Mark Broadbent
MISUNDERSTANDING
> I am only forgiven for sins that I have confessed
By far one of the most common beliefs is that I am only forgiven for sins that I confess.
THERE ARE VARIOUS PROBLEMS WITH THIS VIEW...
> What about sins I commit between my last confession and my death? Do I go to hell to pay for those sins?
> What about sins that I committed in the past that I can't remember? Surely there are 1000's.
> What about sins that I commit deliberately, and if I'm really honest, don't feel that sorry for?
HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS...
1. When it comes to salvation, it is all about a sinner being declared righteous rather than sins being forgiven.
When a person confesses that they are a sinner, and cries out to Jesus to save them, several things happen...
> They are declared righteous in the eyes of a Holy God (Rom 5:18,-19)
> They have crossed over from death to life (John 5:24)
> They become a child of God (Rom 8:15-17)
> They have become uncondemnable (Rom 8:1)
2. When it comes to daily living, it is about the quality of our relationship rather than the status of our relationship.
I will always be my father's son. Just as those who have come to faith in Christ will always be God's child. This can never change. The relationship is permanent.
What can change however is the quality of our relationship. When we have unconfessed sin, we can...
> Lose the joy of our relationship (Psalm 51:12)
> Experience God's discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11)
> Find our prayers go unanswered (Psalm 66:18)
The daily habit of confessing sins is vital to maintaining the quality of our relationship with God. But it is not essential to maintaining our relationship with God.
Amen on both points!
So many people i meet in church have this idea that pleasing God and being right before God are the same thing, and that if they don't please God, they must be out of relationship with him. It's even more prevalent in the popular spirituality of modern Australian culture.
The once-for-all nature of the Atonement is so clear from Scripture that i'm surprised that this misunderstanding ever arose. Any idea that we have to confess our sins individually in order to have them forgiven individually (1Jn 1.9 notwithstanding) is doing gross injustice to the triumph Jesus won on the cross.