Cleansed part 5
Well, I had to get here eventually, right? I think its ok to end on this note. We'll see. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Kind of a big part of where the whole idea of "confession" came from, from what I understand. That continual, "I messed up, I better go confess it," hamster wheel. And I'm not even going to get into who John was writing to and all that. I'm more focused on the idea of confession. And the truth that we should NEVER confess to being a sinner. Even the idea of, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace." Well, if you've been saved by grace, you're not a sinner anymore! You're something else. You're a saint. A new creature in Christ. A new man. THE New Man. Different parts of His many membered body. And He is light. In Him there is no darkness at all. YOU are light. In YOU is no darkness at all. So let's look at the next verse, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a lair, and his word is not in us" (1 John 1:10). I don't think this is talking about admitting to everything you've ever done. I think God already knows. And I think God is more interested in the heart, in any case. I think this is about acknowledging our need for a Savior--even though He has already saved us. Acknowledging the change that took place on the cross. From old to new. From death to life. From sinner... to saint. And, while we're here, that's what I think Romans 5:20 is about: "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin aboudned, grace did much more abound." Sin abounded... before the cross. Culminating AT the cross. Which is where grace did much more abound. Grace defeated sin. Jesus fought, and won, the war to end all wars. Which means there are no more wars. Only the good fight of faith. Laying hold of eternal life. Receving the gift we've been given... by giving it away. Cleansing ourselves (and others) by accepting the truth that we've BEEN cleansed. We don't have to do anything to get God to forgive us. He did that on the cross. "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do." We were stumbling around in the dark, doing the best we could with what we had. But we didn't know we had anything. Not until the light shined. The light that He is. The light that WE are. Shining to show us who we REALLY are. Clean. Whole. Holy. Loved. Forgiven. Graceful--full of grace. Merciful--full of mercy. What we have been given... we can give. But if you think you don't need anything--I'm not a sinner, I don't need a Savior--then you'll miss out on what's available to you. You'll rob yourself of the gift you've been given. So don't confess that. Don't confess the lie. Don't confess how things used to be before Jesus finished the work. Confess the truth. Confess how things are now. Because of the cross. Because of the Finished Work. Confess love. Confess life. Jesus washed us with the Word--which is Jesus, which is love. That's our confession!