Confession Is Good

Confession brings forgiveness, cleansing and eternal life.

1 John 1:8-10  If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.   

9 But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.   

10  If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.

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We have all heard that confession is good for the soul, even modern psychology believes that confession is valuable, the problem is they don't know why confession is so valuable and they definitely don't know who it is that you need to confess to.

Sin gets in the way of our ability to have fellowship with God and confession is the way to make the relationship right again. It sounds like a great idea to live in fellowship with God but too many of us are content to live without fellowship because we are not willing to give up our selfish ways and our pride.

We only have a small glimpse of what the Garden of Eden was like before God closed it so it is difficult to understand what the world was like before sin broke everything. We cannot fully comprehend how bad sin is, to us sin is our normal routine and not sinning is the thing that we struggle with, it is difficult for us to see sin as God sees it. God sees sin as being so bad and so evil that it cost Jesus his life, there wasn't a quick and easy fix for sin, it took something as drastic as God on a cross to undo it's effects on us.

Proverbs 28:13  People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

Our attitude towards our sin determines whether we can enjoy fellowship with God. Some of the ways that we can deal with sin in our life:

✔  Pretend like you have never sinned

✔  Claim that you have stopped sinning
✔   Ignore your sin and refuse to deal with it

✔  Confess your sin

If we don't confess our sins then in essence we are disagreeing with God and telling him that he is wrong. It sounds pretty arrogant but sometimes we go to great lengths to avoid admitting that we blew it. The devil loves it when we behave like he does and exhibit the same characteristics that he has.

If we do confess then there is a promise from God that he will forgive. How much easier could God make it?  But don't think that you can keep it shallow and get any results, God wants us to be real, it's easy to say, "I am a sinner," but if confession is to be real it must mention exactly what you did wrong.

The first confession
Romans 10:9-10  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  10  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

If Jesus is not your Savior then there isn't any forgiveness from God for you. Before we can expect to receive forgiveness there is another confession that must come first. We must confess that Jesus is God's son that was crucified to pay the penalty of sin for us, he was raised from the dead to offer a guarantee that we would be raised as well.

I want to have fellowship with God because of the incredible gift of salvation that he gave to me. I need to live for him so that the fellowship will not be broken.

It's A Clean Sweep When Jesus Clears The Temple

The religious leaders don't get that Jesus has the right to set them straight.

Luke 19:45-48 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Luke 20:1-8 One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

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Wasn't it bad enough that Jesus just rode into town on a donkey as the crowds declared that he is the Messiah? Jesus infuriated the religious leaders when he refused to tell the crowds that they were wrong about him and as if that wasn't bad enough he returns to the temple and upsets the establishment some more.

Instead of acting out against the Roman government in Jerusalem as you would expect the recently announced king of the Jews to do, Jesus entered the temple and dealt with the issues in God's house, the corruption there was more important and the political problems. Jesus cleaned house by throwing out the money changers and the people selling animals for the sacrifice, both services were necessary but they were being used for huge financial gain.

To Jesus the issue in Israel was not Roman occupation, the issue was Jewish religious corruption. The Lord is not concerned with the people's relationship to Rome, He's concerned with the people's relationship to God.

-John MacArthur

The Jews and proselytes to Judaism needed the money changers so they would have the proper currency for the temple and the people selling the animals made it easier to travel to the temple from far away without taking care of the animal sacrifice. Both of these business transactions were being made in the part of the temple where the Gentiles were allowed to go to pray.

I have to wonder what would happen if the people that Jesus threw out felt any guilt for their wrongs and they went to the religious leaders to offer a sacrifice for forgiveness, then what would the Pharisees do? Would they admit they were wrong and that they also needed to repent and offer a sacrifice? I doubt it.

Who gave Jesus his authority?

John 12:49-50 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

The religious leaders loved the authority that they had and they liked to think that they were a big deal but Jesus rejected their authority and did what he pleased. He overrode their decision to allow the animals and thieves into the temple courts. There's nothing more devastating and hard to swallow than being treated as if you don't matter when you think you really do.

Jesus was always known to speak with authority (Matthew 7:28-29) but the Pharisees hadn't figured it out yet, they have been around Jesus and they have heard him teach since he was 12 years old, for the last three years he taught and performed miracles but they are so spiritually blind that they have to ask him where his authority is from. (Luke 2:45-47, 4:36)

We know by his teaching and his miracles that he is clearly the Son of God, Jesus didn't need to answer their question directly and get into a debate about his authority. His authority was proved everyday of his earthly ministry and we all know that actions speak louder than words.

The question that I have to answer is will I submit to Jesus authority in the way that I live my life? Will I seek to please myself and do whatever I need to do to have fun, make money and be popular?

I need to recognize and submit to Jesus authority in my life and live for him, he has the right to insist that I live for him and I am better off by submitting to his authority now rather than later when everyone will submit to his authority and confess him as Lord. (Philippians 2:9-11, Colossians 3:1-25)

Related articles

• Jesus Will Reign As King (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)
• Suffering Doesn't Always Come From Judgment (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)
• Prophecy Confirms Who Jesus Is (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)
• Privileges Of God's Children: Access - Part 1 (diggingtheword.blogspot.com)

The Prayer That God Listens To

If your relationship is a wreck then God won't listen.

Isaiah 59:1-2 Indeed, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save, and His ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities have have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face from you so that He does not listen.

Psalm 66:16-20 Come and listen, all who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for me.

17 I cried out to Him with my mouth, and praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had been aware of malice in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

19 However, God has listened; He has paid attention to the sound of my prayer. 20 May God be praised! He has not turned away my prayer or turned His faithful love from me.

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Nobody likes to talk to somebody and have them ignore us, sometimes talking to God is like that, the cause of unanswered prayer a lot of the time is that God isn't going to be abused.

In an abusive relationship there aren't any winners, neither the victim or the perpetrator, everybody loses. God isn't willing to be in that kind of relationship with us, he refuses to mistreated, we cannot refuse to bow down to him as our Lord and then ask him to bow down to our wishes.

Even if my relationship with him is good I still need to be careful about my attitude in prayer. I need to be certain that I am treating God with the respect and reverence that he deserves. My relationship needs to be more than a place to go shopping, it needs to be about me giving to him, after all look at how much he has given to us already. 

Psalm 6:9 The Lord has heard my plea for help; the Lord accepts my prayer.

You are an awesome God, I thank you for caring about your creation and desiring to have a relationship with us.

It Doesn't Matter Who You Are

How could God save Rahab!?! 

 Joshua 2:8-14 Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them.

9 "I know the LORD has given you this land," she told them. "We are all afraid of you. Everyone in the land is living in terror. 10 For we have heard how the LORD made a dry path for you through the Red Sea when you left Egypt. And we know what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan River, whose people you completely destroyed. 11 No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

12 "Now swear to me by the LORD that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that 13 when Jericho is conquered, you will let me live, along with my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all their families."

14 "We offer our own lives as a guarantee for your safety," the men agreed. "If you don't betray us, we will keep our promise and be kind to you when the LORD gives us the land."

Joshua 2:18 When we come into the land, you must leave this scarlet rope hanging from the window through which you let us down. And all your family members--your father, mother, brothers, and all your relatives--must be here inside the house.

Joshua 2:23-24 Then the two spies came down from the hill country, crossed the Jordan River, and reported to Joshua all that had happened to them. 24 "The LORD has given us the whole land," they said, "for all the people in the land are terrified of us."

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The news is out, the nation of Israel has done great things, things that could only be done with the help of God. People are scared, they have heard that the Israelites are getting closer to Jericho, it must have been torture to hear about the Israelites camping on the other side of the Jordan river for forty years as they waited for God to allow his children to cross into the Promised Land.

In all of those forty years the citizens of Jericho had time to get right with God, much like the delay that Moses asked for on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, one family was spared from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and now one family will be spared from the destruction of Jericho.

The question is why? Why did Rahab receive favor when everybody else in town was going to be killed, didn't God know what kind of person she is?

Rahab makes a personal confession in verse eleven, "For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below" As big as Jericho was, she was probably the only person that confessed that there is one God, nobody else cared, they were scared of the Israelites but nobody payed any attention to why they were so powerful.

Rahab was to hang a scarlet rope outside here window so that her family would not be harmed during the attack, it sounds a lot like the first passover back in Egypt when the blood had to be put on the door post so that the death angel would pass by. It also sounds like the scarlet thread that was used by the priest (Lev 14:4, Lev 14:6, Lev 14:51, Num 19:6).

God is full of grace and compassion and he allowed Rahab to be saved from the destruction of Jericho, not because of who she was but because of what she believed.

Thank you Lord for your mercy and compassion, I pray that I will always remember how undeserving that I am to receive favor from you.

Confession 101 - David's Example

scripture

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Psalms 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. 3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.

5 For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. 6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. 9 Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. 13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.

14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. 16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

18 Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit— with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

observation

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In his book The Vanishing Conscience, John MacArthur talks about the disappearance of sin in our society. That may sound strange at first when you see the depravity of man growing larger every day. Modern culture will tell you that you are a victim and that as a victim you are not responsible for what you do.

“Society encourages sin, but it will not tolerate the guilt sin produces” –John MacArthur

Not so with King David, he knew that he had sinned and he was not going to call it anything else, he knew that he was a sinner from birth. He didn’t blame his parents or his childhood or the trauma of King Saul chasing him all over the country side. He took full responsibility, he knew that it was sin and that it is wrong to let sin control the way you live.

Romans 6:12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.

David cried out for mercy, he recognized his rebellion with a broken spirit. That’s what God wants, a broken spirit, forget the sacrifices if you don’t have a broken and repentant heart then not even Jesus sacrifice is going to do you any good.
David had lost his joy and he knew that he could only get it back again through confession so that God would restore their relationship.

application

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I will act as if sin has some power over me but it doesn’t and when I behave this way I need to be sensitive to my conscience, I must not suppress the guilt feelings that the world tells us is wrong to have. I must be humble and broken for my rebellion against God.

prayer

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Help us to always view sin as harshly as you do Lord. Thank you for your provision for my sin so that I can spend eternity with you.