Thursday, September 16, 2010

Mistakes 4

If I confess my sins, You are faithful and just to forgive me my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness.   1 John 1:9

Confession.

They say it's good for the soul, but it is also hard on the ego.  A confession is an admission of wrong.  Straight up.  No qualifiers.

Why would God make that a prerequisite to forgiveness?  If we've given our lives to Him; done all the steps of believing in Him and repenting of sin and confessing the name of Jesus and putting Him on in baptism...why wouldn't God be satisfied?

Because the lack of confession still puts us in charge of our lives, not God.  Even if we regret our sin, without confession, we are still calling the shots.

But in confession, we assume a humble posture, a posture that says, "You're God and I'm not."  And when we assume that posture, a miracle happens.

We're clean.

What are your impressions of this passage?

3 comments:

  1. This passage gives me the impression that a confession is more than a simple, "I did it." I would think that a confession worthy of a cleansing has to be a deep, heart felt apology.

    When we regret our sin without confession, aren't we just hiding and living in shame? What is sometimes harder to deal with is a "confession" without any regret. To me that is putting your ways above everything else, and when that's the case, you answer to no one. That scares me.

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  2. The Lord God is Good, and He has created a perfect way in which we can live with joy. Since it is true that out of the overflow of our hearts our mouths speak, confession is a humbling of the heart. I believe that the overflow from our heart doesn't just come out with words from our mouths, however, but it also comes out in our actions. In this way, we can confess by change, crying, and emotional surrender. Many times, this happens in the dark! Many times, it is not for anyone other than our God to witness. Who is a greater witness than the Lord himself? Eventually, it changes you, and in so doing, it will create ways for you to share your confessions, but I know what God wants to begin with is our hearts, our love.
    I believe the confession God seeks is rooted in a humble heart seeking to know and love Him more than anything else--a heart that realizes its own sin. When that confession takes place, God is able to forgive us. As we continue to seek His wisdom, God blesses us with understanding over time. A transformation takes place, and you become His and His alone. Your transformation brings you peace and hope, then eventually, joy. You are set apart and made clean. Hallelujah!

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  3. My impressions of this passage are that confession is good because it gets the guilt and shame off of you and your feel better emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually; however, sometimes when you do confess, you still can beat yourself up because you cannot let things go. I'm in that position right now. I feel hopeless, worthless, and not of good use to anyone let alone God. How do I get rid of that feeling?

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