is not charged with any sin his old flesh might do. He is not condemned, because,
in the eyes of God, he is perfect, in Christ Jesus.

Summary
1 John 1:8 is true, because the flesh associated with each Christian still sins. However, 1 John 3:9 is also true because the new Christian cannot sin. It's only the flesh associated with him that's sinning. In Romans 7, when Paul says he sinned, he's referring to the flesh associated with him, as in 1 John 1:8. On the other hand, passages such as 1 John 3:9 are referring to the Christian himself; i.e., his spirit.

So, is it OK to continue to sin? Paul anticipated this question in Romans 6:1, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?" Then, of course, he gives us the answer in verses 2 and 12, "By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? . . . Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires." Since the spirit has power over sin, we are still responsible for ensuring that the flesh doesn't sin. Those sins are still our responsibility in this life and they still harm us and others, but we will suffer no condemnation for them from God now or in eternity.

Supplementary
God sees me (my essence) as "me, in the Spirit," and not "me, in the flesh."  In other words, even though "I" keep sinning, it's not really me--it's the sin living in me (my flesh, which coexists with "me, in the Spirit").

Romans 8:23-25, "... we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.  But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."  Although we have the Spirit, we await the redemption of our bodies (flesh--which we also still have), but we do not yet have (physical) freedom from our corrupted flesh. Also, this brings into light the very definitions of these words:  the relationship of our bodies to our flesh.  Our bodies are our literal flesh.

From Do Christians Sin (1 John 1:8 vs. 1 John 3:9)? by Owen Weber

Worshipping the Bible by Darin Hufford

At the end of Gideon's "deliverance career" the Israelites wanted to make him their king. Gideon refused, and said that instead of becoming their king he would like them to each bring him a gold ear ring from the plunder. Everyone brought a portion of gold and Gideon melted it down and made a "golden Ephod". The Ephod was the vest that the priests put on when they entered the holy of holies. In the pocket of the Ephod were the lots, which were used when they "caste lots" in order to determine God's will in a certain situation. When the priest entered the temple wearing the golden Ephod, he could actually hear the voice of God audibly. You might remember one time when King David told the priests to "bring him the golden Ephod". David put it on and went into the temple to ask God whether or not he should attack the Amalekites. David heard the audible voice of God tell him to attack.

The story of Gideon goes on to say that after the golden Ephod was made, "all of Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping the Ephod". Think of this for a moment. They actually worshiped the way in which to determine God's will over worshiping God Himself. The story later goes on to say that it became a snare to Gideon and his family.

So what does this have to do with the Bible? One of the things we are taught about the Bible is that it is the way in which to determine the will of God. Just as the Israelites prostituted themselves after the golden Ephod, I believe that modern day Christianity is doing the exact same thing with the Bible. We have prostituted ourselves after the Bible and there is no doubt in my mind that it has become a thorn and a snare to almost every Christian in America. In fact I think many Christians have actually traded God for the Bible. Many others have even come to the point where they think God IS the Bible. I truly believe that the Bible has become the golden Ephod of our time.


Excerpted from Christians and the Bible by Darin Hufford
See my additional notes from that post.

God’s Definitions of Sin by Harold from Brisbane, Australia

I find most Christians follow some vague/ambiguous definition of sin instead of referring to God’s definitions given in His word. Unfortunately many professing Christians then fail to grasp that Jesus set us free from sin (John 8:36) simply because they do not understand what “sin” is.
I’ll offer a concise explanation below.

God’s definitions of sin are basically covered by the following examples:

1: Mark 3:29 Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This sin will not be forgiven. Christians do not commit this sin.

2: John 16:9 Unbelief in Jesus. This is the sin the world is convicted of. Christians do not commit this sin either.

3: 1 John 5:17 “all unrighteousness is sin”. Christians are righteous in Christ so here we do not sin.

4: 1 John 3:4 “Sin is transgression of the law”. This is breaking the old covenant commandments resulting in a death penalty for transgression.

Christians cannot be accused of sin here as we are not under the law of sin and death. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus SETS FREE from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
Regarding the law of sin and death it should be noted that “whatever the law says it says to those who are UNDER IT” (Romans 3:19,20).
And “the law was NOT MADE for a righteous person (Christians), but for…the ungodly and for sinners” (1 Timothy 1:9).
Also, “where there is NO LAW there is NO TRANSGRESSION (SIN)” (Romans 4:15).

We know sin was dealt with once and for all on the cross.
And “Our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed” Romans 6:6.
Hence we see in 1Peter 4:1 “Therefore, since Christ suffered (crucified) for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind (our old man crucified with him, Romans 6:6), for he who has suffered in the flesh (Romans 6:6) has CEASED from sin,”

Of course we still see Christians doing wrong (erroneously referred to as sin under man’s ambiguous definitions), but as sons of God we are chastised for our wrong.

Romans 6:2 asks “HOW shall we that are dead to sin, live in it any longer?”
1 John 3:9 answers this question. “Whoever has been born of God DOES NOT SIN, for His seed remains in him; and he CANNOT sin, because he has been born of God”.

Also see 1 Peter 4:18 “If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear”.
Clearly there are 2 different groups described here.
Group 1: Righteous (and saved)
Group 2: Ungodly/Sinner (unsaved)
Either we are righteous (in Christ) OR we are sinners. We can’t be both.

Originally posted as a comment here.

Sins of God's People are Recorded in Scripture Does God Really Forget Sins? Answered by Paul Ellis

Q:  God says He will remember the sins of His people no more yet the bible records sins of His people such as Paul, David, Abraham. The word of God lasts forever. Does God choose to forget His own word? How can He no longer remember their sins if they are recorded in scripture?

A:  by Paul Ellis
That is a really good question! When Isaiah said the word of the Lord stands forever, he was not referring to the Bible. The Bible is not God’s diary and it was not written to remind Him of stuff; it was written for us: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us” (Rom 15:4). Teach us to what purpose? That we might be trained in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). The works of the flesh are recorded to show us the dreadful consequences of a life of independence. We’re the ones who need reminding. Yes, God chooses to forget our sin. And then He reminds us that He has chosen to forget just in case we had forgotten!

Visit Paul's Site http://escapetoreality.org

Paul Ellis on Confessing Sins in 1 John 1:9 and More

The Following Are Excerpts from Paul Ellis' 12 Reasons Why Christians Don’t Need to Confess-to-be-Forgiven

From Part 1
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn 1:9)

This is the only verse in the Bible where our confession is connected with His forgiveness. The Greek word for confess is homologeo which means to acknowledge, concede or agree with. In this passage John is writing to unbelievers who were deceived because they thought they were without sin (see v.8). How do I know that John is talking to unbelievers and not Christians? Because he is addressing people who are walking in darkness (v.6), who need to be purified from all unrighteousness (v.9) and who, by insisting that they have never sinned, are making God out to be a liar (v.10).

What message does John have for sinners who don’t think they’re sinners? “Acknowledge your sinful state, turn to God and receive His gift of forgiveness.” There’s only one thing that stops a sinner from receiving God’s grace and that’s unbelief. If you don’t see your need for forgiveness, you are well and truly lost. You may claim to know God but He doesn’t know you. There’s only one way to the Father and that’s through Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross. God made provision for your redemption and forgiveness at the cross, but you will never see it unless you acknowledge (ie: confess) your need for a Savior.

And what message does John have for those of us who have already turned to Jesus? Do we need to confess too? We already have! Remember, confession means agreeing with God. When you first surrendered to the Lord, you might have prayed “thank you for forgiving me.” That’s  confession. You were acknowledging that you had a sin problem and in need of God’s forgiveness. In the New Testament people sometimes confessed their sins when they were baptized (Mt 3:6). How many times do you need to be baptized before you are baptized? Just once. How many times do you need to say yes to God before you are in agreement with God? Just once. And how many times do you need to receive God’s free gift of forgiveness before you have received it? Just once.

1 John 1 was written for unbelievers who don’t see their need for forgiveness. In the second chapter John writes for the saints, and what does he tell them? “Your sins have been forgiven on account of His name” (1 Jn 2:12). If your sins have already been forgiven, what are you confessing for?

Under the old covenant law, there could be no forgiveness without the shedding of blood (Heb 9:22). What the law prefigured, Christ fulfilled. At the Last Supper Jesus explained the basis of our forgiveness: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mat 26:28) Note the absence of any qualifiers. Jesus did not say, “…provided they confess first.” It’s His blood from start to finish. 1 John 1 may have given you the impression that sinners are only forgiven when they confess. But John makes it clear that it is not our confession but “the blood of Jesus Christ (that) cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7). So why confess at all? Remember, Biblical confession is not listing everything that’s wrong with you. True confession is a positive response to something that God has already done. It is verbalizing faith. It is saying “thank you Jesus for your blood that was poured out for my forgiveness. Because of You, I am forgiven!” 

Note
Any Greek lexicon will tell you that the verb tense for “confess” in 1 John 1:9 is the present tense which usually means a habitual action. The conclusion that some draw from this is that you need to habitually confess your sins to stay forgiven. But to build a doctrine of works from a single verb tense is dangerous and contradicts what John says about forgiveness elsewhere. Note that the present verb tense is also used in the New Testament to convey a sense of action (“I am confessing”) in much the same way as is meant by the English present tense. Why did John write it this way? He was possibly thinking of Proverbs 28:13 “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” At any point in time, a sinner is either concealing his sins or he is agreeing with God about them and forsaking them. A sinner who conceals his sins remains a sinner, but a sinner who confesses and turns to Jesus is a sinner no longer: He has been purified from “all sin” (1 Jn 1:7) and cleansed from “all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). A sinner might weigh it up like this: If I change my mind and agree with God now, I will experience today the forgiveness that He provided for me 2000 years ago at the cross. Incidentally, if you like a bit of Greek salad with your meat, then feast your eyes on 1 John 1:7 which talks about the blood of Jesus that cleanses and continually goes on cleansing us.

Additional Comments from Part 1
Three reasons why I believe this verse is written for sinners: (i) John is talking about those who walk in darkness (v6), (ii) who need to be purified from all unrighteousness (v9), and (iii) who, by insisting that they have never sinned (v8), are making God out to be a liar (v10). None of these attributes applies to someone who is born again. Look at v3: “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” John is writing to people who neither have fellowship with us, the Father or the Son. Like a true apostle, John has good news for all the world; chapter 1 was largely written for those who weren’t born again.

But irrespective of whether this passage was written primarily for saints and sinners, I agree that John is not calling anyone to review their sins. To confess (homologeo) is to agree with God. Sinners need to agree that they are in need of a Savior; saints need to agree that they were forgiven 2000 years ago, just as the Bible declares (Col 2:13).

You may say that we’re not cleansed from unrighteousness unless we confess nagging sins. But Heb 10:22 tells us the blood of Jesus is the cure for a guilty conscience.

From Part 2

You were forgiven completely for all time
“But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Heb 10:12)

Jesus’ death on the cross was a once-off sacrifice offered for all time. It was perfectly perfect in every respect and there is nothing you can do to improve upon it. Those who take 1 John 1:9 as their justification for trying to earn what we’ve already been given, need to pay more careful attention to what John is saying: the blood of Jesus purifies us from “all sin” (1:7) and cleanses us from “all unrighteousness” (1:9). All means all. “All sin” includes the sins we haven’t done yet and all the sins we have never confessed.

Jesus went to the cross as humanity’s sinless representative. With His dying breath God the Son asked God the Father to forgive us (Lk 23:34). Then having fully satisfied the requirements of the law that stood against us, and having forged a new covenant in His blood, Jesus declared “it is finished” and gave up His spirit. His redemptive work complete, Jesus now sits at the right hand of God waiting for His saints to rise up boldly in their forgiven-ness.

Jesus will never go to the cross again. If you sin today, He is not going back to Calvary tomorrow. Asking Him to forgive you again is like saying His first sacrifice was not enough – that you really need Him to get back up on the cross. This is disgraceful (Heb 6:6), but “we are confident of better things in your case” (Heb 6:9). Rejoice that His one-time sacrifice paid for it all and you are eternally forgiven.

Additional Comments from Part 3

If you have been born again, you do not need to be born again again. If you are already in Christ, you do not need to confess your sins to receive a gift you have already received.

If I was writing this series for unbelievers, I would definitely quote 1 Jn 1:9 and Rms 10:9. I would say something like, “Confession is agreeing with God. You need to agree that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and that Jesus is the Risen Lord whose blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sins.”

As I said before, confessing is agreeing with God. I am for confession. I am against confessing as true things that God says are false. If God declares us forgiven, then we are second-guessing Him when we declare that we are in need of forgiveness.

Jesus washed Peter’s feet – you could look at this and see Peter but I see Jesus. Peter was resting; Jesus was serving. How can you build a theology of confessing sins here when (a) it was Jesus doing the washing, not Peter and (b) Jesus said Peter was already clean (Jn 13:10)? We are cleansed (and continually cleansed) from sin by the blood of Jesus (1 Jn 1:7). If Jesus blood is not enough, then there is no hope of forgiveness.

If talking about things and being open and honest releases life, then do it. But if talking is going to embarrass and bring shame to others, then maybe you should hold your tongue. I hate the darkness. I love bringing things into the light. If I have sinned against my wife and kids or friends I’m generally going to want to talk about it. This is not sin management. This is life! I want my relationships to prosper. They’re not going to prosper if we’re holding onto silly nonsense that could be easily dealt with.
I believe this is why James says we need to confess our sins to each other. 99% of relational hurts exist because people don’t talk to each other. If we read these scriptures with religious lenses we’ll come away with religious duties. But if we read them as secure sons and daughters standing firm on the unshakeable foundation of Christ and His love for us, we’ll find life in them.
I imagine what happened in Acts 19 was wonderfully liberating. These guys were burning their occultic tools of the trade. Evil-doers love the darkness. By bringing things into the light they were making a bold statement. They were submitting to God and resisting the devil. The word of the Lord didn’t grow in power because they were confessing sins but because dead sinners were being transformed into living saints. Each person had a story to tell of how God had transformed them.

From Part 4
Nowhere in the New Testament do you find believers confessing their sins to be forgiven. Confessing-to-be-forgiven is an extra-Biblical church tradition. It is one of those things that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death (Pro 14:12). It is a work of the flesh that kills faith, nullifies grace, and treats as unholy the blood of the covenant that sanctifies us. You don’t have to do something you’ve already done to gain something you already have. 

Additional Comments from Part 4
James 5 suggests keeping short accounts and confessing our shortcomings to one another is a key to healing relational hurts. So I would definitely lean towards being open and honest. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and He will show you the way that brings life (or avoid death!). You really have an opportunity to cast your care on Him. He loves you. Trust Him.

If you think you must do it to earn what God freely gives, you have set aside grace and made the cross of Christ of no effect.

How many times do you have to receive a gift before you have received it? Just once. You have either received forgiveness or you haven’t. If you have to ask for forgiveness for every single sin you commit every day of your life, then yes, it is a work. By your reckoning if you fail to ask, you are not acceptable to God. A more mannish-definition of works I could not think of. When I preach to the lost I use “we” and “us” as a means of identifying with them. I don’t preach at them. I speak just like John: we all need a Savior and Jesus is indeed the propitiation for all our sins.

Additional Comments from Overview
This is against the extra-Biblical idea that our forgiveness hangs upon our confession, where confession is defined as listing sins. The truth is our forgiveness is based on the blood of Jesus; nothing more, nothing less (Eph 1:7, Col 1:14). In the New Testament church there is no evidence of believers ever confessing their sins to be forgiven. Confession has come to mean something very different from what is discussed in 1 John 1:9. I do not doubt that being honest and keeping short accounts is very healthy in our relationships with others (see James 5:16), but again, this has nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins.

From Overview
To confess (homologeo) is to agree with God. Sinners need to agree that they are sinful and in need of a Savior. Saints need to agree that their sins have been dealt with and they are forgiven.

I am not against confession. True confession is putting trust into words; it is articulating God’s promises, God’s declarations, and God’s will. But confessing-to-be-forgiven is a work of the flesh. Whether you confess to a priest or directly to God makes no difference. If you do it because you believe it makes you righteous or acceptable to God, then what need have you of a Savior? You have set aside grace and put yourself under law.

You won’t find any believer in the New Testament confessing their sins to be forgiven. So why do we do it? Why do we spend so much time and energy on a death-dealing extra-Biblical practice? I can think of at least 4 reasons. We do it simply because we’ve always done it. (So read your Bible, renew your mind and live free.) We do it because we think our sin is greater than God’s grace. (It isn’t.) We do it because we are fearful of “unconfessed sin.” (Sin is sin and on the cross Jesus dealt with it all – big sin, small sin, secret sin and unconfessed sin. There is no sin that escaped His perfect redeeming work.) Or we do it because we are fearful of judgment day and uncertain about our forgiveness. We hope we’ve been forgiven, but we worry that might not be. If this is you, listen to the words of Jesus: “My friend, don’t worry! Your sins are forgiven.” (Mt 9:2, CEV)

At some point you’re just going to have to step out in faith and trust that when Jesus said “it is finished” that it really was finished. At the cross, your sin was dealt with once and for all time. Look at Jesus and cheer up!

Originally Posted Here