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.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
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
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
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, January 23, 2012
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.
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.
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
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
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
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 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.
“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 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.
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!
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!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Andrew Farley on Confessings Sins in 1 John 1:9 & James 5:16
1 John 1:9 ~ At first glance, this well-known verse appears to muddy the waters concerning once-for-all forgiveness. In many books and articles on the topic of forgiveness, this verse often serves as the foundation on which the author's belief system is constructed.
Theologians and Christian authors will often agree with John that "your sins have been forgiven on account of Jesus' name" (1 John 2:12). But later you find them essentially saying that confession is needed to "cause" God to forgive you. The problem is that both statements can't be true at the same time. EITHER WE'VE BEEN FORGIVEN, OR THERE'S A CONDITION FOR US TO BE FORGIVEN.
To resolve this dilemma, some have proposed the following: Christians are forgiven eternally in God's heavenly record books. However, unless Christians keep short accounts with God through daily confession of sins, they can't experience God's cleansing during life on earth. Hence, they claim that 1 John 1:9 is the believer's "bar of soap" to maintain daily fellowship with God. And they use terms such as judicial, patriarchal, and forensic as they delicately dance around the reality of once-for-all forgiveness and push the idea of a two-tiered forgiveness system in which eternally God is satisfied, but right now we somehow maintain our own daily cleansing through a confession ritual.
I frequently come across this line of thinking in which 1 John 1:9 is the one and only hallmark verse. But we know we shouldn't develop theologies based principally around one verse. It's important to recognize that this verse stands as the ONLY one of its kind. No other verse in the epistles appears to place a conditional "if" on forgiveness and cleansing.
So if there was a method for maintaining daily cleansing, the Romans were apparently unaware of it. If there was a prescription for keeping short accounts with God, the Galatians seemed to have had no exposure to it. If there was a need to ask God for forgiveness, the Ephesians were apparently not privy to it. Similarly, the Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians also seemed to have missed this teaching.
If there were a DAILY method to maintain good status (fellowship) with God through ongoing confession of sins or pleas for forgiveness, wouldn't you think it'd be mentioned in at least ONE epistle? Did God accidentally leave it out? Certainly NOT!
CONFESSION CLARIFIED: Let's clarify an important point. The meaning of confess is "to say the same as" or "to agree". Christians should agree with God on ALL accounts... not just about sins but about everything. We're his children, and it is only His ways that fulfill. We're designed from the ground up to agree with Him, depend on Him, and live from Him.
But it's equally important to recognize that we don't impel God or put him into motion through our confession. He's NOT waiting to dole out forgiveness or cleansing. We don't need to keep "short accounts" with God, since he has destroyed the record book!
God has taken away our sins. He remembers them no more. As Christians, our forgiveness and cleansing aren't dependent on our memory, our confession, or our asking. Our forgiveness and cleansing are solely because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
THE "OTHER" CONFESSION:
What about James 5:16? James talks about confessing our sins to each other and praying for each other. But he's saying we should listen to each other's struggles, offer counsel where appropriate, and pray for each other. The context of James's exhortation to confess our sins to each other has nothing to do with God's forgiving or cleansing us.
Confession to trusted friends and to God is healthy. It's normal and natural to talk about your struggles with people who care about you. The indispensable truth to grasp, however, is that confession does NOT initiate cleansing in your life. We've already been cleansed "once for all" through the onetime blood sacrifice that needs no repenting.
Let's be honest about our struggles, but let's also be clear about what the cross accomplished. The Catholic goes to a priest and the Protestant thinks he does better by appealing directly to God. But any system that doesn't factor in once-for-all forgiveness is intrinsically flawed.
God doesn't want us to think that human priests apportion forgiveness to us. Nor does he want us to envision his doling out forgiveness from heaven on a "first come, first serve" basis. Instead, he wants us to ascribe real meaning to Jesus' declaration, "It is finished!"
We're ALREADY forgiven and cleansed children of the living God! Our motivation should be the fulfillment that comes from truly being ourselves. AMEN!
Theologians and Christian authors will often agree with John that "your sins have been forgiven on account of Jesus' name" (1 John 2:12). But later you find them essentially saying that confession is needed to "cause" God to forgive you. The problem is that both statements can't be true at the same time. EITHER WE'VE BEEN FORGIVEN, OR THERE'S A CONDITION FOR US TO BE FORGIVEN.
To resolve this dilemma, some have proposed the following: Christians are forgiven eternally in God's heavenly record books. However, unless Christians keep short accounts with God through daily confession of sins, they can't experience God's cleansing during life on earth. Hence, they claim that 1 John 1:9 is the believer's "bar of soap" to maintain daily fellowship with God. And they use terms such as judicial, patriarchal, and forensic as they delicately dance around the reality of once-for-all forgiveness and push the idea of a two-tiered forgiveness system in which eternally God is satisfied, but right now we somehow maintain our own daily cleansing through a confession ritual.
I frequently come across this line of thinking in which 1 John 1:9 is the one and only hallmark verse. But we know we shouldn't develop theologies based principally around one verse. It's important to recognize that this verse stands as the ONLY one of its kind. No other verse in the epistles appears to place a conditional "if" on forgiveness and cleansing.
So if there was a method for maintaining daily cleansing, the Romans were apparently unaware of it. If there was a prescription for keeping short accounts with God, the Galatians seemed to have had no exposure to it. If there was a need to ask God for forgiveness, the Ephesians were apparently not privy to it. Similarly, the Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians also seemed to have missed this teaching.
If there were a DAILY method to maintain good status (fellowship) with God through ongoing confession of sins or pleas for forgiveness, wouldn't you think it'd be mentioned in at least ONE epistle? Did God accidentally leave it out? Certainly NOT!
CONFESSION CLARIFIED: Let's clarify an important point. The meaning of confess is "to say the same as" or "to agree". Christians should agree with God on ALL accounts... not just about sins but about everything. We're his children, and it is only His ways that fulfill. We're designed from the ground up to agree with Him, depend on Him, and live from Him.
But it's equally important to recognize that we don't impel God or put him into motion through our confession. He's NOT waiting to dole out forgiveness or cleansing. We don't need to keep "short accounts" with God, since he has destroyed the record book!
God has taken away our sins. He remembers them no more. As Christians, our forgiveness and cleansing aren't dependent on our memory, our confession, or our asking. Our forgiveness and cleansing are solely because of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
THE "OTHER" CONFESSION:
What about James 5:16? James talks about confessing our sins to each other and praying for each other. But he's saying we should listen to each other's struggles, offer counsel where appropriate, and pray for each other. The context of James's exhortation to confess our sins to each other has nothing to do with God's forgiving or cleansing us.
Confession to trusted friends and to God is healthy. It's normal and natural to talk about your struggles with people who care about you. The indispensable truth to grasp, however, is that confession does NOT initiate cleansing in your life. We've already been cleansed "once for all" through the onetime blood sacrifice that needs no repenting.
Let's be honest about our struggles, but let's also be clear about what the cross accomplished. The Catholic goes to a priest and the Protestant thinks he does better by appealing directly to God. But any system that doesn't factor in once-for-all forgiveness is intrinsically flawed.
God doesn't want us to think that human priests apportion forgiveness to us. Nor does he want us to envision his doling out forgiveness from heaven on a "first come, first serve" basis. Instead, he wants us to ascribe real meaning to Jesus' declaration, "It is finished!"
We're ALREADY forgiven and cleansed children of the living God! Our motivation should be the fulfillment that comes from truly being ourselves. AMEN!
Excerpted from The Naked Gospel by Andrew Farley
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