Introduction

 

This post presents, in brief, the evidence to support the balance between the conflicting goals of confession of righteousness and confession of sin.

There are also four video links added to make this deep topic more digestible. My apologies for the low voice over quality and video production. It is my first attempt at this.

 

The Spirit-Soul-Body

 

To appreciate How confession of righteousness and sin are relevant, one needs to understand that the whole person has three distinct but interrelated parts of Spirit, Soul, and Body. Watch this short video that describes the state before the spiritual rebirth.

 

 

After the spiritual rebirth, four significant changes take place.

1. The dead spirit became alive and righteous by Christ’s sacrificial blood (1John1:7, Heb9:28) and His resurrection (Rom4:25), respectively.
2. The unsaved soul has gained the potential to be saved. (1Pet1:9)
3. The soul (mind) has become the battleground between the spirit (God) and the body (Satan). (2Co10:3-5).
4. God gives believers a new heart. (Heb8:10, Eze36:26). Two possibilities present themselves to speculate about this new heart. Both may well be true simultaneously.
5. The newness in the human heart is biological. The studies conducted by Dr. Michelle Styrdom is about 1 hour and 15mins long. See link- 

 

 

Skip to time@52mins to watch Michelle share about the brain inside the heart that functions like an umpire (Col3:15). This umpire works along the pathways of peace in the spirit-soul domain to influence the brain’s will. The believer in the hope of the resurrection (1Pet1:3-5, 1Co15:12-19) else the belief is in vain.

 

Perhaps this brain-heart connection experiences a transformation when one is reborn in Christ.

1. God has circumcised this new heart (Rom2:29, Col2:11) He provided in the new covenant (Eze36:26). This part of the newly circumcised heart has become the token of the new covenant (Gen17), set apart as holy to God.

It could be the circumcision of the heart has occurred at the brain-heart connections where the believer’s conscience is sensitive to God’s leading and where the Holy Spirit and man’s spirit dwells.

See a short video to illustrate where the new heart is present in both the body and the soul. The circumcised part is in the saved soul, and the rest of the heart that is not circumcised is susceptible to the corruption of sin.

 

 

 Confession of Righteousness

Confession of righteousness primarily supports the communication from the soul to the spirit. This engagement reinforces the son-ship identity with the quality of righteousness by drawing from the spirit that calls out Abba Father.

The secondary purpose is to assure us of secure salvation despite our soul/body sinning based on divine son-ship righteous before God, both as gifts paid by Jesus’ salvation work.

When confessing as a righteous son of God, it supports an attachment relationship with God as Father, God (Jesus) as an elder brother, and God as the Holy Spirit (in a maternal sense, this claim is highly controversial, and a separate post is required to explore this claim).

 

Confession of Sin

Confession of sin primarily supports communication from the soul to the body as a needful reminder of the nature of the flesh-sin perpetual hostility between them.

The secondary purpose is to reinforce the value of the undeserved gifts of forgiveness and righteousness from God on an ongoing basis.

When sin confession is operating correctly, it produces contrite heart repentance. This contriteness sustainably supports the soul’s aversion towards the sinful nature of the flesh.

Watch a short video to illustrate the points shared above.

 

Conclusion

The Spirt-Soul-Body dynamics often is a source of confusion. God’s salvation plan covers all three parts of us. The plan details for each part are different in means and timeline. Another post is required to explain these differences to complement this post.